Choreography by Ulysses Dove to be Featured at Jacob's Pillow
Pacific Northwest Ballet Will Perform in Becket
By: Ariel Petrova - Dec 06, 2008
Jacob's Pillow Dance announces that Seattle-based Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB), one of the most prominent ballet companies in the United States, will perform an exclusive Ulysses Dove program August 19 – 23, in the Ted Shawn Theatre. Lauded as one of the most innovative contemporary choreographers of the past 50 years, Ulysses Dove created work combining his distinct sense of speed and attack with eroticism, emotion, and power. He died in 1996 at the age of 49 of an AIDS-related illness, mourned by many as the loss of a major choreographic talent. This is the first early announcement of the 77th annual season; the Pillow's full season, consisting of more than 40 companies presented on three stages and 200 free and open to the public events, is traditionally announced in detail in early February.
Pacific Northwest Ballet will perform three works choreographed by Dove: Vespers, Red Angels, and Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven. Founded in 1972 and called "a company of rare abilities" by Clement Crisp of London's Financial Times, PNB is one of the largest ballet companies in the United States. In July 2005, Peter Boal became Artistic Director, succeeding Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, who had served as Artistic Directors since 1977. The company of fifty-one dancers presents more than 100 full-length and mixed repertory ballet performances each year. The company has toured Europe, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, and throughout the United States and was last seen at Jacob's Pillow in 2006.
"Peter Boal has guided Pacific Northwest Ballet to new heights," comments Ella Baff, Executive Director of Jacob's Pillow. "As a former super-star of the New York City Ballet, he understands the highest standards of artistry, and having worked with Balanchine himself, knows about dance-making of consequence. The work of the late Ulysses Dove should be seen and the program Peter is bringing to the Pillow is a stunner."
"Having spent many hours in the studio with Ulysses Dove, I am especially proud to bring his work to the stage," comments Peter Boal, Artistic Director of PNB. "Jacob's Pillow was an important place for Ulysses and we are honored to return to the Pillow with a program of his work."
Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Dove graduated from Bennington College in 1970 with a degree in dance. After quickly becoming a standout principal dancer with Merce Cunningham Dance Company and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dove was urged by Ailey to turn to choreography. After creating the 1980 solo Inside for Judith Jamison, he left the Ailey company to begin a freelance choreographic career creating significant works for American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, Sweden's Cullberg Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, and others. Known for his definitive punchy movement style, other signature works by Dove include Night Shade (1982), Bad Blood (1984), and Episodes (1987).
Many Pillow connections are revealed in this exclusive program. In 1992, Ulysses Dove returned to the stage to partner Carmen de Lavallade in John Butler's Portrait of Billie as part of the Pillow's Season Opening Gala. The Pillow has presented his work throughout the past 20 years: Dayton Contemporary Dance Company performed Vespers in 1990 and RhythMEK performed Episodes in the Doris Duke Theatre in 2000. Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven, a work originally created for the Royal Swedish Ballet, was also performed at the Pillow by the company's chamber troupe Stockholm 59° North in 1997 and 2000. Before becoming artistic director of PNB, Peter Boal performed with New York City Ballet for 22 years and was part of the original cast of Dove's Red Angels, along with Darci Kistler, Wendy Whelan, and Albert Evans. Boal himself performed in the Ted Shawn Theatre in 2004 with Peter Boal and Company, before returning to the Pillow as director of PNB in 2006.
Vespers was premiered in 1986 by Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and is full of drama, energy, and strong gestural phrases. The work is known to be inspired by Dove's grandmother's churchgoing and the way in which she "released" her own mother's spirit after death. Six women dance barefoot in black gowns and explode across the stage, abandoning and returning to a set of chairs. Mikel Rouse's percussive score matches the dancers' drive in this ballet with stark lighting by William Grant III.
The Royal Swedish Ballet premiered the elegiac Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven in 1993 and performed the American premiere of the work in 1996, as part of "For the Love of Dove," a tribute held one week after the choreographer's death. The work is set to Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, by Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt. It is comprised of three sections: love, friendship, and letting the spirits go, and dancers move with a somber fluidity suggesting sorrow and loss. This work is performed en pointe.
