UMS Concert Program, October 27, 1988: Royal Ballet Of Flanders --

Season: 110th
Concert: Eighth
Power Center For The Performing Arts Ann Arbor, Michigan

THE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Royal Ballet of Flanders
ROBERT DENVERS
Artistic Director
Thursday Evening, October 27, 1988, at 8:00
Power Center for the Performing Arts
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Principal Dancers
Maria Teresa del Real
Pablo Savoye
Soloists
Dawn Fay Ena Naranjo
Vinciane Ghyssens Edwin Mota
Lenka Jarosikova Christian Poggioli
Demi-Soloists
MiCHELE GOYENS
Paul Lewis .
Hilde Van de Vloet Serge Van de Voorde
Corps de Ballet
Marie-Laure Agrapart Corinnc Blondcl Bernice Coppieters Mieke Delanghe Patricia Dugast Larisa Fanlo Isabclle Gernionpre Kathleen Huybrechts
Nathalie Labro Franziska Pfister Lara Radda Etsuko Sumii Sharon Van Bcrckelaer Antonio Calvctti Patrice Delay
Raffaclc Di Antonio Gideon Louw Branko Moeys David Regeffe Chris Roclandt Pascal Sani Robert Sjouke Lars Van Cauwcnbergh
Marcel Van Der Bruggen, President of the Board
Jan Vanderschoot, General Director
Nora Van Dessel, Public Relations
Touring Staff
Patricia Van Puyvclde, Company Stage Manager
Christianc Latrc, Coach Claire Vereeckcn, Wardrobe Mistress
Johan Biclcn, Patrick Engcls, Dirk Gccns, Hugo Vandcrhoven, Technicians
The Royal Ballet of Flanders is represented by Columbia Artists Management, Inc., New York. Eighth Concert of the 110th Season Eighteenth Annual Choice Series
PROGRAM
ALLEGRO BRILLANTE
(Created in 1956 by the New York City ballet)
Choreography: George Balanchine
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (from Third Piano Concerto) Costumes after Karinska Lighting: Guido Canfyn
Ena Naranjo
Edwin Mota
Bernicc Coppicters Antonio Calvctti
Vincianc Ghysscns Lars Van Cauwenbergh
Michclc Goycns Chris Roclandt
Lcnka Jarosikova Robert Sjoukc
Allegro Brillante, a ballet for five couples, is a purely classical work, a choreographic exercise without story line or specific mood. It excels in its brilliant virtuosity, the fresh and airy combina?tions, and the continually changing patterns. For the solo ballerina, there are several especially difficult technical passages, and her partner has a beautiful solo of his own.
The ensembles are at once visually impressive and very lively. Allegro Brillante is a technically demanding ballet, dance "con brio."
GO! SAID MAX (Created in 1983 for the Hubbard Street Dance Company)
Choreography: Lynnc Taylor-Corbctt
Music: Robert Muczynski (Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano) Lighting: Johan Bielcn Staged by Kitty Skillman
Hildc Van dc Vloct
Pascal Sani
Co! Said Max is a pas de deux, danced in two parts. Its mood is alternately languorous and percussive.
The two dancers, working with choreography that is both classical and contemporary, roll off, play against, leap over, and blend into one another as if they were unified parts of the same intertwin?ing organism. And all the while they are going through their amazingly demanding athletic twists and turns, they arc smiling slyly at the sport they are enjoying. Their complicated lifts and sudden, often comic changes in male-female roles add to the joy of watching this fast-paced and zesty work from a choreographer whom many critics consider one ot the most important talents of the 1980s.
