UMS Concert Program, July 9, 1985: Ann Arbor Summer '85 Festival --

Power Center For The Performing Arts Ann Arbor, Michigan

THE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
presents
Ballet Eddy Toussaint de Montreal
EDDY TOUSSAINT Founder and Artistic Director
JeanMarc Lebeau, Assistant Artistic Director
Camilla Malashenko, Ballet Mistress
Kathryn Greenaway, Rehearsal Mistress
Eleonora Matilevskaya, Piano Accompanist
Principal Dancers
Anik Bissonnette Susan Bennet Brigitte Valette
Louis Robitaille JeanHugues Rochette Denis Dulude
Soloists
Sophie Bissonnette
Kathryn Greenaway
Mario Thibodeau The Company
Yvon Brault France Deslauriers Dominique Dulude Marc Forest
Nathalie Grosshenny Natasha Herman Gae'tan Laroche Sylvie Oleachea
Miguel Rodrigue Alexandre Seillier Michel Sigouin Anne Sprincis
Rene'e Hebert, Administrative Director Christian Thibault, Director of Operations Suzanne Dugas, Administrative Assistant
Josee Kleinbaum, General Stage Manager
Guy Savard, Tour Director
Peter Georgiev, Technical Director
Tuesday Evening, July 9, 1985, at 8:00
Power Center for the Performing Arts
Ann Arbor, Michigan
The Ballet Eddy Toussaint de Montreal wishes to acknowledge The Quebec Ministry of Cultural Affairs for its constant support, the Quebec Ministries of Communications and International Affairs, and The Montreal Urban Community Arts Council.
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THE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
presents
Barry Douglas
Pianist
Tuesday Evening, July 9, 1985, at 8:00 Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Sonata in Aflat major, Op. 110...................................Beethoven
Moderato cantabile molto espressivo Allegro molto
Adagio ma non troppo--arioso dolente Fuga: allegro ma non troppo
Scherzo No. 3 in Csharp minor, Op. 39 ..............................Chopin
Sonata No. 4 in Fsharp major, Op. 30...............................Scriabin
INTERMISSION
Pictures at an Exhibition ........................................Mussorgsky
Promenade
The Gnome
Promenade
The Old Castle
Promenade
Tuileries
Bydlo: The Polish Oxcart
Promenade
Ballet of Chicks in Their Shells
Rich and Poor: Samuel Goldberg and Schmuyle
The Market Place at Limoges
Catacombs
The Hut on Fowls' Legs: The Witches' Revelry
The Great Gate of Kiev
ALEXIS LE TROTTEUR (1978)
Choreography: Eddy Toussaint Set: Germain Perron
Music: Dominique Tremblay Costumes: Sylvain Labelle
Alexis.....................................................Louis Robitaille
TTte young girl and the woman of Alexis' dream ................. Brigitte Valette
and The Company
Alexis le Trotteur actually existed. Born in the beginning of this century in a remote part of Quebec, his physical prowess has not been equaled as yet. Alexis could run faster than horses and often suffered from the delusion of being one. Inspired by this nearly legendary figure, Eddy Toussaint choreographed this ballet in two "tableaux": the first one shows Alexis as a carefree spirit dancing and flirting at a country dance; in the second tableau, Alexis is overtaken by his madness and imagines himself ridden by a beautiful woman who liberates his tormented soul.
Dominique Tremblay wrote an original score for Alexis, using the mournful and haunting sound of the steel violin, a unique instrument invented by his late and dear friend, the fiddler Philippe Gagnon. Gagnon's special participation in this recording was one of his last. Alexis' solo is played by Alain Lamontagne on the harmonica.
INTERMISSION
SOUVENANCE (1982)
Choreography: Eddy Toussaint
Music: Diane Juster
Costumes: Sylvain Labelle
Sophie Bissonnette
Denis Dulude
Mario Thibodeau
This past de trois was created by Eddy Toussaint on the original score of the Quebec composer Diane Juster.
