American Repertory

Dance at McCarter

Dance at the State

College of New Jersey

Mercer County College

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Prepared for the September 13, 2000 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper.

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Season Preview: Dance

American Repertory Ballet, the dynamic regional

company,

opens its new season of "Seven at the State," on Friday and

Saturday, October 13 and 14, with a trio of premieres, each

accompanied

by live music performed by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. The

program

features the world premiere of "Fandango Furioso" by Kirk

Peterson of American Ballet Theater set to Bernard Hermann’s music

score for an Alfred Hitchcock thriller. Also featured will be the

company premiere of artistic director Graham Lustig’s

"Paramour,"

featuring guest soloist Kyra Nichols of the New York City Ballet

dancing

the role that was created by Lustig for Galina Samsova of Sadlers

Wells Royal Ballet. Completing the trio of premieres will be

"Angels

in the Architecture" by Canadian choreographer Mark Godden, to

music from Aaron Copland’s "Appalachian Spring."

"I chose this program because a generous benefector has allowed

us to collaborate with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra," says

Lustig. "I tried to find music that would be wonderful." The

Hermann score, created for Hitchcok’s "North By Northwest,"

was based on the fandango, Lustig explains, and the Peterson work

encompasses music that never made it into the film, music apparently

left on the cutting-room floor. Never before performed live, Lustig

says this, too, represents a musical world premiere.

Lustig’s association with Peterson is a long one. He opened his debut

season in 1999 with Kirk Peterson’s "Eyes That Gently Touch,"

a piano ballet to music by Philip Glass. Peterson, ballet master at

American Ballet Theater, lives in Jackson, New Jersey. During his

tenure at Hartford Ballet, he staged four Lustig works there.

Thanksgiving weekend brings American Repertory Ballet’s customary

opening of its "Nutcracker" season, made extraordinary with

the unveiling of a brand-new, $400,000 production choreographed by

Lustig and designed by Zack Brown. Opening at McCarter on November

24, the production will be featured at Newark’s sparkling NJPAC,

December

1 to 3, at the State Theater from December 9 to 12, and back at

McCarter,

December 28 to 31.

Another original feature of the new season is a March 15 concert

program

at McCarter titled "Dancing Through the Ceiling," and

featuring

works by three women choreographers — a group almost as rare as

women CEOs. Featured in this innovative evening of world premieres

are works are by Elaine Kudo, ARB ballet mistress; Susan Hadley, Ohio

University faculty member and former Mark Morris dancer; and Dominique

Dumais of the National Ballet of Canada.

Spring also brings more premieres to the State Theater. The April

21 and 22 concerts promise Lustig’s latest work,

"Silkscreens,"

set to rock music, and inspired by Andy Warhol’s iconic celebrity

portraits, as well as "Lambarena" by Val Caniparoli of the

San Francisco Ballet and "The Turn of the Screw" by Salvatore

Aiello.

Rounding out the season of premieres is Lustig’s new

"Cinderella,"

set at the turn of the 20th century, to Prokofiev’s romantic score.

Performances are May 19 and 20 at State Theater.

American Repertory Ballet will join "Celebrate Dance New

Jersey,"

a multi-faceted weekend of dance performances, lectures, and open

rehearsals at the Community Theater in Morristown, Saturday and

Sunday,

October 7 and 8. Other featured companies include the Alborada Spanish

Dance Theater, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Randy James Dance Works,

New Jersey Ballet Company, Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, and the

New Jersey Tap Ensemble (call 973-539-8008).

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