tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77636558420758510242024-03-05T18:30:40.173-08:00Oregon Ballet TheatreOREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.comBlogger334125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-33149970336297361592011-05-20T15:00:00.000-07:002011-05-20T15:00:01.864-07:00Your Daily Dance Break: Battle of the Giselles - Not just for the ladies<a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program3.html"><i><b>Giselle</b></i></a> is not just all about the ladies. Albrecht, Giselle's prince disguised as a peasant, is one of ballet's most prized roles for men. Barishnykov shows us how it's done, cause 'ya know, he's a DECENT dancer. <br />
<br />
Enjoyed your week of <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><i><b>Carmen</b></i></a>? Loving the week of <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program3.html"><i><b>Giselle</b></i></a>? Get ready for the battle royale of vixens vs. ingenues next week!<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N8__iRsxG_A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-44298502575112989702011-05-19T15:00:00.000-07:002011-05-19T15:00:01.679-07:00Your Daily Dance Break: Battle of the Giselles - Alina CojacaruRounding out the <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program3.html"><i><b>Giselle</b></i></a> pack is Alina Cojacaru in her Wili Pas De Deux with Johan Kobborg. Thoughts? Which Giselle is your favorite so far? <br />
<br />
Enjoyed your week of <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><i><b>Carmen</b></i></a>? Loving the week of <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program3.html"><i><b>Giselle</b></i></a>? Get ready for the battle royale of vixens vs. ingenues next week!<br />
<br />
<iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wysjooQ8DSg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-69509919552540058262011-05-18T15:00:00.000-07:002011-05-18T15:00:04.724-07:00Your Daily Dance Break: Battle of the Giselles - Allesandra FerriFor the next <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program3.html"><i><b>Giselle</b></i></a> contender, we are moving to Act II where she's been transformed into an ethereal Wili (a jilted bride ghost that kills men in the forest at night, obviously). Allesandra Ferri makes one gorgeous ghost. <br />
<br />
Enjoyed your week of <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><i><b>Carmen</b></i></a>? Loving the week of <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program3.html"><i><b>Giselle</b></i></a>? Get ready for the battle royale of vixens vs. ingenues next week!<br />
<br />
<iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Hw1xWvmVXZw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-15342635952002382962011-05-17T15:43:00.000-07:002011-05-17T15:43:19.944-07:00Hello! We've Moved!Just a quick note to let you know that the Oregon Ballet Theatre blog has moved over to Wordpress.<br />
<br />
You'll find the latest Daily Dance Breaks, behind the scenes rehearsal reports and saucy fun social media contests over<a href="http://oregonballettheatre.wordpress.com/"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
Thanks!OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-42942618327921654442011-05-17T15:00:00.000-07:002011-05-17T15:00:00.130-07:00Your Daily Dance Break: Battle of the Giselles - Svetlana ZakharovaNext up is Svetlana Zakharova's interpretation of <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program3.html"><i><b>Giselle</b></i></a>. Spoiler Alert: She goes crazy. <br />
<br />
Enjoyed your week of <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><i><b>Carmen</b></i></a>? Loving the week of <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program3.html"><i><b>Giselle</b></i></a>? Get ready for the battle royale of vixens vs. ingenues next week!<br />
<br />
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Xi5GYXREeXQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-28955499447551726692011-05-13T16:25:00.000-07:002011-05-13T16:25:59.507-07:00Team Carmen vs. Team Giselle: The Tragic Heroine Throwdown Begins!The super-secret social media project we've been working on for weeks is finally ready for launch, and boy are we excited. Without further ado, OBT presents . . .<br />
<br />
THE TRAGIC HEROINE THROWDOWN!<br />
<br />
It's going to be so epic. Click <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_carmen-vs-giselle.html">this link</a> to play!OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-59401716326430785242011-05-13T15:00:00.000-07:002011-05-13T15:00:00.587-07:00Your Daily Dance Break: Carmen, Flamenco StyleHere's a quick, colorful, flamenco variation of <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><i><b>Carmen</b></i></a> to brighten up your Friday.<br />
<br />
Enjoyed your week of <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><i><b>Carmen</b></i></a>? Next week, we'll cross over to the sweethearts and ingenues side for a week of Giselles we have loved...<br />
<br />
<iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FW94UB-s6ec" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-31710997395875705502011-05-13T10:35:00.000-07:002011-05-13T10:35:49.643-07:00Your Daily Dance Break: Carmen Shows Her Vixen SideThis almost NSFW (not safe for work) version features a very sexy Carmen reminding us all that "sweet and innocent" was never a <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><i><b>Carmen</b></i></a> strong suit.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ByWrQVReUY8" width="480"></iframe>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-29644640023887769342011-05-11T15:18:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:24:39.387-07:00Happy Birthday Martha Graham!People the world over are celebrating the 117th birthday of legendary modern dance innovator Martha Graham thanks to a clever motion-capture <a href="http://www.google.com">Google</a> logo.<br />
<br />
Check it out below:<br />
<br />
<iframe src="http://www.33tres.com/doodles/martha_graham.html" width="500" height="300" frameborder="0"></iframe><br />
<br />
You can sneak a peak at the process that created the Google logo here:<br />
<br />
<iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mxuuON4C7_Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
Here's a video of Martha in the iconic dance film <b>Appalachian Spring<i></i></b>.<br />
<br />
<iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/E1o65tCZTWA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
Got a great Martha memory or quote to share? Do tell.OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-77250138719904458662011-05-10T16:24:00.000-07:002011-05-10T16:24:17.215-07:00Two Truths and a Lie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBfDZTl-MpWPxRAykliUPHhEklKlx_Hev58aGR0J7BVoMq5dLCUhZ9tx2sq2KbRPH8g8OfzVjTSEdIOwSHOc3mV8aUH21tnS0YsFfTtYnE5kF0u3lztbcx2aYRRDF5EuWw6oBdcs2DYs/s1600/200px-Georges_bizet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBfDZTl-MpWPxRAykliUPHhEklKlx_Hev58aGR0J7BVoMq5dLCUhZ9tx2sq2KbRPH8g8OfzVjTSEdIOwSHOc3mV8aUH21tnS0YsFfTtYnE5kF0u3lztbcx2aYRRDF5EuWw6oBdcs2DYs/s400/200px-Georges_bizet.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>We've been doing a little research on Georges Bizet (composer of <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><b><i>Carmen</i></b></a>) and we have uncovered some absolutely too good to be true tidbits about him... exactly the sort of racy gossip you would expect of the man who composed the world's most successful opera featuring a decidedly amoral female protagonist.<br />
<br />
Some of the tidbits are so unbelievable, in fact, that we'd like to test you to see if you can spot the fiction versus the facts.<br />
<br />
Ready to play Two Truths and a Lie: the Classical Edition?<br />
<br />
<br />
Here we go:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Although Bizet's death certificate claimed his death was by congestive heart failure, the real reason he died was because he was challenged to a icy swimming duel by the illegitimate son of French composer Charles Valentin-Alkan.</li>
<li>When he was 23, Bizet got himself into a bit of a scrape when it was revealed the Bizet family maid was with child. The family tried to claim that the father was George's dad, Adolphe, but later it was discovered that it was really little Georgie who did the deed.</li>
<li>The Opera Comique (where Carmen debuted) were horrified by what a "debauched" character Carmen was. The Opera's box seats were often used by prospective parents to interview their future daughters-in-law and it was thought that racy, fiery, definitely not ladylike Carmen would give these young women the wrong idea.</li>
</ul>What do you think the real story is? Identify the lie correctly in the comments below and you'll be entered to win tickets to <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><i><b>Petrouchka/Carmen</b></i></a>!OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-91596312269768242952011-05-10T15:00:00.000-07:002011-05-10T15:00:02.057-07:00Your Daily Dance Break: Carmen... with a cigarContinuing our week of <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><i><b>Carmens</b></i></a>, we present you with:<br />
<br />
Shiny skirts, big black balls and Carmen with a cigar... delicious.<br />
