Festival Ballet Providence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27, 2003

Festival Ballet Providence, 401.353.1129

26th Season Opener:
World Premiere of Viktor Plotnikov’s Carmen!

Providence, RI - Festival Ballet Providence opens its 26th Anniversary season October 3-5, 2003, at VMA Arts & Cultural Center with the world premiere of Viktor Plotnikov’s exciting production of Carmen.

In planning the Company’s 26th season, Festival Ballet Providence Artistic Director Mihailo Djuric had hoped to bring audiences a season opener that would be truly memorable. Having seen Mr. Plotnikov’s choreography in several Boston venues, Mr. Djuric approached the Boston Ballet principal dancer to create Carmen for his Providence-based company. He was drawn to Plotnikov’s bold and riveting emotional choreography, qualities that would be ideal for an exciting, new production of Carmen, and qualities that would draw followers of Festival Ballet Providence’s passionate, inspiring productions. Djuric also has a keen interest in promoting the work of emerging choreographers, and his belief is that Plotnikov can be one of the greats. The creation of this two-act production for the 20-member Providence Company will be Plotnikov’s most ambitious project to date.

Plotnikov admits being very excited about Carmen. This is his first opportunity to create a large, full-length work on a professional company, a work that will be fully staged at the 2,100 seat VMA Arts & Cultural Center. A big step up from his training ground creating shorter ballets for workshops, fund-raisers, and group shows, this is the real thing. Plotnikov finds himself deeply attracted to the dramatic element of Carmen, and how his interpretation can magnify that sense of drama for audiences.

This production promises to be intriguing; Mr. Plotnikov’s choreography is known not only for it’s original movement style and contemporary flair, but also for it’s very focused use of movement to tell a story and relate strong, passionate emotions. The set and costumes will be created by Alan Pickart. The design is simple and stark, intending to let the dancing tell the bulk of the story, with costumes and sets complimenting the choreography.

In Plotnikov’s Carmen, the stage opens with Mikaela alone onstage. Her prologue informs the audience about something terrible that happened between her lover Don Jose, and Carmen. The passionate story follows, the quiet town waking in the morning to the sounds of the approaching guard.

We first see Carmen in a fight with Mercedes, a co-worker a the local factory. Soon all the women take sides and join in. The fight, which spills into the street, is finally broken up by soldiers. The free-spirited gypsy girl Carmen snares one of the soldiers, Don José, with her alluring and provocative demeanor. Enslaved by his passion for her, Don José’s infatuation makes him an easy pawn for her to exploit. He changes his life for Carmen, leaving behind not only his lover Mikaela, but also his profession, that of a soldier, becoming a smuggler & robber.

He comes from the same region in Spain as Carmen, and possesses a fiery aspect to his personality as well. His love grows to jealousy as he sees her hypnotic effect on other men. In a fit of lover’s rage, he throws himself on her, and begins a furious duel. Carmen is left dead by the knife of the man who was so deeply in love with her. Plotnikov ends the ballet with Michaela and her memories.

Initial casting tentatively has Leticia Gerrero and Jennifer Ricci as Carmen, Gleb Lyamenkoff and Davide Vittorino as Don José, Carla Kovatch and Heather O’Halloran sharing the role of Michaela, Beth Petkus as Mercedes, Peter Ostaltsov and Davide Vittorino sharing the role of Escamilio and Eivar Martinez as the Captain of the Guard.

This production of Carmen is made possible in part by season Presenting Sponsor Sovereign Bank, The Providence Journal, season television sponsor NBC10, Clear Channel Communications and ongoing support from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.

Carmen premieres October 3-5th at the VMA Arts & Cultural Center, 1 Avenue of the Arts, with performances at 7:30 pm Friday, 7:30 pm on Saturday, and 2:30 pm on Sunday. This season Festival Ballet Providence is offering a special Five Dollar Off Fridays promotion, to encourage audiences to experience the excitement of opening night. Reserved tickets (priced from $15 to $50) and season subscriptions are available by contacting www.tickets.com, 800.919.6272, Festival Ballet Providence, 401.353.1129, or the VMA Arts & Cultural Center during box office hours. Email inquiries may be directed to info@festivalballet.com. Group discounts are available.

