CLEVELAND, March 18, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Verb Ballets, Cleveland's National Repertory Dance Company, returns to The Cleveland Play House's FusionFest for a two night stand with an eclectic evening of works on Friday, April 25, 2008, and Saturday, April 26, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. The Board of Trustees, Artistic Director Hernando Cortez and Executive Director Dr. Margaret Carlson are pleased to announce one world premiere, the return of a modern dance classic, and the return of a poignant soul stirrer, for this run, the third time in as many years that Verb has been part of FusionFest. Dance Magazine, in 2004, named Verb one of "25 to Watch," and in February bestowed more kudos on the company by naming Verb one of 5 "Great Tiny Troupes" in America. Reserved seats are $20 and $25 and are available by calling 216.795.7000 or through www.clevelandplayhouse.com.
The repertory for these performances includes the following:
The Yellow River. World Premiere. Choreographed by Hernando Cortez. Cortez's newest ballet salutes Amer-Asian heritage. China's Yellow River has long been an inspiration for poets, musicians and other artists; a poem about leading troops across it during the Sino-Japanese War inspired the composer Xian Xinghai to write his "Yellow River Cantata" in 1939. Some 30 years later, Yin Chengzong adapted it as a piano concerto. Cortez creates The Yellow River after the original choreography by Chen Zemei, which has become a Chinese standard.
Appalachian Spring. (1944) Major Revival. Choreographed by modern dance master Martha Graham (1894-1991), Appalachian Spring will be performed for the first time by Verb since 2005. Graham regisseur Diane Gray restages the ballet. Set to an original composition by Aaron Copland, Appalachian Spring was first performed October 30, 1944, by the Martha Graham Dance Company at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. (After the success of Billy The Kid and Rodeo, Copland was asked by Graham to compose a ballet for her. Copland called the work simply Ballet for Martha, while Graham suggested the title, Appalachian Spring, from a phrase she had found in a poem by Cleveland native Hart Crane.)
The ballet is set in the Pennsylvanian hills early in the nineteenth century. The scenario is the marriage and survival of a young couple. As the first light of day rises over the Appalachian Mountains, a young bride-to-be and her groom appear, both joyful and apprehensive of their new life. An older neighbor is the voice of experience, while a revivalist and his followers remind the new householders of the strange and terrible aspects of human life. At the end, the couple resides quietly and reassured in their new house. (Copland's three major ballet scores often employ folk melodies, but the only one used in this composition is the Shaker hymn Simple Gifts, which serves as the basis of a series of variations near the end of the ballet.) The strikingly beautiful set is by award-winning Appalachian designer Suzy Campbell.
Although Graham and Copland originally did not expect it to become hugely popular, Appalachian Spring has become an American classic. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1945.
Verb's original creation of this work was made possible by The Cleveland Foundation.
Two Hours That Shook the World. (2002) Repertory Highlight. Choreographed by Hernando Cortez, this contemporary piece is a haunting reflection on 9/11. A jagged installation of light, shadows, and metal, by visual artist Edward Hillel, surrounds the dancers. Two Hours spotlights fleeing victims and stoic survivors in Hillel's sculptural landscape. The dance does not aim at simulation and identification, but at distance and reflection. (Created October, 2001, and funded by the Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit 19, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.)
States Executive Director Dr. Margaret Carlson, "Besides being a program filled with great repertory, there is an underlying theme to the evening that speaks to the greatness and capacity of the human spirit. More specifically, it is also a statement about the individuals who have made America what it is today. From the pioneers who paved the way through the uncharted lands, to our loss of life and innocence in the 9/11 tragedy, to the immigrants, (in this case the Chinese immigrants), who built our infrastructure with their bare hands and large hearts, we feel the strength and courage that has shaped our lives."
The company includes Danielle Brickman, Ashley Cohen, Erin Conway, Katie Gnagy, Sydney Ignacio, Catherine Meredith, Brian Murphy, Anna Roberts, and Robert Wesner. Lighting designer Trad A Burns once again joins Verb.
