Septimes Salon

It's not too late to, SEDUCE the Senses!

Wed, 16 May 2012 19:53:00 GMT

It still isn't too late to join me for The Washington Ballet’s 2012.13 Season, SEDUCTION. You have until MAY 25th to be a part of our inspiring upcoming season and celebration by renewing your subscription. Like the Sirens of yore, we are deliberately setting out to tempt you with the most sensuous, sublime and provocative dance in a mix of the new, the recent, the unfamiliar and the classic. Our season expands to five subscription programs accented by explorations into classical literature with the world premieres of Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises and David Palmer’s Dangerous Liaison and the company premiere of Michael Pink’s Dracula.

Believe me, this is one season you won't want to miss!Filled with enticing journeys, irresistible productions and enthralling dance-subscription renewal today ensures that you will have the best seats in the theater for what promises to be a seduction of the senses.

I look forward to seeing you at the Ballet.

Ballet, Totó, and Samba, Oh My!

Thu, 10 May 2012 19:54:00 GMT

I think we have a hit on our hands. Standing ovation tonight was immediate following the preview performance of ¡Noche Latina!. I just dropped off two giddy choreographers (Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Eddie Liang) and a giddy costume designer (Aviad Arik Herman) at their respective apartments after a post-performance supper where we replayed the triumph scored by the artists on stage tonight. Dancers were in fine form. It’s amazing how all the works gelled in such a short amount of time. It’s really quite unbelievable we had 3 short weeks after wonderful ALICE to put all 3 premieres together. My head is still spinning.

Each section of ¡Noche Latina! was informed by a Latin passion and amplitude of movement. We’re thrilled to be collaborating with our colleagues: artist and world renowned Spanish sculptor, Cristóbal Gabarrón, whose breathtaking 100-piece sculpture dances on stage with performers during Eddie’s La Ofrenda, and a Colombian music superstar, Totó la Momposina, who sings an electrifying set between Annabelle and Trey’s pieces and just about blows the roof off of Eisenhower Theater. Man, Totó’s got a set of chops!

We open at 8pm tonight and I’ve got a great feeling of how dancers will connect with the audience. I know we’ll be body slamming everyone at the post-performance reception hosted by the Brazilian Ambassador tonight. And I can’t wait for Noche de Pasión tomorrow, a fantastic event hosted by the wonderful Mexican Ambassador and his wife, and organized by two of DC’s real Latina sparkplugs, Pilar O’Leary and Isabel Ernst.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation: Part II

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:13:00 GMT

Bodrum, Turkey
August 25, 2011
3:30PM

I’ve got an afternoon all to myself, sitting on some rocks overlooking the Aegean Sea in Bodrum. The Company is on tour here in Turkey, and our dress rehearsal ended at 12:30AM last night. David Palmer and I stayed back at the amphitheater at Bodrum Castle until close to 3:30AM working on getting the lighting just right for the presentation of our Rock & Roll program. Since it was such a late night, everyone has the day free; resting for tonight’s opening performance. The entire arena is sold out and we’ve already been asked back even before we’ve performed!

This tour is certainly going to be a rocking experience and I’m sure that Turkish audiences will relish the Rock & Roll program.

In addition to our posse of artists, production crew and artistic staff, a group of 30 friends of the ballet have accompanied us—I like to call them our own cheerleading squad—and I spent a couple of delightful days in Istanbul with them before we arrived in Bodrum. It is a magical place with so many layers of culture built upon each other—the juxtaposition of the ancient and the modern is astonishing and beautiful.

For now, I am sitting on rocks looking at the sea, anticipating a great show.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation: Part I

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:09:00 GMT

Rome, Italy
July 4, 2011
2:45AM

I am back at my hotel after a long, dizzying evening of judging the Premio di Roma: the Rome International Choreographer’s Competition. I’ve been in Rome for one week, judging an amazing array of contemporary choreography from around the world, performed in an idyllic outdoor amphitheater.

But there is nothing tranquil or calm about the Italians. They work hard and they party late. The companies perform from 9:30PM until midnight and then the judges meet to discuss the work til 2AM—but I don’t mind because the wine is flowing freely. And then it’s time to unwind—bedtime’s been coming around 4 in the morning.

Some of the amazing choreographers I’ve had the privilege of judging include two young Australian choreographers; a provocative Italian from Napoli, and a Korean post-Modernist. This trip has given me a chance to rekindle my love affair with the Pantheon and a lot of other historic sites in and around Rome—which is the second stop on a long trip that started last week in Amsterdam to see the Dutch National Ballet.

It was great to see Michele Jimenez in the Netherlands; I got to see her perform in David Dawson’s ravishing new work for Dutch National. After Rome, it’s onto Saint-Paul de Vence in the Côte d’Azur, Berlin, and Seoul, Korea.

Thank God for frequent flier miles!

Nutcracker Season

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 13:02:00 GMT

December 23, 2010
3:12 AM
The Nutcracker kicked in to gear the last weekend of September with auditions at THEARC and then in NW. A huge number of dancers auditioned and the year a record number 425 dancers are performing in Nutz over multiple casts. Thank heavens for Donna Glover and her army! We expanded the run to five weeks- Thanksgiving week at THE ARC and then four weeks at The Warner. As I type this (with my thumb on my phone!) we've of five more shows left. I've given the dancers the green light to do a "Nutty Nutcracker" on the last show. I'll miss that performance dammit-I'll be in Texas visiting my family and we'll all likely be swimming in mojitos by then. I just hope the dancers keep it clean. :-)

Christianne Campbell by Theo Kossenas

Maki Onuki and Jonathan Jordan by Theo Kossenas

Rui Huang and Jared Nelson by Theo Kossenas

With Soldiers and my godson Will backstage.

Vilkomen

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:05:00 GMT

September 17, 2010
1:01 AM
It's great to welcome the amazing Monique Meunier (former Principal Dancer at NYCB and Soloist at ABT) as our new Ballet Mistress and Carlos Valcarcel (beloved faculty member with TWSB) as our Ballet Master of TWB's new Trainee Program. David Palmer and I welcome the help!

Carlos Valcarcel

Monique Meunier

And Back to Work

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:56:00 GMT

September 12, 2010
11:11 PM
Back-to-work! Preparing Romeo + Juliet (fabulous roles for so many!) and welcoming Christopher Bruce who set his riveting Rooster on the company set to the music of the Rolling Stones which premieres in February.

Clowning around backstage at Romeo + Juliet

Hooliganism at its best!

John and Maki

Maki as a pre-Prozac harlot.

WHITE HOUSE!!

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:48:00 GMT

September 7, 2010
1:23 AM
Today we performed excerpts of Twyla Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs for Mrs. Obama at the White House. What an amazing experience! We spent the day there and about 15 of our students took dance workshops and then watched the show. It honored retiring Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Artistic Director Judith Jamison and was directed by Damien Woetzel. Morgann Frederick and Jonathan Jordan knocked it out of the ball park. Our students from THEARC so impressed the White House staff they've invited back to perform Michael Jackson's Thriller as a surprise for the First Lady on Halloween and to tour the White House to see the holiday decorations! And pictures below.