<br />
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_IoU4_fDLnM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-72265405506198142182011-05-09T14:44:00.000-07:002011-05-09T14:44:55.599-07:00Your Daily Dance Break: A Ballet BullfightChristopher Stowell will be choreographing an all new world-premiere ballet set to the music of Bizet's <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><i>Carmen<b></b></i></a>. Will it be set in Spain? He won't say. Will Carmen be a cigarette factory girl? He won't say. He will say that he and Nicolo Fonte (choreographing the world premiere <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><i>Petrouchka</i></a></a> that will share the same program with <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><b><i>Carmen</i></b></a>) will be creating ballets that are nothing like any <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><b><i>Carmen</i></b></a> or <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program1.html"><b><i>Petrouchka</i></b></a> you've ever seen.<br />
<br />
That sounded like a challenge to us. So all this week we'll be giving you the opportunity to sample some other ballet versions of<i> <b>Carmen</b></i> so that you will be able to truly assess whether Christopher's vision is "unlike anything you've ever seen."<br />
<br />
For starters, we'll show you the bullfight scene from russian ballerina Maya Plisetskaya's <i><b>Carmen</b></i>.<br />
<br />
SPOILER ALERT: If you don't want to know what happens to Carmen at the end, don't watch the last two minutes...<br />
<br />
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vuxk9qRO7tg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-59930901733102299922011-05-06T13:00:00.000-07:002011-05-06T13:00:15.169-07:00Top SECRET: In Search of a Few Good HamsWe could use a few good hams willing to look a little silly and fun for a great cause. It's for a social media project we are doing this summer.<br />
<br />
Got a few hours to spare tomorrow (Saturday)? Want to earn a pair of tickets to the ballet? Read on.<br />
<br />
What: Super Top Secret Video Social Media Project<br />
When: Saturday, May 7th, 2011<br />
Time: 9 am to 11 am<br />
Location: OBT Studios, 818 SE Morrison<br />
Details: Wear office casual attire (no white or bright red, think something a dull that a cubicle dweller might wear), regular dress casual shoes. Come prepared to learn a super simple choreography. Your two hours of participation with us will earn you a pair of tickets to the show of your choice next season!<br />
<br />
Finished project will be part of a YouTube/Facebook/blog social media project that will be posted this summer in July and August. Come make ballet magic with us!OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-42346630101370936332011-05-06T10:25:00.000-07:002011-05-06T10:25:27.488-07:00Your Daily Dance Break: The First Lady Helps Kids Get Moving!This just in from <a href="http://www.thedailyswarm.com/headlines/first-lady-swags-out-dougie-beyonc-michelle-obama-collaborate-flash-mob/">The Daily Swarm</a>: Michelle Obama teams up with Beyonce to get school kids dancing... and gets caught dancing herself! What a tremendous program and what a brave First Lady!<br />
<br />
<img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border=0 width=0 height=0 src="http://c.gigcount.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEzMDQ3MDI1OTIzNzgmcHQ9MTMwNDcwMjU5ODk5MCZwPTEyNTg*MTEmZD1BQkNOZXdzX1NGUF9Mb2NrZV9FbWJlZCZn/PTUmbz*zZTgyM2M5OTJmNDc*ZjgwYWFiOTlmNjk3Yzc3ZmQyNSZvZj*w.gif" /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,124,0" width="344" height="278" id="ABCESNWID"><param name="movie" value="http://abcnews.go.com/assets/player/walt2.6/flash/SFP_Walt_2_65.swf" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /><param name="flashvars" value="configUrl=http://abcnews.go.com/video/sfp/embedPlayerConfig&configId=406732&clipId=13520446&showId=13520446&gig_lt=1304702592378&gig_pt=1304702598990&gig_g=5" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed src="http://abcnews.go.com/assets/player/walt2.6/flash/SFP_Walt_2_65.swf" quality="high" allowScriptAccess="always" allowNetworking="all" allowfullscreen="true" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="344" height="278" flashvars="configUrl=http://abcnews.go.com/video/sfp/embedPlayerConfig&configId=406732&clipId=13520446&showId=13520446&gig_lt=1304702592378&gig_pt=1304702598990&gig_g=5" name="ABCESNWID"></embed></object>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-81083678160897527672011-05-03T17:31:00.000-07:002011-05-03T17:31:21.036-07:00Enter to Win Season Tickets!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-0qiDNIN3affEpWhT22qVfl9ShjjuUZq2TcgjP_cqfgb5uMm4uDuXgGSGURtxzgBEDT5OrA_s7Y6ORD2ch9oMlVe8lAZv_bbF5b5hT385rirwVcl3DYYNPwq_jQ-XT1M1yrItuBjjmxY/s1600/OBT_11-12_Carmen_KM_AB_RGB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-0qiDNIN3affEpWhT22qVfl9ShjjuUZq2TcgjP_cqfgb5uMm4uDuXgGSGURtxzgBEDT5OrA_s7Y6ORD2ch9oMlVe8lAZv_bbF5b5hT385rirwVcl3DYYNPwq_jQ-XT1M1yrItuBjjmxY/s400/OBT_11-12_Carmen_KM_AB_RGB.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>Would you rather kill for love or die for love?<br />
<br />
That's the question at the heart of our 2011/2012 season.<br />
<br />
Bizet's <i>Carmen</i> puts a lover in harm's way just so another lover can prove his worth...<br />
<br />
Stravinsky's <i>Petrouchka</i> risks it all for love and loses...<br />
<br />
<i>Giselle</i>'s heart bursts before she will take revenge on a lover who betrays her...<br />
<br />
Fortunately for you, neither murder nor suicide is needed to score FREE season tickets to the ballet!<br />
<br />
All you need to do is <a href="https://oss.ticketmaster.com/html/home.htmI?team=obt">click here</a> to sign up for our e-newsletter by creating or updating your online account with us.<br />
<br />
(The link will take you to a Ticketmaster sign up page. Don't worry, all it does is put your email address and preferences into our system so we can keep you up to date on all the bloody backstage goodness.) <br />
<br />
On<b> June 30th</b> we'll choose one lucky<b> e-news subscriber</b> to <b>win a pair of season tickets</b>. Ready? Set? WIN.OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-81799944331409997532011-04-19T11:46:00.000-07:002011-04-19T11:46:31.975-07:00“People Like a Little Glamour” <style>
@font-face {
font-family: "Calibri";
}@font-face {
font-family: "Tahoma";
}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }p.MsoAcetate, li.MsoAcetate, div.MsoAcetate { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 8pt; font-family: Tahoma; }span.BalloonTextChar { font-family: Tahoma; }div.Section1 { page: Sectio
</style><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZlicg4zcQx_Orea7RplNnGBzvZwlYbPz8iOx9UVAiLgjQvVIlZbxsWO6kXfYLj6ODv_czeHdfRHCmSerLuPmg4JD2E3YZnGCzvrkWy1ly5jNWr4ZoT6O73ev-yALoUsPlg4Ld7q9z6To/s1600/BTC_EyesOnYou07_AR%2526RU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Lifelong musical theatre geek Claire Willett interviews Christopher Stowell about her all-time favorite work in the OBT rep: Stowell’s sparkling, sexy, witty Cole Porter ballet </span></i></b><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Eyes On You.</span></b> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ7oQto5wsDhVKZ0bLLGtEe4qGLzGVmE5guLkWxh7sXN944iQ2O2XaiNT74AKNo4HVRvevES-xNPdjSBBcRT7zsE-9hSe6o9LBUGpfzZodxagU1zVg_4Lx0fSOpfd7yDLeU_2ob1qZrpk/s1600/0809_CS_JoniKabana_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ7oQto5wsDhVKZ0bLLGtEe4qGLzGVmE5guLkWxh7sXN944iQ2O2XaiNT74AKNo4HVRvevES-xNPdjSBBcRT7zsE-9hSe6o9LBUGpfzZodxagU1zVg_4Lx0fSOpfd7yDLeU_2ob1qZrpk/s320/0809_CS_JoniKabana_sm.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christopher Stowell. Photo by Joni Kabana. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>What inspired </span></i></b><b><span>Eyes On You<i>?<span> </span>How did you come up with the idea?</i></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Well, the practical reason was doing something to recording [because of] not having finances for live music for that program.<span> </span>We opened in the Newmark that year because of <i>The Lion King,</i> we got kicked out of the Keller . . . so there was no orchestra for that program . . . I needed to make a new ballet and I couldn’t use live music.<span> </span>And my thing with recorded music is, if it’s a great, famous, vintage recording, and it’s something we can’t recreate now, then it’s fine.<span> </span>Like, we had done Paul Taylor’s <i>Company B</i>, which is all Andrews Sisters recordings, so of course you do the recordings, you know – those are the people!<span> </span>You know what I mean?<span> </span>So I was looking for a composer that was fun, and that there were interesting recordings of their work, and I liked the idea of vocals in the program.<span> </span>And then it took a turn when Pamela South said, “Oh my God, I love those songs, I would love to sing them,” and I said, “Well, we don’t have any money for you,” and she said, “Well, let’s not worry about that.”<span> </span>But I had already gotten attached to some recordings, so I said, “How about we alternate between vintage recordings and live?”<span> </span>Which is actually kind of cool, I think.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>So were you, like, a lifelong Cole Porter fan?