SYMPHONY IN D
(First performance October 1976 by the Netherlands Dance Theater)
Choreography: Jiri Kylian Costumes: Tom Schcnk
Music: Joseph Haydn Lighting: Joop Cahoort
Staged by: Arlette Van Bovcn
Franziska Pfister Kathleen Huybrechts Vinciane Ghysscns Nathalie Labro
Mickc Delanghc Marie-Laure Agrapart Isabelle Germonpre Larisa Fanlo
Raffaclc Di Antonio Paul Lewis Gideon Louw Serge Van de Voordc
Patrice Delay Chris Roelandt Robert Sjouke Lars Van Cauwenbergh
There is no other ballet by Jiri Kylian that is so consistently different at every viewing than his hilarious Symphony ' D. Originally composed in two parts, he later added a third and at the same time changed elements of the existing ballet. The public and the press were overjoyed, for they had asked for an extended version ever since the first performance. Subsequently, the choreographer even added a fourth part.
The name of the ballet is taken from the music of the first two parts -the Symphony in D by Joseph Haydn, also known as "The Clock." The music of the third part is taken from the Haydn symphony known as "The Hunt," which is mirrored in the highly amusing hunting scene on the stage. The last part again uses music from yet another Haydn symphony.
Symphony in D is an extremely good-natured parody of the ballet business, in which numerous conventions and quirks of the dance world arc treated in a highly entertaining manner. And, with all the humor, we must not forget that Symphony in D is, in every way, a choreographic masterpiece, demanding the greatest technical proficiency of its dancers.
INTE R MISSION
DON QUIXOTE, ACT 111 (First performance October 1987 at the Roya! Flemish Opera, Antwerp)
Choreography: Rudolf Nurcycv, after Marius Petipa
Music: Ludwig Minkus, new version by John Lanchbery
Libretto: Based on the novel HI ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha
by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Costumes: Anna Anni Lighting Design: Roger Bernard
Decor and Conception: Roger Bernard, after drawings by Alain Vaes
Rehearsal Coach: Richard Nowotny
Cast
Kitri..................................................................Dawn Fay
Basilic..........................................................Christian Poggioli
Don Quixote........................................................Branko Moeys
Sancho Pauza...................................................Raffaele Di Antonio
Gamache...............................................................Paul Lewis
Lorenzo.............................................................Gideon Louw
Espada.....................................................Lars Van Cauwenbergh
Two Friends...................................Vinciane Ghysscns and Michelc Goyens
Eredame solo....................................................Hilde Van dc Vloet
Fandango solo.....................................Lcnka Jarosikova or Chris Roelandt
Waiter...............................................................Patrice Delay
Fandango ensemble: Nathalie Labro, Franziska Pfister, Miekc Delanghe, Kathleen Huybrcchts,
Sharon Van Berckelaer, Corinne Blondel, Serge Van dc Voorde, Pascal Sani, Robert
Sjouke, Antonio Calvetti, David Rcgeffe, Patrice Delay Dames d'honneur: Lara Radda, Patricia Dugast, Larisa Fanlo, Isabellc Germonpre, Bernicc
Coppieters, Etsuki Sumii, Marie-Laure Agrapart
Scene I -The Inn
Kitri and Basilio have found refuge in a tavern and celebrate with friends. But Lorenzo, Gamache, Don Quixote, and Sancho Panza track them down. Lorenzo is determined to marry his daughter to Gamache.
The two lovers are close to despair when Basilio invents a ruse, pretending to commit suicide. Kitri begs Don Quixote for assistance, and he obliges Lorenzo to reunite his daughter with the dying Basilio.
As soon as the innkeeper has given his consent, Basilio springs to his feet. Gamache is so outraged at this charade that he challenges Don Quixote to a duel, which, however, he loses.
Scene II -The Marriage
Kitri and Basilio are married, and they perform the famous Pas de Deux, known to dance audiences throughout the world. During the festivities, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza take their leave and go in search of new adventures.
About the Artists
The Royal Ballet of Flanders, Belgium's preeminent ballet company, now returns for its fourth tour of the United States and its second visit to Ann Arbor, where the University Musical Society presented the company for two performances in 1981.