John and Morgan rehearsing in the East Room

Our Kids after the workshop at the White House.

With Damien Woetzel and Heather Watts

Summer Wrap up

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:40:00 GMT

August 1, 2010.
12:31AM
Amazing summer travels judging international ballet competitions and visiting ballet folks all over the place. The itinerary included Amsterdam (dined with the stunning bride-to-be Michele Jimenez); Greece for yoga, beach, reading, and the thump-thump-thump of the techno beat on Super Paradise Beach; judging a competition in Istanbul with buddies Malakov, Bocca, et al; judging in Cape Town with Dirk and the gang just after the World Cup (Shakira's pop anthem was ubiquitous); judging at the grand daddy if them all in Varna, Bulgaria where I ate three shopska salads a day. It's nice to be home!

1) Me in Greece!
2) On the famous stage in Varna with Valentina Kozlova
3) The Cape of Good Hope. The end of the world.
4) The Jurors after a long night of judging
5) Visiting Cape town can be a hair-raising experience!
6) With Glamorous frenchie Elizabeth Patel
7) With Malakov and Bocca
8) Astonishing and Mythical Istanbul
9) Being bad with Italian Prima Ballerina Margherita Parilla
10) Los Angeles de Charlie with Viengsay
11) Me after yoga class
12) DANCE FOR ALL in a South African Township

Ballet Lovers Unite!

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:47:00 GMT

Once again, I’m enjoying a cold Mexican beer as I relive another wonderful ballet event.

Last night we kicked off the 2010 DanceUSA Conference with a party that TWB co-hosted at House of Sweden. This afternoon, I hosted a panel of artistic directors that was also part of this conference. They came from all over the US, and spoke about building a vision for ballet. Among the directors were Tom Mossbrucker (Santa Fe Ballet), Dorothy Gunther Pugh. (Ballet Memphis), Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux (North Carolina Dance Theatre) and Marcello Angelini (Tulsa Ballet). Their conversation was witty, fascinating, and even sassy at times! It reminded me that artistic organizations are always striving to provide their audiences with a mirror that reflects them and their culture. There is so much great art being created nation-wide – Much of it is on display at Ballet Across America II, a festival now running at the Kennedy Center. Don’t miss it!
Cheers,
Septime

Welcome to the Family, Monique

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:31:00 GMT

After a year-long search and interviews with many qualified candidates, I’m thrilled to announce that Monique Meunier will join TWB as Ballet Master on August 23, 2010.

I have been a fan of Monique’s throughout her career at American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and New York City Ballet (NYCB). I especially remember her performances in Giselle at ABT and The Four Temperaments and Peter Martins’ staging of Swan Lake at NYCB. I look forward to having her on board and collaborating with her throughout the coming season. Please read on for more information on Monique Meunier.

Monique Meunier was born in Hollywood, CA. Her father is Cuban and mother is Ecuadorian. At the age of 15, she received a full scholarship to attend the School of American Ballet. Ms. Meunier was asked to join the New York City Ballet one year later. In 1997, she was promoted to soloist and reached the rank of principal dancer in 1998. There she performed numerous roles by Balanchine, Robbins, and Forsythe as well as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. In 2002, Ms. Meunier joined American Ballet Theater where she added the classics, Tudor, and Kylian to her repertoire. In 2007, she joined Complexions Contemporary Ballet under the direction of Dwight Rhoden. Ms. Meunier has staged Balanchine ballets for the Balanchine Trust and served as rehearsal director for Karole Armitage in 2009. She has also ventured into choreography and has premiered four works in 2009/2010 for Lake Placid and The Columbia Collaborative.

A Delicious End to the Season

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:22:00 GMT

Genius3 closed yesterday with a bang. As I write this, it still feels like I’m swimming in a bowl of mojitos…

I consumed quite a few last night at a party I hosted with TWB dancers, staff and board members. It was a great celebration of a watershed season. Genius3 was the final installment of a three-year project that highlighted works by acknowledged ballet masters of our time. This particular program featured Mark Morris’s lush and musical Pacific, Nacho Duato’s passionate Cor Perdut, George Balanchine’s modernist masterwork The Four Temperaments and Twyla Tharp’s witty and highly technical Push Comes to Shove. It was a fittingly rollicking end to a dynamic season that also included Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, WAM (wolfgang amadeus mozart), The Great Gatsby, Shoogie, the Tail of My Weiner Dog, and Bolero(+).Thank you for sharing it with us – I hope you have a wonderful summer, and to help you stay cool, I’m including my mojito recipe below…Cheers!
Septime

Septime’s Mojitos:
Fill a measuring cup to 75 ml with lime juice. Add sugar until it reaches 125 ml. and stir to melt the sugar. In a pitcher combine this with two cups of club soda and one cup of white (not dark!) rum. Muddle a heavy dose of mint leaves (I usually use about 1-15 leaves for this amount). Then add my secret ingredient: four dashes of angostura bitters. Serve over lots of ice. You’ll probably want to double the recipe as these go fast!

Next Up: Bolero

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:17:00 GMT

Preparing three contemporary works as different as the individuals who created them is a daunting task. Our upcoming Bolero(+) production features Nicolo Fonte's Bolero, Edwaard Liang's Wunderland and a world premiere by Karole Armitage. Karole started working on her piece right after New Years, and held her rehearsals opposite Gatsby rehearsals.

This "Punk Ballerina" gained fame in New York City in the 1980's, when she was tied to many star contemporary visual artists. I asked her to make a "beautiful" work for our company, which was actually more avant guarde for her, since she has always been such a provocateuse! She is teaming with The Washington National Opera's Domingo-Cafrtiz Young Artists, who'll be performing Brahms, and together, they've created an emotional and swirling work that is truly transporting. Armitage was so professional in her work with our dancers that I almost forgot her early days when she sported spiked hair, tutus with safety pins and combat boots.

Yesterday, the company started restaging Edwaard Liang's Wunderland, which was a hit with audiences last season. This work, set to mesmerizing music by Philip Glass, is propulsive and really engages all our dancers. Company members from last season all contributed in teaching this work to new dancers, and it was wonderful to watch them impart what Edi had taught them. (I mostly just tried to stay out of the way!) Nicolo is one of the most musical choreographers in the US. He cast Bolero in October and arrives on Monday to stage the piece. It's a physically explosive work -- like a 30 minute ballet packed into 21 minutes, and we're anxious to begin our work on it.

Interestingly, while the music on this program is diverse, there is the sense of a musical journey; from Brahms to Ravel to Glass. Ravel and Glass's music is hypnotic, with rich layers and repetition. Brahm's piece is emotional and humanistic. Altogether...They are dazzling.

Cheers,
Septime

Life After Gatsby

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:30:00 GMT

It’s been two and a half weeks since The Great Gatsby, and I’m still exhausted.

