Working, working, working...
We're hard at work preparing Rush+Robbins, which we open in less than two weeks. Three of the four ballets are completely set and have been rehearsed for the past few weeks, and the fourth, The Cage, is in the works. Bart Cook, a repetiteur from the Robbins Trust, is here teaching The Cage and also taking a look at Afternoon of a Faun (which he staged for us last season) and The Concert (which was staged by Christine Redpath, but Bart is also an expert on the ballet, having danced it many many times).
Other than working on our rep for the regular OBT season, several of us are also participating in various projects which we are hoping will generate new performance and outreach opportunities for us. These projects range from summer gigs to teaching to choreographing for student demonstrations or performances in unusual (for us) venues. There is a lot of exciting energy and impetus behind what's going on outside the realm of what OBT's audiences typically see us doing. Stay tuned for details as things develop further!
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Hello, Ms. Larsen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your continued good work - both here and on the stage. As a relative neophyte to the world of ballet, can you tell me exactly what a "repetiteur" is and why they only participate in selected ballets? Thanks.
A repetiteur is a person who does what we call the "staging" of a ballet. They are appointed by the choreographer (or the choreographer's trust, if they are no longer alive) to teach the choreography to the dancers and rehearse them in it until they are able to perform it at an acceptable standard. The repetiteur also makes sure that the company performing the work has the correct costuming, music, lighting, and stage design in place. Usually they will work with a company for up to several weeks, depending upon the length and size of the piece they're staging. The job of the repetiteur is really important. They have to make sure the choreographer's intent stays intact and the piece remains an honest representation of the origninal choreography, no matter when, where, or by whom it is performed.
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