The Cleveland Play House is located at 8500 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio, 44106. Reserved seats are $20 and $25 and are available by calling 216.795.7000 or through www.clevelandplayhouse.com.
For the third consecutive year, The Cleveland Play House presents FusionFest, the only multidisciplinary performing arts festival at a regional theatre in the country, from April 23-May 11, 2008. The festival will offer a sampling of new and innovative works that have never before been seen in Cleveland, including performances by Judy Gold, Kim Wayans, former NFL star Bo Eason, and a historic collaboration with the Humana Festival of New American Plays.
"This year's FusionFest includes a glittery mix of local artistry and the most high profile national talents we've had yet," says Michael Bloom, FusionFest creator and Cleveland Play House Artistic Director. "We are also so thrilled to have Roe Green again as the Honorary Producer. There is no one in the community who has been as farsighted about new works as she has been."
Anchored by All Hail Hurricane Gordo, the collaboration between The Play House and Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, the lineup that Bloom and CPH Associate Artistic Director, Seth Gordon, have created for this year's FusionFest features several nationally-known talents. The hilarious Emmy Award-winner and author Judy Gold will perform her witty monologue 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother; Bo Eason, former NFL defensive safety for the Houston Oilers, will perform Runt of the Litter, his successful Off-Broadway solo show; and comedian, actor, writer and director Kim Wayans will perform her one-woman play A Handsome Woman Retreats.
Other events include CPH's first partnership with Cleveland Public Theatre for the production of In the Continuum; Akron's New World Performance Laboratory will perform an alternative Frankenstein (A De-Monstration); Cuyahoga Community College will present the Best of the Hip-Hop Choirs; arts educator and broadcaster Bill Rudman will hold court in Stages Restaurant for an evening of musical theatre; and along with Verb Ballets, works of Dobama Theatre, Cleveland School of the Arts, the Jewish Community Center, Karamu and many more will also be featured in FusionFest 2008.
Major sponsors of Verb Ballets include AHS Foundation; Akron Community Foundation; The Bascom Little Fund; Millie L. Carlson; Cuyahoga Arts and Culture; RSIS: a NASA Glenn Contractor; The Cleveland Foundation; The George Gund Foundation; Kulas Foundation; The Laub Foundation; Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation; The McGregor Foundation; John P. Murphy Foundation; The National Endowment for the Arts; The Ohio Arts Council; and Playhouse Square. Additional individual sponsors include Charles and Sandy Abookire, Chuck and Ann Ennis, and Norma and Jeffrey Glazer.
DANSKIN is the official 2007-2008 sponsor of Verb Ballets. Additional Verb sponsors include Baumgarten & Company, LLP; Cedar Hill Communications; Mann Jewelers; PrimeZone Media; Shima Limo; WCLV; and WCPN.
Verb Ballets is now in its sixth season under the leadership of Artistic Director Hernando Cortez, Executive Director Dr. Margaret Carlson, an energetic staff and its dedicated Board of Trustees, who have established Verb as Cleveland's premiere dance repertory company. Verb Ballets was named one of "25 to Watch in 2004" by Dance Magazine, the country's leading news magazine covering dance, and recently the magazine bestowed more kudos on the company by naming Verb one of 5 "Great Tiny Troupes" in America. Verb Ballets discovers, collects, interprets and stages choreography that matters to the region and to the world of dance. As a curator of expressive movement that is globally connected and nationally respected, Verb Ballets has a mandate to support and foster emerging talent, present excellence in contemporary choreographers and revive and honor modern dance classics.
Founded in 1915, The Cleveland Play House is America's first permanently established professional theatre company. Designed by Philip Johnson, The Cleveland Play House complex consists of three interconnected buildings totaling 300,000 square feet of space on a 12.5-acre campus. It is the largest regional theatre complex under one roof in the country. The mission of Cleveland Play House is to produce plays of the highest professional standards that inspire, stimulate, and entertain diverse audiences, and to conduct training and educational programs that enhance the quality of life for those CPH serves and help to insure the future of theatre.