Pause
Photo: Melodie Garbish
JeanHugues Rochette and Company in Canlales
About the Artist
Barry Douglas is the winner of the bronze medal at the Seventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition held re?cently in Fort Worth, Texas, from May 18 through June 2. The 25yearold pianist from the United Kingdom made his formal debut in 1981 in London's Wigmore Hall. He has played recitals throughout Ireland and has performed with the London Sym?phony and the Royal Liverpool Philhar?monic with Sir Charles Groves.
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and now residing in London, Mr. Douglas studied at the Belfast School of Musicbefore attending London's Royal College of Music. His teachers have included Bertram Jones, John Barstow, and Maria Curcio. In 1981 Mr. Douglas received First Classification in the Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition, and in 1981 he won the Jury Discretionary Award in the Sixth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In 1983 he was the Silver Medalist in the Ar?thur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition. As winner of the bronze medal in the recent Van Cliburn Competition,
Mr. Douglas will receive a cash award of $6,000 and concert tours for the next thirty months. In additional to the bronze medal, Mr. Douglas won "Best Performance of Fantasia on an Ostinato" by John Corigliano, a piece commissioned by the Competition that the semifinalists were required to include on their recital programs.
Barry Douglas' performance this evening is the second of three in Ann Arbor by the top win?ners of the 1985 Van Cliburn Competition. On Sunday. July 21, Gold Medalist Jose Feghali of Brazil will perform Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto with Interlochen's World Youth Orchestra in the Power Center for the Performing Arts. Silver Medalist Philippe Bianconi, who presented a recital last week, was the first of the three to appear in Ann Arbor's 1985 Summer Festival.
The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was established to launch the careers of outstandingly gifted young pianists. Named after the Texas pianist who, in 1958, won a famous victory in the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow, the first competition was held in Fort Worth in 1962, and further competitions took place in 1966, 1969, 1973, 1977 and 1981. Mr. Cliburn continues to play a very active role in this quadrennial event, considered to be one of the five most important piano competitions in the world.
The first round of the 1985 Competition began May 18 with 36 competitors from around the world, chosen from videotaped auditions in which the contestants performed two halfhour pro?grams. Twelve semifinalists were selected May 22. Each semifinalist then performed a onehour solo recital and a piano quintet with the Tokyo String Quartet, and from this phase of the competi?tion six finalists were named on Tuesday, May 28. The six finalists each performed two concertos with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, and from these were announced the three winners on Sunday, June 2. The awards ceremony was hosted by F. Murray Abraham, a native of El Paso and the recent recipient of the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of composer Antonio Salieri in the film Amadeus. After the announcement of the prizes, each of the medalists played a movement from the piano concerto he had played in the final phase of the competition. A television special about the Seventh Annual Van Cliburn Piano Competition, which included portions of the awards ceremony, was broadcast coasttocoast during the following week on the PBS network.
CANTATES (1978)
Choreography: Eddy Toussaint
Music: J. S. Bach
Costumes: Sylvain Labelle
JeanHugues Rochette
Denis Dulude
Yvon Brault Miguel Rodrigue
Marc Forest Michel Sigouin
Gaetan Laroche Mario Thibodeau
"I have always been fascinated by the religious music of Bach. His cantatas are masterpieces. Motivated by this marvelous music and by the modern movement that it inspired in me, I wanted to bring them together. . ."