<span> </span>I know you’re kind of an old-movies buff . . . </span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Not particularly Cole Porter – I discovered actually a lot of songs that I knew, that I didn’t – </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>That you didn’t know were Cole Porter?</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Exactly, and I think we all do that, you know?<span> </span>Like, “Oh, I love that song, who wrote that?<span> </span>Cole Porter.”<span> </span>You could say that about, like, eight hundred times.<span> </span>He wrote ‘em all.<span> </span><i>(Laughs)</i> I don’t remember, but it’s possible that I was not even attached to necessarily Cole Porter strictly in the beginning, but then I saw the wealth of great songs.<span> </span>And what’s really good is that there are a lot of recordings that are not all the same – they’re not all from the same period, they’re not all necessarily sung.<span> </span>Like, “Begin the Beguine” in the ballet is a non-vocal version.<span> </span>“Night and Day” is usually a slow song, but the recording we have of it is fast.<span> </span>So you can have all Cole Porter but you can also have it from different eras and different approaches.<span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>Who picked the music?</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>I picked all the recordings myself, and then picked songs where I couldn’t find <span> </span>. . . recordings that were danceable, or that I felt like were going to fit in, and those were the things Pamela ended up singing because we could adjust the tempo, take out the bridge, or whatever.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhncaDMjf7DuRdCrTQRuldNpwrxL_Zm8PXcHVQLjLLAZnOExiqkCkAeFI-HdeoDUAIsgeONCOy3kLbmvhW_6R6jdzDpNhDl-hJk9b-DYSxodYle3jn4h2uunVb59BL-lRbw9ZuZyloEvK0/s1600/EyesOnYou_Edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhncaDMjf7DuRdCrTQRuldNpwrxL_Zm8PXcHVQLjLLAZnOExiqkCkAeFI-HdeoDUAIsgeONCOy3kLbmvhW_6R6jdzDpNhDl-hJk9b-DYSxodYle3jn4h2uunVb59BL-lRbw9ZuZyloEvK0/s640/EyesOnYou_Edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christopher Stowell's <i>Eyes On You. </i>Photo by Blaine Truitt Covert. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>One of the things that really struck me the first time I saw it was how cinematic it feels, with the “The End” marquee and the costumes – was that a deliberate choice or did it evolve as you were working?</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>I honestly don’t remember exactly the route to that particular idea.<span> </span>What I do remember is just liking the idea of some stereotypical characters, or notions, or situations that happen in those Hollywood movie musicals of the 30’s and 40’s.<span> </span>Like, there’s frequently a bellhop, and there’s often girls that are secretaries on their lunch break.<span> </span>And Latin locales, themes and rhythms were really popular then, so, you know, non-Latin people doing rhumbas and sambas and feeling really sexy is also in all of those movies, frequently.<span> </span>So there’s that in there.<span> </span>The actual marquee – I think that the very first image I had that included the seats was being ironic and starting at the end of something.<span> </span>And what would people be going to in the 30’s and 40’s?<span> </span>They’d be going to the movies.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>You mentioned the rhumbas and the sambas, and there are so many different other kinds of non-ballet dance that are sort of incorporated throughout – </span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Yeah, I guess because it’s natural to those rhythms to want to move in a social dance way.<span> </span>I have actually no social dance training, so everything that’s in there I made up based on some feeling of, like, “Isn’t this kind of like one of those things?”<span> </span><i>(Laughs)</i><span> </span>There was one social dance that I had somebody teach me and I can’t remember who it was – it’s in “Begin the Beguine,” the main step in that – </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>That one’s legit?</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Yeah, that one’s legit.<span> </span>The rest I made up.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>It’s like the Christopher Stowell version of a foxtrot.</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Exactly.<span> </span>If you wiggle your hips, it’s a mambo.<span> </span><i>(Laughs)</i><span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span></span></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SpTDWRRqLQiJcK6f5YDHPhPLzZ6zePZE3rNHqs_MeivKURjmk6CMoklkKrQwghx5DJM0DvjDiHFn3MdLPzTwZcQRn3ShTT2T1zJCKR050guZ92YcRXu-CoEwltWoAqc4AFsM33kXFr8/s1600/BTC_EyesOnYou07_AR%2526RU.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SpTDWRRqLQiJcK6f5YDHPhPLzZ6zePZE3rNHqs_MeivKURjmk6CMoklkKrQwghx5DJM0DvjDiHFn3MdLPzTwZcQRn3ShTT2T1zJCKR050guZ92YcRXu-CoEwltWoAqc4AFsM33kXFr8/s400/BTC_EyesOnYou07_AR%2526RU.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alison Roper and Ronnie Underwood in Christopher Stowell's <i>Eyes On You. </i>Photo by Blaine Truitt Covert</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPxhlvkkmiYX4j2RqdTTFmfdqCu-alKlHML63NzZ9AZ_UcDoCeFm3b2wfMV4N6decpi9nHKEuzONxBYQN_FNbRkkaaT3lfUWpsJbbMRV3h9BXyo5hWSUXSaMyzT-k3_mOHgfHe6S44EM/s1600/Anne+Eyes+On+You.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span><span> </span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>So what’s your choreographic process for a work like this?<span> </span>Anne talked about it a little <a href="http://oregonballettheatre.blogspot.com/2011/03/life-and-times-of-anne-mueller-part_29.html">in her interview</a> from her perspective as a dancer; what’s it like from your end?</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Well, this one in particular, the structure of it was comforting, or non-scary, in that it’s episodic – it’s a bunch of numbers.<span> </span>And each number – there should be an arc, but it doesn’t have to be an arc of logic, it needs to be an arc of aesthetic or style, or at least highs and lows that feel like you’re on a little bit of a journey or whatever, but they’re each separate numbers.<span> </span>So I thought, “Who are the principal characters in this?” and then assigned the characters and the dancers I had in mind to particular songs.<span> </span>And then that process makes me feel comfortable; it’s like not having to think about, I don’t know, like reading all of <i>War and Peace</i>.<span> </span>It’s just a chapter, so everybody calm down.<span> </span>It’s just a chapter at a time.<span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>Baby steps.</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Exactly!<span> </span>Baby steps, yeah.<span> </span>And then I decided, “Okay, I’m gonna pick a song, and it’s gonna be a song that I associate with Anne, and that’s just gonna be how we get started.”<span> </span>So I’d get in a room with her, with a song that I feel like is about her or for her, and just see what comes up.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>Is that different from how you’d choreograph something like </span></i></b><b><span>Rite of Spring<i> with the bigger arc to it?<span> </span></i></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>No, actually.<span> </span><i>Rite of Spring</i> scared the shit out of me – unlike, you know, ten cute Cole Porter tunes.<span> </span><i>(Laughs)</i><span> </span>And I started the process exactly the same way, to calm myself down.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>Break it into little chunks.</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Break it into chunks, and get one person in the room – Anne, let’s say – and let’s make something up.<span> </span>Because as soon as I have <i>something</i> to work with, I feel better.<span> </span>When I feel like I have to come up with thirty-five minutes of steps, I’m like, “Oh my <i>God</i> . . .”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVGY1vVd-_fdewXWAYoWe4KDRXRc_dFSNGFiFTM7corcOK0b99-zO00E1YFTzdQWpl4qQZdInoatPFZ8yNaR2KDS7VA4kf7hTpywz5p9fNEDjIbwItwasu5JkQvtYlyjNQwzgt68RR_wE/s1600/Anne+Eyes+On+You.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVGY1vVd-_fdewXWAYoWe4KDRXRc_dFSNGFiFTM7corcOK0b99-zO00E1YFTzdQWpl4qQZdInoatPFZ8yNaR2KDS7VA4kf7hTpywz5p9fNEDjIbwItwasu5JkQvtYlyjNQwzgt68RR_wE/s400/Anne+Eyes+On+You.jpg" width="286" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne Mueller in Christopher Stowell's <i>Eyes On You. </i>Photo by Blaine Truitt Covert. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>When it’s like, staring you in the face and you’re like, “Holy crap.”</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Yes!<span> </span>Exactly.<span> </span>So it’s like, “Okay, let’s make two steps, and then we’ll make four steps . . .”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>One of the things I like about </span></i></b><b><span>Eyes on You<i> is that it’s so funny – I feel like that’s something that comes through in a lot of the works in our rep.<span> </span>Is that something that you like in your work?</i></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Yeah, definitely.<span> </span>I do like to do that.