4x4 The Ballet Project

White Bird Presents Landmark Evening 4x4 The Ballet Project on May 8 & 9 at the Schnitzer

Who: 4x4 the Ballet Project
Presented by: White Bird
When: Thursday, May 8 and Friday, May 9, 2008, 7:30 pm
Where: Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Sponsors: NW Jeep, Amtrak Coast Starlight, Oregonian A&E
Tickets: $20-$62 plus service fee. 20% discount for students/seniors.
503-790-2787 all Ticketmaster outlets including PCPA Box Office
Online at www.ticketmaster.com

White Bird is proud to conclude its tenth anniversary with a landmark program at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon—4x4  The Ballet Project, which will bring together the West Coast’s four major ballet companies all on the same stage: Eugene Ballet Company (Artistic Director Toni Pimble), Oregon Ballet Theatre (Artistic Director Christopher Stowell), Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet (Artistic Director Peter Boal) and San Francisco Ballet (Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson). Each company has become a vital incubator of contemporary ballet in the United States, and each company will perform a Portland premiere of an exciting contemporary work.

This is an unprecedented event for three reasons. First, the four companies have never appeared together on the same stage. Second, except for Portland-based Oregon Ballet Theatre (OBT), the three other companies have not appeared in Portland within recent memory. Third, since its founding in 1997, this the first time that White Bird is presenting Oregon Ballet Theatre, as well as the three other companies.                                   

The wide-ranging program for both nights is as follows. Eugene Ballet Company will perform Still Falls the Rain, choreographed by Artistic Director Toni Pimble, which premiered in 1997. This ballet in eight movements, set to a contemporary score by Patricia Van Ness, is Pimble’s moving, non-literal treatment of religious intolerance, as exemplified by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Martha Ullman West, in Dance Magazine, described the stirring work as “a powerful commentary on the horrors of fundamentalist religion;” she notes that “Pimble has for years been experimenting with mixtures of modern and classical technique and in this work the exploration of those seemingly antithetical combinations pays off: earthbound contractions, weighted movement, and balletic port de bras.”

Next on the program is Oregon Ballet Theatre’s premiere of Rush,  choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon (originally set on San Francisco Ballet in 2003) and partially commissioned by White Bird for the Ballet Project program. Following this premiere, OBT will perform Rush at The Kennedy Center’s Ballet Across America in mid-June and will then incorporate it into OBT’s own season next June 2009.  Christopher Wheeldon—arguably the most in-demand ballet choreographer working today—has created a work for three couples and a ten-member corps that features intricate footwork, sinuous arm movements, and inventive partnering. Set to a chamber score by Bohuslav Martinu, Rush evokes the invigorating freshness of early spring weather—“windswept” choreography that “splatters and explodes symmetry and order.” (Rita Felciano, DanceViewTimes)

Following OBT is San Francisco Ballet (SFB), performing Concerto Grosso, choreographed by Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson, which premiered in 2003 at the 70th Anniversary Gala of SFB. Called “ravishing” and “dazzling” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Concerto Grosso is set to “La Follia” by Geminiani after Corelli and is a brilliant work for five versatile male dancers, filled with athletic trios, solos and ensemble sections. The piece is scheduled to be performed by its original cast and was hailed by The Guardian (UK) for its “jagged, sinewy edges” and “brightly torqued choreography…a perfect transmitter for [the dancers’] energies.”

4x4 The Ballet Project will close with Pacific Northwest Ballet’s performance of a new work, Shindig, by company member Olivier Wevers that will premiere in Seattle on April 19, partially commissioned by White Bird. Wevers envisions Shindig as a whimsical voyage for 10 dancers, conjuring up various moods through music and dance. Using a broad range of classical composers such as Mozart, Schubert, and Stravinsky, Wevers intends through this exhilarating piece, “to manipulate familiar and comfortable expectations in order to create contrasts and surprise.”

THE FOUR BALLET COMPANIES
Founded in 1978 by Toni Pimble and Riley Grannan, Eugene Ballet Company (EBC) has grown from a community-based dance group to become one the West’s busiest and most versatile professional dance companies. Over the years, the EBC has become a 21-member fully professional ballet company that performs a wide range of classical and contemporary works by Ms. Pimble and other choreographers at the 2,500-seat Hult Center for the Performing Arts in Eugene and tours annually throughout the region and the U.S, as well as internationally in Canada, India, Taiwan, and other countries.  Born in England, Toni Pimble has choreographed over 40 original works for the company, many of which have involved collaborations with composers and various artists, such as author Ken Kesey and Thomas Lauderdale and Pink Martini.

