Photo courtesy of the IU School
of Music
Cinderella
|
Cinderella is about to get an extreme makeover—at the
hands (and feet) of a college dance program that knows a little
something about being an underdog.
The IU Ballet Theater in Bloomington will debut a world
premiere production of Cinderella on March 25 and
26 at the Musical Arts Center, the largest university performance
stage in North America. The performances will feature all-new
choreography, sets and costumes to accompany Sergei Prokofiev's
score performed by students of the IU School of Music.
"This is two hours that you're not going to see anywhere else," said Jacques Cesbron, professor of music and the ballet's choreographer.
The new-look, full-length Cinderella might surprise
modern audiences accustomed to seeing a vaudevillian or Hollywood
production. Cesbron promises a "very classical, very traditional"
Cinderella that preserves Prokofiev's vision, avoids
contemporary movement, reinstates parts of the composer's
score that other companies have cut and eschews slapstick-style
comedy in favor of a more demanding, humoresque technique.
(There will be no men in drag playing Cinderella's ugly stepsisters,
for example.)
"The music is so beautiful. I don't want to make a vaudeville act out of it," Cesbron said.
Cesbron, a former dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet and
soloist with the Harkness Ballet, used an arts and humanities
research grant he received last year from the university to
study other versions of Cinderella in Paris and the
New York Dance Library. He discovered that while many choreographers
and dance companies have tried on Cinderella's glass
slipper, no one seemed to wear it quite right. "No choreographer
has done such an incredible job that it will frighten me,
not like Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet," he said.
He has spent the last several months writing choreography that utilizes his dancers' abilities and allows them to work on their weaknesses. "I seek to create steps that look good on the dancers and are difficult enough to improve their technique," he said.
Readying Cinderella for her big debut has required
a "colossal" collaboration of talent, Cesbron said. The makeover
team includes Cesbron's wife, Virginia, master scenic artist
and designer C. David Higgins, veteran orchestral conductor
Imre Palló, visiting lecturers Doricha Sales and Guoping Wang,
and the ballet department's entire roster of 52 student dancers.
"I could never do this by myself," Cesbron said.
Cinderella is the most challenging work to date
by a theater company that has gone through its own dramatic
transformation since Cesbron and his wife left New York City
19 years ago to develop a leading training ground for aspiring
young dancers. Today, the IU Ballet Theater is considered
one of the world's premiere dance programs, Virginia Cesbron
said. Ninety percent of IU ballet majors have become professional
dancers, and many perform for the world's leading ballet companies.
Other alumni have succeeded in becoming choreographers, teachers,
critics, administrators and advocates for the arts.
"Our work was a struggle," said Virginia Cesbron, an associate professor at the IU School of Music, "but we accomplished the goal of creating a place where dancers could be for four years, achieve a professional level, and have time to grow and learn in a nurturing environment."
http://music.indiana.edu/publicity/ballet/balletnews/0102/.
Related story:
Arts in bloom
|