<span> </span>But I like to mostly make <i>situations</i> that can be funny, and not say, “Here, do this gag,” and “Here, do that gag,” overtly.<span> </span>There are some gags in this – there are, but they need to be done subtly.<span> </span>I didn’t want it packed with one spit-take after another.<span> </span>Like, that’s too much.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>Slapstick.</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Slapstick, yeah.<span> </span>But it also makes sense with both the music and the aesthetic that inspired the thing, because those movies often were comedies, so I like the funny situation more than the fall-down-on-your-face stuff.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>Did you watch a lot of the old 40’s movies when you were a kid?<span> </span>Did you grow up with that aesthetic?</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Fred Astaire movies, for sure.<span> </span>Fred and Ginger stuff.<span> </span>My father is a huge fan of all of those movies – Gene Kelly, the whole genre.<span> </span>Yeah.<span> </span>So I did grow up seeing those.<span> </span>But then I actually got my hands on – I can’t remember what they were now – some movies that I did not know that were Cole Porter scores.<span> </span>And that was actually helpful because they were kind of obscure, so, I mean, they were probably fun at the time but they’re not classics, you know what I mean?<span> </span>But it gave me some insight into different situations than the ones we remember all the time.<span> </span>They were so specific, you know – they did a lot of, like, they’re in a war, or they’re stuck in Panama . . . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>The catalog is just huge.</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Yeah.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>The number of things he wrote –</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>They must have churned them out, those movies.<span> </span>Like, make it in two weeks, boom, let’s go.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>Did you do musical theatre as a kid?</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Nope.<span> </span>I would have been happy to, though.<span> </span>I acted a little bit when I was a kid, before I started ballet, in school.<span> </span>I did do <i>Annie, Get Your Gun.</i><span> </span>Yes.<span> </span>I was Little Jake in <i>Annie, Get Your Gun.</i><span> </span>If I’d had any kind of voice I would have preferred doing that, frankly.<span> </span>Way more fun.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>More fun than ballet?</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Yeah!<span> </span>Ballet’s hard!<span> </span>It’s a lot of work!<span> </span><i>(Laughs)</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>And there’s no jazz hands in ballet.</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>No jazz hands!<span> </span>I know!<span> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJ7sGTSTNyOox-Pi9CFOd2YfnjREL9741gMAdl2NRvgV3022rQLMIN8cJFwpQk7IaZU7A6RGeDi0RKTr1FcLYsPE710yO0uDKZUpAC47W9gAjql5IvDJ6t7WKL85FdkXijpQTo2fpWYo/s1600/OBT_EyesOnYou07_extend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJ7sGTSTNyOox-Pi9CFOd2YfnjREL9741gMAdl2NRvgV3022rQLMIN8cJFwpQk7IaZU7A6RGeDi0RKTr1FcLYsPE710yO0uDKZUpAC47W9gAjql5IvDJ6t7WKL85FdkXijpQTo2fpWYo/s400/OBT_EyesOnYou07_extend.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne Mueller and company in Christopher Stowell's <i>Eyes On You</i>. Photo by Blaine Truitt Covert.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>Eyes On You is such an audience favorite.<span> </span>Why do you think people respond to it so much?</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>I hate to use the word “accessible,” but I think the thing that scares people sometimes about dance is “I don’t get it,” and there’s no question of not getting it, really.<span> </span>Well, actually – once, I forget if it was a review or if it was someone talking to me, but they said, “I don’t get why they’re in their underwear,” and I’m like, “Uh, it’s funny.<span> </span>That’s it.<span> </span>That’s the end of the story.”<span> </span>“Well, if they were in the movies they wouldn’t be in their underwear!” And I’m like, “Um, you’re thinking <i>way </i>too hard.” <i>(Laughs)</i><span> </span>Like, it’s madcap.<span> </span>Whatever.<span> </span>What was the question?<span> </span>Oh, accessibility.<span> </span>Right.<span> </span>So, comfort level – I think it makes people relaxed, like, “I get this genre.”<span> </span>I think a lot of people like a little glamour too, and it has beautiful costumes that move a lot.<span> </span>And all of that also makes the dancers relax, and I think audiences get to see maybe more personality than they might in other [ballets], which is more appropriate in this, too.<span> </span>And it’s very infectious music, too.<span> </span>You feel yourself snapping your fingers a little bit, like, “I know the words to this song.”<span> </span>It’s just fun.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>What’s your favorite Cole Porter song?<span> </span>Do you have a personal favorite?</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>My favorite recording in the show is the first one, “De-Lovely,” because it’s really, really clever – the lyrics are really clever.<span> </span>You know what’s really good – it’s not in the show – is, how does it go? <span> </span><i>(singing unintelligibly under his breath)</i> Oh, it’s “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall In Love.”<b><i><span> </span></i></b>Brilliant lyrics, <i>so </i>funny.<span> </span>I almost used a recording of Alanis Morissette singing that [from the film <i>De-Lovely</i>], but it kind of fluctuates tempo a lot – so you’re like dancing dancing dancing, “Wait, why is she slowing down?” [EDITOR’S NOTE: Rather than transcribe for you the next 5 minutes where we geeked out about the <i>De-Lovely </i>soundtrack, <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=Ka2zbRhZ1HA&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fus%252Falbum%252Fde-lovely-music-from-motion%252Fid193952945%253FpartnerId%253D30">I’ll just give you the link</a> </span><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=Ka2zbRhZ1HA&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fus%252Falbum%252Fde-lovely-music-from-motion%252Fid193952945%253FpartnerId%253D30"><span></span></a><span>and tell you that Christopher’s favorite track is “True Love” sung by Ashley Judd, and mine is “Night and Day” sung by Kevin Kline with John Barrowman of <i>Doctor Who</i> and <i>Torchwood</i> fame.<span> </span>Now back to our regularly-scheduled programming.]</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>So how does the process change, now that you’re doing it again with different dancers?</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Honestly, with a ballet like this, it is a little – not “challenging,” but there’s another dimension to it.<span> </span>Because you want, if not the same, a similar, equally effective effect, and people are different people with different bodies and different personalities.<span> </span>So I probably adjust things in this more than I would in something else, because the point is the ultimate effect and not the individual steps, necessarily, or where to put the emphasis of either a gag, or a romantic look, or whatever like that. But I do get attached in something like this more than in other things, like, “You’re not doing that thing that so-and-so did that was so funny!”<span> </span>But then I have to step back and go, “They can’t be that person.” And I’ve found that asking them to do something that was basically an inspired moment by one dancer, asking another dancer to do it is usually not effective.<span> </span>It wouldn’t feel natural to them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>So what made you decide to bring it back for this season, and how does it fit in with the other pieces in </span></i></b><b><span>Song & Dance?<i></i></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Well, we brought it back because, you know, marketing directors are always happy.<span> </span>Like, “Give me something that’s gonna sell a lot of tickets!”<span> </span><i>(Laughs)<span> </span></i>In this particular program – so <i>Square Dance</i> wasn’t on the program yet when I planned it because we added it later.<span> </span>[With <i>Left Unsaid</i> and <i>Speak</i>], well, I don’t know if “heavy” is the right word, but there’s some darkness and some earthbound-ness and some seriousness about those works that needed some complementing with something light.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>How did you come up with the name </span></i></b><b><span>Eyes On You<i>?<span> </span>It’s not in any of the songs in the piece.</i></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>The naming of the piece was actually fun.<span> </span>I was choreographing it during <i>OBT Exposed!,</i> when we had the tent in the park in the fall, and I think we showed some Cole Porter movies in the evening and had some popcorn, to sort of get people who were interested in the ballet focused on Cole Porter and the process of creating this new work.<span> </span>And then I think I had to give a lecture one night, and I hadn’t come up with a name for the piece, and I said, “Well, I’ll throw it out to the audience.”<span> </span>There were maybe fifty people there, and everyone wrote down their thought for a name for the piece and we collected them, and – it was actually longer, it was “Eyes on blah blah blah blah blah something,” but I read all of them, all those little slips of paper and then saw that one.<span> </span>And I reduced it, edited it a little bit, and liked it, and got in touch with that person, and they got credit and free tickets to the ballet.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>That’s awesome.</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Yeah.<span> </span>I like the title.<span> </span>People have said, you know, is it “Eyes On You” or I-apostrophe-S, like “I’s on you?”<span> </span><i>(Laughs)</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span>It works on so many levels.</span></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span>Yeah.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><br />
