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Very interested in finding our more about your dancers participation in performances around the Houston Area
Dear Genevieve,
Greetings from Dance Salad Festival. We are only 2 months away from our festival week, and are promoting our event around the city and dance communities. You posted such a wonderful article about Dance Salad last year and we would love to have you some kind of announcment in your blog about DSF upcoming season. We would greatly appreciate your help in spreading a word about it. Thank you so much!
Christina Levin
Assistant of Nancy Henderek, Director of Dance Salad Festival
Below is our Press Release.
2009 DANCE SALAD FESTIVAL PROMISES
QUALITY INTERNATIONAL DANCE
HOUSTON, TX (January 2008) – The next Dance Salad Festival performances are scheduled for April 9,10 and 11 at 7:30 pm at Wortham Center, Cullen Theater. Now celebrating the 14th anniversary season in Houston and 17th season since its inception in Brussels, Belgium, Dance Salad Festival promises another gathering of world-class performers. Famous in their own countries, the dance companies have won praise from critics and audiences wherever they have toured. For the latest information on the upcoming season and photos of the dancers, visit http://www.dancesalad.org
Price range of tickets is $17-$47. Buy tickets online at http://www.dancesalad.org. Print out yourself!
Dancers and Artists from the following companies have been confirmed for the 2009 Festival:
English National Ballet (London, England), England’s foremost touring ballet company, will present David Dawson’s new version of A Million Kisses to My Skin. This remarkable piece is one of Dawson’s milestone works. His distinctive style, based on an abstract and dashing line of dance, is tuned to the cascade of notes from J .S. Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No.1 in D minor. Dawson is admired for his skill in creating stunning stage patterns. The Times of London’s Debra Craine writes: “Dawson’s off-kilter virtuosity sends sparks flying through the ensemble as if determined to knock them all off
their perch.”
The English National Ballet is “a flagship company for the nation” with a highly international profile of 67 dancers. Another wonderful presentation by this renowned company for Dance Salad Festival, is the intensely emotional Trois Gnossiennes by Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen, set to music by Erik Satie. Hans van Manen’s work — now more than hundred pieces — is known for its clear structure and sophisticated simplicity. His piece is accompanied by live piano music.
Mats Ek (Stockholm, Sweden), This highly original, award-winning Swedish artist is one of the most talented and sought-after choreographers and theatre directors today. With more than 40 years of experience working on stages around the world, Mats Ek is known for his challenging and often provocative reinterpretations of many of the classics.
In a Premiere for Houston, his heartfelt piece, Memory, will be performed by the choreographer himself and the internationally admired dancer, Ana Laguna, his wife and muse. This delicately evocative piece is a reflection on midlife sensuality: a man remembers a woman, the memory brings her on stage and the past becomes the present. Ana Laguna will also perform O Sole Mio, an exuberant piece by Mats Ek, set to music by Di Capua with lyrics by Capurno to the voice of Luciano Pavarotti. Ek will also be featured in the Choreographers’ Forum, in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston on April 8. (See below.)
The Royal Swedish Ballet (Stockholm,Sweden), presents Apartment, yet another outstanding choreography by Mats Ek, a piece in the repertoire of both this home company and the touring group, Stockholm 59°N. Apartment suggests both a living space and the word’s association with separation and isolation; it also has, a warm touch of humor and very expressive accents, found in all of Mats Ek’s work. The ballet is set to the music of the Swedish rock band, Fleshquartet, which fuses classical, jazz, pop and rap.
The Royal Swedish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. Founded by Gustav III in 1771, it has continued to thrive as a central part of the cultural life of Stockholm. The company developed under the influence of French, Italian and Russian choreographers and is now under the artistic direction of Marc Ribaud. Stockholm 59°N, made up of young dancers and soloists from the main company, was created in 1997. After their success at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the company has continued to perform in Sweden and abroad to enthusiastic audiences.
