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“Les Voyages de l’Amour: Operatic Flights from 18th-Century France” features “Les Sauvages” from Rameau’s Les Indes galantes, and “L’Espagne” from Campra’s L’Europe galante. A collaboration between Les Petits Violons; Mathieu Langlois, director, the Cornell Chamber Orchestra; Chris Younghoon Kim, conductor, and the New York Baroque Dance Company; Catherine Turocy, director and choreographer, with guest vocalists Paul Shipper, Owen McIntosh, Ross Hauck, and Rebecca Choate Beasley. Funded, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the French Studies Program, and the Cornell Council for the Arts, as well as the Institute for European Studies, Society for the Humanities, Department of Romance Studies, Cornell University Library, and the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance. Admission: $15 general, $8 students, available at http://.baileytickets.com, Ticket Center Ithaca, and at the door. A pre-concert lecture at 2 PM will present seldom-seen images from Cornell’s rare book collection.

Don’t miss the Radio Interview with Catherine Turocy and James Richman on WRR-FM (101.1) Art Matters!!!

The interview will be part of the WRR-FM (101.1) Art Matters broadcasts of Sunday, Feb. 5 (5:30 pm) and Thursday, Feb. 9 (6:30 pm) after which it can be heard via podcast:  wrr101.com

Our Next Concert:

Chamber Music and Dance from Versailles and London

Sarah Edgar, Dancer, photo by Jacqueline Chambord

 

Sunday, 12 February 2012, 7pm at SMU Caruth Auditorium call 1-800-494-8497 for tickets or visit www.dalasbach.org

 

Sunday, February 12th at 7pm: Fly to Dallas for a Pre-Valentine’s Day Treat and see Chamber Music and Dance from Versailles and London.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link for more information and tickets: http://dallasbach.org/concerts/Chamber-Music-Dance

Location:  Caruth Auditorium at SMU

The Dallas Bach Society, directed by James Richman, and The New York Baroque Dance Company, directed by Catherine Turocy, will present works from the courts of Louis XIV and XV in France and Queen Anne and George I in England.

To open the program there will be a presentation of Mr. Priest’s Minuet by 12 young dancers selected from a public audition in the Dallas Metroplex.  They have attended a workshop offered by Ms.Turocy and hosted by the School of Contemporary Ballet Dallas which covered period dance notation, court etiquette and the minuet. Dancing Master, Josiah Priest (or Preist as his name was sometimes spelled) and his wife, Frances, directed an academy for young ladies at Gorge’s House in Chelsea.

This will be followed by Mr. Shirley’s Minuet for six dancers performed by the company.  Both minuets are from the same collection of dances used in the education of young girls at boarding schools in 18th century in England and in the colonies. The Diana created by Mr. Siris for the first Lady Diana Spencer when she was only 14 years of age and The Camillafollowed by Le Carillon d’Oxfort (an English country dance published as a French contredanse in Paris in 1706) will complete the first set of dances.

The French theater dance set begins with L’Entrée d’Apolon. Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, took the role of Apollo when he performed in court ballets.  The dance music is from 1681 and the notation was published in 1700 so it is probable that Louis XIV did not dance this specific work; however, it is a virtuosic solo worthy of a king’s admiration. The Chaconne de Phaeton and a Venetian gigue complete this set.

The French Opera-Ballet Project funded by the National Endowment for the Arts makes it possible to present dance excerpts from Jean Philippe Rameau’s Les Fêtes de Ramire.  The concert will close with the very popular and famous Les Folies d’Espagne.

  The NYBDC dancers include Catherine Turocy, Carly Fox, Glenda Norcross, Meggi Sweeney Smith, Junichi Fukuda, Olsi Gjeci and Gregory Youdan.    

This concert will be repeated on February 17, 2012 in Le Touquet, France

  Le Touquet, founded in 1912 and celebrating their 100th anniversary, has invited us to perform this same program with James Richman, conductor.  Follow this link for details:

 http://www.lesmalinsplaisirs.com/Les-Malins-Plaisirs.php?page=programme&NB=Jour1

 

The New York Baroque Dance Company and Concert Royal in APAP Showcase January 7, 2012

photo: Julie Lemberger

Come to a gala showcase featuring 6 of the finest world-class early music ensembles, produced by GEMS Live! We will be last on the program dancing The Diana, Gigue pour Femme and Les Folies d’Espagne with dancers Carly Fox, Alexis Silver, Meggi Sweeney Smith, Catherine Turocy, Justin Coates, Olsi Gjeci and Gregory Youdan

Suggested donation at the door is $5. No tickets required — Come early for the best seats

DATE: Saturday, January 7, 2012

TIME: 7:00 – 10:00 pm

PLACE: Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church (Chapel)

7 West 55th Street

http://gemsny.org/apapshowcase2012.html  Click Link to see the other exciting groups sharing this 3 hour program of early music and dance.