Eddy Toussaint
INTERMISSION
FACADES (1982)
Choreography: Eddy Toussaint Set: Lise Bernier, Pierre Bourgie
Music: Astore Piazzola Costumes: Sylvain Labelle
Facades I -Overture The Company
Facades II -Refusal
Brigitte Valette and The Company
Facades III -Love and Society
Anik Bissonnette
Denis Dulude and The Company
Anne Sprincis
Facades IV -The perfectly carefree Louis Robitaille
Facades V -Women's cries
Kathryn Greenaway
Anik Bissonnette
Anne Sprincis and The Company
Facades VI -Men's presence
Louis Robitaille
JeanHugues Rochette and The Company
Denis Dulude
Facades VII -Finale The Company
About the Artists
Eddy Toussaint, founder and artistic director of the company which bears his name, was born in Haiti thirtynine years ago. He started his classical training at the age of six at the Academie de Ballet of PortauPrince with Lavinia Williams, a black American dancer who was associated with dancers such as Catherine Dunham and Alvin Ailey. Through these classes, which he and his siblings had been obliged to study as part of their early education, Toussaint acquired his great love of dance. After arriving in Montreal with his family, he found, much to his surprise, that ballet was considered to be a woman's art, without a place in it for men. After taking a few classes with Les Grands Ballets, he put dance aside until he was at Mon?treal's University of Quebec, where he specialized in physical education. By this time he had gathered a little group of university students into an informal amateur company. With rekin?dled enthusiasm, Toussaint joined a group headed by Eva von Genscy, which expanded in 1972 to become Les Ballets Jazz. In 1974 he formed his own company, Ballet Eddy Toussaint de Montreal, with the aim of developing dancers who would be very versatile, technically strong, capable of acting and performing in jazz rhythms -in short, artists geared to a new form of expression which he called the "danse."
To achieve his aims, Eddy Toussaint founded his own dance school as well, offering training in classical, jazz, and modern ballet. Most of his company's dancers are products of this school, which now has over 400 students and provides an important financial base for the company. Like Louis Robitaille, a product of the school and now the company's leading male dancer, many agree that "dancing for Eddy" is like no other experience.
In 1983 Toussaint was honored as a Great Montrealer, one of a small group of notables singled out for their personal contributions to the city. Another honor came from last sum?mer's First International Ballet Competition in Helsinki, when Anik Bissonnette and Louis Robitaille returned to Canada with a gold medal for best contemporary choreography, perfor?ming Toussaint's A Simple Moment to music by Albinoni. He has created a diversified seventypiece repertoire for his dancers, which includes works by Oscar Araiz, Salvatore Aiello, Domy ReiterSoffer, and, most recently Vassili Sulich, but twothirds of the ballets are by Tous?saint. Although he seems to prefer making pas de deux, which are often sandwiched into dramatic pieces of social comment, Toussaint has also made comic ballets, has celebrated his Haitian heritage with Missa Creole, and incorporated FrenchCanadian folk legends such as Alexis le trotteur into his creations. Several of his ballets, including Alexis le trotteur, have been filmed for television. With his reputation now soundly established, Toussaint has his ballets appear?ing in the repertoires of other companies on the American continent and in Europe.
In Montreal, the heart of Frenchspeaking Quebec, Ballet Eddy Toussaint de Montreal is unofficially known as the province's cultural ambassador. Like other Canadian dance com?panies that use French as a primary language, its ties have been more transAtlantic than transAmerican. The company has often appeared abroad, representing Quebec itself as much as Canada. The company is, however, gaining an expanded international reputation. The Ballet has performed for more than two million spectators, encompassing twelve regular seasons at Place des Arts in Montreal, ten Quebec tours, four tours across Canada, four tours in Central and South America, and one European tour. The Ballet has made many guest performances for French opera houses and festivals, made numerous national and internationally televised performances, and performed at several official theater inaugurations throughout the western world. Toussaint and his dancers have recently completed a featurelength film. Night Magic, wirtten by Canadian poet Leonard Cohen, with composer Lewis Furey.
In 1985, the company has performed at the prestigious Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, the Theatre de Paris in France, and very recently had its first major United States engagement at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. Next fall the Ballet launches its 198586 season with a twomonth tour through the United States, culminating in a week of performances in New York City. Beyond that, tours of Europe, Asia, and South America are planned for upcoming seasons. Eddy Toussaint, with his dauntless "Latin" spirit and his belief in his dancers and works, will be bringing his "new fresh air of dance" to dance aficionados around the world.