Unless otherwise noted photos and copyright 2012 Mike Strong KCDance.Com - Email This Page

UMKC Spring 2011 Concert

Note: All choreography is the copyright of the choreographers or the trust.
"Dark Elegies" Choreography is © Copyright 2010 Antony Tudor Ballet Trust.
All rights reserved.

Gavin Stewart in Magnesium Pieces by Ronn Tice

Asha Singh and Nina Rose Wardanian in Without a Word by DeeAnna Hiett (dress)

Michael Tomlinson and Brittany Duskin in "Blue" by Paula Weber

Miyesha McGriff (front) in "Bittersuite" by Sabrina Madison-Cannon.
Behind, L-R are: Andrea Mason, Kassi Butler, Kaitlin Heibel, ..., Nina Rose Wardanian, Stephanie Morrow, Lynley Schaffer.

Erik Sobbe and Haley Day in "Cappriccio" by Mary Pat Henry

Erik Sobbe (front) and Gavin Stewart (left) in Blue by Paula Weber. Behind (L-R) are Kelanie Murphy, Pam Auinbauh

"Blue" by Paula Weber: (front couple) Gavin Stewart and Kelanie Murphy, then Michael Tomlinson and Brittany Duskin

A quick overview: "Bittersuite" by Sabrina Madison-Cannon uses three songs, "Sugar in My Bowl" by J. Tim Brymn, Clarence Williams, Danny Small "I Put a Spell on You" by Jalacy J. Hawkins "Ne Me Quitte Pas" by Jacques Brel (sung by Nina Simone) "Blue" is a reprise by Paula Weber of a piece used by Wylliams/Henry, music by Ludwig Van Beethoven "Cappriccio" is a renaisance piece by Mary Pat Henry, Music by Noel Pointer "Dark Elegies" by Antony Tudor, music by Gustav Mahler and five songs by Friedrich Rückert.(see below) "Magnesium Pieces" by Ronn Tice was last done at the fall concert - music by Frank Zappa. "Without a Word" is a new piece by DeeAnna Hiett, music by Osvaldo Golijov performed by Chronos Quartet. All Choreography is copyright each of the choreographers. "Dark Elegies" Choreography is © Copyright 2010 Antony Tudor Ballet Trust. All rights reserved.
Dark Elegies Antony Tudor's "Dark Elegies" is a major featured work from an outside institution, the Tudor Trust. We are lucky enough that we have an authentic Tudor repetiteur who lives and works in Kansas City, James Jordan, Kansas City Ballet Master, to come in on a regular basis to work with the dancers and to stage the piece. James has also set Tudor work on major companies across the nation and now at UMKC. Dark Elegies will feature live orchestra music and mezzo-soprano Aidan Soder (UMKC professor of music) for the three evening performances. KC Ballet is providing costumes. The "story" in Dark Elegies is really a series of scenes in which we see the varied reactions of a small community when their children die without reason. The songs (in German) are "Kindertotenlieder" or songs on the death of children (literally ChildDeathSongs).	James Jordan in studio rehearsals
In the work, Tudor is coming from a frame of emotional reference in which the ballet choreography often resembles modern dance and German folk dances, moving weight into the earth. Dark Elegies does not use "off-the-shelf" (so to speak) ballet technique, it invented new and still distinct, ways of moving in ballet. This, from a perspective in time when each new piece was also a new dance invention. Studio rehearsal for Dark Elegies: Chadi El-Koury, Haley Day, Erin Kane, Michael Tomlinson James Jordan working on a lift (of Miyesha McGriff) by (L-R) Mark Gieringer, Michael Tomlinson and Chadi El-Khoury Mark Gieringer (Dark Elegies studio rehearsal)- behind, L-R: Michael Tomlinson, Daley Kapenman, Hannah Benditt, Chadi El-Khoury, (hidden) Appie Peterson, Pam Auinbauh, (to right of leg) Haley Day, Rose Taylor-Spann Dark Elegies rehearsals in PAC studio 103: Michael Tomlinson and Miyesha McGriff. On the right James Jordan and mezzo-soprano Aidan Soder. On Stage Notes for "Dark Elegies" with Sally Bliss from the Tudor Foundation and co-executrix of the Antony Tudor estate, working with Miyesha McGriff and Michael Tomlinson (left center). To the far left (hand on head) is Rose Taylor-Spann. To the right of Sally Bliss is James Jordan, Tudor repetiteur and KC Ballet ballet Master, then Paula Weber chair of the UMKC Dance Division. Just to the right of Michael is Gavin Stewart. The orchestra pit for Dark Elegies, music by Gustav Mahler and ballet by Antony Tudor. This is a set of overlapped images with Robert C. Olson conducting (imaged twice in this picture). Sally Bliss (Tudor FoundationTrustee) talking with KC Ballet's Artistic Director William Whitener and KC Ballet dancer Kimberly Cowen (top right). AT bottom left is Eddie Verso who was working with KC Ballet restaging their upcoming production of "Moves" by Jerome Robbins. Verso danced "Moves" with Robbins in 1961 (Moves was choreographed in 1959). Megan Squires (fri/sat eves) Scene II. Resignation - Mezzo-Soprano Aidan Soder PhD (and UMKC professor of music) sang the songs for the evening performances with the Conservatory Chamber Orchestra conducted by Robert C. Olson. Alyssa Gold Gavin Stewart (front) with (seated L-R) Lynley Schaffer, Michael Tomlinson, Haley Day Alyssa Gold in "Dark Elegies" by Antony Tudor Alyssa Gold, in "Dark Elegies" by Antony Tudor, performing four grande jeteés in four directions (these are four successive frames: 2888, 89, 90 and 91, Left to Right and Top to Bottom) Appie Peterson and Chadi El-Khoury - in "Dark Elegies" by Antony Tudor
"Dark Elegies" Choreography is © Copyright 2010 Antony Tudor Ballet Trust. All rights reserved.

