Image Credit: Gene Schiavone

Bard's Fisher Center for the Performing Arts Presents American Ballet Theatre

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts presents American Ballet Theatre (ABT) on Friday, October 5 and Saturday, October 6 at 8 p.m., and Saturday, October 6 and Sunday, October 7 at 2 p.m. Showcasing the work of some of the foremost American choreographers, the program features Antony Tudor’s The Leaves Are Fading, José Limón’s The Moor’s Pavane, and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room. The performances will be accompanied by the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra. Tickets are $20, $30, $40, and $50. To purchase tickets call the Fisher Center box office at 845-758-900, or go to fishercenter.bard.edu/.

“Once in a not too frequent while, there comes along an evening that reminds you why you’re in the theater in the first place, and why dance is not a luxury or a frill but a necessity of life. Such an evening was American Ballet Theatre.”
—Washington Post

Antony Tudor’s The Leaves Are Fading was created for American Ballet Theatre and is a haunting meditation of youthful romance and time’s bittersweet passing. For this work, Tudor has chosen primarily from Antonín Dvořák’s little-known work, Cypresses for string quartet, together with other chamber music for strings written by the composer in the 1880s. Set to Dvořák’s ravishing score, this was one of Tudor’s last ballets, and it remains one of the major works in the choreographer’s remarkable canon. It was given its world premiere on July 17, 1975, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, New York City.

Considered José Limón’s masterwork, The Moor’s Pavane beautifully distills in one act the passion and dramatic arc of Shakespeare’s Othello. Though subtitled “Variations on a Theme of Othello,” this dance is not intended as a choreographic version of Shakespeare’s play. In the form of a pavane and other dances of the high Renaissance, the legend is told of the hapless Moor, his wrongfully suspected wife, the Moor’s treacherous friend, and the friend’s wife. Performed to a stately Renaissance court dance, this psychological thriller inevitably reaches its heartbreaking climax as the noble Othello succumbs to Iago’s treachery. The four characters portray the tragedy of Everyman, and the ballet is timeless in its implications. Limón chose the music of Henry Purcell, arranged by Simon Sadoff, from “Abdelazer,” “The Gordian Knot Untied,” and the pavane from “Pavane and Chaconne for Strings.” The Moor’s Pavane was first performed at the Palmer Auditorium, Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut, at the Second American Dance Festival on August 17, 1949, and danced by José Limón (The Moor), Betty Jones (The Moor’s Wife), Lucas Hoving (His Friend), and Pauline Koner (His Friend’s Wife). It was first performed by American Ballet Theatre on June 27, 1970 at the New York State Theater and danced by Bruce Marks (The Moor), Royes Fernandez (His Friend), Sallie Wilson (His Friend’s Wife), and Toni Lander (The Moor’s Wife).

Accompanied by music by Philip Glass, Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room is a marathon of exhilarating locomotion. From precise geometric patterns to seemingly free-form motion, Tharp’s rigorous choreography demands something akin to Olympic perfection. First performed by Twyla Tharp Dance on August 26, 1986, at the Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, Illinois, it entered the repertory of American Ballet Theatre on December 10, 1988, at Segerstrom Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa, California.

American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancers performing are Roberto Bolle, Herman Cornejo, Marcelo Gomes, Julie Kent, Veronika Part, Xiomara Reyes, Polina Semionova, Hee Seo, and Cory Stearns. Kevin McKenzie is the company’s artistic director.   

About American Ballet Theatre

Recognized as one of the premier dance companies in the world, American Ballet Theatre brings the highest quality dance and dancers to audiences across the globe. Celebrating its role as America’s National Ballet Company®, ABT tours nationally and internationally, performing for more than 400,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1940, ABT developed a repertoire under the direction of Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith that honored the past while encouraging the development of the art form through the creation of new works. Classics from the 19th century such as Swan Lake, Giselle, and The Sleeping Beauty live side by side with seminal works of the early 20th century such as Apollo, Les Sylphides, Jardin aux Lilas, and Rodeo, as well as such contemporary masterpieces as Push Comes to Shove and Airs. ABT has commissioned works by the great choreographic geniuses of the 20th century: George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille, and Twyla Tharp, among others.

Under the artistic direction of former ABT Principal Dancer Kevin McKenzie, the Company remains steadfast in its vision as “American” and continues to bring the art of dance theater to the great stages of the world.

For tickets, phone the Fisher Center Box Office 845-758-7900, or visit www.fishercenter.bard.edu.

Programs and performances are subject to change.

To download color photographs of American Ballet Theatre, visit www.fishercenter.bard.edu/press.

For more information on American Ballet Theatre, please visit www.abt.org.

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9/17/12

This event was last updated on 07-13-2013

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