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Premieres and projects 2010/2011
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DANCE BY PÄRT
September 17, 2010 Paide Culture Center
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the world renowned composer Arvo Pärt, who has been the main influence on Estonian contemporary music, Paide city has organised in cooperation with Estonian Ministry of Culture, Estonian Concert, ENSO, Estonian National Opera, Rakvere city and ERR a festival “Pärt’s Festivity Weeks” lasting from August 17th to September 17th 2010. One of the highlights of the festival is “Dance by Pärt”. For the occasion, Thomas Edur, Marina Kesler and Oksana Titova have set various pieces of Pärt’s music for dance. In the second part of the evening Marina Kesler’s dance performance “Othello” is given. Performers: soloists of the Estonian National Ballet and the young dancers of Paide city.
THE NUTCRACKER
Ballet by Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Libretto by Marius Petipa based on the fairy-tale of E. T. A. Hoffmann and Alexandre Dumas (sen.)
World premiere on December 18, 1892 Mariinsky Theatre (St. Petersburg)
Premiere at the Estonian National Opera on December 3, 2010
Choreographer-Stage Director: Ben Stevenson (Texas Ballet Theatre, U.S.A)
Music Director and Conductor: Mihhail Gerts
Conductor: Jüri Alperten
Designer: Tom Boyd (Houston Ballet, USA)
Ben Stevenson’s wondrous stage production starts the Christmas month at the Estonian National Opera! Even the most impossible dreams turn into a marvellous and tantalizing reality. Tchaikovsky’s beautiful music takes the viewer with Clara to the magical world of sweets, the Mouse King, toy soldiers, flying chefs, the giant Christmas tree, Christmas evening and dancing. Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is one of the best known and most loved pieces of the composer, the music of which has inspired many choreographers to the tell the colourful Christmas fairytale of E. T. A. Hoffmann and Alexandre Dumas senior in the language of dance.
Ben Stevenson is to this day considered one of the most important shapers of the American ballet art. For almost thirty years, he has been the art director of the Houston Ballet and under his leadership the company has grown into an internationally acknowledged ballet theatre, and from the year 2003 he is the Artistic Director of the Texas Ballet. His stage productions have earned several renowned awards and praise from the critics, and have been staged at Opéra de Paris, Canadian National Ballet, La Scala, Bavarian State Opera, London City Ballet etc.
WHO CARES?
New Year's Eve Ball on December 31, 2010
Estonian National Opera invites you to spend the night in the magic atmosphere of the theatre – listen to the best soloists, experience the electrifying nightlife of Manhattan and dance to the music played by a big symphony orchestra! Meet the New Year with a smile!
In the first part of the ball you will see a revue to George Gershwin’s music, titled Gershwin’s Rhapsody, staged by Arne Mikk. The highlight of the revue is the Benin-born jazz-star Mina Agossi (U.S.A/Paris).
For the first time at the Estonian National Opera, it is possible to experience the brilliance of one of the world’s topmost choreographers George Balanchine. The second part of the evening will present his ballet Who Cares? to the music of George Gershwin. In 1937, legendary songwriter George Gershwin asked renowned choreographer George Balanchine to work with him on the score of the Goldwyn Follies, but the composer died before the work was completed. Thirty-three years later he would choreograph the ballet Who Cares? to sixteen Gershwin’s songs, including such hits as I Got Rhythm, The Man I Love, Embraceable You and My One and Only depicting the lively night life of Manhattan. The energy of the city is visible in every step choreographed with Balanchine’s technical brilliance. The ballet is staged by the artistic director of Ballet du Capitole Nanette Glushak
MANON
Kenneth MacMillan’s ballet to the music of Jules Massenet
World premiere: March 3, 1974 in the Royal Ballet (London)
Premiere at the Estonian National Opera: April 7, 2011
Choreographer-Stage Director: Kenneth MacMillan
Staging: Karl Burnett (England)
Music Director and Conductor – Risto Joost
Conductor – Mihhail Gerts
Arrangement – Leighton Lucas and Hilda Gaunt
Designer – Mia Stensgaard (The Royal Danish Ballet)
Assistant to the Designer – Maja Ziska (The Royal Danish Ballet)
Kenneth MacMillan’s ballet to Jules Massenet’s beautiful music introduces 18th century life and strata – from aristocrats to social outcasts. The ballet is based on Abbe Prevost’s novel L’Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut, the central character of which is Manon – the most desirable courtesan in Paris, who becomes a refugee in Louisiana due to an exciting and dramatic chain of events. The music, being full of emotions, expresses Manon’s downfall from the world of pleasures to the frustrating hellhole. The music of the ballet has been arranged by Leighton Lucas and Hilda Gaunt who have used a number of Massenet’s works but not his eponymous opera. The audience will hear extracts from thirteen Massenet’s operas (including Le Cid, Chérubin, Cinderella and Don Quixote), also from his oratorios, salon songs (Elegy), songs and orchestral suites (Scénes dramatiques and Scénes pittoresques).