Asha Singh and Nina Rose Wardanian in Without a Word by DeeAnna Hiett (in saturday performance)
(Compare with dress above)

Brittany Duskin in "Bittersuite" by Sabrina Madison-Cannon at the start of the piece where she comes out from the curtain and dances in front until the curtain opens

Rehearsal for Bittersuite in jazz studio (PAC 108) to Ne Me Quitte Pas by Jacques Brel - sung by Nina Simone (The last of three songs in the suite)
Sabrina Madison-Cannon directing (right). Dancers, L-R: Hannah Benditt, Linley Shaeffer, Brittany Murphy,
Megan Squires (in penchée, head down toward the left), Miyesha McGriff.

Side Note: What you won't read in UMKC's own UNews - no preview piece. The editor, after knowing about this all the way from January, getting approvals for go ahead, and heads up approval two weeks ago, decided, over the weekend, just prior to performance, that she would not do a preview piece on the concert but might run it the next week. The author, Nicole English, had the piece ready to go and I have been in studio rehearsals shooting material across several months. The spring dance concert is a major concert and a huge undertaking, with four performances involving the Dance Division, Opera Theater and Orchestra, yet no piece to give the campus a heads up. After numerous emails to determine whether the UNews will do anything on the concert, there is no news. Update 18 April: Monday's UNews had no mention of the concert. Both editions did have full page ads for paid positions on the UNews and both editions had various non-campus-oriented pieces or forum (opinion) pieces that could have not run (except that forum pieces get pay for the authors). Update 24 April: The A&E editor says this was a mistake and the piece should have run. So something is to run Monday the 25th.

 