<br />
----------- <br />
<br />
Song & Dance, featuring <i>Eyes On You</i> is at the Newmark Theatre April 21 - May 1. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://oregonballettheatre.blogspot.com/search/label/Song%20and%20Dance">more posts about Song & Dance </a>| <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program4.html">Buy Tickets to Song & Dance</a>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-56062079129925016172011-04-15T13:10:00.000-07:002011-04-15T13:10:46.146-07:00Your Daily Dance Break: Yo Yo Ma and Lil BuckIt seems we are not the only ones creating a little classical/hip hop fusion. Check out this extraordinary video of famed cellist Yo Yo Ma collaborating with hip hop dance artist Lil Buck on a brief improvised performance piece.<br />
<br />
We present this in honor of our sister organization Portland Center Stage's opening night performance of Opus. Break legs, guys! Or, as we say in the dance world, "Merd."<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/C9jghLeYufQ" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-27900850402411958402011-04-14T09:23:00.000-07:002011-04-15T11:57:44.634-07:00Gargouillade and Entrechat: the Filigree Footwork of Square Dance<style>
@font-face {
font-family: "Times";
}@font-face {
font-family: "Georgia";
}@font-face {
font-family: "Times-Roman";
}@font-face {
font-family: "ArialMT";
}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }
</style> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">by Linda Besant<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">“More steps per minute than any other show in town,” said dance writer Nancy Reynolds of <i>Square Dance.</i> For fifty years, audiences have been wowed by this non-stop ballet: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">“Tempos that could only be called lickety-split.” (Manchester, 1958)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> “Filigree footwork that requires the most astonishing technical dexterity.” (Kaplan, 1988)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">“The speed of the footwork…could be compared to breaking the four-minute mile.” (Vranish, 2007) </span></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOZvdAiL0XERvaQkBNA8NSuFqsSCmsjeWQ-p24HcVzacb1GiOXsJ5ck0bs-90auOnLyuF4PNI0Jo4mWQ2XWOt0lsuvYnTHMptFZcqP4FlrJyyx5k4dzNArknb_KkWwNWW1TyAUArgNtcM/s1600/PNB-Square_Dance_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOZvdAiL0XERvaQkBNA8NSuFqsSCmsjeWQ-p24HcVzacb1GiOXsJ5ck0bs-90auOnLyuF4PNI0Jo4mWQ2XWOt0lsuvYnTHMptFZcqP4FlrJyyx5k4dzNArknb_KkWwNWW1TyAUArgNtcM/s400/PNB-Square_Dance_.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancers Carrie Imler and Lucien Postlewaite with company dancers in <i>Square Dance,</i> choreographed by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust. Photo © Angela Sterling</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 16pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">Patricia Wilde, on whom the principal role in <i>Square Dance</i> was created in 1957, described Balanchine's emphasis on the foot in this kind of choreography. “From the moment it left the floor, the foot had to draw the eye to it -- we really worked on that." Under Balanchine's direction, less time was spent in <i>plié</i> or in preparing for a movement. "Don't sit there and have a cup of coffee," he would say, pushing for accents that were out and up. <i>Square Dance </i>“has a terrific bounce and a very unique drive. It was a joyous experience. Mr. B wanted it to be fun.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Merrill Ashley, who took on<i> Square Dance</i> in 1977, remains among the most acclaimed ballerinas to accomplish the principal role<i>.</i> "The ballet was filled with fast footwork, jumps, and beats, all part of the standard classical ballet vocabulary, but the steps had to be done in a much freer and more spontaneous way than in most 'classical' ballets. A joyful I-love-to-dance approach was needed . . . Many of the steps seemed to have their own momentum, which swept me along, and I felt in perfect harmony with the music and choreography." </span><span style="font-size: small;"> <br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">OBT’s Ballet Master Lisa Kipp taught <i>Square Dance </i>to the company. She performed it with Ballet Chicago in the 1990s. “It’s one of my best memories, and the music is beautiful,” Lisa says, “but it was the most exhausted I ever got, ever, You have to reach down into the depths and pull something out if you’re going to get to the end of the ballet. You hit the wall and go past it. There’s a weird euphoria to that.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here are a couple of examples of the <i>allegro </i>steps and jumps in <i>Square Dance</i> that dancers find most challenging:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>Gargouillade</i></b><i>:</i> (literally means gurgling or rumbling) Both legs execute a <i>rond de jambe in l’air </i>(circle of the legs in the air) almost simultaneously, while the body is in the air. “Like a kitten with tape stuck to its paws,” says OBT dancer Andrea Cooper.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This video excerpt of Pacific Northwest Ballet's <i>Square Dance</i> rehearsal shows Carrie Imler tossing off her <i>gargouillades</i> with ease. She does the first </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>gargouillade</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"> at the very beginning of the video, and the corps repeat her movement in the next moment. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0p3JN4KJsUs" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Long strings of<i> échappés </i>interwoven with <i>entrechats six </i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>Échappé</i></b><i>:</i> An escaping or slipping movement where the feet go from a closed to an open position, both <i>sauté</i> (jumping the feet apart), and <i>sur les pointes</i> (on the toes)<i>.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>Entrechat six</i></b><i>:</i> Interweaving or braiding. A step of beating in which the dancer jumps into the air and rapidly crosses the legs before and behind each other.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Christopher Stowell says, “It’s not so much that these steps are hard but that there are so many of them.”<i> </i>Damara Bennett, Director of the School of OBT, adds, “It’s relentless, and exhilarating.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To see demonstrations of <i>échappé</i> and <i>entrachat</i> so that you can recognize them in the finale of <i>Square Dance, </i>visit <a href="http://www.abt.org/education/dictionary/index.html">American Ballet Theatre's Online dance dictionary</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://oregonballettheatre.blogspot.com/search/label/Song%20and%20Dance">more posts about Song & Dance </a>| <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program4.html">Buy Tickets to Song & Dance</a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-42229992225147128622011-04-12T11:54:00.000-07:002011-04-12T11:59:54.482-07:00Six Degrees of Cole Porter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><i>By Claire Willett</i><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRQ294qDp-zXcJNXXHoaXrHXrGKfTPQTLsYNctIA2lBQP8GNMUyYbGbCN19i_jGkTH3UKE0LPJlKwwenHCxj3uM9sH654-DA39zzP9EfYV9rnseTZ1RqjCvlVGUsnbSNR9CvKnovIkH7I/s1600/cole-porter-famous-composer-from-peru-indiana-at-the-piano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRQ294qDp-zXcJNXXHoaXrHXrGKfTPQTLsYNctIA2lBQP8GNMUyYbGbCN19i_jGkTH3UKE0LPJlKwwenHCxj3uM9sH654-DA39zzP9EfYV9rnseTZ1RqjCvlVGUsnbSNR9CvKnovIkH7I/s320/cole-porter-famous-composer-from-peru-indiana-at-the-piano.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cole Porter</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
