Toni Finable dances tint mystical title role in Igor Stravin
sky's "The Firebird." produced hv the Eugene Ballet. Riley
Grannan portrays the evil monster kastchei.
Fbehind
Elaborate costumes and a 25-foot ‘ex
ploding’ tree complement the Eugene Ballet
Company’s production of “The Firebird.”
Saturday and Sunday at the Hu It Center for the
Performing Arts.
The Igor Stravinsky classic follows the for
mat of Russian legends where the hero, naive
and pure-of-heart, is victorious over the clever,
cruel and powerful forces of evil.
Prince Ivan, a simple hunter, stumbles in
to the garden of a terrible monster, Kastchei.
and falls in love with the beautiful princess
Elena, who is being held captive. Ivan rescues
Elena through the supernatural powers
granted him by a magical bird of fire. This bird
is where the ballet gets its title, according to
Charmane Landing. EBC administrative
assistant.
Artistic Director Riley Grannan dances the
part of Kastchei. the evil character whose
monsters are released from the bowels of a tree
that ‘explodes’ after Ivan picks an apple to
please Elena.
"(The Firebird) is in the great Russian
tradition, where the prince is often caught in a
web of circumstance and needs supernatural
powers to help him out.” Grannan says.
“(Czars) often had ‘evil spirits’ doing what
they were told to do. and without them (the
Czars) were helpless ”
The ballet was first peformed ip Paris in
1910. seven years before the overthrow, of
Czarist Russia. It marked Stravinsky’s entry in
to the field of ballet music.
Toni Pimble, choreographer and. co
artistic director with her husband Grannan,
dances the allusive and mystical Firebird,
whose powers are strong enough.to overcome
the evil Kastchei. ” •• • •• • •.
Douglas Zalud-Mackie combines his
theater background with dance to play. Ivan.
Zalud-Mackie also painted- designs.- on the
monster’s costumes.. 1 , ; , .
The beautiful but entrapped Elena is'danc
ed by Catherine Guerin, a graduate. of. the
.University .dance department. Twenty other
dancers complete the cast: ... ' .
The-EBC first presented “The Firebird"- in •
Ballet to encore
Stravinsky classic
September 1982 during the opening of the
Hult Center. Following its premiere, much
critical praise was directed toward the ex
travagant sets, designed by Peter Dean Beck of
New York City. The costumes, part of which
include elaborately painted masks were also
highly praised. This weekend, the EBC will
use the 'tame set and costumes as were used for
the 1982 production.
Along with "The Firebird," two other
short pieces, "Irish Suite” and "Five
Humoresques,” will be presented.
“Irish Suite” is the premiere of a new
work by Dennis Spaight of the Keith Martin
Ballet Company in Portland. The music was
written by LeRoy Anderson.
“It’s a very lovely, folksy piece using pea
sant costumes,” Grannan says.
"Five Humoresques,” was written by Fin
nish composer Jean Sibelius, and
choreographed by Pimble.
.“(It captures) the spirit of life’s sorrows
and rays of sunlight," Grannan says. "It’s an
emotional ferris wheel that viewers can relate
to from their feelings on a day-to-day basis.
Five basic feelings come out of it and the
viewers are left to their own interpretations.”
The EBC has come a long way since its
founding in 1978 by Grannan and Pimble, and
this production highlights both the talents of
the dancers and the choreographic abilities of
the directors..
"It’s been an uphill battle, but we are
becoming more well known because folks can
expect quality,’;’ Grannan says, "Our strong
point is thai our company has a strong sense of
theater and of what they aite communicating. If
we’ve something to say ..then the audience will
be entertained and challenged to figure out
what that is." .. •• ■
Performances are at 8 p.m. on Saturday
and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are available ,•
at the EMU Main Desk, the Huh Center box of- •
fice and all Hult Center outlets. Tickets range
from $5.50 to $18.50 with student and senior
discounts available.
Story by Amy Moss
Continued front Puge IB
financially-unstable musical
world. Hal! says. he . give's
students this advice:.",study' as
much of your own persona)
discipline as you” can, ’ study
everything you can about- your •
instrument. y*ah,:study.V.°'
Studying has.no daubt helped
him. He’s got his Job to-fhow for
it. But Hall is also;a musician
saddened with the reality of
having little opportunity to.
share his skills: wjth -an'au
dience in Eugene. As the leader,
of the Eugene Jazz .Orchestra.,
Hall says , his groiip "stopped
playing biweekly, at; the Oregon
Electric Station because '.the
club could no longer afford to
pay for the . big band?s;
performances.
“It’s very disheartening for
players like. myself who’ve
spent years studying, and who
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• Meanwhile.. Mall says .he and .
others in the orchestraare hop
ing to dd gu'est:artist-ty0e° con
certs at the Lone-Star on Sunday ■-.
afternoons' in the future. •• . ... .
He also forms .quartets on'oc
• casion for weekend gigs at’ Jo
Federgo’S and the .Oregon Elec-'
trie Station. "• \ •
/'I've been-given the' oppor
lunity.to learn so'much about-'
.myself through my musical;ipx- •
pefiences,” he says! ''I've fallen'
down, but I've managed to pick
myself up by the bootstraps.
Learning about yourself. That’s
what it’s all about " —i —
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