The Program: UMKC Dance Division Spring Concert Featuring the choreography of Antony Tudor with guest artists: Aidan Soder, mezzo soprano Robert Olson, conductor Conservatory Chamber Orchestra Choreographers Mary Pat Henry DeeAnna Hiett Sabrina Madison-Cannon Ronald Tice Paula Weber Thursday-Saturday, April 14-16, 2011 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 16, 2011, 2:30 p.m. White Recital Hall James C. Olson Performing Arts Center   Bittersuite Choreography by Sabrina Madison-Cannon "Sugar in My Bowl" by J. Tim Brymn, Clerence Williams, and Danny Small "I Put a Spell on You" by Jalacy J. Hawkins "Ne me quitte pas" by Jacques Brel Music performed by Nina Simone Lighting design by Rachael Shair Costume design by the dancers Costumes courtesy of Tracy Vogt Dancers: Joyce Armstrong, Hannah Benditt, Emily Berger, Kassi Butler, Shanna Colbern, Rachel Crawford, Haley Day, Simone Delozier, Willa Dock, Brittany Duskin, Claire Gardner-Dale, Kaitlin Heibel, Sara Herbert, Rachael Hulse, Daley Kappenman, Lexie Klasing, Stephanie Morrow, Andrea Mason, Miyesha McGriff, Erin Muenks, Taylor Ohman, Whitney Ricketts, Liza Rod, Sara Beth Rothhammer, Lynley Schaffer, Alyssa Schneider, Rachel Schneider, Asha Singh, Megan Squires, Gwen Tripp, Hayley Turner, Caitlin Vasser, Dempsey Ward, Nina Wardanian Blue Choreography by Paula Weber Music by Ludwig van Beethoven Adagio from Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73 ("Emperor") Lighting design by Rachael Shair Costume design by Paula Weber Costume construction by Laura Powell Courtesy of Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company Dancers Brittany Duskin and Michael Tomlinson Pamela Auinbauh and Erik Sobbe Kelanie Murphy and Gavin Stewart Cappriccio Choreography by Mary Pat Henry Music by Noel Pointer Lighting design by Rachael Shair Costumes courtesy of Michael Simms and Mary Pat Henry Dancers (Thurs. eve., Sat. mat.) Michael Tomlinson and Joyce Armstrong Gavin Stewart and Lynley Schaffer Erik Sobbe and Haley Day (Fri. eve.. Sat. eve.) Michael Tomlinson and Alyssa Gold Gavin Stewart and Miyesha McGriff Erik Sobbe and Kelanie Murphy INTERMISSION Dark Elegies Choreography by Antony Tudor Copyright © The Antony Tudor Trust Music by Gustav Mahler Kindertotenlieder Music performed by Aidan Soder, mezzo soprano and the Conservatory Chamber Orchestra Conducted by Robert Olson Staged by James Jordan Lighting design by Brandon J. Clark Costumes courtesy of the Kansas City Ballet Scene I. Laments of the Bereaved Dancers I. Alyssa Gold and chorus (Thu. eve., Sat. mat.) Megan Squires and chorus (Fri. eve., Sat. eve.) II. Rose Taylor-Spann and Gavin Stewart (Thu. eve., Sat. mat.) Miyesha McGriff and Michael Tomlinson (Fri. eve.. Sat. eve.) III. Desmond Roach and chorus (Thurs. eve., Sat. mat) Mark Gieringer and chorus (Fri. eve., Sat. eve.) IV. Apple Peterson (Thurs. eve., Sat. mat.) Pamela Auinbach (Fri. eve., Sat. eve.) V. Michael Tomlinson (Thurs. eve., Sat. mat.) Gavin Stewart (Fri. eve., Sat. eve.) Chorus (Thurs. eve., Sat. mat.) Hannah Benditt, Lacee Ebert, Danielle Glynn, Sara Beth Rothhammer, Rose Taylor-Spann, Dempsey Ward or (Fri. eve., Sat. eve.) Haley Day, Abigail Engelhardt, Erin Kane Daley Kappenman, Miyesha McGriff, Lynley Schaffer and Chadi EI-Khoury (all show/times) Scene II. Resignation Dancers: Ensemble INTERMISSION Magnesium Pieces Choreography by Ronald Tice Music by Frank Zappa Music performed by Ensemble Modern Lighting design by Erick Voecks Costumes design by Ronald Tice Dancers (Thurs. eve., Sat. mat.) Rose Taylor-Spann and Gavin Stewart