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Category Archives: Dance
Music inspired by Shakespeare focus of program with youth divisions of ASO and Ballet Arkansas
The future of the arts is on display tonight in downtown Little Rock at the Albert Pike Memorial Temple at 7:30pm
The Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra and Ballet Arkansas Preparatory Program present their annual partnership and a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. The music comes from musical works adapted from Shakespeare’s plays.
The program includes music from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 2, Bernstein’s West Side Story and Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” ASYO is the premier ensemble of the Arkansas Symphony Youth Ensembles Program.
For the 3rd consecutive year, the dancers from Ballet Arkansas’ Preparatory Program under the direction of Kim Nygren Cox join the members of the Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra under the direction of Geoffrey Robson for a joint performance.
Don’t miss this delighful collaboration! $20 General Admission, $10 for Students
Dracula Unearthed at Wildwood Park
Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Wildwood Park for the Arts, Arkansas Festival Ballet and Praeclara collaborate to tell a new Dracula story in song, dance, and dramatic narrative! Dracula’s servants help him rise from the grave, expecting him to resume his evil works — but instead, he becomes entangled in the life of his daughter, Wilhelmina, who does not realize what her father is. But how long can the count deny his own nature? And what will happen when Wilhelmina comes to truly know her father … and realizes what she herself may be?
This show is appropriate for adults and teens. Its story is told through the interaction of choreography and dramatic masterworks by Bach, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Bartok, and more. Coffins, fog, and strobe lights will occasionally be used to set the mood on stage.
The Wildwood gates open at 6:30 p.m. for guests to enjoy a bit of life in the village of Bran before Dracula’s castle (thetheatre) opens for seating at 7:45. Enjoy the “Dead Ringers” handbell concert — take your picture with Dracula and his coffin — sample garlic-based hors d’oeuvres and bat-themed sweets!
Performances begin at 8pm. Tickets are available at the Wildwood website.
Creative Class of 2015: Stephanie Thibeault
Stephanie Thibeault is a dancer, teacher and choreographer. She is currently an Associate Professor of Dance at UALR, where she established the B.F.A. degree in Dance Performance.
Starting her career with Kinetics Dance Theatre and SURGE Dance Company of Baltimore, Thibeault worked as a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer in the Baltimore/Washington area before serving as a dance faculty member at several institutions, including University of Maryland, Dickinson College, and Wichita State University. Along the way, she has had the opportunity to perform with wonderful artists, including Mikhail Baryshnikov and Parsons Dance Company.
Having performed and presented work in New York City, Baltimore, Washington (DC), Lisbon (Portugal), and numerous other cities, large and small, Thibeault’s teaching and choreography have taken her around the globe, from the U.S. East Coast to Canada and Europe, and from the American Midwest to Hawaii and Taiwan. Stephanie Thibeault holds her M.F.A. in Dance from the University of Maryland.
Thibeault’s choreographic work has been recognized with awards, and she has been selected for guest artist residencies and commissions by various professional companies and universities. Having received an Individual Artist Fellowship for Choreography from the Arkansas Arts Council in 2010, she continues to experiment with different processes and forms as she creates new work. A commission from Ballet Arkansas in 2012 produced American Dream, which took Thibeault back to her classical ballet roots while moving her forward into expressive simplicity.
She is currently working on the 2015 Fall Dance Festival on the UALR campus in November, which coincides with the B.F.A. student’s Fall Dance Harvest dance concert.
Little Rock Look Back: Pre-Opening Dance at Robinson Auditorium
In October 1939, it looked as if Robinson Auditorium would never open. The construction had run out of money. But in an effort to generate a little revenue and give the public the chance to see the building, a few events were booked in the lower level.
At the time, the entrance to the lower level was off of Garland Street which ran to the north of the structure.
While Mayor J. V. Satterfield and other leaders were in Washington seeking additional funding, the Joseph Taylor Robinson Memorial Auditorium hosted its first event. On October 4, 1939, the convention hall on the lower level was the site of a preview dance. The pecan block flooring had been installed just the week before.
The first four people to enter the building as paying guests were Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Wilheim, Frances Frazier and Bill Christian. Reports estimated 3,200 people attended and danced to the music of Jan Garber and His Orchestra. By happenstance, Garber and his musicians had also played in Little Rock on January 26, 1937, the date of the election which approved the auditorium bonds. Since Little Rock then did not have a suitable space, that appearance had been on the stage of the high school auditorium.
The event was a success. But as the building had no heating or cooling mechanism at the time, there were limits as to how long even the lower level could be in use. After a few weeks, the PWA, which was still in charge of the construction site, halted all future bookings.
Creative Class of 2015: Michael Bearden
Dancer and visionary Michael Bearden is in his third season as Ballet Arkansas‘ Artistic Director. Prior to that he spent two years as Artistic Advisor to the company.
During his tenure at Ballet Arkansas Michael has brought works to the repertoire by choreographers such as Val Caniparoli, Gerald Arpino and George Balanchine. A native of Searcy, Arkansas, he received his training at the Academy of Ballet Arkansas and went on to have a fourteen year career with Ballet West, in Salt Lake City. As a Principal Dancer at Ballet West, Michael performed leading roles in ballets by some of the world’s greatest choreographers including Balanchine, Ashton, Tudor, Forsythe, Stevenson, Welch, Dove, Tetley, Tharp, Kylian and Christopher Bruce.
As a choreographer, Michael has created or staged his works for Ballet West, the University of Utah, Brigham Young University, the University of Cincinnati, Belhaven University and Texas Christian University. Michael is grateful for the continued opportunity to give back to the community by helping to guide Ballet Arkansas to new heights.
Under his leadership with the Ballet, the company has sponsored two Visions choreographic competitions, premiered several new works, and presented the first performance of George Balanchine’s Who Cares? in Arkansas. He has also been instrumental in the company’s plans to move into the Creative Corridor on Main Street.
Happy 50th Birthday to the National Endowment for the Arts & National Endowment for the Humanities
On September 29, 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed into law the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 at a White House Rose Garden ceremony, attended by scholars, artists, educators, political leaders, and other luminaries.
The law created the National Endowment for the Humanities as an independent federal agency, the first grand public investment in American culture. It identified the need for a national cultural agency that would preserve America’s rich history and cultural heritage, and encourage and support scholarship and innovation in history, archeology, philosophy, literature, and other humanities disciplines.
On this occasion, President Johnson said: “Art is a nation’s most precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal ourselves, and to others, the inner vision which guides us as a nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish.”
This new law was the fruit of two presidents, several senators and representatives, and four previous pieces of legislation. Separate bills had been introduced, in previous years, into the House by Representative Frank Thompson (D-NJ), and into the Senate by Senators Hubert Humphrey (D-MN) and Jacob Javits (R-NY). Senator Claiborne Pell (D-RI) had overseen hearings on some of this preliminary legislation, beginning in October 1963, before the death of President John F. Kennedy.
Over the years, the NEA and NEH have awarded millions of dollars to Little Rock based institutions, organizations and individuals through direct appropriations. They have also impacted Little Rock cultural life through funding of the Mid-America Arts Alliance, Arkansas Arts Council, Department of Arkansas Heritage, Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism, and U.S. Conference of Mayors among others. These groups have either re-granted the dollars to Little Rock entities or undertaken projects which have directly impacted and improved life in Little Rock.
Little Rock Culture Vulture 