Kenneth MacMillan created one of the most popular ballets of the 20th century for the Royal Ballet in 1974. Since then, Manon has been performed by top ballet companies only, as the dancing technique of the dancers has to be of high level. “I do not always say yes when a ballet company approaches me wanting to acquire the work, I rely on trusted notators to assess the company” says Deborah MacMillan, the widow of Kenneth MacMillan. The Estonian National Ballet got the permission to perform Manon in 2009.
INTERNATIONAL DANCE DAY BALLET GALA
April 29–30, 2011
Artistic Director: Thomas Edur
The Estonian National Ballet will celebrate the International Dance Day with a grandiose dance programme, delighting the audience with dance numbers from classical to modern dance. The gala, taking place on April 30th, will also celebrate the 50th birthday of Kaie Kõrb – a long-time principal dancer of the Estonian National Opera. In addition to Estonian National Ballet soloists there will be beautiful performances by ballet stars from American Ballet Theatre, Royal Ballet (London) and Bolshoi Theatre (Moscow).
OPERA AND BALLET FESTIVAL “SUMMER NIGHT STARS”
June 1–11, 2011
The Estonian National Opera is going to greet summer and beach season with the traditional festival Summer Night Stars. The audience will be rejoiced by noted opera and ballet stars both from Estonia and abroad. The festival will bring to the audience Bizet’s popular opera Carmen, Delibes’ fabulous ballet Coppélia, a ballet gala of Tallinn Ballet School’s young dancers, Puccini’s opera Tosca, Harangozó’s jovial ballet Snow-White and the 7 Dwarfs; Nixon’s ballet The Three Musketeers, Tüür’s historical-fictional opera Wallenberg and MacMillan’s unique ballet Manon.
THE LITTLE PRINCE
The first staging in the series of AtticDance at the Estonian National Opera Chamber Hall
June 2, 4, 5, 8 and 10, 2011
Choreographer and Stage Director: Oksana Titova
Music: Taavi Kerikmäe
Video Design: Andres Tenusaar
Set Design and Costumes: Elo Soode
Dancers of the Estonian National Ballet.
The series will be kicked off with a dance performance The Little Prince, where the world which is balancing between reality and fantasy (characteristic of Antoine de Saint-Exupery) is watched through the prism of Little-Prince-like purity. The performance will be produced in cooperation with the team of the dance performance „Hamlet“ that premiered at the Estonian National Opera in 2007 (the team was given the Annual Estonian Theatre Award 2008).
Oksana Titova is the dancer of the Estonian National Ballet troupe. She is also a director and choreographer of contemporary dance who is known for her originality. She will bring to the audience the performance series of contemporary dance, the roots of which are in a ballet theatre. It is a form of dance theatre that puts the physical abilities of the ballet dancer in service of contemporary art and aesthetics. According to Titova, an attic relates to something mysterious, intimate and unpredictable. “Different rules apply in the attic of the Estonian National Opera, you might find something unexpectable there.”
Oksana Titova has staged at the National Opera, Vanemuine Theatre and Kanuti Guild Hall. She has won the annual Estonian Theatre Award in the category of „Best dance production“ for The Last Hairy (with Taavet Jansen, Kanuti Guild Hall, 2005) and Hamlet (Estonian National Opera, 2007). Both works have participated in the international festivals in Estonia, Latvia, Russia and England.
GALA OF TALLINN BALLET SCHOOL
June 1 and 4, 2011
On June 1 at 19 and on June 4 at 12, a traditional ballet gala of Tallinn Ballet School will be held at the Estonian National Opera, performers being the ballet school’s graduates and current students – the future stars of Estonian ballet.
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© Rahvusooper Estonia 2010
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