Founded in 1969 as the National Ballet of Flanders by former director Jeanne Brabants, the National Ballet of Flanders gave 153 performances during its debut season and, within a short period of time, came to international attention at the Athens Summer Festival. Continued foreign tours, coupled with active appearances throughout Belgium, brought increasing ac?claim and distinction until 1976, when the company was given royal status by King Badoin and Queen Fabiola of Belgium and renamed the Royal Ballet of Flanders. Since then, the company has made many tours throughout Europe, North and South America, and Mexico. In 1982, they became the first Belgian artistic emissaries to perform in mainland China and returned to perform there again in 1987.
Until this company was formed, the only ballet company in Antwerp was part of the Royal Flemish Opera. The first members of the new company were, in fact, the ballet corps of the Opera, complemented with members of the Municipal Ballet Institute (Antwerp's ballet school, also founded by Mme Brabants) and guest dancers from other countries.
Jeanne Brabants led the company until her retirement in 1984. This initial period saw the creation of more than 100 different ballets, chosen from among the best works of international choreographers such as Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Maurice Bcjart, John Butler, John Cranko, Jiri Kylian, Ninette dc Valois, Birgit Cullbcrg, Agnes de Millc, Robert Cohan, Flemming Flindt, and Hans von Mancn, as well as ballets by Mme Brabants herself and Belgian Andre Leclair, among other young and talented Belgian choreographers.
In 1984, the famous Russian dancerchoreographer Valery Panov became artistic director, giving the company an entirely new character in its choreographic repertoire. Accentuating the technical prowess of his principal dancers, Panov's style is characterized by dramatic fervor and theatricality, much in the style of the Kirov and Bolshoi ballets by which he was influenced.
Robert Denvers joined the Royal Ballet of Flanders in January 1987 as its new artistic director. A famous dance teacher with vast experience in the world's most famous and pres?tigious ballet companies, Denvers' working experience with great choreographers has brought a wider knowledge of repertoire, technique, and training than the Royal Ballet had previously experienced, resulting in more expansive plans for the company's future activities. Now inter?national in scope, the ensemble boasts dancers from as many as twelve different countries, in addition to its own Flemish core.
In addition to its international tours, the Royal Ballet of Flanders maintains full seasons throughout Belgium. A smaller troupe continues as the official ballet of the Royal Flemish Opera and the Royal Opera of Ghent, and plans are accelerating for the discovery and training of potential young ballet stars from the Flanders area of Belgium.
Robert Denvers, now in his second year as artistic director of the Royal Ballet of Flanders, is known throughout the dance world as one of its most capable and imaginative directors. Born in Antwerp in 1942, he was a member of Maurice Bejart's Ballet of the Twentieth Century from 1963 to 1973, leaving the company as a soloist to join the National Ballet of Canada. In 1974, he and Maria Barrios co-founded the Ballet Contemporaneo dc Camara in Caracas, Venezuela. Before returning to Brussels in 1977 as teacher and assistant director of the Ballet of the Twentieth Century, Delivers specialized in the dance technique of George Balanchine. He returned to New York after one year to continue his study of Bal?anchine's methods and to teach at the Melissa Haydcn Ballet School. In 1979, he established his own studio, the West Side School of Ballet, where many international stars, such as Nurcycv, Baryshnikov, Makarova, and Kirkland, taught classes.
Robert Denvers has taught with companies such as the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Dallas Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, and the Netherlands Dance Theatre. He is also a regular visitor to the North Carolina School of the Arts and is a teaching associate at the Royal Danish Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet. In his new position as director of the Flanders Ballet, he seeks to strike a balance between the works of established modern choreog?raphers and the classics, not forgetting his own specialty: the ballets of George Balanchine.
Special Fundraising Gala, Saturday, October 29
"Our Night of Celebration" with Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY Board of Directors
John W. Reed, President
David B. Kennedy, Vice President
Thomas E. Kaupcr, Secretary Norman G. Herbert, Treasurer
Robert G. Aldrich James J. Duderstadt Richard L. Kennedy
Patrick B. Long Judythc R. Maugh
John D. Paul Ann S. Schriber Herbert E. Sloan
Kenneth C. Fischer, Executive Director
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Burton Memorial Tower, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1270 Telephone: (313) 764-2538