How to Go
What: “New Directions”
Where: Victoria Theatre, 138 N. Main St, Dayton
When: March 20-23; Thursday-Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m.
Cost: $20—$70
Tickets/more info: Call Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630 or visit www.ticketcenterstage.com
FYI: Karen Russo Burke will conduct a pre-performance talk for ticketholders 45 minutes prior to curtain time in the Burnell Roberts Room which is accessible through the foyer of the Victoria Theatre. Also, a Q&A with Burke and the company dancers will follow each performance inside the theater. The pre and post-performance forums are free of charge.
Four uniquely distinct works comprise Dayton Ballet’s season finale entitled “New Directions,” beginning Thursday at the Victoria Theatre.
The company premiere of “From Foreign Lands and People,” a strikingly elegant creation by internationally acclaimed choreographer Jessica Lang, serves as the concert’s centerpiece. Featuring large black rectangular boxes representing the black keys on a piano, the eight-member routine, originally commissioned by the Colorado Ballet and premiered in 2005 at the Vail International Dance Festival, is accented by the music of Robert Schumann.
“The eight dancers reflect a musical octave, and they arrange and interact with the keys in imaginative ways in the 13 musical variations,” said Lang, who founded Jessica Lang Dance in New York City in 2011. “Each section is unique and the moods range from emotional to humorous, playful to reflective. The boxes opened up even more possibilities than if I made the piece without. The boxes enhanced the overall concept. Incorporating them into the piece allowed me to constantly reconfigure the space with both human and inhuman constructions, shifting the stage environment. It was never only about making an interesting structure with the boxes, rather, I was always thinking about how to integrate them seamlessly into the dance.”
Chicago-based choreographer Susanne Payne will also be represented with her two-part work entitled “Interactions,” a meditation on circumstance which won Dayton Ballet’s 2011 “New Music for New Dance” competition. Payne, whose marvelously athletic “Dreams of Flight” routine was a highlight of the company’s “Diversity in Dance” concert last month, sets “Interactions” to original music by composer Jesse Ayers.
“Our energies can be contained, passed, or thrown to one another,” said Payne in a press statement. “Be they playful, sincere, abusive or synergistic, these daily encounters make us susceptible to change and can sometimes change the course of our destiny.”
The program also features former Dayton Ballet artistic director Dermot Burke’s “Fete des Courtiers,” a European-inspired ballet evoking a Renaissance royal court set to the strains of Johannes Brahms, and “Canyons,” a stunning tribute to Native American heritage and the Southwest created by Dayton Ballet artistic director Karen Russo Burke.
“The Southwest is so beautiful, breathtaking and mind-boggling from the vibrant colors to the vastness of the canyons,” said Burke. “We presented ‘Canyons’ for Dayton Ballet’s 75th anniversary, but just the last section with this particular group of dancers. So, I thought it would be great to do the entire routine this time since they bring such a unique energy to it. They’re approaching it from a different place than the original cast. I hope the routine continues to show respect for what America has to offer. I really would not want people to take advantage of the glory of our nation. Sometimes you don’t realize it until you have time to step away and look at it as an observer.”
Overall, Burke hopes the concert is a strong indication of the company’s commitment to spotlighting individuality and new artists.
“We’re showing a little bit of the past with ‘Fete’ and ‘Canyons,’ but since we’re a company of premieres, whether in Dayton or elsewhere, we’re still opening the door to the new directions we haven’t been before,” said Burke. “We want to keep adding new choreographers and have the dancers explore and grow. The full-length ballets are wonderful, but there’s usually only one main subject or couple. But in repertory concerts everybody gets an opportunity to shine in each of the pieces which is very important.”
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