“The American Ballet Theater” at Orange County, Ca./Preview & Review – July 1st, 2003
This great Company dances the West Coast Premiere of WITHIN YOU WITHOUT YOU: "A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE HARRISON" Choreography by David Parsons, Ann Reinking, Natalie Weir and Stanton Welch
ABT’s West Coast Premiere of Sir Fredrick Ashton’s THE DREAM danced by Alessandra Ferri and Ethan Stiefel
Plus Balanchine’s TCHAIKOVSKY PAS DE DEUX and full-length DON QUIXOTE
July 22-27 in Segerstrom Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.
Get your Tickets to American Ballet Theatre at the Orange County Performing Arts Center are $20, $30, $50, $65 and $80, and on sale now at The Center Box Office, online at The Center’s Web site at www.ocpac.org by phone through Ticketmaster at (714) 740-7878 or (213) 365-3500 and at all Ticketmaster outlets. The Center’s TTY number is (714) 556-2746. A PreView lecture will be presented one hour prior to each performance. The Friday, July 25 PreView lecture at 7 p.m. will be sign language interpreted. Programming and casts are subject to change.
COSTA MESA, CA : The New York Post has called American Ballet Theatre "one of the wonders of the dance world." Few companies can match the star power and bravura dancing of ABT. On July 22-24, the company will bring two virtuoso programs from their New York Season to the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s Segerstrom Hall. The first program will include the West Coast premiere of Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison, the company’s West Coast premiere of The Dream, Sir Fredrick Ashton’s elegant interpretation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. Alessandra Ferri and Ethan Stiefel, who danced the leads in the ABT premiere of The Dream in New York last year, will recreate their roles during one of the company’s Center performances. The second program will be the full-length Don Quixote, choreographed by Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky and staged by Kevin McKenzie and Susan Jones. Complete casting will be announced closer to the engagement. Each work showcases the breathtaking athleticism and lyrical beauty of ABT’s world-renowned dancers and together form a truly spectacular climax to The Center’s 2002-2003 International Dance Series.
Media sponsor for The Center’s International Classic Dance Season is The Los Angeles Times. Underwriting is provided by Mrs. A.A. Burnand, The William J. Gillespie Foundation and Judy Fluor Runels and Dick Runels in memory of Gregory Osborne.
The first program presented during this engagement of ABT at The Center will include three repertory works: the West Coast premiere of Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison, the West Coast premiere of ABT’s production of The Dream and George Blanchine’s bravura piece, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux.
American Ballet Theatre salutes the man who was once known as "the Quiet Beatle" with Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison, a work that evokes many facets of this fascinating music icon. Harrison, who passed away November 29, 2001, helped shape The Beatles’ sound and was known for his thought-provoking hit songs, including "My Sweet Lord." In the ballet, "My Sweet Lord" was choreographed by David Parsons, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was choreographed by Ann Reinking, "I Dig Love" and " Within You Without You" were choreographed by Natalie Weir and "Something" and "Isn’t It a Pity" were choreographed by Stanton Welch.
David Parsons is artistic director of the David Parsons Dance Company. He has created works for the Paul Taylor Dance Company, New York City Ballet, National Ballet of Canada and Atlanta Ballet. The Nederlands Dans Theater I and III , English National Opera, Paris Opera Ballet and Feld Ballets/NY are among the many companies that have performed his works. Parsons was one of only six choreographers in the nation chosen by the American Dance Festival to choreograph a new work for The Millennium Project.
Ann Reinking studied at the San Francisco Ballet School and with Robert Joffrey. She has earned numerous accolades for her work on Broadway and in films and television, including the Tony. for her choreography of Chicago and Fosse. She has also created original works for the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Ballet Hispanico and Missouri State Ballet.
Natalie Weir, from Australia, was a founding member of Expressions Dance Company and choreographer-in-residence for The Australian Ballet. She has created works for American Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet, The Australian Ballet, The West Australian Ballet Company, Australian Dance Theatre and Dance North.
Stanton Welch, also from Australia, began his career with The Australian Ballet as a dancer. He is now a choreographer-in-residence for the company. In 1992 he was voted Best New Choreographer in London by readers of Dance and Dancers magazine. He has also choreographed for the Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, American Ballet Theatre, The Royal Ballet School, Houston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and Dancer’s Company.
Costumes for Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison were designed by Catherine Zuber. The jeans were provided by cK CALVIN KLEIN JEANS.
The Dream is a one-act version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to music by Felix Mendelssohn and one of the most celebrated works created by Sir Fredrick Ashton for The Royal Ballet. It premiered in 1964. ABT mounted this work for the first time last May. As ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie noted, it embodies the lyricism, lightness, precision and power of the British style. According to the company, the artists who danced as Tatania and Oberon in the New York premiere, Alessandra Ferri and Ethan Steifel, are scheduled to recreate their roles during one of the Orange County performances.
Alessandra Ferri is one of today’s reigning prima ballerinas. She has danced with Britain’s Royal Ballet, winning a Sir Laurence Olivier Award in 1982 for her performance in Valley of Shadows. Ferri is noted for her spectacular interpretations in both the contemporary and classical repertories, most notably works by Kenneth McMillan, John Cranko, Fredrick Ashton and Roland Petit. She is a permanent guest artist with La Scala Ballet. Joan Acocella of The New Yorker magazine called Ethan Stiefel "the most advanced dancer in the world." His astonishing repertory includes works created by Kenneth McMillan, John Cranko, Macho Duato, Lar Lubovitch, Jerome Robins, George Balanchine, William Forsythe and Jiri Kylian to name only a few many specifically for him. He has appeared on PBS telecasts and in the motion picture Center Stage.
A critique of the Ballet is as follows:
The American Ballet Theatre lived up to the hype and beauty last week at the gorgeous Orange County Performing Arts Center. In the Mixed Repertory, the Company performed three different ballets. The first was "The Dream", choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton and based on Shakespeare’s "A Midsummer Night’s Dream." This spectacular one-act ballet with a serene forested fairyland setting involves some exquisite dancing in this love story. It includes many of the cast as fairies and many soloists dancing to music by Felix Mendelssohn conducted by Ormsby Wilkins. Very awe inspiring. Joaquin De Luz from Spain got the loudest audience ovation with his magnificent bravura performance. His tours and big jumps were especially notable.
Next up was the incredible partnership of Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Belotserkovsky, both from the Kiev in the Ukraine. Their ballet was "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux", truly classical. The dancers’ solos and grand pas were especially graceful in this George Balanchine ballet, with Tchaikovsky’s music played by the great orchestra.
The last piece, "Within You Without You", was my favorite part of the night and involved many of the dancers shining in choreography by David Parsons, Ann Reinking, Natalie Weir, and Stanton Welch to 7 popular George Harrison songs. Many of the dancers wore Calvin Klein Jeans, which gave a different look as the evening turned a bit more contemporary. There was some great choreography which combined acrobatics with the fluid grace of modern and classical ballet.
The American Ballet Theatre is widely acclaimed and tours all over the USA and internationally. It is a must-see when it comes to your area. The dancers are world-reknowned and come from all over including the USA, South America, and Europe, to name a few places. ABT is breath-taking and includes athleticism, beauty, fluidity, and grace.