Letters and emails keep coming in from friends, family members and strangers alike, expressing much they liked the production. Many have ideas on how we might produce Gatsby for tour, in New York City or just again here in DC. The production was a “perfect storm,” created by a compelling story that was both challenging and accessible, Billy Novick’s knockout score, and our highly charged company of artists. From the performers on the stage to the musicians in the hydrolic pit including crooners Will Gartshore and E. Faye Butler, the electricity throughout The Great Gatsby was intense.

In making this ballet, I acknowledged something about myself that, in truth, I already knew: I am a storyteller. Ballet has its roots in storytelling, but after almost a century of modernism, for which the ballet vocabulary was in service of abstract work, it seemed appropriate to return to storytelling. The result was something interesting and surprisingly fresh.

This spring, however, we’ll present two modern programs, Bolero(+) and Genius3. As George Balanchine once quipped, “Sometimes the audience wants roast beef, and sometimes it wants pancakes.” Diversity in repertoire mirrors the surprise and serendipity we find in life, and makes us see the world differently. It seems that great things happen in threes – We found great success this season with Don Quixote, The Nutcracker and The Great Gatsby. Now it’s time to strip down the theatrical concerns, and present passionate, athletic and heart-stopping dance. We look forward to sharing it with you!

Cheers,
Septime

Great Gatsby Fill in the Blanks

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:19:00 GMT

TWB: The hardest part of creating The Great Gatsby was...
S. Webre: ...the fact that there was no existing musical score, which serves as a defacto libretto.

TWB: The part of Gatsby I am most proud of is...
S. Webre: ...the way in which the whole team of collaborators—dancers, artistic staff, administrative staff, designers, musicians, and especially composer Billy Novick and TWB Music Director Scott Speck were on the same wavelength throughout.

TWB: The best compliment I got from a patron was...
S. Webre:...after seeing the premiere, Washington Life’s Kevin Chaffee quipped “Septime, you really managed a lot of elements –you had everything but the elephant in there!”

TWB: I hate it when I hear...
S.Webre:...”I never read the book…”

TWB: I identify most with...
S. Webre: ...Nick Carraway....with a little Myrtle thrown in there.

TWB: The funniest part of this process was...
S. Webre: Making the sofa dance with its zany, Chaplinesque acrobatics!

TWB: If patrons walk away with anything from Gatsby, I hope it will be...
S. Webre: ...inspired by this compelling tale.

TWB: When Gatsby is all over, I will celebrate by...
S. Webre:...throwing back a few Mexican beers and having fun with friends.

Gatsby Untamed

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:39:00 GMT

Last night was preview night, and it went so well. It’s amazing how far we’ve come in such a short time. It is a testament to our company of artists that they are able to present such a dazzling production despite what has been a very busy last couple of months.

The house was sold-out and the audience was great, exuding the energy and “good vibes” that our dancers needed to do their very best. I’ve no doubt the rest of our run will be just as successful, and I hope you won’t miss it. (Click here for tix!)

Then next week, we’ll announce our 2010.11 Season. Our theme is Untamed, and Gatsby is the perfect production to precede the announcement because that’s what it is…Untamed. It is filled with soulful, passionate and unrestrained artistry…And we’re promising more of the same. Subscribers, look for your renewal packets next week. All, check back here for updates and more information….Now, go Gatsby go!

Cheers,
Septime

Gatsby...Fully Dressed

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:35:00 GMT

3 PM:
It’s intermission during Gatsby dress rehearsal, and I’m relieved that things are going so much better today. Highlights include:

- The spine-tingling rapport evolving between Elizabeth Gaither and Jared Nelson.

- E. Faye Butler belting out Jazz Era tunes like a trumpet heralding in each scene. (Her raw technique is quite simply jaw-dropping.)

-Will Gartshore’s soulful interpretation of Nick Caraway…His chic vocal styling makes him sound like 1920’s radio host.

Now I’ve got to do a quick interview with The Washington Post. (Sports section writers are doing an interesting piece about my golf scene starring Jade Payette (Jordan Baker) and Jonathan Jordan (Nick Caraway) -- Look for it soon!)

Then...it’s on to Act II!

Cheers,
Septime

Gatsby Tech Rehearsal

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:01:00 GMT

11:30 PM: Today was tech day for The Great Gatsby…I almost shot myself.

Because this production is so complex (there are 21 “fly maneuvers” in Act I alone), the day was extremely long. We somehow got through it all –12 scenes, 160 light cues and about 40 songs, although it took us seven hours instead of six. Still, this was still a feat considering we encountered every conceivable problem known to man. Just a few examples:

- In one scene, it’s supposed to rain money. During rehearsal today, it poured money…and it wouldn’t stop. This sounds nice, except sadly, the money is fake…

- Our floral arrangements in Act I toppled over.

- The hydraulic pit malfunctioned.

- In Act I, Myrtle’s phone booth entered the stage instead of Daisy’s couch (Though it would have been interesting to see the four dancers attempt their couch dance in a phone booth…)

Eventually, we made it through the whole piece, and I have time for one cold Mexican beer before it’s time to turn in. I’ll be up early for an 8AM meeting, and there is no time to waste…Wish me luck!

Cheers,
Septime

1 Part Gatsby, 1 Part New Season, 2 Parts Snow...Mix Well and Enjoy.

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:22:00 GMT

Despite the threat of “snowpocalypse,” we are hard at work today on both 2010.2011 Season planning and creating Act II dances forThe Great Gatsby. This is not the first time I’ve found myself split between present and future, forgetting what year I’m currently in and wondering how it will all get done. Somehow, it always does.

We were in the office bright and early, looking over hundreds of photos from last week’s 10.11 season photo shoot. They are breathtaking, or rather I should say, our company artists are breathtaking. At first glance, almost every photo looks like a “winner,” but as we zoom in, examining each facial expression, foot, hand and muscle, we notice nuances that make some photos far superior to others. We also consider what photos will “sell” – which ones will work well for the brochure and how they can be modified for print ads. We barely got through 50 before I was called into another meeting and subsequent rehearsals. David Palmer and I will attempt to get through the rest, and then they’ll need to be approved by dancers before finally getting into the hands of Design Army (our brochure designer). Meanwhile, our marketing folks work on crafting copy for the brochure, and try desperately to keep me on schedule (not an easy task, as you can imagine!)

Gatsby continues to make progress every day (today’s highlights include Daisy and Gatsby’s frankly sexual pas in Act II, an hilarious maids dance, and a brutal duet between the tussling George and Myrtle). I’m looking forward to presenting some of the more finished parts at Monday’s inthewings (click here for more information), and the following week’s beerandballet and open rehearsal (click here for more information). The dancers breathe new life into old, familiar characters, and I can’t wait to see them perform alongside the musicians we have lined-up. I hope you’re planning on joining us for this special production… Click here to secure your seats now!

Cheers,
Septime

"Work-end"

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:06:00 GMT

Friday, January 29
6PM: The Great Gatsby rehearsal day ends.

7:30PM – 11:45 PM: I find myself working at my dining room table, with the musical score from The Great Gatsby playing on my iTunes, and with two composition notebooks filled with notes on the production. Through the evening I work through preparing the entire Act 2 pas de deux between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan ---a duet that takes place during the middle of their torrid summer love affair. Eventually I danced the whole pas de deux in my dining room by myself – well, with my imaginary special friend...