The Royal Danish Ballet (Copenhagen) makes another welcome appearance at the Dance Salad Festival with their US premiere of Lost on Slow choreographed by the Finnish-born Jerma Elo, who is one of the leading contemporary choreographers in the dance world today. Like most of Elo’s high-energy dances, famous for their whip-smart combinations, this piece shows his virtuoso physicality and slicing, off-kilter movements.Dance Magazine’s Gunild Pak Symes (June, 2008) writes about this piece: “Voguing with geometric sharpness and quick isolation of body parts, the dancers went through a tempest of inane arbitrary gestures, tightly woven motifs, and doll-like maneuvers…It was a sophisticated, macabre dialogue of tongue-in-cheek mime/modern dance and human puppetry.”
In the 19th century, the Royal Danish Ballet was home to the great choreographer, August Bournonville. One hundred and thirty years after his death, the company’s prestige in the Bournonville repertoire, and more recently in the modern, is supreme. Now under the artistic direction of former New York City Ballet principal dancer Nikolaj Hubbe, the company is living proof that modern dance and classical ballet can draw mutual inspiration.
Dresden SemperOper Ballet (Germany) – Dance Salad Festival is presenting the US premiere of one of the leading dance companies in Europe today. Dancers from this company will perform William Forsythe’s masterpiece, Steptext. An American who has worked mostly in Germany for the last 30 years, Forsythe has pushed to the extreme his deconstruction of the classical ballet vocabulary, turning it into a dynamic contemporary art form. Steptext is an excellent example of Forsythe’s style, with its abrasive energy of Western postmodern visual art as well as its dramatic and provocative elements. Set to J.S. Bach’s Chaconne from his Partita in D for solo violin, the dance was created in 1985 and continues to retain its impact today.
Another outstanding piece performed by Dresden SemperOper Ballet is On the Nature of Daylight created by the company’s resident choreographer, David Dawson, with music by Max Richter. The second work presented in Dance Salad Festival by David Dawson is about the nature of true love; he seems to be asking: how are we to find our ideal partner? By chance or by choice? And what happens if we simply fail to meet up with the right person? The third piece by this group is a combination of two short pas de deux, Intimate Distance and Unintended Consequence, by the young choreographer,Jiri Bubenicek, who has recently been asked to choreograph a piece on the New York City Ballet. Currently a principal dancer with Dresden SemperOper Ballet, he has spent most of his career as a principal with the Hamburg Ballet.
Dresden SemperOper Ballet offers 70 performances of the highest standard each season at the Semperoper, one of the world’s great historic opera houses. With 60 dancers of international reputation, the company is striving to broaden the perspective of dance by merging classical and contemporary styles.
William Forsythe (Frankfurt/Dresden, Germany)-Dance Salad Festival will present the US premiere of LT excerpt by William Forsythe. (Notes about this extraordinary choreographer can be found above). Forsythe is creating a new solo with music by his long term music collaborator, Thom Willems. This will be performed by US-born dancer, Noah Gelber. Noah has performed in The Forsythe Company and is also known as a rising choreographer with his own pieces presented in New York and in Montreal and for the Kirov Ballet in Russia.
Goteborgs Operans Balet (Sweden), one of Sweden’s two major dance companies, will present a pas de deux from Kenneth Kvarnstrom’s OreloB, set to music by rock musician Jukka Rintamaki, and with costumes by the Swedish fashion designer Helena Horstedt. OreloB is Kenneth Kvarnström’s first creation after leaving Dansens Hus, in Stockholm, as Artistic Director. This piece was recently created as part of the triple bill, 3 x Boléro, for Göteborgs Operans Balett in April 2008. A sensual and sculptural piece, it unfolds as the rhythms build up and the bodies unite in a driving musicality. Göteborgs-Posten (April 2008) writes: “Technically advanced, absorbing dance with amazing corporeality.”
With a solid foundation in the classical tradition, Goteborgs Operans Balett holds a place of its own in the ballet of the 21st century. Touring in Sweden and abroad, the company brings a unique mix of contemporary classics and new work from the brightest, most promising young choreographers. The company thrives under the new artistic direction of Johannes Ohman.
