Legacy and interpretation in the works of Isadora Duncan
Archive for the ‘General News’ Category
Catherine Gallant, Isadora Master Teacher, at our Summer Workshop, Mystic Fountain
Posted in General News on April 30, 2019|
March 19 in Dallas!
Posted in General News on March 12, 2019|
The Baroque Salon, March 19 in Dallas at Moody Performance Hall!
Posted in General News on February 22, 2019|
The Duchesse du Maine. portrayed above in the Astronomy Lesson by François de Troy, was a patron of the arts in France. Born as Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon (1676-1753), she suffered from a lame arm and dwarf-like stature; she was abused as a child; and at 15 years of age she was forced to marry a man she did not love. Both she and her husband were later imprisoned for their political views in a battle for the Regency after the death of Louis XIV.
However, despite these challenges, she developed her salon in the early 18th century where she created a liberal environment which contributed to the “salon culture,” transforming politics, culture and art.
In our March 19th appearance with the Dallas Bach Society we are celebrating the month of March, dedicated to women.
Featured works on the program are:
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The Cantata: Jonas (from Cantates Françaises sur des sujets tirés de l’écriture) by Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre and sung by Julianna Emanski.
Bay area Early Dance Festival (aka: B.E.D.) January 20, 2019
Posted in General News on January 2, 2019|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jennifer Meller
Phone: 323-791-6769
Email: jenbeast@gmail.com
Announcing the very first Bay area Early Dance Festival on January
20, 2019, 8pm at the ODC Dance Commons in San Francisco,
California.
The BED Festival is the brainchild of local dancers Carlos Venturo
and Jennifer Meller, who met at a baroque and renaissance dance workshop in 2012 and decided something needed to be done about the lack of resources for the study and practice of historical dance forms in the Bay Area.
Jennifer and Carlos plan to produce the festival of workshops and
performances every two years and to include a widening range of
dance styles and historical periods, workshops for musicians, and
sessions for the exchange of ideas around community-building,
preservation, fresh approaches, with a special interest in exploring
the connections between early dance forms and modern dance. It
will be held in January which is usually a quiet time for teachers and
students, and a nice time to visit California for those in colder
climates.
The first BED fest will consist of one low-key performance by
participants of a weekend baroque dance workshop January 18-20
held in Studio B at ODC. The workshop is taught by Catherine
Turocy, artistic director of The New York Baroque Dance Company
(NYBDC) and recipient of this year’s Isadora Duncan Award for her
reconstruction of 1745 opera “Le Temple de La Gloire” at
CalPerformances.
The festival will include performances by special
guest dancer Sarah Edgar, associate director of NYBDC, and live
music provided by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale
educational director Lisa Grodin leading students from San Francisco
Music Conservatory.
Start the New Year with a Gavotte: Meggi Sweeney Smith teaches Dance of the Month Saturday, January 5, 2019
Posted in General News on January 2, 2019|
January 5, 2019 Dance of the Month with Meggi Sweeney Smith
Continuing her lesson on the gavotte, Meggi says: “We will use our physical practice to help one another confidently embody the weight shifts and quality of ease that are part of this form while expanding our listening practice and understanding of Bach’s French Suites!”
Have you recently googled gavotte? There are so many descriptions of the dance as a kissing dance, a dance from the Alps, a moderate dance, a fast dance, a dance which was usually followed by the minuet…but what is it, really? Looking at a particular time period and composer helps to bring clarity and this is what Meggi will be offering on January 5th. Class will begin with a warm-up and then move into step sequences and patterns. This will be an energetic class and a good way to start the New Year! All are welcome. Pay at the front desk.
Time: January 5, 2019 from 3:30-5:30, Studio B
Place: Mark Morris Dance Center at 3 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn
Cost: $17
5% of Our Donations to Haiti Artists
Posted in General News on December 5, 2018|
Click Here to donate online to NYBDC via PayPal
The New York Baroque Dance Company Cultivates…
Posted in General News on September 3, 2018|
The New York Baroque Dance Company provides an important entry into the world of Baroque dance and music for its company dancers. Trained by Catherine Turocy, Artistic Director and Associate Directors Caroline Copeland and Sarah Edgar in period performance technique, the dancers are also encouraged to be involved in projects outside the company. Reading the dance notation, developing their research skills and expanding their knowledge of the general culture from the period are skills the dancers must pursue on their own. These skills are not learned in a dance rehearsal. However, dancers do gain insight into these skills through their NYBDC performances. Being a good dancer does not automatically mean one is equipped to stage direct or choreograph…but it is a start!