Over four hours and four ice cold Red Stripes later.... I went to bed with my old and worn copy of The Great Gatsby novel in my hand, while attempting to edit the monologues Nick Caroway will perform onstage.

Saturday, January 30

10AM – 1PM: While snowed in, I prepared the staging for the cityscape scene; it’s a chaotic and raucous depiction of the streets of New York City during rush hour, including: a Priest, a Rabbi, a Lady with a Pram, a NY Yankee, Stockbrokers, a guy selling puppies, two Salvation Army ladies, a sailor, a tart, a millionaire a starlet....and a partridge in a pear tree.

1PM: I ventured out in the snow to Transformer for a 2PM artist talk with the collaborators on the Snow Globe project. Luckily, Transformer is next door to a Whole Foods, so I was able to stock up on more Red Stripes for later hours to come!

7 – 10PM: Worked on the Gatsby scene “Louisville Flashback” scene set to an amazing (and funny) World War I march from teens--James A. Brennan’s “We’re all going calling on the Kaiser.” The scene is about American soldiers being sent off to Germany. In this scene we see the story of how Daisy and Gatsby meet and fall in love. Gatsby goes off to war, and despite the love they share Daisy does not wait for Gatsby. She marries the wealthy playboy Tom Buchanan. Because “rich girls don’t marry poor boys.”

10PM and beyond: Time for a good gossip session on the phone with my sister in Austin, and a few Red Stripes for kicks.

Sunday, January 31

10AM – 2PM: While listening to Gospel music, I worked on the casting, synopsis, music set list and format for Gatsby’s Playbill. Our Public Relations Manager Alyssa Porambo is a hard ass when it comes to these things.

4–6PM: Attended the WPAS Men, Women, and Children of Gospel concert at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall. I’m really interested in collaborating on a large project with them in the future (not for the 2010.2011 season though; but stay tuned for details on the upcoming season!)

7–9PM: I worked on finishing a Charlie Chaplain-esque sofa dance sequence featuring Nick Caroway, Jordan Baker, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan.

9PM: I partook in the ultimate multi-tasking, flipping between a new episode of HBO’s Big Love and the Grammys while doing my part to help the economy by investing in Red Stripe Jamaican Breweries. My apologies to Negra Modelo.

Flashes of Light

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:43:00 GMT

8:45 PM:
Today we held our new season photo shoot, an event that it is always exciting, but a bit nerve-wracking too. We had a jam-packed schedule to stick to, and it’s easy to drift off course, especially when your company dancers are as photogenic as ours! Still we managed to get all the shots for the 2010.2011 season brochure (details to come) and some new shots for our upcoming spring programs, Bolero(+) (Click here for tickets and more information) and Genius3 (Click here for tickets and more information).

At this year’s shoot, we had the pleasure of working with Jill Turnbull, an amazing hair and makeup stylist who collaborated with us on our Wonderland book (Click here for more information). Jill generously offered her services at the shoot, adding edgy and fashionable hair and make-up to all the photos, as well as a sense of fantasy to the entire day.

From Jonathan Jordan’s “Buster Poindexter ducktail” (Note: I sported the exact same hairstyle circa 1985, with equally trendy shoulder pads…) to Luis Torres’s six-inch-tall mohawk and Morgann Frederick’s tipping tower of tresses, Jill’s wigs and hairstyles certainly added the “glam factor” to all our photos. Maki Onuki also rocked an intricate wig that looked like ribbon candy drizzled atop her head or a multi-layered torte that Marie Antoinette might have served to her ladies in waiting at high tea. (This was off-set by a sexy-as-hell leotard and matching jacket.) Still hundreds more shots were taken, and our photographer, Steve Vaccariello, and his crew moved from coffee to Coca Cola to Red Bull. Finally, as the last of the natural light shining through the studio windows faded to darkness, we closed up shop. Check out our photo and video galleries for more “behind-the-scenes” looks at our season photo shoot.

This shoot is far more than a fashion show, however. It highlights the season to come, and energizes our entire institution as we think about how we will each play a role in what’s to come. We look forward to sharing the season with you in the coming weeks. Don’t forget to check this blog for continuous updates, and join me at The Great Gatsby (Click here for tickets and information) where I’ll offer up a sneak peek of what’s to come here at TWB. Finally, mark your calendar for early March when we officially launch our 2010.2011 Season!

Cheers,
Septime

Photo Credit: Septime Webre and David Palmer with Studio Company member Ayano Kimura

Gatsby Rehearsal

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:55:00 GMT

10:20 PM:
It’s all Gatsby all the time. To date, I’ve roughed out about 10 of the 35 songs and the studios seem to be bristling with excitement about the project. I started this morning with a rehearsal for the big Charleston piece that opens Gatsby’s party in act 1. This number needs to capture the unbridled energy and optimism of the times. My goal was to create a contemporary dance with references to social dancing from the era and to tap into the wit and kookiness of Billy Novick’s orchestration of this famous song. The Charleston will involve all the members of the Company and Studio Company, although I began setting the dance on a small group in the company, led by Jade Payette and Luis Torres, who are willing and creative guinea pigs for some pretty wild and fast-paced dance moves. The day ended with a session creating a lush and sensitive duet for Daisy and Gatsby in Tom’s bungalow, which ends Act 1. I’m making the material on Jared Nelson and Elizabeth Gaither, with two other couples also creating the roles: Jon Jordan and Laura Urgelles; and Brooklyn Mack and Jade Payette. Jared’s one of the most able, creative, and attentive partner I’ve worked with and Elizabeth brings such extravagant beauty and dramatic context to each moment, and is game to follow his lead. They’ve partnered together for years and have developed so that the work proceeds swimmingly. I’m hoping to finish the pas de deux today.

Next up: tomorrow morning’s production meeting with Ed Cucurello to figure out how to make it rain dollar bills for three minutes over the entire stage!

WAM Premieres!

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:55:00 GMT

5:30 PM:
WAM! premiered last night. Whew! What started out as a small project, evolved into a wonderfully complex and layered two-hour journey through episodes in Mozart’s life. The music/dance/theatre piece is filled with comedy and also tender heart-wrenching moments. My hands-down favorite section however, happens to be a naughty one: I choreographed a dance for five men about farting on each other (a first for me!). I grew up in a family of eight brothers and my older brothers developed a sort of scatological lingua-franca. In our family there was a hierarchy of humor and good-natured fraternal jabs, with farts reigning supreme. As adults, we still howl with laughter at sophomoric potty humor. I took some glee in passing this sensibility onto the young men of Studio Company and the audiences were along for the ride!

Kidding aside, our collaborators at The In Series, and Carla Hubner in particular, make for spectacular artistic partners, and the show is enjoying an amazing success. So much so, that we’ve extended the run and added one additional show on February 7th at 3pm (lbuy tickets).

WAM!

