Spring Concert is right around the corner! Here’s an excerpt of the 2006 Spring Concert performance of Paquita – a taste of some great dancing to catch at TPB this May!
We’re so excited for audiences to take the journey with us to fantastical world of TPB’s new ballet, John Clifford’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. At tech rehearsal this evening, a magical transformation- from dancers on a stage to Kings, Queens, fairies and enchanted insects in a majestic forest- began to take place. So many details make this magic possible; from props and costumes, to lighting and backdrops, to the addition of live accompaniment.
Also, as we learned over the course of the past few months the youth company dancers underwent internal transformations as they worked to own the roles and the choreography that John Clifford set on them. A few of the dancers shared this process with us through interviews and blog posts…
Caroline MacDonald has mentioned Hippolyta’s bold red and leopard costume making her feel extra fiery and powerful in TPB’s blog and in this interview with Oregon Live, she talks about combining her strengths as a dancer with Mr. Clifford’s vision of Hippolyta.
Maggie Rupp talks about how the emotive music of A Midsummer Night’s Dream informs her personal take on Titania’s expressions and movements in this interview on OPB’s Think Out Loud. She also talks about building on her experience partnering with Josh Murry and how their familiarity allows for more play in their already hilariously choreographed pas de deux as Titania and Bottom. Maggie and Josh last danced together as romantic shopkeepers Amelie and Gerard in La Boutique Fantasque.
Peter Deffebach was also interviewed on OPB’s Think Out Loud. Peter did his research for his portrayal of Oberon and talks about gaining a lot of perspective on the role by watching clips and interviews of dancers in Pacific Northwest Ballet version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Each of the three young men cast as Puck, Finn Henell, Zach Lyski and Lucas Pitts, have examined their inner imp to add their own flavor to A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s leafy trickster. Hoping to live up to Mr. Clifford’s roguish Robin Goodfellow, we even screened the 1935 film version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at TPB to help our Puck’s in training to soak in some inspiration from one of John Clifford’s favorite portrayals of Puck by Micky Rooney.
Hope Garcia blogged about embracing the role of Titania’s fairy attendant and on considering what regal and ethereal qualities she and the other attendants could express in their dancing. I saw Hope and her fellow company members manifest these qualities first hand when one evening, just they were finishing up rehearsal, the dancers working on the fairy attendant choreography all broke into song accompanying their piece. It was inspiring, to see these young ladies who work so hard together dancing AND singing in harmony.
These very dedicated dancers have put their heart and souls into this new production! The Portland Ballet will be so proud to share the culmination of their (and all of the artistic staff’s hard work) on stage this weekend at Lincoln Hall!
KINK, OPB, PSU Vanguard, The Columbian, The Oregonian, open rehearsals, in the theater. Wherever and whenever you experience TPB dancers, you see stars!
Can you believe it? It’s nearly twelve days until the curtain is raised for the opening night of Midsummer! The past few weeks have flown by in a flurry of pointe shoes, hair pins, and rehearsals and the next twelve will be over before we know it. The reality of how close the shows are truly sank in today when we had our first official dress rehearsal. It was truly magical seeing all of the roles come to life with colorful wigs, light up skirts and turquoise ballet flats.
It’s amazing how much a costume can help a dancer get into character, providing that last bit of inspiration needed to really create the character. I know my new costume for Hippolyta helped bring an extra spark to my first act choreography (how can I resist red, gold, and leopard print???). I can only imagine how fantastic everything will look once it’s framed on a stage with lighting, a set, and an orchestra in the pit!
Twelve days before Midsummer, The fairies gave to me…
Ladybugs, moths and bumblebees!
I am one of those dancers that must have a storyline in mind while dancing. Even in class, I pretend I am Giselle, Kitri, Juliet or Odile during barre, otherwise I find my mind wandering. But this concept is even more important to me when performing in a ballet, especially one with a storyline like A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
However, as a fairy, I have little with which to work. In the ballet, I appear in just two scenes, which makes it even more difficult to establish a character. Mr. Clifford, in an earlier rehearsal, told us that he wants “the lights to come up and the audience to see nothing but beauty” personified. So I suppose that means I must not only appear beautiful, I must believe it to be so, inside and out. But is there more to fairies than beauty? One Thursday afternoon, I decided to do some research on fairy lore throughout history.
On Wikipedia, I found that fairies are generally thought to appear as beautiful women but with supernatural powers. Also, in ancient Greece (incidentally the setting of AMND) fairies were called nymphs and thought to be the handmaidens, or servants, of the various gods and goddesses. So as Titania’s fairy, I am her handmaiden and in my dance am singing (and dancing) her and her changeling boy to sleep. I also appear in a later scene when Titania is humiliated by being found to have slept with Bottom.
Drawing from that assorted information, I am essentially a fairy-in-waiting (with beauty as well as mystical powers) for a fairy queen (with even more beauty and mystical powers). So as a fairy, I am to be beautiful, bright and loyal to my queen yet proud of my position. The fairy presented in the ballet is in fact an idealized woman as well as the essence of what ballet supposed to be: exquisite, intelligent, devoted and confident.
This week’s clip was chosen by Samantha Baybado in Level 5. It features one of her favorite dancers, Daniil Simkin. Daniil’s dancing is really beautiful in this piece but for some reason we couldn’t help cracking up while watching it…
This week’s clip was suggested by Level 4 student Symara Williams. She chose her favorite segment from Alvin Ailey’s Revelations called Wade in the Water. She likes this piece because it combines a classical feel with modern movement and because the costumes are both extravagant and elegant. She also likes imagery and the fluidity of the choreography. Check out a photo gallery commemorating the 50 year anniversary of Revelations on the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre’s website.
All new costumes are being constructed for the new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, based on choreographer John Clifford’s direction. Our volunteer costume staff, led by Mary Muhlbach, have been working since the summer to design and build the new costumes. It’s a huge undertaking to outfit an entire cast but as we’ll see Thanksgiving weekend, their efforts will delight us with beautiful, brilliantly whimsical costumes to match John Clifford’s magical vision of the ballet. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of the process.
Inspiration for the Purple Emperor Butterfly costume: Costumer Mary Muhlbach researched actual bugs for the various bug roles in the ballet.
Mary Muhlbach’s sketch for the Purple Emperor Butterfly costume: based on John Clifford’s direction and inspiration from the actual bug, costumer Mary Muhlbach creates a costume sketch.
Purple Emperor Butterfly costume fitting: once the costumes are built, they are fitted to each dancer.
Purple Emperor Butterfly Costume in rehearsal: a preview of the nearly completed costume on display during rehearsal.
Tonight I asked company member Peter Deffebach for a ballet clip that was inspirational to him. It’s easy to see why he chose Swan Lake, thinking back to Spring Concert earlier this year when Peter put a lot of work into preparing for dancing the role of Siegfried. When I asked him he chose this clip in particular, Peter who is a big fan of Semyon Chudin said “Just watch, it’s awesome.”
On October 14th The Portland Ballet Youth Company members and apprentices were invited to perform at Shine A Light at the Portland Art Museum.
The dancers were very excited for the opportunity to present John Clifford’s newly staged choreography and for some dancers, to don the costumes for their roles for the very first time. They soon discovered there would be some interesting challenges to performing at an event that brings different artistic disciplines up close and personal with the public. Not only did the youth company have to adapt their movements to dancing on a much smaller stage, they found themselves dancing inches away from their audience and two life size reclining statues in the gallery. Having been well prepared in rehearsals, the dancers rose to the occasion, showing their professionalism and love of ballet, which was reflected in the Shine A Light patrons’ glowing reception.
