Tag Archives: Arkansas Festival Ballet

A Grand Finale for ACANSA Arts Festival

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Tacansahe inaugural ACANSA Arts Festival concludes today with dance and song at Wildwood Park, in addition to a repeat performance downtown of Phillip Huber and his marionettes.

A POINT OF CHORUS
12:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Wildwood Park for the Arts
$20 to $50

Acansa BalletBallet Arkansas and Arkansas Festival Ballet perform at the Lucy Cabe Theatre during a festival picnic on the ground of Wildwood Park, with a musical performance by Finger Food between the ballet performances

12:00       Doors Open – Box Lunch available
2:00        Ballet Arkansas Performs
3:00        Finger Food Performs
4:00        Festival Ballet Performs
5:00        VIP champagne reception and festival overview

The mission of Ballet Arkansas is to provide Arkansas and the region with the highest quality dance performance and education.  Each season, Ballet Arkansas offers a choreographic competition, a regional touring production, educational programming, an annual production of The Nutcracker, and a mixed repertory concert that features world premieres of newly commissioned choreography Arkansas

Finger Food is American Fingerstyle guitar at its best featuring three of Arkansas’ finest guitarists. Danny Dozier from Batesville and Steve Davison and Micky Rigby from Little Rock. Their performances are an eclectic mix from Chet Atkins to Merle Travis to Leo Kotke to gut bucket blues and original compositions. They perform in the round playing solo, duets and trio work that features the many voices of the guitar and showcases the many styles that make the guitar the worlds most popular instrument

Festival Ballet is a repertory dance company dedicated to classical ballet training and performance. Their seasonal programming includes enchanting storybook ballets and mixed-bill productions with new choreography and excerpts from ballet classics.  They will perform a short Neo Classical ballet based on the writings of an 18th century Suffolk poet.

 

Acansa PuppetSUSPENDED ANIMATION
3:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Scottish Rite Masonic Temple
$10 to $20

In a cabaret presentation distinctly adult in its sophistication and artistry, internationally acclaimed marionette artist Phillip Huber is in full view of the audience as he controls incredibly compelling characters through a series of variety vignettes revealing humor, pathos, drama and grace.

Phillip Huber is most widely known for his work in the 3-time Academy Award nominated film “Being John Malkovich” and his work in the Disney film “Oz the Great and Powerful,” starring James Franco, Michelle Williams and Mila Kunis. Shimmering with nuance, sophistication and imagination, you won’t want to miss this opportunity to experience a world of sophisticated puppetry designed for entertaining discerning tastes.

Art comes to life at Arkansas Arts Center tonight

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Rembrandt van Rijn Portrait of the Artist, ca. 1665 Oil on canvas Kenwood House, English Heritage, Iveagh Bequest (88028836) Photo courtesy American Federation of Arts

Rembrandt van Rijn
Portrait of the Artist, ca. 1665
Oil on canvas
Kenwood House, English Heritage, Iveagh Bequest (88028836)
Photo courtesy American Federation of Arts

In conjunction with Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London the Arkansas Arts Center and Arkansas Festival Ballet are presenting “Stepping off the Canvas: A History of Dance from Rembrandt to Turner.”

Dancers from Arkansas Festival Ballet will bring the masterpieces to life in a way which shows the evolution of both dance and visual art through the past centuries.

The program begins at 7pm with a complimentary wine reception at 6pm.

Tickets are $25 for non-members and $20 for Arkansas Arts Center members. Ballet ticketholders will receive a complimentary visit to the exhibition at a later date.

Now through September 8, 2013, the Arkansas Arts Center is hosting the exhibition: Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London. From one of the greatest country houses in England, a treasure trove of Old Master paintings is in Little Rock. This summer, the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock is one of only four institutions in North America hosting this special exhibition.

The Arkansas Arts Center is an art museum with a children’s theatre and a studio school. Opened in 1963, its mission is to ensure that learning, inspiration and creative expression in the arts flourish throughout Arkansas, for people of all ages and backgrounds. The AAC realizes this mission by developing, preserving and exhibiting its outstanding permanent collection, offering a rich variety of art from other collections and presenting programs for the education and cultural benefit of the public. Dr. Todd Herman is the Executive Director.

Arkansas Festival Ballet, Rebecca M. Stalcup, Artistic Director, is a repertory dance company dedicated to classical ballet training and performance. The company was founded in 2000. Arkansas Festival Ballet’s seasonal programming includes enchanting storybook ballets and mixed-bill productions featuring fresh, new choreography by local and guest artists, along with excerpts from beloved ballet classics.

 

Arkansas Festival Ballet’s ALADDIN

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Arkansas Festival Ballet presents a full-length story ballet Aladdin this weekend.  Performances began last night and continue today at 2pm and 7:30pm as well as Sunday at 2pm.  This will conclude the twelfth season for Arkansas Festival Ballet.

The production boasts a relatively new score by Carl Davis.  It was commissioned in 2000 for the Scottish Ballet.  Among the nearly 100 dancers are four lead dancers: Allison Stearns and Meredith Short, and Calvin Chester and Nathan Young.

The performances will be at the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre in MacArthur Park.

Art and Dance HAM It Up at 2nd Friday Art Night

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Dance and Art intersect at Historic Arkansas Museum during the monthly 2nd Friday Art Night. 

At Historic Arkansas Museum, there will be a reception for Tesseract Dancing: Brett Anderson and Emily Galusha, a new exhibit opening in the Trinity Gallery for Arkansas Artists. Outside the north entrance, at 6 pm, the pARTy for Peg sculpture will be lit; and a blacksmith will demonstrate his trade in the new Shop on the Log House grounds. Throughout the evening, in various locations, Arkansas Festival Ballet will preview upcoming performances.

Started in 2005, this downtown art gallery walk in the River Market District vicinity showcases a variety of museums and galleries.  In addition to viewing art, there are refreshments and usually live music at the various stops along the way.  There is also a free art shuttle to take visitors from location to location. The event runs from 5pm to 8pm.

Among the various participating sites are Arkansas Studies Institute, Christ Episcopal Church, Hearne Fine Art, Mediums Art Lounge, Copper Grill, Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro, Lulav and Third Street merchants of the River Market District.