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:22:00 GMT

Sunday, January 18 6:30 pm
Tomorrow we load into the Atlas Theater for a week of tech rehearsals for WAM! (wolfgang amadeus mozart), the new full-evening music/dance/theatre piece about Mozart’s life which Jared Nelson, David Palmer and I are collaborating on. It will feature our Studio Company and musical artists from The In Series. The music has been swell to work with, and Mozart is such a character, leaving so many amazing letters from which we draw naughty inspiration’ that I’ve been in stitches at every rehearsal. Some highlights:

Wolfie’s letter describing his own penchant for farting in public, followed by an hilarious farting danceby the odiferous men; a risqué game of spin-the-bottle which is described in one of Wolfie’s letters; a grand Esther Williams number as Wolfie crosses the English Channel on tour; Carriage rides, smooching scenes, duplicitous dealings with Salieri, and so forth…

It’s going to be one helluva ride!

CLICK HERE for tickets and more information.

Snow Globe Project

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:24:00 GMT

Saturday, January 16 11:45 pm

If you happened by Transformer on P between 14th and 15th Streets tonight between 6 and 7pm, you witnessed a scene of some considerable enchantment. Our Snow Globe Project was on display—Transformer’s storefront gallery space was transformed into a magical wintry snow globe by artists Zach Storm and Jessica Cebra, and for an hour, members of our Studio Company and Company apprentice Andile Ndlovu performed inside the space to a score by musical stylist and DJ Ed Rock. The audience viewed the snow globe from the street. Throughout the hour, the dancers slowly twirled inside the space as if in a music box, using gestural material we had developed together through movement assignments I had given them. Every 10 minutes the snow globe was “shaken”—and a brief full dance ensued. The project was the brain child of Transformer founder Victoria Reis, and the result was ravishing. A crowd started to gather around 5:30 and by 6 there were a couple of hundred people gathered on the sidewalk. There was an evocative atmosphere created by the dancers inside the gallery, and on the street a feeling of wonderment and glee. What a night!

Click here for some pictures.

Icarus Takes Flight

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:03:00 GMT

Thursday January 14 9:30 pm
I’ve been attending site-specific performances since I was in my early 20’s and saw a “happening” at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. It was in the eighties and a postmodern choreographer had made a work which was influenced by the “happenings” of the late sixties. The work took place throughout the museum and the audience followed the dancers. It was provocative and engaging and felt so fresh. I have never produced any site specific work however. Tonight that changed. I worked with Company apprentice Andile Ndlovu and sculptor Barbara Liotta on “Icarus Takes Flight”—a solo for Andile in response to a new sculpture by Barbara commissioned by The Phillips Collection. Andile danced in the gallery around the sculpture to a Ravel score performed live by a cellist and violinist from the Washington National Opera. The audience stood on the periphery of the gallery and the effect was haunting. Andile’s expressive back and arms, his laser-like focus and packed a punch, and the music brought a unified sense between all elements.

We had two showings tonight—at 6:30 and at 7:30. I was thrilled by the first showing except in one way: One could not ignore other audience members in the space, and everyone looked so shlumpy, standing this way and that! So at the start of the second showing I spoke to the audience and gave them a primer on how to stand in sixth position with their abdominals engaged, and cross their arms just so. I created an ordered corps de ballet out of them. Their presence was much improved!

“Icarus Takes Flight” is the first of a series of three site specific works we’re doing over the next few weeks, including work at Transformer and the Smithsonian’s Museum of African Art. It’s nice to forge new ground.

Let the Wild Rumpus Start!

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:35:00 GMT

8:45 PM:
Today was the mother of all rehearsal days. The artistic team and I worked with about 390 dancers throughout the day putting The Nutcracker on stage for the first time. It was a wild and woolly day indeed. Donna Glover served as MC all day long, making for such a smooth day. The day’s events went something like this:

9:30-10:15 AM
We started early and Laurie Metzger and I worked with the Mice for 45 minutes—they were wonderfully enthusiastic.

10:15-11 AM:
The snow angels followed—what delightful girls—skimming the stage as if on gossamer wings. Their “peek-a-boo, I see you” phrase is a delight.

11:30-12:30 PM:
Part scene/Red Cast—this gang is really pulling together. I had to work on the sharpness of the marches, the lullaby, and little Matthew’s reaction to being kissed by two girls when he holds the mistletoe above his head.

12:30-1:30 PM:
Party scene/Gold cast—there are some real personalities here. Kennady, who plays the youngest girl, is amazingly precocious, as is Carter, as the littlest boy is quite the entertainer. (Last night he put on a block bowler had lying around the studio from Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove and kept us in stitches with his Bob Fosse routine.)

1:30-2:30 PM:
Party scene/Green cast—the mean green dancing machine. Getting that present-giving scene right is stressful, but they’re up for it!

2:30-4:30 PM:
The ballet scene, with Clara, Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross, The Nutcracker, the Rat King, 6 Red-Coat Rats, 12 soldiers and 3 Valley Forge bunnies. This is an amazingly complicated scene including oversized costumes, hard dancing for the rats, precise drills for the soldiers, two mounted equestrian soldiers, and a number of pyro effects. We have 4 casts in most roles; getting it all to work—to seem like chaos but be completely orderly as well—takes a huge effort...So far so good!

4:30-7:30 PM:
The opening of Act II (Bees, Mushies, Pages, Butterflies galore, Sugar Plum and Cavalier, Clara and Prince to spare!). Then we worked on the Chinese variation, the feisty Clowns, the brash Frontier Girls, and the massive finale involving most of the cast. It was a great day with dancers of multiple generations dancing together, mentoring each other, and learning from each other.That’s a swell holiday gift!

The Mozart Effect

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:58:00 GMT

Today was a mostly Mozart day. In January, The Washington Ballet Studio Company is collaborating with DC-based musical organization the InSeries (our third collaboration in three years!) to produce WAM! (wolfgang amadeus mozart), an original full-evening dance/theater work staged by Associate Artistic Director David Palmer, dancer Jared Nelson, InSeries Founder/Director Carla Hubner, and myself. Carla, David and I had a 5-hour retreat immersing ourselves in Mozart’s music and his letters.

The scope of the piece is epic although its execution will be intimate. Essentially it will be the journey of his life: his musical prodigy as a child, his wild teen years filled with drinking, skirt-chasing, and flatulence (in fact we’re staging a section using a letter he wrote referring to his debauchery including the passing gas. We are referring to this section as Eine Kleine Fartmusik), meeting Constanze and her sister (with whom he was first smitten), Salieri, the loss of his Mother and then his Father, the creation of the great operas, etc. It’s quite dizzying to imagine the amazing outpouring of creativity in 35 short years. We accomplished a lot yesterday—agreeing on most of the music and the essential narrative arc. On Thursday Jared, David and I will divvy-up the work and assign sections to choreograph. WAM! will begin with a prologue—an extended solo of Studio Company member Jong Suk Park as Wolfgang set to Mozart’s intimate variations on Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star—which I will choreograph. I’m also hoping to stage the farting dance—as a guy who grew up in a family with 8 brothers, I am well-versed in potty humor. There will be really glorious bits of music for David and Jared to sink their teeth into as well. The piece will be performed by 10 dancers, six singers and two pianists, and rehearsals begin next week. So let the flatulence begin!

