17th Annual Minnesota Dance Festival Update

Fitzgerald Theater, Exchange St, St Paul, MN
Directions to Fitzgerald Theater

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St Paul 'Cultural Star' Grant
Metropolitan Regional Arts Council
Pioneer Press

Minnesota Dance Festival 2005
Artistic Director: Andrew Rist
Executive Director: Cynthia Betz
General Manager: Lisa Gray
Technical Director: Jim Arnold
Marketing consultant: Nancy Haley
Dance Schools Coordinator: Allen Gregory
Student Performance Coordinator: Ellen Cochran
developement director: Art Penfield

TICKETS
Ticketmaster: 612-673-0404

or
Purchase them at the Fitzgerald Theater Box Office

Public Performances $9-$20

Friday    April 29 10:00am                     FESTIVAL SHOWCASE
     Classical Ballet Academy: 'At the Museum'
     Keane Sense of Rhythm 'Flight '
     St Paul City Ballet: 'Tsigany' & 'Calico Two-Step'
     Katha Dance Theater: 'Shahi Mehfil the Royal Concert '
     Ballet Minnesota: excerpt from 'Giselle' (Willis & Peasant Dance)

Friday    April 29 8:00pm                     BALLET MINNESOTA PRESENTS
     Classical Ballet Academy: 'At the Museum'
     St Paul City Ballet: 'Tsigany' & 'Calico Two-Step'
     Katha Dance Theater: 'Shahi Mehfil the Royal Concert '
     Ballet Minnesota: "Giselle' (Act 1&2)

Saturday    April 30 3:00pm                    FESTIVAL SHOWCASE
     Classical Ballet Academy: 'At the Museum'
     St Paul City Ballet: 'Tsigany' & 'Calico Two-Step'
     Risa Cohen Aerial Dance
     MacCalester College Repetory Dance: ' House of Broken Wings'
     Ten Foot Five
     Ballet Minnesota: excerpt from 'Giselle' (Willis & Peasant Dance)

Saturday    April 30 8:00pm                     BALLET MINNESOTA PRESENTS
     Classical Ballet Academy: 'At the Museum'
     Beyond Ballroom:  excerpts from "Clashing and Converging", and "Dinner for Seven".
     Katha Dance Theater: 'Shahi Mehfil the Royal Concert '
     Ballet Minnesota: 'Giselle' (Act 1&2)

Sunday    May 1 11:00am         MDF MASTER CLASS: BALLET
     Teacher: Dmitry Tuboltsev: former principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet, Kazakhstan National Ballet, Leningrad "Ballet Theatre", Moscow Theatre, Russian Ballet and Theatre of Annapolis and guest artist with Ballet Minnesota.

12:00noon        MDF MASTER CLASS: JAZZ
Teacher: Danny Buraczeski: nationally recognized jazz choreographer. Founder and director of JazzDance.
Reviews of Danny Buraczeski:
         "Inventive... perceptive... gorgeous... exuberance...the kind of high-flying dancing that pulls cheering audiences to their feet," says The New York Times
        "Profoundly musical, Buraczeski's choreography punches, pulls, reaches, glides and swings through the music." - Dance Magazine

Sunday    April 29   5:00pm         DANCE SCHOOLS PERFORMANCE
  admission: $5.00/person

Bloomington___City Scape Dance
          ..........................

Lakeville___Dance Works Performing Arts Center
          ..........................

Minneapolis___Deuxmensions
          ..........................

Apple Valley___Heartbeat Studios
          .......................... "Heart & Sole'

St Paul / Woodbury___Classical Ballet Academy of MN
          .......................... excerpt from 'Giselle'

St Paul___Out on a Limb Dance Company
          ........................... 'Les E'toiles'   ( ballet )

St Paul___St Paul Irish dance
          ........................... 'Moondance', 'Traditional Reel' ( Irish Step )

Plymouth___Virginia Luoma Dance
          ........................... 'Rock the Bach'   (tap)

Minneapolis___Ballare Teatro Dance Theatre (company B)
          ...........................'Steam Heat' and 'Stars & Stripes'

Ham Lake___DanceMoves
          .......................... 'Ball from Clue'   (ballet)

           ___Foster Sport Dance
           .............................

     Classical Ballet Academy

History:
First performed: Theatre de l'Academie Royale de Musiique, Paris
                            June 28, 1841
Original music: Adolphe Adam
Original choreography: Jules Perrot & Jean Coralli
Original Book by: Vernoy deSaint-Georges, Theophile Gautier, Jean Coralli
Original Scenery: Pierre Ciceri
Original Cast:           Giselle: Carlotta Grisi
                                 Albrecht: Lucien Petipa
                                 Myrtha: Adele Dumilatre
                                 Hilarion: Jean Coralli

The following information is courtesy of Ballet Notes at BalletMet.org
For more information about Giselle, please click on Ballet Notes

Giselle: Act I - A rustic village

      Giselle, a weak-hearted young girl who is adored by her native villagers, lives with her watchful mother, Berthe. Hilarion, the village gamekeeper, is desperately in love with Giselle. Prince Albrecht, a nobleman who is already engaged to a noblewoman named Bathilde, is bored and lonely with his everyday existence. Captivated by Giselle's frail beauty and innocence, Albrecht disguises himself as a peasant named Loys. After purchasing the cottage adjacent to Berthe's, he proceeds to shower Giselle with his affections.
      Hilarion, filled with suspicion and jealousy, becomes enraged when Giselle falls madly in love with Albrecht and believes that they are engaged.
      Berthe has a vision that her daughter will one day become a Wili, a jilted maiden who dies before her wedding night. The Wilis emerge between midnight and dawn to vengefully trap any man who enters their domain by forcing him to dance to his death.
      Hilarion exposes Albrecht's disguise and proclaims that he is already betrothed to Bathilde. Overwhelmingly distraught and horrified, Giselle dies of a broken heart.

