FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30, 2004
CONTACT: Mark Fleisher
Festival Ballet Providence, 401.353.1129
Up Close, On Hope: Second Program - November 13, 20, 21
Dance so near you can touch it!
Providence, RI - Festival Ballet Providence’s popular new series, Up Close, On Hope, showcasing exciting contemporary repertory works in an intimate studio setting will present the second program of the season in November. The November program will include six different pieces, including three completely new works. Up CLOSE on HOPE performances offer the chance to see thrilling, original dance, to meet the dancers, and to mingle with the evening’s choreographers. Critics are in complete agreement: Up CLOSE on HOPE is a great way for audiences to see dance!
The performances will take place November 113, 20 and 21 at the company’s East Side studios at 825 Hope Street on Saturdays at 7:30 pm and on Sunday at 6:00 pm. Performances take place in the Leach Grand Studio black box theater, for a limited audience of 90.
The success of Up Close, On Hope is largely due to the intimacy of the theater and the repertory chosen by Festival Ballet Providence Artistic Director Mihailo Djuric. It is diverse with high artistic quality, and expands the audience’s taste for different dance styles. This year, audience members will have the opportunity to further expand their horizons with hors d’oeuvres and wine intermissions sponsored by neighboring East Side restaurants. The intermission sponsors of our November performances tentatively include Oak, Rue de l’Espoir, and Pizzico, accompanied by wines provided courtesy of Robert Mondayvi Vineyards, Laurine Ryan Perry and the Martignetti Companies of Rhode Island.
This program of the series will include works by Colleen Cavanaugh, Mihailo Djuric and three Festival Ballet Providence dancers. A regular in the Up CLOSE on HOPE programming and frequent collaborator of Mr. Djuric, Ms. Cavanaugh will restage Schumann Songs, set to Robert Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben op. 42 with an expanded version of the work. Its premiere in March 2004 was a highlight of last year’s Up Close, On Hope season and received by audiences with great applause and emotion. Mezzo-soprano Cheryl Brodsky and accompanist Laska Meseck are expected to return to provide live music for the piece. Ms.Cavanaugh will also present a portion of a work-in-progress to music by Janis Joplin that will premiere during the Up Close, On Hope program in March, 2005.
Company members creating new works include Caitlin Novero, whose solo work last season, Busy Being Born, thoroughly entertained audiences. Her new choreographic work to the music of Jethro Tull is titled Commons, and is her first work for an ensemble. The movement portrays everyday life. Piotr Ostaltsov will create a new work, Casta Diva, for Jennifer Ricci and 5 men to an aria from Cesare Bellini’s opera “Norma”. It is a tribute to the famed soprano, Maria Callas. His emotional On the Turning Away premiered last season. New company member Mark Harootian will restage a work he created for Utah Ballet, Ain’t Misbehavin’, featuring a light-hearted swing style. Mr. Djuric will round out the program with an original solo work created in 1995, Musings, performed by new company apprentice, Erica Chipp to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (the “Autumn” section).
Tickets are available for $30 as general admission seating. Up CLOSE season subscribers receive preferred seating for each performance. Tickets are available by contacting Festival Ballet Providence, 401.353.1129. For further information, send email inquiries to info@festivalballet.com.
Program 3 of the series will take place March 12, 19 and 20, 2005. For additional information about upcoming programs visit www.festivalballet.com
The 2004-2005 Up CLOSE on HOPE series is made possible in part by a generous sponsorship from GLAD WORKS, and ongoing support from Sovereign Bank, NBC10 and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.
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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.
Intermission sponsors tentatively are:
Wines for the intermissions will be provided courtesy of Rorbert Mondavi Vineyards, the Martignetti Companies of Rhode Island and Laurine Ryan Perry, and will include the following vineyards in the course of the season: Robert Mondavi, Trinchero Family of Wines, Rosemount, Penfolds, Linemans, and Cavit
Bios:
Colleen Cavanaugh, Guest Choreographer
Colleen Cavanaugh danced professionally in New York and Europe before returning to her native Rhode Island to complete a medical degree from Brown University. She choreographed for and directed Cadence Dance Project for four years and is now working as an independent choreographer, making ballets for regional companies and college dance programs. Cavanaugh received a Rhode Island State Council on the Art fellowship in choreography as well as several project grants. Two of her ballets were selected and presented by Ballet Builders in New York City, a showcase for contemporary ballet. Her choreography has been presented in New England, New York and Europe. Her commissioned work, I Corpi Celesti, inspired by Galileo, was premiered in May 2003 by Festival Ballet Providence to great acclaim. Several of her pieces were part of the inaugural Up CLOSE on HOPE series; Caress, Demeter’s Tears, Schumann Songs, and Scarlet Tangents. Colleen is also a practicing Obstetrician/Gynecologist and is an Assistant Clinical Professor at Brown University School of Medicine.
Tentative Casting Up Close, On Hope Program 2
Commons (world premiere)
Choreography: Caitlin Novero
Music: Jethro Tull
Dancers: Ty Parmenter, Emily Bromberg, Erica Chipp, Daniela Debrot, Courtney Fraga, Marisa Gomer and Elizabeth Jessee
Casta Diva (world premiere)
Choreography: Piotr Ostaltsov
Music: Cesare Bellini, from the opera “Norma”
Dancers: Jennifer Ricci, Cameron Baldassarra, Mark Harootian, Gleb Layamenkoff, Piotr Ostaltsov, Andrew Skeels
New Work (world premiere)
Choreography: Colleen Cavanaugh
Music: Janis Joplin
Dancers: Carolyn Dellinger, Marissa Gomer, Karla Kovatch
Musings (1995)
Choreography: Mihailo Djuric
Music: Vivaldi, “Fall” from The Four Seasons
Dancers: Erica Chipp or Emily Bromberg
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Choreography: Mark Harootian
Music: Fats Waller
Dancers: Carolyn Dellinger, Leticia Guerrero, Karla Kovatch, Jennifer Young, Mark Harootian, Ty Parmenter, Davide Vittorino
Schumann Songs (2004)
Choreography: Colleen Cavanaugh
Music: Robert Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben op. 42
Mezzo-Soprano: Cheryl Brodsky
Pianist: Laska Meseck
Dancers: Jennifer Ricci, Gleb Lyamenkoff, Leticia Guerrero, Davide Vittorino, Heather O’Halloran, Ty Parmenter