These rehearsals come at the tail end of whopping rehearsal period for Don Q and in the middle of the staging of Twyla’s Push Comes to Shove which goes up in May, the creation of some sections of The Great Gatsby which goes up in February, and intense Nutcracker rehearsals. Talk about multi-tasking! We open January 23 at the Atlas Theater. Click here for info and tickets.

Opening Night!

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:09:00 GMT

1:15 AM: I’ve just gotten home after our opening of Don Quixote. Wow, what an amazing night.

The company has never looked so good. After 30 years of watching ballet, I have never seen a ballerina balance the way that Viengsay did tonight...seriously. She was nothing short of astonishing, with her strong jumps and turns, easy rapport with her partner Jonathan Jordan, and the Cuban passion on stage. Hers was a firebrand Kitri. Favorite Viengsay moment: in the famous Act 3 adagio, she took a balance in attitude back, held the balance through two phrases of music (when she should have been repeating the step!), then slowly developed through passé to a front line while remaining en pointe. Her partner Jonathan Jordan did a spectacular job as well—an interpretation of Basilio filled with great detail, lots of wit and great musical timing, and no end of virtuosity. Jon is naturally a stylish dancer, but as Basilio his stylishness came into full flower. Favorite Jonathan moment: After Viengsay’s astonishing fuetes during which she opened then snapped shut her fan with each successive fuete, Jon deliberately stepped into fifth position, looked at her suggestively, then averted his eyes as if to say, “Ok, you’ve had your moment—now it’s about me” and he prepared for some whipping turns a la second.

While the leads were indeed spectacular the most remarkable thing about the production was that it gelled as a whole. Everyone involved—all 85 dancers young and old (well, not really that old!)--were completely engaged and energized. Some particular stand-outs worth mentioning:

Favorite Brooklyn Mack moment: His soaring leaps in Espada’s Act 3 variation, particularly the jaw-dropping reveletade at the end.

Favorite Maki Onuki moment: At the end of her Act 2 variation as Amour, a coltish Maki pauses for a moment balances in attitude devant. After a beat she snaps her head front to look at the audience directly, with a glint in her eye as if to say “how did you like that?” before finishing her solo on a dime.

Favorite Jade Payette moment: as the Queen of the Dryads, using her breathtaking jump to full advantage in her jetes in second while remaining absolutely serene above the waist at the top of her Act 2 variation.

Favorite Sona Kharatian moment: the way she was just so damn sexy as Mercedes during her runs up stage and down stage with the Toreodors.

Favorite male bonding moment: the men of the company raising the intensity level onstage during the a capella flamenco opening of Act 3.

I’ve got so many other favorite moments but it’s 1:45 am and we’ve got a whole weekend of shows ahead. Onward!

Stars of Today and Tomorrow

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:21:00 GMT

11:55 PM: Tonight the second cast of Don Quixote debuted their roles and proved to be in fine form. Maki Onuki and newcomer Brooklyn Mack did a fine job with the fiery roles of Kitri and Basilio and the whole cast rose to the occasion.

Maki is blessed with a lightness which makes her astonishing elevation in jumps seem to come out of nowhere. She has always been a crackerjack—amazing us all with her virtuosic technique and engaging us with her unbridled sense of joy when she dances. But in the last couple of seasons she has emerged as a serious ballerina to be reckoned with. Her Kitri is flamboyant but nuanced, like a barely contained fire blazing across the stage. You can’t watch her without smiling. Her partner Brooklyn Mack, in contrast, is pantherine, and, like Maki, is blessed with a sky-high jump and natural ability to turn. In Don Q their dare-devil technical feats become a metaphor for the way their characters live life: fully and completely.

There were stellar performances throughout the cast, and notably, the students of The Washington School of Ballet shone. The 12 level 4 girls as cupids were a delight—charming baby ballerinas in wonderfully arranged formations, and in junior corps de ballet lines. And the seven boys in the production (hooligans one and all) were a delight—now chasing after the matadors, now fighting over a thrown hat, now indifferently playing cards when the romantic stuff starts, now playing puppets to entertain Don Quixote, now dashing about the stage in chaos as Don Quixote prepares to attach the wind mill. As yes, the stars of tomorrow….

Highlights from Don Q Preview Night

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:49:00 GMT

7:37 AM:
Don Quixote really soared last night. Last night was the preview performance and the whole cast was really on. Jonathan Jordan and guest Viengsay Valdes were electrifying. Jon’s natural smoothness, virtuosic fireworks, and intrinsically elegant style with Viengsay’s astonishing balances, silken turns, and passionate Cuban style were met by a standing ovation which lasted quite a long time. The whole cast did a bang-up job considering they had knocked it our of the ball park at the dress rehearsal a couple of hours earlier. Some highlights:

Viengsay's striking a balance en attitude in the Act 3 Adagio, and remaining perched en pointe—almost as in a trance-skipping a whole passage of choreography because she balanced for so darn long

Jon Jordan’s thrilling manege and series of double turns a la second in the Act 3 coda

Maki Onuki’s spitfire portrayal of Amour in the Act 2 Vision Scene

Jade Payette’s last minute debut as the Queen of the Dryads, replacing an injured Rui Huang with about 30-minutes notice

The hilarious tang between Carlos Valcarcel’s flamboyant Gamache and Luis Torres’s grand and eccentric Don Quixote

Peter DiMuro’s crotchety but warm portrayal of Lorenzo (it’s wonderful to have Peter, the Director of Dance/MetroDC, guesting with us!)

Brooklyn Mack’s pantherine Espada the matador

Sona Kharatian’s smoldering portrayal of Mercedes

The Matadors’ display of virtuosity at the opening of the Act 3 Wedding Scene

The seven amazingly cute little boys—hooligan urchins—who run about in Act 1

This afternoon we have a rehearsal for the third cast and then at 8 pm we premiere Don Quixote. Let the games begin….

Show Time

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:14:00 GMT

6:45 AM:
It's production week! Yesterday morning at 8 AM the production team, lead by Ed Cucurello, Monica Leland, Jax Messenger and Karen Storm began loading Don Quixote into the Ike Theater.

They broke at 11 PM last night and will start again at 8 this morning. It’s a rush against the clock—they’ve got to get a huge set built and lights focused by our 2 pm tech rehearsal today. At 11 this morning Anna-Marie Holmes, David Palmer and I will set the spikes (we’ll push the set around the stage and ensure it’s set up as needed) and review our notes and game plan for the next two days. We’ve got about 75 dancers involved in this production, and we need to ensure they all know what they are doing backstage and where they need to be on stage, and we’ve got very little time. Changing the set from scene to scene is a major operation, so we’ll rehearse the ballet out of order to save time. We’ll be spacing Cast A and then running Cast B all day, and also slipping Cast C on stage as we have time so they get used to the space. Our schedule looks something like this:

2-5 PM: Act 3 (the taverna scene and the wedding scene) and the opening of Act 1

5-6 PM: while the professional dancers and crew are on a dinner break, Anna-Marie, David and I will space the student dancers: cupids, urchins, townsfolk, etc.