Oregon Ballet Theatre (OBT) is rising quickly on the national scene.  Established in 1989, OBT’s celebrated company of dancers performs an annual five-program season at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts and also conducts both regional and national tours. In 2003, following a distinguished, 16-year career as a principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet, Christopher Stowell became Oregon Ballet Theatre’s second Artistic Director, succeeding James Canfield.  The son of Pacific Northwest Ballet Founding Artistic Directors Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, Mr. Stowell possesses an impressive ballet lineage.  His extensive training and experience, deep knowledge of the repertoire, and dedication to the discipline’s exacting classical and contemporary vocabulary are all reflected in his programming.  During his tenure, Mr. Stowell has added the work of Sir Frederick Ashton, Jerome Robbins, William Forsythe, Lar Lubovitch and Christopher Wheeldon to the OBT repertoire, and significantly expanded the company’s inventory of George Balanchine ballets.  He has also commissioned new works by renowned contemporary choreographers James Kudelka, Trey McIntyre, Yuri Possokhov, Julia Adam and Nicolo Fonte.  In addition, Mr. Stowell has created seven ballets on OBT’s dancers, including the company’s first full-length production of Swan Lake in 2006.

Born in England, Christopher Wheeldon (Rush choreographer) joined Royal Ballet in 1991, and in 1993 he was invited to become a member of New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet and was promoted to the rank of soloist in 1998. Mr. Wheeldon retired from dancing at the end of the Spring 2000 season to concentrate on his choreographic work and in 2001 was named Resident Choreographer for New York City Ballet. As a choreographer, Mr. Wheeldon has also created works for Boston Ballet, The Colorado Ballet, The Royal Ballet, among other companies. In November 2006, Wheeldon announced the formation of his own dance company, Morphoses.

Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB), one of the largest and most highly regarded ballet companies in the United States, was founded in 1972. In 2005, Peter Boal became Artistic Director, succeeding Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, Co-Artistic Directors since 1977. The Company of forty-six dancers presents more than 100 performances each year of full-length and mixed repertory ballets at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall and on tour. The Company has toured to Europe, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada and throughout the United States, with celebrated appearances at Jacob’s Pillow and in New York City and Washington, DC.  Peter Boal became Artistic Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet and Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet School in 2005, following a 22-year career as a dancer with New York City Ballet. In addition to working with George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins, Mr. Boal originated roles in over 30 new works. Born in Brussels, Belgium, Olivier Wevers was a principal dancer at Royal Winnipeg Ballet before joining Pacific Northwest Ballet in 1997. Since 1993, Mr. Wevers has choreographed works for numerous companies and schools in Canada, Japan and the United States. Shindig is Mr. Wevers’s first repertory work for Pacific Northwest Ballet.

San Francisco Ballet, the oldest professional ballet company in America, has emerged as a world-class arts organization since it was founded as the San Francisco Opera Ballet in 1933. Willam Christensen arrived in 1938, and choreographed the Company’s first full-length production, Coppélia, the following year. In 1940, he staged the first American full-length production of Swan Lake and in 1944, launched a national holiday tradition with the first complete version of The Nutcracker staged in the United States. Lew Christensen, America’s first premier danseur, joined his brother Willam as co-director in 1951, and took over the Company the following year. Helgi Tomasson’s arrival as artistic director in July 1985 marked the beginning of a new era for San Francisco Ballet. Like Lew Christensen, Mr. Tomasson was, for many years, a leading dancer for the most important ballet choreographer of the 20th century, George Balanchine.  Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, Mr. Tomasson began his professional career with The Joffrey Ballet and two years later joined The Harkness Ballet. In 1970, Mr. Tomasson joined New York City Ballet as a principal dancer and over the course of his career became one of the finest classical dancers of his era.  Since becoming Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet in 1985, Mr. Tomasson has choreographed over 40 ballets, including stunning full-length productions of Don Quixote, Giselle, Romeo & Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake.

White Bird’s 4x4 The Ballet Project is supported by special grants from the Oregon Cultural Trust, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and The Kinsman Foundation.

The Portland, Oregon premiere of Oregon Ballet Theatre’s Rush for 4x4 The Ballet Project was underwritten in part by White Bird. The world premiere of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Shindig was generously underwritten by James & Sherry Raisbeck, and the Portland, Oregon premiere at 4x4 The Ballet Project was underwritten in part by White Bird. The 2003 world premiere of San Francisco Ballet’s Concerto Grosso was underwritten in part by the Phyllis C. Wattis New Works Fund.