“Six Degrees of Separation” is a statistical theory model which suggests that every human being on earth is connected to every other human being on earth through no more than six other people. That is beyond the scope of this undertaking, so we’re going to stick with its far-less-weighty spinoff, the pop-culture parlor game <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Degrees_of_Kevin_Bacon">“Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,”</a> which adapts this model to suggest that any Hollywood actor can be connected to movie star Kevin Bacon through no more than six movies. Bacon, a true Renaissance man (actor, director, musician, writer, producer) is a prolific Hollywood workhorse with over 70 movies to his name, in many different genres, which means has amassed a staggering array of celebrity co-stars, which is why the game works. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAtWCCE1SoQ8YhlK_kZhZWBfx1TCEAR0AVx46uRbypdY38pVwGOqKmdXZ_nzxgWeyL0KNQxBnZ4zLwyHiBh_kkM7CZeamkV0biVIoLTUs35AH_VBM43QI6C_fY6qAEXIF21N_yQ2-6TOk/s1600/Footloose-799059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAtWCCE1SoQ8YhlK_kZhZWBfx1TCEAR0AVx46uRbypdY38pVwGOqKmdXZ_nzxgWeyL0KNQxBnZ4zLwyHiBh_kkM7CZeamkV0biVIoLTUs35AH_VBM43QI6C_fY6qAEXIF21N_yQ2-6TOk/s200/Footloose-799059.jpg" width="135" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin Bacon in<i> Footloose</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
You may be skeptical. “Sure, it would work with Rob Lowe or Demi Moore,” you say, “but what about someone like, say, Orson Welles?”<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTupazpntuZDxzveuEHccMtIb1hnaT0rySxAwPwzWlirOXe3_mfqiqVJm7BsUEj89V1WE5hHlG6FQcEnJ3T0pR3CwvkwOm6jSJwxX_vk2v4nmrIASXp7CGpdCOvj29M67r1RmoRYhr30/s1600/Orson_Welles_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyTupazpntuZDxzveuEHccMtIb1hnaT0rySxAwPwzWlirOXe3_mfqiqVJm7BsUEj89V1WE5hHlG6FQcEnJ3T0pR3CwvkwOm6jSJwxX_vk2v4nmrIASXp7CGpdCOvj29M67r1RmoRYhr30/s200/Orson_Welles_2.jpg" width="141" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orson Welles</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Easy! <b>Orson Welles</b> was in the original <i>Casino Royale</i> with Ursula Andress who was in <i>Clash of the Titans</i> with <b>Laurence Olivier</b> who was in <i>Dracula</i> with <b>Frank Langella</b> who was in <i>Frost/Nixon</i> with <b>Kevin Bacon</b>. BACON SCORE = 4.<br />
<br />
Kevin Bacon is all well and good, but if we want to talk about the ultimate Renaissance man we must go back to singer/songwriter/pianist/musical theatre composer/social butterfly Cole Porter, who seemed to know every even remotely famous person in the first half of the 20th century. The hottest silver screen stars sang and danced in his films and Broadway shows; celebrity composers and artists hung out at his lavish cocktail parties. He defined an entire era with his witty lyrics and champagne-sparkling melodies, and the reverberations of his impact on popular music and culture are still felt today. Was there anyone worth knowing in 1920’s Paris that Cole Porter never shared a drink with? Not by my reckoning. In honor of our upcoming Cole Porter-themed ballet “Eyes On You,” I’d like to test that theory with a little game called “Six Degrees of Cole Porter.” <b>Stop scrolling as you make your guesses - the solution is right below the image. </b> (If you figure out a way to get there in fewer moves, post it in the comments.) <br />
<br />
Ready? Let’s play! <br />
<u><b><br />
</b></u><br />
<u><b><br />
</b></u><br />
<u><b><br />
</b></u><br />
<u><b><br />
</b></u><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>6 MOVES: Black Swan star Natalie Portman </b></u><br />
<br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5WPHz3lVPl_AmO0OxI2mbBvF2xJ-RuLlejEplL-IZT-4sykoL6sXo_ZqWnHQOwzXfR7W9Ghf1oAyiutCCzZSrvBUMD9PBPeaNcNm9OyXeaVTjKeUwSVunwiMd8S1nyR81-bluYg8nzAA/s1600/Natalie_Portman_nominated_for_Golden_Globe_Black_Swan_performancejpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5WPHz3lVPl_AmO0OxI2mbBvF2xJ-RuLlejEplL-IZT-4sykoL6sXo_ZqWnHQOwzXfR7W9Ghf1oAyiutCCzZSrvBUMD9PBPeaNcNm9OyXeaVTjKeUwSVunwiMd8S1nyR81-bluYg8nzAA/s320/Natalie_Portman_nominated_for_Golden_Globe_Black_Swan_performancejpg.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natalie Portman in <i>Black Swan</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>**NATALIE PORTMAN SOLUTION**</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Natalie Portman</b> was in <i>Closer</i> with <b>Julia Roberts</b> who was in <i>Ocean’s Eleven</i> with <b>Elliott Gould</b> who was in <i>The Muppet Movie</i> with <b>James Coburn</b> who was in <i>Charade </i>with<b> Cary Grant </b>who was in <i>The Philadelphia Story</i> with <b>Jimmy Stewart</b> who was in <i>Born To Dance</i> with a score by <b>Cole Porter</b>.</div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>5 MOVES: Film and Musical Theatre Actor Hugh Jackman </b></u><br />
<br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFRtBYqoglvtjcyFO-M2trHRq0ixYvyx3WFEkryYbiJ5qsvX7yDvXQBMZVKWp0YEpz6tL-i0VpaUJw38_Sl_38YJ8DBWqmR9YXvCHK7JruM1EKqMxmh4wuBUJ6hJr2yCazhlKgjrlg7Q/s1600/hugh-jackman-20061227-191158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFRtBYqoglvtjcyFO-M2trHRq0ixYvyx3WFEkryYbiJ5qsvX7yDvXQBMZVKWp0YEpz6tL-i0VpaUJw38_Sl_38YJ8DBWqmR9YXvCHK7JruM1EKqMxmh4wuBUJ6hJr2yCazhlKgjrlg7Q/s320/hugh-jackman-20061227-191158.jpg" width="295" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hugh Jackman</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<b>**HUGH JACKMAN SOLUTION**</b><b> </b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Hugh Jackman</b> did voice-over work for <i>Happy Feet </i>with <b>Robin Williams </b>who was in <i>Dead Poet’s Society</i> with Robert Sean Leonard who stars on <i>House</i> with <b>Hugh Laurie </b>who was in <i>Jeeves and Wooste</i>r written by <b>PG Wodehouse </b>who wrote the book to <i>Anything Goes</i> with <b>Cole Porter</b>. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>4 MOVES: First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt</b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYU_jczGnM7OSNxlY_ILpkg1jvAGB6KGZD9z48BbqpKb_EoU_YQeh0OSr5rfG194h8oaEi0VXZ02tK0qu9Z9Of9AYX54xgsl4RAaazKwVN-TW_yKGkgIWZQCytqpFTmJycQfw7_fkU2WM/s1600/eleanor_roosevelt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYU_jczGnM7OSNxlY_ILpkg1jvAGB6KGZD9z48BbqpKb_EoU_YQeh0OSr5rfG194h8oaEi0VXZ02tK0qu9Z9Of9AYX54xgsl4RAaazKwVN-TW_yKGkgIWZQCytqpFTmJycQfw7_fkU2WM/s320/eleanor_roosevelt.jpg" width="262" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>**ELEANOR ROOSEVELT SOLUTION**</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> </b><b> </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Eleanor Roosevelt </b>was married to <b>Franklin Delano Roosevelt </b>who was succeeded in the Oval Office by <b>Harry Truman </b>whose Secretary of State was <b>Dean Acheson</b> who was roommates at Harvard Law School with <b>Cole Porter</b>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>3 MOVES: Fashion Designer Coco Chanel </b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9O2FUQfyO1ZG1elSx1mhbgBlLJtjKRpSLHS4dD7GBwd3ykgkdrVSsyC_HONVk3ISjDUuC3bJIpRijwS-u0hHO9qIzHZpMkIfzM0B0a6s8C_5-JGbwTLVZTFkfCM-ja4lF8KP-6RFkt9U/s1600/49055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9O2FUQfyO1ZG1elSx1mhbgBlLJtjKRpSLHS4dD7GBwd3ykgkdrVSsyC_HONVk3ISjDUuC3bJIpRijwS-u0hHO9qIzHZpMkIfzM0B0a6s8C_5-JGbwTLVZTFkfCM-ja4lF8KP-6RFkt9U/s320/49055.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coco Chanel</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>**COCO CHANEL SOLUTION**</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> </b><b> </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Coco Chanel</b> had an affair with <b>Igor Stravinsky</b> who composed <i>Firebird</i> for the Ballets Russe who were once hired to perform at an extravagant private ball in Venice by <b>Cole Porter.</b> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><br />
</b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><br />
</b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><br />
</b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><br />
</b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><br />
</b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>2 MOVES: Who’s the Boss star Tony Danza </b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSgeTuzKXUb5lRpffaAIvnouKMVvpoNV19yeml99tV0DRLwyyOVZkPL9iHLizHXwyJFtIwRg0pNIbZ2pRIqWTzOSkXFsSY3KF5eGNVM-zmqSFb1jXXDVzYRUrD5gr3ShZfZ-tUE2_Pua0/s1600/tony-danza-taxi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSgeTuzKXUb5lRpffaAIvnouKMVvpoNV19yeml99tV0DRLwyyOVZkPL9iHLizHXwyJFtIwRg0pNIbZ2pRIqWTzOSkXFsSY3KF5eGNVM-zmqSFb1jXXDVzYRUrD5gr3ShZfZ-tUE2_Pua0/s320/tony-danza-taxi.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tony Danza<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><b>**TONY DANZA SOLUTION**</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> </b><b> </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Tony Danza</b> was in the <i>Laughing With the Presidents</i> TV special with <b>Bob Hope</b> who was in <i>Red, Hot and Blue </i>written by <b>Cole Porter</b>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b>1 MOVE: Fred Astaire </b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7wosn0g_W4TRMp3jQ0mH3HGdsJBGqkH0wRiA6wPy8KVX6fUU72_zXIEuzkjhi1X76IGZcNC6wmBspJymA7cmWgrYRyTKk_0xyCzbz_DIvHA-JhHnXOGTPw_1YahCXKMW9Is21aR83Sg/s1600/Fred+Astaire+3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7wosn0g_W4TRMp3jQ0mH3HGdsJBGqkH0wRiA6wPy8KVX6fUU72_zXIEuzkjhi1X76IGZcNC6wmBspJymA7cmWgrYRyTKk_0xyCzbz_DIvHA-JhHnXOGTPw_1YahCXKMW9Is21aR83Sg/s320/Fred+Astaire+3.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fred Astaire</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>**FRED ASTAIRE SOLUTION**</b><b> </b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Fred Astaire </b>starred in <i>Gay Divorce</i> written by <b>Cole Porter.</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Want to take a stab at it? Try connecting <b>Cole Porter</b> and OBT Artistic Director <b>Christopher Stowel</b>l. Yes, it can be done, we’ve tested it! The first person who posts a comment below doing it in the fewest number of moves by April 15th (feel free to be creative!) will win a pair of tickets to <i><b>Song & Dance</b></i>. Post your ideas below in the comments!</div>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-38238711848324248192011-04-11T10:31:00.000-07:002011-04-11T10:31:59.692-07:00Why Do We Do What We Do?Thanks so much to everyone who helped to make Saturday Night's Moveable Feast Gala such a success! If you weren't able to join us, take a moment to check out this short video sharing why we do what we do...<br />
