St Paul Pioneer Press Thursday, May 17, 2001
Festival to let troupes, schools put best feet forward
Matt Peiken : staff writer, St Paul Pioneer Press
For all the dance in the Twin Cities, Andrew Rist doesn't see much of the community supposedly attached to it. His annual Minnesota Dance Festival, starting its 13th run today, is as much a celebration for insiders as it is a public showcase.
More than a dozen dance schools are showing their best steps to one another today at St Paul's Fitzgerald Theater. Six ethnic, modern and ballet companies, including Rist's Ballet Minnesota, perform Friday and Saturday. "All these independent companies are trying to get students and compete for audiences and grant money, but this is a neutral ground." says Rist, who runs his school and company from St Paul's Lowertown. The festival, he says, paints a bigger picture for current students of dance and welcomes novices and outsiders to the insular dance scene.
"I think there will be some element of competition - everyone wants to put their best foot forward," he says. "But I've been to festivals at other parts of the country, and the competition is overshadowed by the coming-together of everybody.
Staging modern work this weekend are Precipice Dance Company of Minneapolis, Vox Medusa Dance Company of Apple Valley, and Ressl Dance! of Duluth. Also performing are the Ukrainian-American Dance Company (Cheremosh) and a Tibetan dance group, both from Minneapolis.
Ballet Minnesota has the classical realm to itself, along with the festival's marquee attraction. Oksana Konobeyeva, a Russian ballerina with the Bolshoi Ballet and American Ballet Theater among her credits, stars in a movement from "La Bayadere," a 19th-century ballet by the choreographer of "Swan Lake". Rist calls this movement "one of the most impressive scenes in all of ballet."
Konobeyeva's presence is a psychological and spiritual charge for his dancers, Rist says, but he's more excited by the dance schools on the opening-day program.
"I can't tell you how important this is to the festival." he says. "Just getting them here is a big step, because people are apprehensive, and they don't know if there are strings attached. But at the schools come down, hopefully they'll bring people with them, an the festival will grow."
The festival is holding dance classes Saturday morning and afternoon at the Fitzgerald Theater, and Rist wants to create a street scene in front of the venue to showcase arts that influence dance.
Kristin Freya, founder and artistic director of Vox Medusa, worked with a metal sculptor, video artist, electronic musicain, opera singer and spoken-word performer to create her newest piece, "Air". Despite trimming it from 30 minutes to 10 to fit into the festival, Freya felt honored by Rist's invitation to perform.
"It's nice to have a really beautiful, pristine theater to perform work and not have it be such an intimate enviorment all the time," she says. "I work with alot of artists, and I love to collaborate, and the city is not that big, and the dance community is finding itself. We really should know and support each other.