6-9 PM: Finish staging Act 1, and then Act 2 (gypsy and vision scene)

Keeping the engine running (with 75 dancers and about 25 members of the crew) is one of the most important things about today. We’ve got to get through the whole ballet by 9 PM, and also ensure the production is infused with a great sense of verve and daring. Damn it’s a lot of work making art.

Tech Time

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:41:00 GMT

11 PM: I just got home from Tech rehearsal—things went well all things considered.

It was a seven-hour plow through a very complicated ballet, with multiple casts being rehearsed throughout, although mostly we focused on the cast featuring Maki Onuki and Brooklyn Mack as Kitri and Basilio—that cast premieres Friday night. We got through the whole ballet—barely. A few items hung us up: the Don Quixote dummy getting stuck on the blades of the windmill over and over, various bleed-throughs from one scene to the next, ensuring supers knew where they needed to be (the set features bridges 12 and 14 feet in the air, and the supernumeraries are mainly positioned up there. Not a role for the acrophobic.) We spent a delightful hour working with the cupids (a delightful corps de ballet of young girls who are students of our School—they appear in the vision scene when Don Quixote dreams of Dulcinea) and the puppet show—kids who dance as miniature versions of Kitri, Basilio, Gamache and Lorenzo to entertain Don Quixote.

I’m left excited about the show but also apprehensive. There are so many details and the production requires such technical prowess and verve, that if any one of the about 75 dancers involved lets their guard down for even a moment the production is diminished. Not to mention the fact that I have completely lost my voice—which is tough because of how important it is to communicate all notes to the dancers and crew—although somehow I think they are secretly relieved to have me shut up for a while.

So now it’s time to rest and regroup. Tomorrow I meet Anna-Marie Holmes and Lighting designed Jax Messenger to work on a cue to cue, dress rehearsal at 2:30, then at 8 it’s show time, folks.

Rui of Light

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:38:00 GMT

4:15 PM

I just got off the phone with Rui Huang, one of our dancers who is playing Kitri in Don Quixote. She just came from the orthopedist’s office with an update on her injury—she may have a stress fracture on her left shin and we’re hoping she can dance this week.

She is cast as the Queen of the Dryads (a very prominent solo role which requires a pure classical line and infinite control) on opening night, and the bravura lead in a subsequent cast, opposite Jared Nelson. The ballet is filled with difficult pirouettes and balances on the left leg, and the stress on Rui’s left side has been immense over the weeks. She’s doing an ibuprofen therapy (keeping the ibuprofen level in the body elevated for several days) and an MRI is needed.

Rui’s ascendancy as a ballerina has been remarkable.About four years ago our then School Director, Rebecca Wright, told me about a remarkable young Chinese student dancer she thought had real ballerina potential. Based on Becky’s recommendation, I invited Rui here for the summer. After seeing her in one class I invited her to join our Studio Company. Her talent was immediately evident—she is blessed with a beautiful pure classical line and a wonderful femininity, but her dancing also seems quite modern and fresh. She skipped both a second year as a Studio Company member and a second year as an apprentice, both of which are usual steps to go through before moving into the company. Early on we cast her in the important role of Sugar Plum Fairy (on the suggestion of Jared Nelson) and then this spring she tackled the role of Wendy in Peter Pan. Both Queen of the Dryads and Kitri will be additional notches in her repertoire belt. It’s great to be young, talented and have bright lights ahead of you!

Nutty Auditions

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:50:00 GMT

9:45 PM:
It’s baaaaaaack...We just finished our Nutcracker audition process—last weekend at THE ARC, and this weekend at our Northwest campus, with final call backs ending a few hours ago. While completely exhausting, the experience is also completely inspiring. The young dancers age 6-18 are so filled with joy and enthusiasm for the world they are discovering. Some highlights:

The impossible cuteness of the smallest children in the “I want cheese” mouse dance phrase; the seriousness of the levels 2’s as the y marched as soldiers with single-minded focus; the level three’s trying their hand at cartwheels and the challenging saute arabesque, faille, glissade pas de chat to tendu phrase. Stunning and willowy little butterflies bouree-ing on pointe; the boys (aka little hooligans) marching together, a group of teenage girls trying their skills in Clara’s big solo in Act 1. Casting will be posted on Wednesday—I know there will be lots of sleep lost by aspiring young dancers between now and then….

Cheers,
Septime

Cuban Connection

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:43:00 GMT

This evening I participated in a public round table discussion at Gala Hispanic Theatre on the topic “Cuban Cultural Exchange Today.” It’s a fascinating topic as USA/Cuba policy is so dynamic now, and it’s also timely because Viengsay Valdes, Ballet Nacional de Cuba’s prima ballerina, just arrived to guest with us in Don Quixote.

The panel was organized by my good friend James Early of the Smithsonian Institute and Patricia Prego, the First Secretary of the Cuban Interest Section (the equivalent of the Cuban Embassy, but as we do not have diplomatic relations with Cuba the delegation is technically the Cuban Interest Section of the Swiss Embassy.) Other panelists included movie star Danny Glover, who has long been interested in the cultural manifestations of the melding of Cuba and the African Diaspora, as well as Cuban art collector Peggy Cooper Cafritz (whose collection was largely destroyed in the recent fire which destroyed her home!), Hugo Medrano, the Artistic Director of Gala, and other colleagues interested in our changing policies. While all of us are concerned with the cultural arena, and these are not political initiatives, but artistic ones, I know that we are contributing to the body politic by fostering greater understanding between the people of the United States and the people of Cuba, and that as a will for deeper ties develop among people, governments must eventually change policy to reflect that will.

Viengsay’s presence with TWB is significant on multiple levels: She’s a world-renowned artist and will be a terrific Kitri, with her Cuban fire, steely balances and dare-devil turns. She’s also one of the first Cuban artists to be granted an O1 visa by the US (for an artist of extraordinary ability) since 2004. And..she's as sweet as can be. She’ll be dancing Kitri opposite Jonathan Jordan on opening night, and two other shows—Wednesday and Saturday nights. I’ll also be hosting a dance/seminar entitled “Cuban Dance Today” on Thursday, October 8 from 6:30-7:30 here at our studios. We’ll be watching Viengsay and Laura Urgelles dance and then I’ll lead a discussion about the Cuban ballet tradition including juicy gossip about what’s going on now.

Preparations for Don Q proceed.The company is looking great, with performances deepening daily. Russian ballerina Larissa Ponomorenko is here this week coaching the company and her use of torso, dynamic, ports de bras, and control inspires. Two weeks to go!

We got Rhythm

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:59:00 GMT

TGIF.

This week Victor Plotnikov, a former star with the Boston Ballet, originally from the Republic of Georgia, has been working with the company coaching Don Quixote. It’s been an intense week and he’s focused particularly on the opening scene of Act III which is set in a Spanish taverna. There is a very complicated flamenco-inspired dance for the men, dancing to the sound of the company clapping some very complex rhythms while Aurora Dickie, in a tough-girl role, stomps out the beat with a pole (all while straddling a café chair). Rehearsals have seemed a little silly as the real props haven’t arrived yet, so she’s been using a hobby horse from The Nutcracker instead. Hopefully the real props with show up soon—Nutcracker iconography will show up soon enough.