<br />
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UsLCAmf9xYA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
If you would like to contribute to OBT's Education and Outreach opportunities, please contact Emily at emily.tucker@obt.org.OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-87883264154626583012011-04-07T14:19:00.000-07:002011-04-14T13:46:00.153-07:00Yoga and Ballet: Finding the flow in "Left Unsaid"By OBT Historian Linda Besant<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1tGe0JQniGKAEqRXqi69-ZdHXH1lSDuWV94DHNBryU39tXmP4ljzhwVZk32mIn92ge5yTbZwEQD4Fb2xuMSS7DDxf743IjpE8WiMNwQm-8rtpz1lJJaiuvOZVy9HuvP_eATXCSKtGYiY/s1600/Left+Unsaid+large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1tGe0JQniGKAEqRXqi69-ZdHXH1lSDuWV94DHNBryU39tXmP4ljzhwVZk32mIn92ge5yTbZwEQD4Fb2xuMSS7DDxf743IjpE8WiMNwQm-8rtpz1lJJaiuvOZVy9HuvP_eATXCSKtGYiY/s400/Left+Unsaid+large.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Are Locusts and Downward Facing Dogs a regular part of your life? If so, then you won’t want to miss seeing <i>Left Unsaid</i> in OBT’s “Song and Dance” program that opens April 21st. Choreographer <a href="http://www.nicolofonte.com/">Nicolo Fonte</a> is a devoted practitioner of Iyengar yoga, and his ballet is rich with artistically extended poses.<br />
<br />
We asked <a href="http://www.gudmestadyoga.com/teachers/teachers_julie.htm">Julie Gudmestad</a>, one of Portland’s premier yoga instructors, to take a look at <i>Left Unsaid </i>and weigh in on this seamless melding of Eastern and Western physicality. Julie has movement credentials that just won’t quit—she graduated as a physical therapist in 1977, and she’s been certified as an Iyengar instructor since 1988; but we didn’t know until we asked for her help that she also studied classical ballet as a girl, and was a serious student of modern dance at Reed College.<br />
<br />
Julie knew of worldwide movements of rhythmic yoga and yoga choreography, but said right away that <i>Left Unsaid</i> is different. Those ways of moving are built exclusively from poses, or <i>asanas</i>. “In formal practice,” Julie said, “it’s pretty prescribed how you go into and out of each pose, especially in Iyengar yoga. What’s so refreshing about <i>Left Unsaid</i> are the creative and organic ways that Nicolo Fonte coils into and on through each pose. In yoga practice, we form <i>vinyasas</i>, or flowing combinations of <i>asanas</i>. One definition of the Sanskrit word <i>vinyasa</i> is wind, and you can see the wind in this piece. People who practice these poses will be delighted at the way this choreography flows.”<br />
<br />
Julie also complimented OBT’s dancers. “It is a real treat," she said, “to see people in such fabulous shape, who have both the flexibility and the strength to do the extreme forms of these poses." In fact, many of OBT's dancers regularly practice yoga. <br />
<br />
We picked a part of <i>Left Unsaid</i> where the yoga is particularly clear, and Julie pointed out places where the choreography lingers on poses long enough to see them clearly, though they are often varied or ornamented slightly. You will see:<br />
<br />
Warrior I <i>Virabhadrasana I</i><br />
Bridge Setu <i>Bandha Sarvangasana</i><br />
Boat <i>Navasana</i><br />
Locust <i> Salabasana</i><br />
Staff Pose (Plank) <i>Dandasana </i><br />
Standing Big Toe Pose <i>Uhita Hasta Padangustasana</i><br />
<br />
Can you spot these <i>asanas </i>as they flow by?<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tgplMLC3sXg" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
Julie Gudmestad practices physical therapy and teaches yoga with her team of nine instructors at <a href="http://www.gudmestadyoga.com/">Gudmestad Yoga Studio</a>. You can also see her work in the<i> </i><a href="http://www.yogajournal.com/"><i>Yoga Journal</i> online</a>, where she wrote the <a href="http://www.yogajournal.com/for_teachers/anatomy?more=1">"Anatomy of a Yogi"</a> column for seven years.<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Love yoga? Show us your own best yoga move by posting a pic on our<a href="http://www.facebook.com/oregonballettheatre"> Facebook Wall</a> and you'll be entered to win tickets to Song & Dance. We'll pick a winner Friday April 15th. GO.</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program4.html">Tickets to Song & Dance </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://oregonballettheatre.blogspot.com/search/label/Song%20and%20Dance"><br />
more posts about Song & Dance </a>| <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program4.html">Buy Tickets to Song & Dance</a>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-46799098894700498142011-04-06T11:57:00.000-07:002011-04-07T16:07:21.311-07:00Nicolo Fonte Discusses Left Unsaid with Dance Magazine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjigG2QxZlLjB6k5Ldr_8BW-wKOJhl2TG7p_sJdi8YpJIW0l8tZ6gLOi4FAo9xQtFBWd6uWAn6DphbCOCLSmUJhmmXZprNAZDy7KbprCtNFx6fy2Kite8zotj1_eL7Jnf-KeoeHTsgkPZA/s1600/Left+Unsaid+large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="266" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjigG2QxZlLjB6k5Ldr_8BW-wKOJhl2TG7p_sJdi8YpJIW0l8tZ6gLOi4FAo9xQtFBWd6uWAn6DphbCOCLSmUJhmmXZprNAZDy7KbprCtNFx6fy2Kite8zotj1_eL7Jnf-KeoeHTsgkPZA/s400/Left+Unsaid+large.jpg" /></a></div><i><br />
(Anne Mueller, Artur Sultanov, Brian Simcoe and Steven Houser in Nicolo Fonte's </i><b>Left Unsaid</b>. <i>Photo by Blaine Truitt Covert)</i><br />
<br />
Wendy Perrin from <a target="_blank" href="http://www.dancemagazine.com/">Dance Magazine</a> recently sat down with choreographer Nicolo Fonte to discuss his approach to choreography and his current most popular work, <i>Left Unsaid</i>, which will be presented as part of our spring program, <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program4.html"><b><i>Song & Dance</i></b></a>.<br />
<br />
Check out the interview <a target = "_blank" href="http://dancemedia.com/v/4963">here</a>.<br />
<br />
You can watch a full sneak peek video of <b>Left Unsaid<i></i></b> here:<br />
<br />
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CiJ3zYsWBow" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
<a href="http://oregonballettheatre.blogspot.com/search/label/Song%20and%20Dance"><br />
more posts about Song & Dance </a>| <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program4.html">Buy Tickets to Song & Dance</a>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-88609756330828062572011-04-05T15:52:00.000-07:002011-04-05T15:53:17.672-07:00Daily Dance Break: Sand PaintingYour Daily Dance Break: In honor of Anne's "sand ninja" blog post, a mesmerizing sand painting performance. The way the artist shapes the sand to music is like watching a choreographed dance... don't you think?<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/518XP8prwZo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-18361706575473154342011-04-04T17:23:00.000-07:002011-04-07T16:05:38.347-07:00Daily Dance Break: A Different Kind of Street Dance BattleHere's a little taste of the kind of street dance battles that are referenced in Trey McIntyre's Speak, which is part of our Song & Dance program opening April 20th. <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Jsh-HyaApaM" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
<a href="http://oregonballettheatre.blogspot.com/search/label/Song%20and%20Dance"><br />
more posts about Song & Dance </a>| <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program4.html">Buy Tickets to Song & Dance</a>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763655842075851024.post-59791347680562533472011-04-04T13:15:00.000-07:002011-04-04T13:15:16.775-07:00The Life and times of Anne Mueller Part Five: "It Was like Being a Ninja"<i><br />
OBT staff members Linda Besant and Claire Willett sat down with Principal Dancer Anne Mueller (who retires from the stage and transitions to our artistic staff in May) to interview her about her life and career. Over the next few days we’ll be sharing with you some of her stories and anecdotes – from her childhood as a touring ballet dancer, to the craziest photo shoot she ever worked on, to how she ended up living on a farm full of goats. Stay tuned for this behind-the-scenes peek at the life of one of OBT’s most engaging, colorful and unique personalities.</i><br />
<br />