 

DANCE OF THE MONTH: January 7th with Catherine Turocy,  Le Menuet Rondeau d’Omphale

Join Catherine Turocy earlier in the day from 3-4:30pm at Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn on 3 Lafayette Avenue (corner of Flatbush).  The Minuet class  will be accompanied on flute by Elaine Camin.  The basic minuet step with variations will be taught. The class will learn the first figure of a Minuet from Omphale, a five act opera by Andre Cardinal Destouches.  Ms. Turocy will also speak about the changes in the minuet from the beginning to the end of the 18th century. This is a general class for all levels of experience and is of interest to dance, music, drama and art enthusiasts and practitioners.  Classes are only $14 and you are not required to register in advance.

 

Dance Audition/Workshop
Girls 9-13 years of age
Audition Date: Sunday, January 29 from 3-5pm
Place: Contemporary Ballet Dallas School
1902 Abrams Parkway, Dallas, TX 75214
214.821.2066, email: admin2@schoolofcbd.com
Audition fee: $15
Workshop Feb. 4-5-11 from 3-5pm is free
Pre-registration is encouraged

The New York Baroque Dance Company is looking for 12 young dancers,  between the ages of 9 and 13, to perform Mr. Preist’s Minuet, originally created for a girl’s school outside of London circa 1711.  The performance is with the Dallas Bach Society at Caruth Auditorium, February 12, 2011 at 7pm.  Prior ballet training is essential.  The twelve dancers selected from the audition will learn  the minuet in a 3 day free workshop held at the Contemporary Ballet Dallas School and taught by Catherine Turocy.  The workshop, in addition to teaching the dance to be performed, will include an introductory lesson in reading Feuillet dance notation and a lesson in proper court etiquette at the time of the first Lady Diana, ancestor of today’s Prince William and Prince Harry.

The Dancing Master, Josiah Priest, or Preist as his name was sometimes spelled, and his wife, Frances,  directed an academy for young ladies at Gorge’s House in Chelsea.  According to Jennifer Thorp, we are not certain this is the same Priest, but there is documentation  of a performer in London  by the name of Priest who is sometimes connected with the Stuart Court, “for in April 1673 a dancer named Isaac was one of several dancers (along with Mr. Priest) who performed as Venetians, a Spaniard, a Conjuror, Devils, and Shepherds, in a masquerade for King Charles II’s illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth (see Fig. 1). Mr. Isaac received ‘A Rich flowerd Venetian suite with all furnitures’ costing £28 17s 6d, and ‘A Spanish habitt’ costing £8 6s 2d, and either he or another Mr. Isaac and three others (Messrs Priest, Hazzard and Laine) each received a ‘bask habitt’, at 11 guineas per outfit. Two years later, in February 1675, Mr. Isaac was paid for his part in the Whitehall production of the masque Calisto, in which members of the royal family and the court performed alongside French and English professional dancers. Although he never held an official post at Court, it is known that he taught Princess Anne…”  Please visit this site for the sale of the Dance Journal Research issue which contains this fascinating article by Thorp: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/dar/summary/v024/24.2thorp.html.

This free workshop offers an extraordinary opportunity to delve into the beginnings of ballet and to be introduced to the social connections at court which helped to support and develop the art form. The performing experience in joining The New York Baroque Dance Company on stage as a prelude to their concert with the Dallas Bach Society, Chamber Music and Dance from Versailles and London, will be a unique event in any child’s education as a young dancer.

Click to find information on the  Santa Barbara Historical Dance Weekend

Dancing the Jig is the solution, not a tighter corset!

 

The Jig is energetic and was popular in balls of the 18th century.  It may be the secret behind the phrase, “Fit as a Fiddle” … The fiddle was the instrument most associated with the jig or gigue -French , or giga, Italian- it was also a medieval name for a bowed instrument-geige- which is where the German word for violin is derived.

Meggi Sweeney Smith will teach the jig and Bach’s gigue on Saturday, December 3rd, from 3-4:30pm, accompanied by live music.  Class fee is only $14. The location is the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn at 3 Lafayette Avenue.  http://markmorrisdancegroup.org/contact/directions

November Activities

Saturday, November 5: Dance of the Month, the Sarabande 

For the Dance of the Month, November 5th, Meggi Sweeney Smith will teach the sarabande and demonstrate her interpretation of the sarabande from Bach’s unaccompanied cello suite # 3 in C Major.

We are very excited that Christine Gummere will be joining us for the class and playing her cello for the demonstration.

When: Saturday November 5, 2011, 3:30-5pm

Cost: $14.00

Where: Mark Morris Dance Center

Address:t 3 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn, NY (corner of Flatbush Ave).

http://markmorrisdancegroup.org/contact/directions

 Sunday, November 13 at 7:30 pm

BAROQUE DANCES, THEN AND NOW: : PART III

Zara Lawler, flute; Anthony Newman, piano and Featuring NY Baroque Dancers: Meggi Sweeney Smith and Olsi Gjeci

Bach: Suite for solo flute; Newman: Suite for solo flute; Bach: Sonata in B minor for flute and piano, BWV 1030;  Newman: Sonata Populare for flute and piano

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011French Heritage Society (FHS) will honor The Royal Families of Fontainebleau at the Metropolitan Club, 1 East 60th Street at the 4th Annual Gala Dinner Dance.