Cheers,
Septime

And the award goes to...

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:51:00 GMT

“Mom I won, I won, I won!”

Last night was a great night for TWB. We won two awards at the Metro DC Dance Awards held at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. Last season’s Highland Fling: La Sylphide and Celts won the Outstanding Production/Large Venue Award and Jeff Bruckerhoff won Best Lighting Design for Wunderland, on our pastFORWARD program last spring. We were also finalists in three other categories: Jonathan Jordan, for Outstanding Performer for his high-flying adaptation of Peter Pan; Andile Ndlovu for Outstanding Emerging Performer for his solo Beyond Skin; and Highland Fling: La Sylphide and Celts was also a finalist in the Outstanding Group Performance category. Additionally, Jon Jordan and Sona Kharatian performed a duet choreographed by Sona’s dad during the Awards show—they were stunning. The Awards show was emceed by NYC-based Richard Move who channeled Martha Graham. He/she was a scream. I had worked with Richard/Martha once before in a show he/she hosted at Dance Place years ago. Favorite line: when introducing the scantily-clad DC Cowboys, an urban-country dance group who performed the finale of the show, he/she quipped a real-life Graham quote “In my ballets, we dress the women, and undress the men.”

Earlier in the evening Board member Tim Bork and his wife Shigeko (and their delightful dancing daughter Skye) hosted a swell evening at their G’town home in honor of the many Japanese dancers in our School, Studio Company and Company. About one hundred social and corporate types who have ties to Japan, as well as the Japanese Ambassador to the US, attended and four of our dancers performed on a stage Tim had built on his terrace. We used this opportunity to launch our new TWB Japan/USA initiative which will do three things: 1) fund scholarships for Japanese students to study at TWSB; 2) help fund the recruitment and retention of Japanese dancers in our Company and Studio Company; and 3) the commissioning of a major world premiere ballet by a Japanese choreographer on a Japanese theme for an upcoming Kennedy Center season.

I guess you could call last night a one-two-punch kinda night.

Cheers,
Septime

Dancing Dryads

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:50:00 GMT

Anna-Marie finished staging Don Q Act 1 on Friday and today she’s making good headway through Act 2. Whereas Act 1 is set in a town square featuring a fiesta-like atmosphere, tons of athletic feats and lots of humor, Act 2’s centerpiece is the serene and quite beautiful Dryad scene.

Don Quixote imagines the troublemaker Kitri to be his Dulcinea and we see an idealized scene of dancing Dryads—beautiful women-creatures—in a classic Petipa dream sequence along the lines of La Bayadere’s Kingdom of the Shades scene, or Swan Lake act 2. If the men (and Kitri!) define the energy of Act 1, then it’s the sumptuous and lyrical dancing of the women which dominates Act 2. There are actually 2 corps de ballets in the scene: one comprised of our Company and Studio Company ladies, and one for 24 serious young ballet students from our level 4 and 5 classes. They are charming and also stage struck. And the scene is filled with some pretty tricky variations (solos) for women on pointe. Rui Huang, Jade Payette, Diana Albrecht and Sona Kharatian are all working on the famed role of the Queen of the Dryads...They are all a delight.

Cheers,
Septime

Burning the Midnight Oil

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:58:00 GMT

Damn I’m sore as hell.

I don’t know if I can keep up this schedule—things are really heating up at the studio—although the work is really rewarding. I’ve got my feet up, I’m drinking a cold Mexican beer (Negra Modelo—I’m brand-loyal) and pining for my summer. I had four particularly great experiences this summer. I began practicing yoga pretty seriously about two years ago and have been focusing on the Ashtanga style. It’s a particularly vigorous type of yoga most usually practiced at 6:00 or 6:30 in the morning. My Cuban blood makes me constitutionally resistant to the early morning yoga thing (not to mention a couple of cold Mexican beers the night before.) But I soldier on.

The four great experiences: 1) In June, I took a ten-day workshop with famed Ashtanga teacher David Swenson and his wife Shelley Washington (who was a long-time Twyla Tharp dancer and someone I’ve known since my early ballet dancer days in New York). It was an amazing week and a half. 2) From there I traveled to Tulum, Mexico in the Yucutan Penninsula. Friends and family rented a house on the beach and I practiced yoga, read on the beach, and refueled (cold Mexican beer in hand of course…). 3) In August ,I was in Honolulu for three weeks staging Peter Pan for Ballet Hawaii—they had hired some of our dancers including Corey Landolt, Tamas Krizsa, Norton Fantinel and Dustin Shane, which was fun for them. What an amazing place! And my daily schedule was pretty dreamy: Ashtanga from 7-8:30; surfing from 10-11; rehearsals from 1-7; dinner and a CMB (ummmm, you can guess what brand); sleep; repeat. 4) I reluctantly got on that return flight to DC, but returned to an interesting project. I had a week-long residency at Goucher College in Baltimore where I re-staged my ballet D-Construction, set to a John Cage score. This was a delight—D-Con is the first ballet I ever choreographed, and I had not revisited it in many years. It was originally choreographed for four very athletic male dancers, and I re-staged it on six female dancers. They were in for a shock, because it’s a really tough ballet to dance, but they are up for the challenge. It premieres at Goucher in November and it’ll be nice to see it on stage again. Ooops, my CMB’s empty. I guess it’s bed time.

Cheers,
Septime

Back in the Saddle...and the Studio

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:02:00 GMT

I’m back in my office from our first rehearsal day of the 2009-10 season. We started staging Don Quixote today, and the studios are crackling with energy.

Anna-Marie Holmes is staging the work and David Palmer and I are assisting her. We really ripped through the material quickly today and because of Anna-Marie’s wit I can see the artists are going to have a lot of fun with this project. Eight dancers are learning the lead roles of Kitri, the ballet’s feisty heroine and the dashing young barber Basilio, her prank-loving suitor. Jonathan Jordan, Jared Nelson, new-comer Brooklyn Mack, and Norton Fantinel are all learning Basilio, and the role calls for some major pyrotechnics. It was fun to see the friendly competition to see who could do the wildest reveletade and pull in from turn in second with the greatest number of pirouettes. Rui Huang, Maki Onuki, Jade Payette and Laura Urgelles are all working on Kitri, and we’ll be joined by internationally recognized Cuban ballerina Viengsay Valdes, who will arrive in mid-September (the Visa was just approved—whew!). Not all of the dancers learning the part will do it in October, but I think Don Q will remain in the repertoire and we’ll see them all grow in the role over time. Once Anna-Marie has set the ballet, David Palmer and I will be in charge of rehearsing different sections, and I’m taking on Espada and the Toreodors—roles for TWB’s extraordinary men. We worked on that section for a couple of hours today and there’s a great sense of play among the artists. It’s great to be back in the studio again.

Cheers,
Septime

Dancer Blog

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:24:00 GMT

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