The next two weekends open a new season of concert dance.
Ballet Tucson holds its gala on Friday, Oct. 6, introducing 鈥淏alanchine & More,鈥 with performances continuing Saturday and Sunday.
On Oct. 12, Artifact Dance Project presents the world premiere of its feature-length 鈥淛udith.鈥 The contemporary ballet draws from the apocryphal Book of Judith, depicting a strong-minded widow in the second century BC who saves her Israelite village from its captor, General Holofernes, by cutting off his head.
Ballet Tucson
鈥淲e are strong and we are growing,鈥 said Ballet Tucson鈥檚 founding artistic director Mary Beth Cabana. 鈥淭his year our company is 35 dancers. The most ever.鈥
To celebrate, the company has challenged itself with performing George Balanchine鈥檚 鈥淲alpurgisnacht Ballet,鈥 presented with special permission by the Balanchine Trust, set to musical excerpts from Charles Gounod鈥檚 鈥淔aust.鈥
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鈥淥ur cast for the piece is a sea of 24 women,鈥 Cabana said, laughing a little. 鈥淲ith one man, Connolly Strombeck.鈥
But presenting a Balanchine ballet, with strict standards set by the Trust, is no laughing matter.
鈥淭here are so many technical details, because of Balanchine鈥檚 specific style that we must learn,鈥 Cabana explained. 鈥淒etails like turning the legs and feet out in a more exaggerated way, and also some arm movements that are specifically his.
鈥淎nd he always has what I call a quality of 鈥榗ontrolled abandon鈥 or 鈥榩recise abandon.鈥 Some of it is very fast. Plus, in the beginning it took a lot of rehearsals just to get everyone on the same page, as the dancers have come to us from so many different companies, and six different countries.鈥
Cabana has danced a number of Balanchine ballets during her career. This is BT鈥檚 second time to meet the master鈥檚 exacting demands. Their first was 鈥淪erenade鈥 in 2016. She promises more Balanchine .
Completing the program are two favorites from the company鈥檚 repertoire 鈥 鈥淧hantom of the Opera鈥 and 鈥淧aquita 鈥 Grand Pas Classique.鈥
Artifact Dance Project
鈥淭here are several famous classical paintings of Judith beheading General Holofernes,鈥 said Ashley Bowman, choreographer and co-founder of Artifact. 鈥淢y favorites are by Caravaggio and Gentileschi.
鈥淭he story lends itself to the stage. I believe it has been produced before as an opera, but never as a dance.鈥
鈥淚t happened that several things came together at once, like this dance was meant to be,鈥 said Bowman. 鈥淭he first was when Ilaria Guerra asked to dance with us.鈥
The striking presence of statuesque and San Francisco-trained Guerra had Bowman immediately thinking of the Judith story. Bowman asked musician and art historian Kevin Justus to collaborate.
In this cast of 12, Marquez Johnson will dance the part of Holofernes.
鈥淢uch of the music is by British composer Michael Nyman,鈥 said Bowman. 鈥淪ome by Sergei Prokofiev.鈥
Joining the company are 11 musicians with Justus as music director. Also part of the collaboration is mezzzo-soprano Korby Myrick.
Chuck Graham has written about the Tucson arts scene for more than 30 years.