by Claire Willett<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4eWzWXIhl9CWXZCr4MpBzRToWzQlIPLg-ho0fYhPqImJwq73rH-rt9znfCKLzpN22mwVS8IHU6Luv3fBnCO9iJRMfWyHBGynaIic6BqLWRXaWXGAfgNUhdD50-TmuUaFL7OASiGOt64/s1600/trey_1web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4eWzWXIhl9CWXZCr4MpBzRToWzQlIPLg-ho0fYhPqImJwq73rH-rt9znfCKLzpN22mwVS8IHU6Luv3fBnCO9iJRMfWyHBGynaIic6BqLWRXaWXGAfgNUhdD50-TmuUaFL7OASiGOt64/s320/trey_1web.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne Mueller and John Michael Schert for Trey McIntyre Project. Photo by Jonas Lundqvist.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZY9djmv1rnIaLGBN9j8mUno1pIJKev0NjLYZ0_ZtiPNG_bjMeLDWJgCMsMjWvl4O2ArFqNax0H2MyLDBZuCtpqhjm1AsUvTRxyBfoDdmfbrAMQEnLiX89cUTtg7j9pH4XaofVdOKDp8/s1600/TreyMcIn-399x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZY9djmv1rnIaLGBN9j8mUno1pIJKev0NjLYZ0_ZtiPNG_bjMeLDWJgCMsMjWvl4O2ArFqNax0H2MyLDBZuCtpqhjm1AsUvTRxyBfoDdmfbrAMQEnLiX89cUTtg7j9pH4XaofVdOKDp8/s320/TreyMcIn-399x600.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne Mueller and John Michael Schert for Trey McIntyre Project. Photo by Jonas Lundqvist.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Photo shoots are part of the package when you’re a professional ballet dancer; compelling, arresting images that show off the grace and physicality of the company’s dancers are part of every marketing staff’s standard bag of tricks. Anne Mueller has done her fair share of photo shoots for OBT, but the craziest shoot of her life actually happened in summer of 2004 with the as-yet-barely-in-existence <a href="http://www.treymcintyre.com/TMP/Home.html">Trey McIntyre Project</a>.<br />
<br />
“Trey had been a good friend of mine for a very long time,” says Anne. At the time, he was working as a freelance choreographer making work on many different companies, but “He was craving an opportunity to work with a consistent group of dancers of his choosing,” she explains, “while also not yet wanting to take on the directorship of a full-time company.” It began with a series of phone conversations Anne had with Trey and his partner <a href="http://treymcintyre.com/dancers/johnmichael/">John Michael Schert</a>; Anne and John Michael had never met in person before they all decided collectively to join forces and collaborate on this process. “We decided to go for it,” Anne says, “so the first question was, ‘Where do we start?’” The answer? A photo shoot. “We came to the conclusion that the first thing we really needed were images,” she says. “If we’re going to sell people on a company that doesn’t exist, we need some good, striking images to give them some sort of idea what this whole thing’s going to be about.” After a not-so-successful initial attempt, Anne flew out to New York on a red-eye for a second attempt at the critical photo shoot (“I think I was there for maybe 48 hours, tops”) as well as discussions about how to create a fundraising strategic plan and marketing materials.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.jonaslundqvist.com/">Jonas Lundqvist</a>, a Finnish photographer who had danced with Pennsylvania Ballet, had flown out from Finland to New York to do the shoot, but the location and concept remained elusive. There was a lot at stake – the images had to capture and define the aesthetic of a company that didn’t technically exist yet, and inspire presenters to take a chance on them. They did some trial shots on rooftops and on the streets of New York City, trying to get passersby to react; “but nobody there reacts,” says Anne, “so that wasn’t very fun.” Somehow – she can’t remember how it was decided or who thought of it – they settled on doing the shoot at the beach. So they drove an hour from Brooklyn to Queens to do the shoot at Rockaway Beach. <br />
<br />
The costume element for the shoot hadn’t been finalized beforehand; Anne kept asking Trey what to wear and he kept telling her he wanted them both in what she describes as “people clothes.” But Anne, convinced that when push came to shove Trey would change his mind, was prepared. “I did bring some people clothes, but I kept thinking, ‘He’s probably going to want more body than that.’ So I just made sure that I had on a good pair of black underwear.” On the beach, under the hot August sun, Anne stripped down to her black camisole and underwear to get a little sun; when Trey saw her he said, “Oh, actually that outfit’s really good.” (MORAL OF THE STORY: Always wear good underwear to photo shoots, just in case. I’m pretty sure I’ve actually seen that on America’s Next Top Model.)<br />
<br />
The actual shooting began around three in the afternoon, and at first it was stressful and nerve-wracking. Anne and John Michael had never met prior to the trip, “but suddenly he and I were thrust into what’s actually a very personal and vulnerable situation –improvisational dancing with somebody for a camera at close range under high pressure.” Initially Jonas shot them both individually and as a pair, and Anne says “we were both just kind of stumbling through.” They shot for about five hours under intense strain, and then the sun started to set, creating additional pressure to get it right before the light was gone. Towards the end, she says, “I think John Michael and I had worked ourselves to a place of frustration to where we were ready to just abandon ourselves, which I think really shows in these images – we’re just absolutely throwing it all out there.” <br />
<br />
Trey came up with the idea to make the most out of the great sunset light and take advantage of the little time they had left, and told Anne and John-Michael, “Okay, you start on this side, and you start on this side, and run towards each other, and when you’re in front of the camera, do something.” “We didn’t plan what we were going to do,” Anne says, “we just ran.” They did this rapid-fire for a long, long time, says Anne – it was “Run! Do something! Run! Do something!” over and over. “I’m very proud of these pictures because they’re just crazy,” Anne says. “There’s nothing being held back by either one of us. But we also have really contrasting qualities: he’s a very long, elegant and lyrical dancer, and I’m more power-oriented and kind of snappy.” Anne’s favorite shot of John Michael was one where “he threw himself into a fetal position perfectly sideways to the ground and then just collapsed on the sand. Unfortunately they asked him to do it again, which I think he regretted because it hurt! But that was kind of a wonderful thing about the sand – we could hit the ground in a way that you really can’t on a normal type of surface, so we were able to do things we wouldn’t have been able to do elsewhere.” Her favorite shot of herself? “There’s one where I’m jumping up and my legs are basically just in fifth, a little bit of a pike, and I had sand in my hands, and I threw it right as I jumped, and the sand makes this gorgeous X pattern in the sky in front of me. It felt like being a ninja or something!”<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieXjGxQ8s50W3Zn4xBohVKEzhdhg1a0AqQtH1WlYNn7E7WzMJM39xdDxIy7HHhk2BUgfbm2B0odXQbuNr84zEeG_T5jL6EvmUOlTOTTTjw08hxKZJlE2JZkvI_lyUANBUUqUxWDNzrM5Y/s1600/Anne+Fifth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieXjGxQ8s50W3Zn4xBohVKEzhdhg1a0AqQtH1WlYNn7E7WzMJM39xdDxIy7HHhk2BUgfbm2B0odXQbuNr84zEeG_T5jL6EvmUOlTOTTTjw08hxKZJlE2JZkvI_lyUANBUUqUxWDNzrM5Y/s320/Anne+Fifth.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne Mueller for Trey McIntyre Project. Photo by Jonas Lundqvist.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
The shoot went on for a long, long time, she says, “and we captured a lot of really powerful images.” You’d never know from looking at the photos now that “it was one of the most gross and grueling experiences of my dance career. . . we had sand in every possible place sand could be, you know,” she laughs, “and then we had to sit in a car, sweaty and sandy and disgusting, to drive an hour back to Brooklyn.” But it was worth it. The shoot inspired the concept for the next few TMP seasons as well; the following year Trey shot the dancers himself in the water, and then the following year the concept was Air. <br />
<br />
Anne remains incredibly proud of that first shoot on the beach. “I really love those pictures,” she says. “I feel like the power of those images did what it needed to do to give that company a start. They had to be powerful enough to make presenters want to take a chance on something that didn’t exist. That’s got to be something pretty tangible. Trey’s reputation obviously speaks for itself, but really to sell somebody on something in a visual art form, you’ve got to have something visual. And I think that branding-wise, that really set the tone for what that company was going to be like and how it was going to speak its message to the community.” <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Are you an Anne fan? What do you think is Anne’s most recognizable, iconic role? Post your thoughts below in the comments!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://oregonballettheatre.blogspot.com/search/label/Celebrating%20Anne">More Celebrating Anne Stories</a> | <a href="http://www.obt.org/news_links/features/Anne_Mueller_Retirement/index.html">All About Anne</a> | <a href="http://www.obt.org/season_program4.html">Tickets to Song & Dance</a>OREGON BALLET THEATREhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14256223732687245915noreply@blogger.com1