Staatstheater Ballet Wiesbaden (Germany) is making its North American debut to perform Visions Fugitives created by outstanding contemporary choreographer Stephan Thoss, the company’s Artistic Director. Set to Sergey Prokofieff’s Visions fugitives for piano, op. 22, in the transcription for chamber orchestra, like so much of Thoss’s work, this piece, one of his signature creations, is acclaimed for his rich idiosyncratic language and acute musicality.The title refers to a poem by the Russian symbolist, Konstantin Belmont, whose verse inspired Prokofieff. The poem reads in part: “In each fugitive vision I can see worlds, that are enriched by the prism of changing rainbow colors.” Thoss says: “The music…attracted my attention by its specific musical characteristics and surreal atmosphere. These miniatures create fugitive (or fleeting) pictures for the inner eye. They guide us into a night-world, where mysterious figures are full of energy, shine like a shower of meteors and slowly disappear again. The night is telling us some secrets that the day does not know.”
Marie-Agnès Gillot, Ballet de L’Oṕ́era National de Paris, Etoile partnered by Kader Belarbi, recently retired Etoile, Ballet de L’Oṕ́era National de Paris, will be performing l’Espirit du bleu, a section from Carolyn Carlson’s Signes composed by Rene Aubry. Also, Marie-Agnès will be dancing with Jiri Bubeníček in his choreography, Unintended Consequence.
Marie-Agnès Gillot began her studies at the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1985, where she was immediately placed in the highest group. She completed all her studies and enrolled in the corps de ballet in 1990, at the age of 15. Only nine years later she was already promoted to première danseuse and after the performance of Carolyn Carlson’s Signes in 2004, Marie-Agnès Gillot was promoted to Etoile. She is a recipient of Prix du Cercle Carpeaux in 1997 and the Prix du Public awarded by l’AROP and also received the title of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres. Marie-Agnès Gillot’s dance repertoire includes choreographies by Balanchine, Duato, Bausch, Preljocaj, Nureyev, Forsythe, Neumeier, Bejart, Kylian and MacMillan. Both, Marie-Agnès Gillot and Kader Belarbi have also worked with Mats Ek in La Maison de Bernarda, Giselle and Apartment.
Kader Belarbi, well known French-Algerian dancer in the Ballet de L’Opera National de Paris, was promoted to Etoile by Rudolf Noureev in 1989. He was featured in works by such choreographers as Balanachine, Bejart, Forsythe, Kylian, Noureev, Bausch, and Carlson. After 28 years of dancing, he will continue his work as a choreographer for Ballet de L’Opera National de Paris as well as other companies worldwide.
Carolyn Carlson, choreographer of L’Espirit du Blue, an American born choreographer, graduated from San Francisco School of Ballet and University of Utah. In 1974 she became a star choreographer of the Ballet de L’Opera de Paris where she also run the opera house’s theatre research group. Carlson created more than 25 works between 1974 and 1980. From 1980-1985, she worked at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice, creating her emblematic solo Blue Lady (1983), before returning to Paris and to her new base, the Théâtre de la Ville (1985-1991).She now the Director and choreographer in residence at the Choreographic Center in Roubaix, France.
Carte Blanche (Bergen, Norway) is premiering in the United States with a choreographic work by Hofesh Schechter: his widely praised Uprising, set to Schecter’s own originally composed musical score. The Norwegian National Contemporary Dance Company, Carte Blanche has made a mark for itself as a leading company with a growing reputation on the international dance scene. Its very diverse repertoire includes a broad range of choreography by both young and established choreographers from around the world. Under its newly appointed Artistic Director, Bruno Heynderickx, Carte Blanche is striving to expand its artistic identity and international profile.
The New York Times refers to Hofesh Schechter “as one of the most inventive choreographic voices to turn up in quite a while.” He comes from Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company where he worked with Artistic Director and choreographer Ohad Naharin. Schechter’s passion for creating experimental music with a focus on drums and percussion is apparent in his dynamic and ever-popular Uprising created for seven male dancers. The press has quoted that his choreography is an “intriguing, eminently watchable magpie-mix of styles and influences.”
