Jump to content

Ballets with a Twist: Difference between revisions

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m Language clarification
Line 18: Line 18:
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Klaus began working with composer Stephen Gaboury, presenting dances set to original music in New York City, around the United States, and in Europe. Premieres during this period included Klaus’s ballroom dance suite for eight women, ''Return to Normalcy''; the quintet ''Silver Thaw;'' and ''The Johnny Show'', a blend of honky-tonk, circus, and comic revue.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Klaus began working with composer Stephen Gaboury, presenting dances set to original music in New York City, around the United States, and in Europe. Premieres during this period included Klaus’s ballroom dance suite for eight women, ''Return to Normalcy''; the quintet ''Silver Thaw;'' and ''The Johnny Show'', a blend of honky-tonk, circus, and comic revue.


In 1996, Klaus formed Ballets with a Twist and began working with costume designer Catherine Zehr. In its inaugural year, the company appeared at [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts]]' Clark Studio Theater, the Church of the Holy Trinity, and other venues.<ref>Anderson, Jack. [http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/20/arts/in-performance-dance-014575.html "Eye-Catching Imagery And Surreal Stage Pictures Ballets With a Twist Church of the Holy Trinity"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. March 20, 1996. Web. June 13, 2013.</ref> Premieres included ''Seven-Minute Musical'', in which an aging beauty reports from the frontlines of memory, and a short musical film, ''Temple of Swing'', in which a glamorous “she” and her charismatic mentor meet in a world of fast cars, packed night clubs, and mysterious fortune tellers.
In 1996, Klaus formed Ballets with a Twist and began working with costume designer Catherine Zehr. In its inaugural year, the company appeared at [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts]]' Clark Studio Theater, the Church of the Holy Trinity, and other venues.<ref>Anderson, Jack. [http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/20/arts/in-performance-dance-014575.html "Eye-Catching Imagery And Surreal Stage Pictures Ballets With a Twist Church of the Holy Trinity"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. March 20, 1996. Web. June 13, 2013.</ref> Premieres included ''Seven-Minute Musical'', in which an aging beauty reports from the frontlines of memory, and a short musical film, ''Temple of Swing'', in which a glamorous “she” and her mentor meet in a world of fast cars, packed night clubs, and fortune tellers.


From 1996 to 2008, the company appeared at a variety of venues and events throughout New York City, including the Kumble Center for the Performing Arts, the Taste of Dance Festival, To the Pointe programs, and First Look at the Schermerhorn Performance Space in Brooklyn. Since 2002, the company has performed annually during the [[Tribeca Film Festival]], premiering a new dancing cocktail each year.<ref>Stahl, Jennifer. [http://www.pointemagazine.com/blogs/ballets-twist/cocktail-hour-gets-choreographed "Cocktail Hour Gets Choreographed"]. ''[[Pointe (magazine)|Pointe]]''. April 27, 2012. Web. June 14, 2013</ref>
From 1996 to 2008, the company appeared at a variety of venues and events throughout New York City, including the Kumble Center for the Performing Arts, the Taste of Dance Festival, To the Pointe programs, and First Look at the Schermerhorn Performance Space in Brooklyn. Since 2002, the company has performed annually during the [[Tribeca Film Festival]], premiering a new dancing cocktail each year.<ref>Stahl, Jennifer. [http://www.pointemagazine.com/blogs/ballets-twist/cocktail-hour-gets-choreographed "Cocktail Hour Gets Choreographed"]. ''[[Pointe (magazine)|Pointe]]''. April 27, 2012. Web. June 14, 2013</ref>

Revision as of 20:08, 6 September 2014

Ballets with a Twist
General information
NameBallets with a Twist
Year founded1996
FoundersMarilyn Klaus, Stephen Gaboury
Founding artistic directorMarilyn Klaus
Principal venueNew York City United States
Websitewww.balletswithatwist.com
Artistic staff
Artistic DirectorMarilyn Klaus

Ballets with a Twist is a New York City-based company that performs the work of Artistic Director Marilyn Klaus throughout the United States. Klaus founded Ballets with a Twist in 1996, in association with Grammy-nominated composer Stephen Gaboury.[1][2] The company first performed its signature work, Cocktail Hour, an evening-length suite of vignettes celebrating iconic American social culture, in Manhattan in 2009.

History

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Klaus began working with composer Stephen Gaboury, presenting dances set to original music in New York City, around the United States, and in Europe. Premieres during this period included Klaus’s ballroom dance suite for eight women, Return to Normalcy; the quintet Silver Thaw; and The Johnny Show, a blend of honky-tonk, circus, and comic revue.

In 1996, Klaus formed Ballets with a Twist and began working with costume designer Catherine Zehr. In its inaugural year, the company appeared at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' Clark Studio Theater, the Church of the Holy Trinity, and other venues.[3] Premieres included Seven-Minute Musical, in which an aging beauty reports from the frontlines of memory, and a short musical film, Temple of Swing, in which a glamorous “she” and her mentor meet in a world of fast cars, packed night clubs, and fortune tellers.