with Haley Day, Rachel Crawford, Lacee Ebert, Chasmine Gerschefske, Danielle Glynn, Erin Kane, Taylor Ohman and Megan Squires (Fri. eve., Sat. eve.) Kelanie Murphy and Gavin Stewart with Marie Buser, Danielle Glynn, Alyssa Gold, Daley Kappenman, Sara Beth Rothhammer, Liza Rod, Lynley Schaffer and Dempsey Ward Without a Word Choreography by DeeAnna Hiett Music by Osvaldo Golijov Music performed by Kronos Quartet Music editing by Gavin Stewart Lighting design by Rachael Shair Costume design by the dancers Dancers Andrea Mason, Haley Day, Mark Gieringer, Hayley Turner, Kaitlin Heibel, Megan Squires, Hannah Benditt, Rachel Schneider, Asha Singh, Claire Gardner-Dale, Rachel Crawford, Brittany Duskin, Simone Delozier, Erin Kane, Liza Rod, Taylor Ohman, Sarah Herbert, Dempsey Ward, Alyssa Schneider, Daley Kappenman, Erin Muenks, Reginald Simmons, Rachael Hulse, Erika Edwards, Marie Buser, Gavin Stewart, Nina-Rose Wardanian, Shanna Colbern, Kassi Butler, Desmond Roach, Whitney Ricketts, Kelanie Murphy, Miyesha McGriff, Chadi EI-Khoury, Caitlin Vasser, Lexie Klasing   PRODUCTION STAFF Concert Director.....................................................................................Paula Weber Production Manager................................................................................Robert Beck Stage Manager.................................................................................Heather Costello Assistant Stage Managers..............................................David Cross, Vashti Gorake Master Electrician............................................................................Richard Sprecker Lead Lighting Designer........................................................................Rachael Shair Lighting Designers.....................................................Brandon J. Clark, Erick Voecks Sound Designers........................................................Robert Beck, Jason Scheuffler Sound Operator.........................................................................................Kari Hayde Curtain.......................................................................................................Paco Vitug Technical Crew................................Emily Berger, Lacee Ebert, Claire Gardner-Dale, Chasmine Gerschefske, Mark Gieringer, Danielle Glynn, Sarah Herbert, Reggie Simmons, Gwen Tripp Conservatory Chamber Orchestra Personnel VIOLINS I Shan-Ken Chien, concert/master Yu-Fen Chen Trisha McGovern Christian Fatu Rachael Schlosberg VIOLINS II Heidi Downin* Cheng Hu* Sarah Holmes Jack Chen VIOLA Yu-Fang Chen* Youming Chen* l-Ting Huang Yuan-Yu Weng Shih-Hsun Pan Nicole Wang Alyssa Bell CELLO Alice Huang* Jeff Millen Nathan Hoffman Benjamin Duvall BASSE Barron Weir* Alexandra Vendetti FLUTE Hannah Porter OBOES Rena Vacha, Mary Stahlhuth CLARINET Erin Vander Wyst, Amanda Hudnall BASSOON Keel Williams HORN Steve Lewis, Sarah Tarrant TRUMPET Chris Larios, Sam Wells TROMBONE John Jenkins TUBA Matt Crossley PERCUSSION Ben Shellhaas Spencer Jones KEYBOARD Shao Zhang * — principal, co-principal Music Director and Conductor: Robert Olson Interim Conductor: Sam Seung-Ryul Yang Orchestra Manager/Librarian: Krista Jobson Assistant conductors: Marcio Landi, Steve Lewis, Shao Zhang CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC AND DANCE-DANCE DIVISION Dance Division Professors Mary Pat Henry, Associate Dean of Conservatory Faculty Affairs DeeAnna Hiett Sabrina Madison-Cannon Ronald Tice Paula Weber, Division Chair Rodni Williams Adjunct professors Billie Mahoney Ann Shaughnessy Lisa Vinzant