The Festival Ballet Providence and the Festival Ballet Providence Center for Dance Education are together a not-for-profit arts organization whose EIN is 05-0377245 and whose Rhode Island Corporate ID number is ND-27-137.

For interviews, do not hesitate to call, 401.353.1129

Viktor Plotnikov (choreographer)

Viktor was born in Kharkov City, Ukraine, and began his training at the age of 11 at the Kiev-Ukraine School and continued at the St. Petersburg Ballet Academy. From 1987 to 1990 he was a soloist with Donetsk Ballet Company in the Ukraine. In 1990 Viktor joined Ballet Mississippi as a principal dancer. Additionally he has appeared as a guest artist with Tulsa Ballet Theatre and Dance Inc, and has toured Russia and the US.

In 1993 he joined Boston Ballet as principal dancer, performing major roles in the company’s classical and contemporary repertory including the title role in Onegin, Conrad in Le Corsaire, Albrecht in Giselle, Prince Desire in The Sleeping Beauty, Cavalier, Snow King and Dr. Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker, Solor in La Bayadere, Dracula in Dracula, and "Tico-Tico" in Paul Taylor’s Company B. He has created roles in the World Premieres of Tharp’s Waterbaby Bagatelles, Spencer/Colton’s Before Ever After, and Daniel Pelzig’s Nine Lives: Songs of Lyle Lovett, The Princess and the Pea, and Flights and Fancy. His repertoire also includes Balanchine’s. Divertimento No. 15, Theme and Variations and The Four Temperaments, Roland Petit’s Le Jeune Homme et La Mort, Mark Morris’ Maelstrom, Rudi van Dantzig’s Four Last Songs, and Laszlo Berdo’s Below Down Under.

Recently Plotnikov has created works specifically for Boston Ballet dancers and members of Boston Ballet II. He has choreographed a number of works for institutions throughout the region, including performances in Boston Ballet’s Grand Studio, Dance on the Top Floor, Company performances in Nantucket, and Khachaturian’s Centennial at Boston Conservatory. Plotinokov created solos and duets, performed at International Gala Performances. His most recent creations include works for the 2002 International Ballet Competition in Jackson MS. Plotnikov also created two one act ballet’s My Impressions, set to symphonic Pink Floyd and Short Stories for A Small Magazine for the Dancer’s Resource Fund, and at the well received choreographic event Raw Dance in collaboration with Boston Ballet and Boston Center for the Arts.

Mr. Plotnikov is married to Boston Ballet principal dancer Larissa Ponomarenko.

Plotnikov Quotes:

"Boston Ballet’s most intriguing choreographer/dancer."
- Karen Campbell, Boston Globe, April 15, 2002

"The concert’s most vivid work… " "A vignette illuminating mercurial shifts in dynamics between a man and a woman, [Sketch of a Couple] infused ballet with folk elements and a contemporary flair, with deep weighted plies, heel-toe walks and torsos that were alternately arched and hunched over."
- Karen Campbell, Boston Globe, April 15, 2002

"The most ambitious piece on the program was Plotnikov’s 25-minute ‘My Impressions’…it was intriguing and riveting throughout, mixing abstract phrases with moments of emotional poignance and power."
- Karen Campbell, Boston Globe, February 17, 2001

"Viktor Plotnikov’s ‘My Impressions’ was the evening’s shocker, a well-constructed ensemble piece of remarkable theatrical power, to Pink Floyd".
- Theodore Bale, Boston Herald, February 18, 2001.

"The evening’s most ambitious work, Viktor Plotnikov’s ‘State of Mind’ …the most substantial…work of the night. Plotnikov had a wonderful sense of postmodern theater, and this episodic, Fellini-esque piece was riveting…. Plotnikov’s soft-edged muscularity lent liquidity to mercurial changes of weight and balance."
- Karen Campbell, Boston Globe, May 2003

Festival Ballet Providence
825 Hope Street
Providence, RI 02906
401.353.1129
info@festivalballet.com