The event is held under the high patronage of His Excellency François Delattre, Ambassador of France to the U.S. and Ambassador Gérard Araud, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations and Mr. Philippe Lalliot, Consul General of France in New York.  The New York Baroque Dance Company will be performing a short suite of dances in the opening ceremonies.

http://sociallysuperlative.com/2011/09/19/french-heritage-society-4th-gala-dinner-dance/

Our most recent Press for Teseo 

is from Opera Con Brio and gives a long and descriptive look at this cutting edge production given this past June at the Handel Festival in Goettingen, Germany. Here is the link to the review:

http://www.operaconbrio.com/teseo.pdf

This Saturday, October 1, from 3-4:30 pm

Dance of the Month with Guest Teacher Carlos Fittante in a Baroque dance and Balinese mask workshop

All Hallow’s Eve/All Saints Day, El Dia de los Muertos, holidays built upon a universal human need to embrace the mystery of the life-death and rebirth cycle, as well as to honor ancestors and departed loved ones. Carlos Fittante, former company member with the New York Baroque Dance Company and artistic director of BALAM Dance Theatre, a contemporary dance company inspired by Balinese theatre, will conduct a movement class combining Baroque dance with Balinese mask work. Class participants will be lead through a fun and imaginative movement exploration in expressing archetypal patterns. No previous background in these skills required.

Where: Mark Morris Dance Center at 3 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn, NY (corner of Flatbush Ave).  http://markmorrisdancegroup.org/contact/directions

Cost: $14 per class


Saturday September 17 from 3-5 pm

Master Class: “Find Your Baroque Body “

Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn

http://markmorrisdancegroup.org/contact/directions

Beatrice Massin and Catherine Turocy will teach a masterclass “Find Your Baroque Body.”  This class is open to the professional dance community of performers, teachers and students.  Separately, Massin and Turocy have developed their own methods involving improvisation and spatial concepts which gives a 21st century dancer a window looking into the complexities of motion and expression from the Baroque period.  Beatrice will teach for 50 minutes and Catherine will teach during the second half of the class.  This will be followed by a 20 minute discussion.  Dancers from Beatrice’s company, Fetes Galantes, and from the NYBDC will also be in attendance. Tuition is $20.

Sunday September 18 at 7:30pm

BAROQUE DANCES, THEN AND NOW: PART I

http://carnegieroom.org/index.php/directions

Featuring Anthony Newman, New York Baroque Dance Company

Carnegie Room Concerts presents world renowned Baroque musician, Anthony Newman, in three concerts featuring both new and old dances composed in the Baroque style. Each concert will include appearances by dancers from the NY Baroque Dance Company, who will demonstrate various Baroque Dances while sharing the social customs that go with it. Performers: Danielle Farina, viola; Anthony Newman, piano and Featuring NY Baroque Dancers: Alexis Silver and Joy Havens.

Saturday September 24,  two performances at 7:00pm  and 9:30pm

French Opera-Ballet Project

92nd Street Y, Buttenweiser Hall, New York City

http://www.92y.org/Uptown/Event/The-French-Opera-Ballet.aspx

Live music played on period instruments by Concert Royal directed by James Richman on harpsichord with Cynthia Roberts, Baroque violin; Sandra Miller, Baroque flute and Brent Wissick, viola da gamba. Dancers: Carly Fox, Rachel List, Meggi Sweeney Smith, Alexis Silver, Justin Coates, Olsi Gjeci and Gregory Youdan.

Join us for an hour of French opera-ballet in concert followed by an hour of social dance from the 18th century where the audience is invited to join the dancers of the company in learning Le Menuet de la Reine, a contredanse from 1706. This evening promises to be a pleasure not to be missed with music by Lully, Rameau and Clérambault played on period instruments featuring 7 dancers in Baroque costume and soprano Lianne Coble,

The program will be offered twice: 7pm and again at 9:30pm

Coffee and cookies will be served during the social dance hour when you are dancing or just staying to chat and watch the fun!

Sunday September 25 at 7:30pm

Baroque Dances, Then And Now, Part II

http://carnegieroom.org/index.php/directions

Featuring Anthony Newman, New York Baroque Dance Company

Carnegie Room Concerts presents world renowned Baroque musician, Anthony Newman, in three concerts featuring both new and old dances composed in the Baroque style. Each concert will include appearances by dancers from the NY Baroque Dance Company, who will demonstrate various Baroque Dances while sharing the social customs that go with it.  Performers: Neos Quartet, Anthony Newman, piano and Featuring NY Baroque Dancers: Carly Fox and Justin Coates.