WINTER BRAVO! 2017
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
ANTHONY ROSARIO IS ALADDIN
PRESENTS
PHOTO BY STEPHANIE URSO
A GRAMMY
PREVIEW
Hosted by Bob Santelli
Join former Grammy Museum Director
Bob Santelli as he takes a backstage
look at the Grammys, the most
watched music television program in
the world. Learn everything you need
to know just in time for the airing of
the 59th Grammy Awards on February
12 on CBS.
THURSDAY, JAN. 26
7:30-9:00 p.m.
BALLET FANTASTIQUE CELEBRATES A PAIR OF PREMIERES
Ringing in the new year, Ballet Fantastique (BFan) launches
two exciting premieres, with stagings of Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon and Aladdin.
EW recently caught up with the company’s mother-daughter
artistic team, Donna Marisa Bontrager and Hannah Bontrager, to
learn about their collective vision for bringing these beloved tales
to life.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a classic piece of martial arts
fiction (known as Wuxia), runs March 3-5 at the Hult Center.
“True to BFan form, we’re drawing on diverse movement
inspiration and source material in creating our new choreography,”
says BFan artistic director and chorographer-producer Donna
Marisa Bontrager. “We’re immersing the company in martial arts
and classical Asian dance material to start the embodied experience
of moving in a new way.”
The Oregon Mozart Players will collaborate, and the
performance features notable double bass player DaXun Zhang.
“In Crouching Tiger, we’re pushing the envelope and creating
a world with our space in the intimate Soreng Theater,” says BFan
executive director and choreographer-producer Hannah Bontrager.
“One of the surprises in this production is the logistical challenge
of accommodating 25 musicians, including a harp.”
The creative team says the costumes, sets and props for the
extraordinary Crouching Tiger universe inspire their creativity.
“Our design team is being stretched in new ways — including
extensive historical sword, martial arts and fashion research — for
The LaSells Stewart Center,
C&E Auditorium
this project,” Donna Bontrager explains. “As a designer, I am
especially in love with the fabric mix and bold color palette I’m
using for Crouching Tiger. We’re playing with a lot of juxtaposition
— lines, colors, textures — and it’s so much fun.”
And May 12-14, the company premieres Aladdin, set in the
disco era of the 1970s. The new work features the Satin Love
Orchestra playing music by Queen.
“Aladdin is a ragamuffin champion for social unrest,
indomitably optimistic in the midst of rigid socio-political
dictates,” Hannah Bontrager says. “Jasmine is a girl tired of being
confined, resolutely defiant. She’ll make her own choices and craft
her own destiny. An act of stupidity, or bravery, meets with a trick
of fate and everything changes.”
Aladdin is a well-known story, thanks to the 1992 Disney
animated film, but its source is much older and culturally rooted,
Donna Bontrager says.
“Yes, it’s the ancient tale of Aladdin, beloved from the Islamic
Golden Age to the golden age of Disney,” she explains. “But —
here’s the BFan twist — this is also the story of the U.S. in the
1970s. It’s the story of social unrest, protest and campaigns for
social justice for women and minorities, and underdog activism,
bravery and the luck represented by a draft card.”
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon premieres March 3-5; Aladdin
premieres May 12-14. Both shows are at the Hult Center. Tickets
available at balletfantastique.org. — Rachael Carnes
875 SW 26th St, Corvallis
Free & open to the public.
For more information: 541-737-4582
OREGON BACH FESTIVAL COMES HOME TO UO’S NEW BERWICK HALL
If you’ve sidled by the University of Oregon campus just west
of the Pioneer Cemetery recently, you’ve undoubtedly seen a huge
construction project underway. The building, Berwick Hall, will
serve as new digs for the Oregon Bach Festival (OBF), and the
stalwart group’s leaders couldn’t be more pleased.
“OBF began in 1970 as a conducting workshop sponsored by
the UO School of Music,” says OBF’s director of artistic
administration Michael Anderson. “It was founded by UO
Professor of Choral Studies Dr. Royce Saltzman and renowned
German conductor Helmuth Rilling.”
In the early years, Anderson explains, the office was in the
School of Music and was known as the University of Oregon
Summer Festival of Music.
“The festival gradually expanded, and in 1979 it was re-named
Oregon Bach Festival,” Anderson says. “In 1982 the large scale
performances were moved over to the new Hult Center for the
Performing Arts. In the early ’90s, the offices were moved over to
Agate Hall and later to an office building in the Riverfront
Research Park.
Berwick Hall represents a coming home of sorts in its location
adjacent to the School of Music.
“This location will enable us to better manage concerts and
educational activities at the School of Music while we continue
our presence at the Hult Center,” Anderson says.
The new space will offer artists and audiences a superb state-
of-the-art rehearsal and performance room.
“OBF artists and Berwick Academy members will enjoy a
beautiful new rehearsal room with wonderful acoustics,” Anderson
says. “This room will also serve as an excellent venue for small
performances for audiences up to 100 to 150 people. Berwick Hall
will also house the OBF administrative offices, offering much
better proximity of artists, community and staff.”
OBF expects the building to be fully operational in the fall of
2017.
“We plan to fine-tune the acoustics during the 2017 festival, as
well as use the hall for rehearsals during the summer,” Anderson
says. — Rachael Carnes
eugeneweekly.com • January 19, 2017
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