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JANUARY 24, 2010 KIM ESPINOSA
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Finnish Choreographer Jorma Elo Creates His First Work for the Company in Raising the Barre in May 2011
From May 26 – June 5, 2011, Houston Ballet presents a powerhouse of twenty-first century ballet in its spring mixed repertory program entitled Raising the Barre. The program features a world premiere by the celebrated Finnish choreographer Jorma Elo, an American premiere by Christopher Bruce and a company premiere by Christopher Wheeldon.
"Raising the Barre is a fresh look at contemporary ballet over the past decade in America. The pieces are a reflection of America with Bruce's Grinning in Your Face, which is a portrait of American life in the 1930s, Elo's new work being choreographed in America and Wheeldon's Rush also choreographed in America," states Mr. Welch.
"I am excited for Houston Ballet to have a new work by Jorma. Houston audiences have loved the Kylián ballets and Jorma is a product of Kylián's company. His choreographic style is unique, mixing Kylián’s influence into classical ballet," notes Mr. Welch. "I first saw Jorma choreographing at San Francisco Ballet and I instantly loved his style. The way he worked in the studio with the dancers, demonstrating his choreography, made me think Houston Ballet needs him in our studios."
Mr. Elo, who has created pieces for American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and New York City Ballet, among others, is currently the resident choreographer at Boston Ballet. He trained at the Finnish National Ballet School and The Kirov Ballet School. From 1978-1984 he danced with Finnish National Ballet, with Cullberg Ballet from 1984-1990, and in 1990 he joined Netherlands Dance Theatre. Mr. Elo worked with renowned choreographers such as Hans van Manen, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, Jirí Kylián and William Forsythe. In 2005 he was awarded the choreographic prize at the Helsinki International Ballet Competition.
Hailed by The New York Times as "one of the most vividly satisfying constructions by him or any other ballet choreographer in this decade," Christopher Wheeldon's Rush is anchored around a dazzling pas de deux and features two principals, four soloists, and a corps de ballet of 10 dancers. The work is set to Bohuslav Martinu's Sinfonietta La Jolla for chamber orchestra and piano. Writing in Dance View Times, critic Rita Felciano described Rush's choreography:
"The choreography plays with off-kilter balances and segments the upper body and the arms. There is a robust quality to the dancers, in part emphasized by the strong colors in both costumes (Jon Morrell) and lighting design (Mark Stanley). The choreography has a windswept, pushing ahead quality to it." (March 1, 2004)
Born in Somerset, England, Mr. Wheeldon began his ballet training when he was eight years old, and later trained at The Royal Ballet School. In 1991 he joined The Royal Ballet and also won the gold medal at the Prix de Lausanne competition. In 1993, Mr. Wheeldon was invited to become a member of New York City Ballet, where he rose to the rank of soloist in 1998. He began choreographing for New York City Ballet with Slavonic Dances for the 1997 Diamond Project. After creating Mercurial Manoeuvers (2000), he retired from dancing to concentrate on his choreographic work. During New York City Ballet's 2000-2001 season, Mr. Wheeldon served as the company's first-ever artist in residence, creating two ballets: Polyphonia and VariationsSérieuses.
In July 2001 he was named New York City Ballet's first resident choreographer. Since that time, Mr. Wheeldon has choreographed several ballets for the company, including Morphoses (2002), Liturgy (2003) and After the Rain (2005). He has also created ballets for such companies as The Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet and Boston Ballet. In November 2006, Mr. Wheeldon announced the formation of his own dance company, Morphoses. In its first season, the company performed in Vail, London and New York.
Houston Ballet has two works by Mr. Wheeldon in its repertory, Carnival of the Animals, which entered the company's repertory in 2007, and Carousel (A Dance), which entered the repertory in 2009. Set to music of the same name by the blues guitarist Martin Simpson, Mr. Bruce's Grinning in Your Face evokes a Midwest American community in the 1930s and features many of the hallmarks of Mr. Bruce's work: conflict, love and rejection, and folksy humor. The work was originally created for Rambert Dance Company in 2001.
"Grinning in Your Face is a ballet about America. Christopher choreographed the piece on Rambert, but requested it be brought to Houston in order for Americans to dance a work that is deeply rooted here," remarks Mr. Welch.
Hailed by London's The Daily Telegraph as "the Nureyev of contemporary ballet," Mr. Bruce was appointed Houston Ballet associate choreographer in 1989 and has staged nine acclaimed works for the company including Ghost Dances (1981), Land (1985) and Swansong (1987). He has created four works especially for Houston Ballet: Gautama Buddha (1989), Journey (1990), Nature Dances (1992) and Hush (2006). Over the last 18 years, Houston Ballet has emerged as Mr. Bruce's artistic home in America.
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HOUSTON BALLET OVERVIEW
All performances listed here are in Wortham Theater Center.
RAISING THE BARRE
SPRING MIXED REPERTORY PROGRAM
WORLD PREMIERE BY JORMA ELO
Costume Designs by Holly Hynes
GRINNING IN YOUR FACE (2001)
American Premiere
Music by Martin Simpson
Choreography by Christopher Bruce
Costume Designs by Marian Bruce
Lighting by John B. Read, recreated by Christina R. Giannelli
RUSH (2003)
Houston Ballet Premiere
Music by Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959), Sinfonietta La Jolla for chamber orchestra and piano
Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon
Costume Designs by Jon Morrell
Houston Ballet's spring repertory program will feature a powerhouse of 21st century ballet, including a world premiere by the celebrated Finnish choreographer Jorma Elo, an American premiere by Christopher Bruce and a company premiere by Christopher Wheeldon. Hailed by The New York Times as "one of the most vividly satisfying constructions by him or any other ballet choreographer in this decade," Christopher Wheeldon's Rush is anchored around a dazzling pas de deux, and features two principals, four soloists, and a corps de ballet of ten dancers. Set to music of the same name by the blues guitarist Martin Simpson, Christopher Bruce's Grinning in Your Face evokes a Midwest American community in the 1930s, and features many of the hallmarks of Mr. Bruce's work: conflict, love and rejection, and folksy humor. Also on the program is Houston Ballet's first commissioned work by one of Europe's most in-demand dance makers, Jorma Elo.
At 7:30 PM on May 26, 28, and June 3, 4, 2011
At 2:00 PM on May 29, and June 5, 2011
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Full season subscriptions, with tickets to six productions, range in price from $78 to $996, depending on seat location and date of performances. To subscribe, call (713) 5-BALLET (713-522-5538) or purchase online at www.houstonballet.org.
SINGLE TICKETS
Single tickets go on sale Monday, August 2, 2010 and may be purchased by calling 713-227-ARTS (713-227-2787) or purchased online at www.houstonballet.org.
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