      Hilarion is discovered just before midnight keeping vigil by Giselle's tomb. As midnight approaches, the Wilis appear with their leader, Queen Myrta. This is the night Giselle is to be initiated as a Wili.
      Albrecht, laden with feelings of guilt and remorse, visits Giselle's grave. He sees a vision of Giselle and follows it into the forest. At this point, Myrta discovers Hilarion in the forest and orders the Wilis to dance around him until he dies from exhaustion. She then discovers Albrecht and demands that he share the same fate as Hilarion but is unable to permeate the invisible bond of love that Giselle has for him.
      At dawn, when the Wilis lose their power and must retreat to their dwelling place, Albrecht is saved and Giselle forgives him. Giselle returns with the Wilis and recognizes that now she will be one of them for the rest of time.

Reference Webpages for 'Giselle'

Giselle Timeline and notes from Artslynx   Very Good

English National Ballet Reference page: 'Giselle'

BalletMet Balletnotes 'Giselle'

Footnotes (dancers (Cynthia Gregory, Karen Kain, etc) talk about Giselle)   Interesting

KATHA DANCE THEATER
Artistic Director: Rita Mustaphi

Dancers: Rita Mustaphi andDebjani Chakraborty, Swati Deo, Pooja Khanna, Sarika Prabhu, Asha Sharma and Sharon Varosh.
Name of Dance Piece: Shahi Mehfil the Royal Concert
Choreographer and composer: Pandit Birju Maharaj;
Lyrics: Pandit Bindadin Maharaj
Date choreographed: 2001
Costume designer: Rita Mustaphi
Name of Company: Katha Dance Theatre presenting Kathak dance of North India

Choreographer Bio: Pandit Birju Maharaj,vocalist, percussionist, composer, poet, choreographer and dancer,isrecognized internationally as the greatest living exponent of North Indian classical dance, 'Kathak'. Beate Gordon, director of the Performing Arts Department of the Asia Society, New York wrote, "Birju Maharaj is in the class of the great western performers such as Baryshnikov, Margot Fonteyn, Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham. He is a phenomenon".  Pandit Birju Maharaj has received the Sangeet Natak Academy Award (the highest civilian award) and the Padma Vibhushan (the highest presidential award for achievement) by the Government of India. He was choreographer in residence at the American Dance Festival at Durham, North Carolina in 1991and was honored with a special award at the prestigious Avignon Festival at Paris, France in July 1995.

This is the portrayal of a scene in a dancing room during
the time of the royal patronage in India. The lyric expresses
a love song called Thumri.

When the fragrant cold breeze blows
Over the groves
The flute player (Lord Krishna) awaits
With the flame of love in his heart
Radha, a village belle complains

Oh you pampered son of Nanda
Why always tease me?
I am on my way to fetch water
And you block the path by force

Nanda darling! Why bar my way?
You are always picking on me.
O mischievous one, you are naughty!
Let go of my hands, beloved, why harass me?

O Binda please listen to my plea
He overcomes me.

St Paul City Ballet
Choroegrapher: Wilor Bluege

"Tsigany"
and the polka
"Calico Two-Step

Wilor Bluege has taught classical ballet and character dance since 1969 and has been choreographing since 1978. During her 25+ years as a dancer, she worked with Andahàzy Ballet, St. Paul Civic Ballet (Jo Savino), Children's Theater, and Branitski Ballet, performing corps, soloist, and principal roles in Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Les Sylphides, Pas de Quatre, Nutrcracker, Don Quixote, Scheherazade, Legend of Love, and in many other classical, character, modern, and jazz works created by other Twin City choreographers. As a choreographer, Ms. Bluege has created a large body of original work for the stage, showing an ability to generate quality dance pieces in a variety of styles:
classical ballet, character, and contemporary. Ms. Bluege is the author/illustrator and artistic director/choreographer of the hour-and-a-half long ballet, The Golden Bough, A Fairytale Ballet for
Children. In addition to that tour de force, she has taught dozens of excerpts from works by the world's greatest choreographers, including small and large ensemble pieces and solo variations from The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadere, Raymonda, La Esmeralda, Swan Lake, and Don Quixote. Wilor has a comprehensive knowledge of Vaganova syllabus and offers the additional (and rare) specialty of being an accomplished teacher and choreographer of character dance (i.e., dances of various ethnic and
cultural origins).

Friday, April 29, 10:00am
Friday, April 29, 8:00pm
Saturday, April 30, 3:00pm