Red Angels is a choreographic counterpoint to the gentle Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven. Set to Maxwell's Demon by Richard Einhorn, a score for a five-string electric violin, this abstract ballet for four dancers highlights power and athleticism. Red Angels was commissioned by the New York City Ballet as part of its 1994 Diamond Project. Dove described the work, "I wanted to deal with aspects of the Balanchine esthetic I find appealing: the speed, legginess, the formality." The New York Times says, "Dove takes the audience into a different world, alienated but hot with sublimated passion."
Performance Information:
Wednesday, August 19 through Saturday, August 22, 8pm.
Saturday, August 22 and Sunday, August 23, 2pm.
Free Pre-Show Talks with Jacob's Pillow Scholars-in-Residence are offered at Blake's Barn 30 minutes before every performance.
On Thursday, August 20, artistic personnel from Pacific Northwest Ballet will participate in a moderated Post-Show Talk, on stage immediately following the performance.
Tickets go on sale to the public in April 2009. Pillow Members receive exclusive benefits and early ordering privileges. To become a Member call 413.243.9919 x24. Jacob's Pillow is located at 358 George Carter Road in Becket, MA, 01223. The Jacob's Pillow campus and theaters are handicapped-accessible.
About Pacific Northwest Ballet:
Pacific Northwest Ballet, one of the largest and most highly regarded ballet companies in the United States, was founded in 1972. In July 2005, Peter Boal became Artistic Director, succeeding Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, Co-Artistic Directors since 1977. The Company of fifty-one dancers presents more than 100 performances each year of full-length and mixed repertory ballets at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall and on tour. The Company has toured to Europe, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada and throughout the United States, with celebrated appearances at Jacob's Pillow and in New York City and Washington, DC.
Under the direction of Peter Boal, PNB has continued to expand and diversify its repertory to include works by Ulysses Dove, Susan Stroman, Mark Morris, Victor Quijada, Twyla Tharp, Christopher Wheeldon, Benjamin Millepied and others. A Spring Dance Festival was inaugurated in April 2007 with the theme Celebrate Seattle. The second festival, the Laugh Out Loud! Spring Dance Festival in April 2008, featured new and classic comedy ballets.
Founded in 1974, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, under the direction of Francia Russell since 1977 and now under Mr. Boal's direction, is nationally recognized as setting the standard for ballet training and offers a complete professional curriculum to over 950 students. The School also provides comprehensive dance education to the greater Seattle area and reaches over 10,000 adults and children each year through DanceChance, Discover Dance and other outreach programs and activities.
About Jacob's Pillow: The 2009 Festival Season runs June 20 through August 30 and features more than 300 ticketed and free events and offerings. Founded by dance legend Ted Shawn in 1933, Jacob's Pillow marks its 77th season in 2009. The Pillow is home to a world-renowned international dance Festival that presents dance annually on three performance stages for nearly three months. The Pillow also supports artists to create new work through commissions and Creative Development Residencies. The School at Jacob's Pillow encompasses a professional advancement program for dancers and choreographers as well as an Intern Program that trains young professionals in all areas of production and arts administration. Alumni of The School have gone on to perform with prestigious dance companies, in film, television and on Broadway, and former interns have been employed at arts organizations including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, British Council, and Mark Morris Dance Group. The Pillow's rare and extensive Archives, open year-round to the public free of charge, chronicles the art form of dance in film, video, photographs, oral histories, correspondence, books, costumes, posters, audiotapes, and scrapbooks. Jacob's Pillow's year-round Community Programs enrich the lives of children and adults, and are yet another part of the Pillow's cultural legacy. Jacob's Pillow is the first and only dance entity in the United States to be declared a National Historic Landmark for the significance of its contribution to America's culture—past and present. The Pillow's historic 163-acre site was originally a family farm in the late 1700s. In the 1800s, the Pillow was known as a station on the Underground Railroad. In 2007, it was formally dedicated as a site on the Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail. For additional in-depth information regarding the history of Jacob's Pillow, consult www.jacobspillow.org.