This past summer Alexis Silver was the choreographer for the new Aquilon Music Festival in Oregon. She worked on the fully-staged opera premiere of La Chûte de Phaëton, a commedie en musique, from 1694. For a fuller account of the festival and its activities Click here.
Olsi Gjeci taught his first Baroque dance intensive in Lisbon, Portugal on July 30th. Currently he is expanding his research into dance notation, often involving his wife, dancer Diana Seabra as his partner. Olsi is a true “citizen of the world” and is having an incredible impact on dance through his web platform UMUV. An experienced modern dancer (formerly with Trisha Brown) as well as an accomplished modern dance choreographer himself, we are looking forward to Olsi’s deeper journey into the Baroque!
Last April Brynt Beitman choreographed a solo and performed for the City Choir of Washington in their tribute to Maestro Shafer’s fiftieth anniversary as a conductor in Washington, DC. Already a contemporary choreographer, it is exciting to see Brynt’s interest in combining the new with the old.
Looking back, I first met Sarah Edgar as a scholarship student at our summer workshop in Napa in 1998. She has accomplished so much since then. Be sure to catch her work as stage director at the end of September for Handel’s Serse at Haymarket Opera in Chicago.
Workshop with New Mexico Ballet and Dance Preservation Fund Grant!
Posted in General News on June 19, 2018|
BALLET OF THE SEVEN PLANETS WORKSHOPTaught by Catherine TurocyWhere: New Mexico Ballet 10410 Comanche Rd NE
Albuquerque, NM 87111When: July 23-27, 9:30am-12:30pmCost: $150.00Hosted by New Mexico Ballet and funded in part by the Dance Preservation Fund of The Ohio State Universityfor more information call Mariel McEwan 323-578-0846Dance as Science: In the magnificent and opulent court entertainments of Louis XIV, early ballet was considered both an art and a science. The body was trained as a highly functioning instrument of artistic expression revealing the movements of the soul within the dancer. Through both the lines of motion felt within the body and outside the body… whether executing a dance phrase or in creating spatial geometrical patterns of choreography on the stage, through thiese lines, the dancer spins the story of the ballet. These lines of geometry were part of a larger aesthetic ruled by measurements believed to be at the heart of universal harmony and joining the earth with the heavens.As a dancer, I have used the philosophical concepts of the body being the microcosm of the macrocosm of nature and in harmony with the golden ratio. Perhaps the secret behind my performance persona comes from this ability to use the body both physically and dramatically within this structure which is still valid in dance performance today.The workshop will take students through early ballet concepts of theory, technique and performance practice. The morning session will look at technique and complicated dance phrases. Using a smaller movement range than we do today, students will experience a heightened sense of fine motor skills. They will be able to add this new mastery of the muscles to their modern training thus enhancing their abilities to add a subtle air or color to their own performance practice.The morning session will use music from the Ballet of the Seven Planets as well as additional music. We will also look at opera text using the aria of Venus to see how expressive movement and pantomime can be combined to enhance the sung text. Ballets in the 17th and 18th cenuries often wove together the sung and danced air to make a suite.The 9:30-12:30am sessions will be my chance as a choreographer to experiment with phrases and to begin to set the Ballet of the Seven Planets as I would like to use it in the planetary dome show. After breaking for lunch, from 1-2pm I would like to train specific dancers on how to coach the period dance style with the notion that they could eventually use material learned in the workshop to enhance an educational outreach class touching upon the origins of ballet. This afternoon session is a separate class from the workshop. Poster at right can be downloaded:
The Ostrich and the Fire Salamander in Fairy Queen
Posted in General News on May 17, 2018|
The Ostrich (Glenda Norcross) makes her debut with the Dallas Bach Society in Fairy Queen. Her trainer is the Fire Salamander (Matthew John Ting) and choreographer, Catherine Turocy (The New York Baroque Dance Company. Jane Stein created the ostrich and the salamander. This is a phone video from May 12, 2018 in Dallas at the Northaven United Methodist Church to whom we are so grateful!
Ostrich and Fire Salamander in Fairy Queen to be Performed May 12 with DBS
Posted in General News on May 4, 2018|
One of the advantages to being stage director and choreographer for Fairy Queen is being able to incorporate these magical creations of Jane Stein. Since 1980 she has made masks, crown masks and body puppets for the NYBDC. Come to our performance on May 12 at Northaven United Methodist Church, 7:30pm and bring family and friends! Tickets
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