From 1996 to 2008, the company appeared at a variety of venues and events throughout New York City, including the Kumble Center for the Performing Arts, the Taste of Dance Festival, To the Pointe programs, and First Look at the Schermerhorn Performance Space in Brooklyn. Since 2002, the company has performed annually during the Tribeca Film Festival, premiering a new dancing cocktail each year.[4]

Cocktail Hour, Klaus's signature evening-length collection of vaudeville-style vignettes, debuted at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center in November, 2009 with a total of nine cocktail-themed selections. In 2010, Ballets with a Twist presented the suite at Teatro en Piazza, an invitation-only theater in Los Angeles, California.[5] The next year, the company was invited to Lincoln Center for a sold-out performance of Cocktail Hour at the David Rubenstein Atrium, incorporating animated graphic background projections (now standard for the show) for the first time.

In 2012, XL Nightclub and Cabaret on 42nd Street presented two summer showings of Cocktail Hour in a unique floorshow format. XL hosted the company again in September for a performance featuring music icon Cyndi Lauper and benefiting Lauper's True Colors Fund.[6][7][8][9] The company joined Lauper again several months later at the Beacon Theatre, for an appearance during Home for the Holidays, Lauper's annual True Colors Fund benefit concert.

Also in 2012, Hamilton Stage, an arm of the Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) in Rahway, New Jersey, welcomed Ballets with a Twist as an artistic affiliate during the theater’s inaugural season.[10] During the company's residency, the UCPAC invited Klaus and her company to represent Hamilton Stage and the city before the New Jersey State Council on the Arts in celebration of the federal Our Town grant awarded to Rahway by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The company's 2013 fall season featured return engagements at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Hamilton Stage; debut performances at PlayhouseSquare's Ohio Theatre in Cleveland, Manhattan's Stage 48, and the Morris Museum's Bickford Theatre in Morristown, New Jersey; and appearances on Cleveland television stations WKYC and WEWS-TV.[11][12][13][14]

By 2014, the number of Cocktail Hour vignettes had increased to 19. The cocktail menu to date includes (in order of creation)

Dancers

Ballets with a Twist maintains a consistent roster of 12 to 14 dancers. In addition, young students from the Studio of Marilyn Klaus frequently join the professionals on stage. When on tour, the company often hosts workshop auditions for local children, some of whom have the opportunity to rehearse and perform with the ensemble.[11][12]

Collaborations

Artistic partnerships with professional and aspiring musicians are a regular feature of Ballets with a Twist's regional and national outreach efforts. The company's in-house band, the B-Twist Orchestra, first joined the dancers in performance during Cyndi Lauper's Home for the Holidays concert at the Beacon Theater in 2012. Subsequent productions of Cocktail Hour have included appearances by the Rahway High School Marching Band, East Cleveland's Mighty Shaw High School Marching Cardinal Band, Newark Symphony Hall's Special Ensemble, and professional solo artists throughout the country.[12]

Artistic Staff

References

  1. ^ Breslin, Tom. "Synths, stars, and true colors, continued: Cyndi Lauper and Vince Clarke discuss analog synths and fruitful mistakes, past and present. (Interview)", Keyboard Magazine, November 1, 2007
  2. ^ Jones, Kenneth. "Cast Albums for Avenue Q, Assassins, Boy From Oz, Wicked, Wonderful Town All Grammy Nommed", Playbill, December 7, 2004. Web. December 19, 2012
  3. ^ Anderson, Jack. "Eye-Catching Imagery And Surreal Stage Pictures Ballets With a Twist Church of the Holy Trinity". The New York Times. March 20, 1996. Web. June 13, 2013.
  4. ^ Stahl, Jennifer. "Cocktail Hour Gets Choreographed". Pointe. April 27, 2012. Web. June 14, 2013
  5. ^ Levine, Debra. "Ballets with a Twist Serves Drinks All Around". The Huffington Post. September 16, 2010. Web. June 14, 2013.
  6. ^ Woodard, Stephanie. "Not Your Mother's Ballet Company: Choreographer Marilyn Klaus at NYC's XL Nightclub". The Huffington Post. June 26, 2012. Web. June 15, 2013
  7. ^ Catton, Pia. "Clubs for Those Who Choose to Schmooze". The Wall Street Journal. June 10, 2012. Web. June 15, 2013.
  8. ^ Alvarez, JC. "XL's Cocktail Hour on Point." June 13, 2012. Web. June 16, 2013.
  9. ^ Associated Press. "Cyndi Lauper Joins Ballets With A Twist For Intimate 'True Colors' Performance In NYC". September 19, 2012. Web. June 14, 2013.
  10. ^ Suburban News. "Ballets with a Twist Coming to Rahway's Hamilton Stage". NJ.com. October 20, 2012. Web. June 15, 2013
  11. ^ a b "Local ballerinas perform at Lincoln Center". The Redding Pilot. October 18, 2013. Web. November 3, 2013
  12. ^ a b c Clawson, Kerry. "New York dance company promises to intoxicate with Cocktail Hour". Akron Beacon Journal. September 18, 2013. Web. November 3, 2013.
  13. ^ "Announcing the 2013-2014 Main Stage Season at the Morris Museum's Bickford Theatre". NewJerseyStage.com. July 26, 2013. Web. November 3, 2013
  14. ^ "Ballet in Cleveland: Ballets with a Twist 9/16", WKYC. September 16, 2014. Web. June 13, 2014
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ballets_with_a_Twist&oldid=624455220"