Xing Liang, principal dancer and house choreographer of Hong Kong’s premiere dance troupe City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC), brings his own solo performance, Existence, Xing Liang, described by LA Times as:“…star dancer of inexhaustible energy and fabulous pliancy (Aug., 2004), is highly anticipated by Houston’s dance lovers’ community. Liang is a winner of numerous international and national major awards, including Gold Award in the Male Solo Class at the 6th Paris International Dance Competition in 1994, the Gold Award in the Modern Dance Section at the 8th Paris International Dance Competition, 1998. Liang’s extraordinary talent as choreographer and dancer is recognized worldwide. He was invited to participate in the International Choreographers Residency Program in the American Dance Festival in 1996, Holland Dance Festival, 2001, and Hong Kong Modern Dance Festival, 1999. Xing Liang’s individual solo, Existence is set to music by Arvo Part and was originally created in honor of CCDC’s 30th year anniversary.
Company Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui/Toneelhuis (Antwerp, Belgium), will present curated selections from his major choreographies, Myth and Origine, with live music by members of Ensemble Micrologus, an Italian Medieval and Renaissance instrumental and vocal group. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is a rising star on the European contemporary dance scene. This Moroccan-Flemish dancer and choreographer is renowned for creating dazzling and emotionally wrought storybooks in motion. His choreography is rich with evocative symbolism, multicultural references and diversity of dance styles and theatrical genres. Italian medieval music and folk songs play a significant influence in Larbi’s creations, such is the most recent, and already highly praised production Myth, which creates a visualization of Japanese Manga, tarot, numerous Western mythological sources and archetypes.
Similarly, Origine is a profound work of dance art, reflective of Icelandic myths, Japanese robotics, human consumerism and African soil. Karthika Naïr, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Company Executive Manager, wrote in Danza Ballet, “So while Origine explores the wellsprings of civilization, and associated paradigms, it is also intensely, almost painfully, topical – sharply underscoring the solitude of 21st century existence”(January, 2008). Luisa Moffett from The Bulletin (Brussels, Belgium) says:“…Cherkaoui want[s] to remind us that we are, after all, inhabitants of one and the same planet with more that unites than divides us.” These two pieces are produced in association with Antwerp’s Toneelhuis theater collective and accompanied live by the polyphonic singing of Patrizia Bovi and her Ensemble Micrologus from Italy. This renowned musical group had been exposing world wide audiences to the Italian medieval music reconstructing ancient instruments, wardrobe and scenery of 12 to 16th century since 1984.
Choreographers’ Forum: A Conversation, Wednesday, April 8, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 6:30 pm, a special opportunity to glimpse the creative process from some of the Festival’s invited choreographers, to hear their points of view and to see film clips of their work. This year we will feature Mats Ek as well as several other outstanding artists. This highly
anticipated event is generously co-sponsored by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. lectures@mfah.org
Classical, modern and contemporary dance share the Dance Salad Festival stage to form a mix of movement and compelling choreographic invention. Members of some of the world’s best dance companies come to Houston to participate in this week long Festival. Each night’s production is uniquely curated and designed as a coherent, expressive performance; to see the full range of the choreography presented requires attending two of the three evenings.
This multicultural presentation has received international recognition for its quality and innovativeness and has consistently been a source of cultural pride for many foreign communities come to Houston to participate in the Dance Salad Festival. Houston’s 83 member Consular Corps is a community partner and many country members serve as sponsors and hosts. Director Nancy Henderek strongly believes that through the arts bridges can be built between different countries and cultures. Also during the Festival week, master classes will be held in various locations throughout the city so that students and professionals can learn from these invited master choreographers.
Dance Salad Festival has been praised by local, national and international publications. Dance Magazine said: “Producer Nancy Henderek’s eye for some of the best international dance is unparalleled…(Dance Salad Festival) could wind up as the premier contemporary dance festival between the East and West coasts.” In a recent special section of The Houston Chronicle entitled “Houston’s Ultimate People,” Nancy Henderek is described as a “one-woman United Nations.” Detailed information about the festival is continuously updated and available on the web site at: http://www.dancesalad.org
Contact information:
Dance Salad Festival
713-621-1461(office)
832-526-0569 (cell)
PR/Assistant to the Director,
Christina Levin, dsfassist@aol.com