 

Bittersuite			Dark Elegies
Ne me quitte pas	Dont' leave me		Songs on the Death of Children
Lyrics by Jacques Brel			Lyrics by Friedrich Rückert
Ne me quitte pas Il faut oublier Tout peut s'oublier Qui s'enfuit déjà Oublier le temps Des malentendus Et le temps perdu A savoir comment Oublier ces heures Qui tuaient parfois A coups de pourquoi Le coeur du bonheur Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Moi je t'offrirai Des perles de pluie Venues de pays Oþ il ne pleut pas Je creuserai la terre Jusqu'après ma mort Pour couvrir ton corps D'or et de lumière Je ferai un domaine Oþ l'amour sera roi Oþ l'amour sera loi Oþ tu seras reine Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Je t'inventerai Des mots insensés Que tu comprendras Je te parlerai De ces amants-là Qui ont vu deux fois Leurs coeurs s'embraser Je te raconterai L'histoire de ce roi Mort de n'avoir pas Pu te rencontrer Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas On a vu souvent Rejaillir le feu De l'ancien volcan Qu'on croyait trop vieux Il est para Des terres brulées Donnant plus de blé Qu'un meilleur avril Et quand vient le soir Pour qu'un ciel flamboie Le rouge et le noir Ne s'épousent-ils pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Je ne vais plus pleurer Je ne vais plus parler Je me cacherai là A te regarder Danser et sourire Et à t'écouter Chanter et puis rire Laisse-moi devenir L'ombre de ton ombre L'ombre de ta main L'ombre de ton chien Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas Ne me quitte pas	Dont' leave me You have to forget Everything can be forgotten That is flying away already Forget the time The misunderstandings And the time that was lost Trying to understand how These hours can be forgotten Those that are killing sometimes With whys that hurt like punches The heart of happiness Don't leave me Don't leave me Don't leave me Don't leave me I will offer you Pearls made of rain Coming from countries Where it never rains I will work the earth Until I die To cover your body With gold and light I will create a kingdom for you Where love will be the king Where love will be the law Where you will be the queen Don't leave me Don't leave me Don't leave me Don't leave me I will invent for you Meaningless words That you will understand I will speak to you Of these lovers That we've seen twice Their hearts embracing each other I will tell you The story of this king Who died of not being able To get to know you Don't leave me Don't leave me Don't leave me Don't leave me We have often seen Fire flowing again From an ancient vulcano That we considered to be too old It seems like Burned earth Produces more wheat Than a warm month of april And when the night comes And the sky is on fire The black and the red Won't go together Don't leave me Don't leave me Don't leave me Don't leave me Don't leave me I won't cry anymore I won't speak anymore I will hide right there To see you Dancing ad smiling And to listen to you Sing and then laugh Let me become The shadow of your shadow The shadow of you hand The shadow of your dog Don't leave me Don't leave me Don't leave me Don't leave me		Song #1 Now will the sun rise just as brightly As if no misfortune had happened in the night. The misfortune happened to me alone; The sun shines for everyone. You must not hoard the night within, It must be absorbed into the eternal light. a little lamp in my shelter has gone out; Hail to the joyful light of the world! Song #2 Now I can see why, in so many looks, You flashed such dark flames at me, O eyes! As if in one look you would completely Focus together all of your strength. But I was not aware, because mists swam around me, Woven by deceitful Fate, That the beam was already homeward bound To the place where all beams are born. You wanted, with your light, to say to me: We would like to stay near you. But Fate has forbidden us. Look at us, for soon we shall be far away! What, in these days, are only eyes to you Will be, in future nights, only stars. Song #3 When your Mummy Comes through the door As I turn my head To look towards her, At first my sight Falls not upon her face, But upon the place, Nearer the threshold Where your dear little Face would be, When bright with happiness You would come in with her, as usual, my little daughter. When your Mummy Comes through the door With the glow of a candle, It seems to me as if, As always, you came in with her, Scurrying around behind her, As ever, into the room. O you, little bit of your father, Ah, too quickly Extinguished light of happiness! Song #4 often think: they have just gone out! Soon they will be coming home again! It's a lovely day! O don't be afraid! They are just taking a long walk. Indeed, they have just gone out, And now they will be coming home. Oh don't be afraid, it's a lovely day! They have just taken a walk to those high places! They have just gone out before us, And will not want to come home again! We will meet them at those high places In the sun! It's a lovely day in those high places! I often think they have only gone out! Soon they will get back home! The day is fine! Oh do not be afraid! They are just going out for a long walk. Yes indeed, they have only gone out And now they will be reaching home! Oh do not be afraid. The day is fine! They are only taking a walk to those heights!

 

 

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