Billed as "Dance for $20.10," the program on August 3 at the Vail International Dance Festival offered a sampler of nights to come as well as a look back at the previous nights' performers—all for the cost of $20.10 for every reserved seat and $10 for lawn seating. Normal prices are $55 and $75 for reserved covered seats and $17 for open lawn seating. This is the third year for this popular program, and dance patrons loved it, enthusiastically clapping, cheering and standing with their ovations.
Traditional ballet opened the evening with the iconic Black Swan Pas de Deux from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake performed exquisitely by Carla Korbes and Karel Cruz of Pacific Northwest Ballet. The company's major performances were last Saturday and Sunday.
A completely different kind of performance followed with a whimsical dance expertly performed by Ashely Browne and Larry Keigwin with Roy Orbison singing "Blue Bayou" and Keigwin doing the choreography. They returned later with Orbison's "Crying."
Even more diverse than anything yet on this stage was an excerpt from The Cold Dagger by the much talked about BeijingDance/LDTX from China. This 10-minute piece was a frenetic dance inspired by a Chinese game of chess where life imitates the game. Dressed in black and white, the 13 dancers incorporate martial arts movements and innovative partnering in facing their fate to the dramatic score of Russian composer Henryk Gorecki. "There is sadness in the piece," said the company's Artistic Director Willy Yuen Tsao. "The dancers are helpless and trying to fight. They are heroic." BeijingDance/LDTX will present a world premiere tonight.
A beautiful interpretation of George Gershwin's "The Man I Love" by New York City Ballet's Tiler Peck and Robert Fairchild was full of emotion.
Natalia Hills and Gabriel Misse teased us with their tango expertise that they will present with a full company of dancers from Buenos Aires on Sunday in "Ballroom 2010: Tango."
The evening concluded with the exciting Red Angels, an intense, dramatic ballet by Pacific Northwest Ballet with four dancers in red leotards bathed in red light performing an athletic take on classical moves to contemporary sounds of an electric violin. It was a show-stopper.
The crowd got exactly what they wanted: an affordable evening of diverse dance on a delightful summer's night in the heart of the Rocky Mountains.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.vaildance.org or by calling 888-920-2787.
Comments
While "Red Angels" was originally choreographed for New York City Ballet, its performance at Vail was by Pacific Northwest Ballet.
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