This Saturday, we welcome three exceptional dance companies to the Center for the Arts Theater. For those who have been coming to the Breaking Ground Dance Series, you’ll remember that in 2004, we commissioned Ronald K. Brown/Evidence’s Come Ye, set to and inspired by the music of Nina Simone. In 2007, we presented the world premiere of One Shot, an evening-length work inspired by photographs of Pittsburgh native Charles “Teenie” Harris. He was known as “One Shot” because whenever he was given a photo assignment, it only took him one shot to get “the” picture. This Saturday, Brown returns to teach a master class in the afternoon and that evening, his company will perform excerpts of One Shot, as well as Ife/My Heart. Ife/My Heart was created in 2005 for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and draws on themes of faith and inspiration.
The Suzanne Farrell Ballet will follow, presenting a program of duets choreographed by George Balanchine. The Suzanne Farrell Ballet has been the Kennedy Center‘s own ballet company, housed in Washington, D.C. since 2001. The company exists to realize the vision of Artistic Director Suzanne Farrell, with over 30 ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Maurice Béjart in its repertoire.
Finally, the Center for the Arts is delighted to be awarding the Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award to Andrea Miller, artistic director of Gallim Dance. Wesleyan has a long history with Miller: when Andrea was a student at Juilliard (and home for the weekend in Branford where her mother lives), she took classes at DanceMasters. Little did we know then that she would grow up to be an acclaimed choreographer! After Andrea graduated from Juilliard, she went to Israel to dance with Ohad Naharin’s Ensemble Batsheva, and a few years later returned to New York to develop her choreographic work and to found Gallim. In just four years, the company has distinguished itself for its innovation and virtuosity. On Saturday, the company will present excerpts from I Can See Myself In Your Pupil, the work they presented to rave reviews this past June at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina.
Please join us to celebrate the breadth and wonder of dance at the twelfth annual DanceMasters Weekend!
DanceMasters Showcase Performance
Saturday, March 5, 8pm
CFA Theater
Tickets: $25 general public; $19 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff, non-Wesleyan students; $8 Wesleyan students
Click here for more information about the DanceMasters master classes
Pamela Tatge
Director, Center for the Arts
All three dance performances were stunning.
It was nice to see a variety of dance styles.
I enjoyed the evening immensely.
I attended this program specifically to see the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, and I wasn’t disappointed. As a longtime ballet goer (I saw Suzanne Farrell dance many, many times at the NYCB, and I still attend regularly), I was happy to see the Balanchine tradition being upheld. I thought the dancers were superb, in every way up to the rigors of Balanchine’s choreography and Farrell’s training.
The other two companies were OK, but it was a treat to see ballet at Wesleyan. Hope it happens again, and at this high level of performance.
have to agree with suzanne. didn’t feel that the ballet program was up to par. male partnering in first number was weak. the brown program was interesting. had not seen the gallim company before and enjoyed the work. did enjoy the variety of the evening. dance masters is the program I always recommend to non-dancers as they always get at least one piece they can feel.
Sorry to sound the first sour note, but I was disappointed in the program. I am a serious dance goer and dance teacher, and was saddened by the Suzanne Farrell Co. I thought the performers were second rate, and wished that Suzanne Farrell was coaching the top principal dancers at the NYCB-where she belongs.
Ron K Brown’s work showed fine movement that became more and more numbing because there was no shape, meaning or development to the work.
The Gallim Co. did their signature work, which I saw for the 3rd time this evening. It’s a wonderful piece, but I’ve seen those amazing dancers do it better. Perhaps they’re tired of it. I look forward to Andrea developing other work of equal complexity and force.
Fabulous evening. Where else could one see such a variety of styles, beauty and fun in one performance evening? I loved them all and am still smiling at the physicality and humor of Andrea Miller’s Gallim Dance. Thanks for bringing such great stuff to the community.
An outstanding night out! We are constantly delighted at the quality of performances. Used to subscribe to Joffrey and City Ballet when I lived in NY and your performances are easily as wonderful. Your events are one of the best values to living in Middletown. We really loved the Galim performance.
Pamela, I think you said Barbara put this evening together and what a great job she did. We loved the way the evening built up to Gallim Dance and who couldn’t or wouldn’t love their performance; it had to send all of us home with a smile. Last year we had a chance to see a “work in progress” of Gallim Dance’s at Jacob’s Pillow and we passed it up. That was our loss.
The ballet was stunning. Would love to see more of that! Other dancers were also wonderful.
Wonderful as usual. It was particularly nice to see some classical ballet, especially at the level of performance of the Suzanne Farrell company. And Gallim was great, Andrea Miller’s choreography is quite wonderful already, and shows enormous promise for the future.