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| ARKA BALLET: SUMMER PROGRAM AT THE KAY THEATER |
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 27, 2002 Contact: Tania Chichmanian (301) 587-6225 or tjc@arkaballet.org Washington, DC - ARKA Ballet will bring its mix of classical and contemporary ballet to area theater-goers when it performs at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center's Kay Theater on Saturday, June 22 at 8 p.m. The program will highlight an original one-act ballet, Bach's Passion, and gems of the classical repertoire. The evening features the world premiere of ARKA Ballet Artistic Director Roudolf Kharatian's Bach's Passion, set to excerpts of the great composer's works. Musical selections include excerpts from the Magnificat, the Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C major, the Fugue from the Fantasia Fugue in C minor, the Brandenburg Concertos and the Violin Concerto in E major. As he delved further and further into Bach's music and life, Kharatian was struck by something the genius once said. In appraising his life, Bach is said to have once remarked simply, "I worked hard." In fact, it's likely that no composer worked harder. The volume of his music is staggering. He wrote music in every known form except the opera. It would take a present-day copyist, writing out all the parts as Bach did, seventy years to complete the task. Bach didn't invent new forms or create a new style or idiom. But to the old forms and styles and idioms he brought an emotional expressiveness and nobility of thinking, a majesty of concept, a spaciousness of design which were unique. For Kharatian the choreographer, the music's immense value lies in the science of its architecture, the audacity of its harmonic language, the richness of its inspiration and its great spirituality. Says Kharatian, "the body of work Bach created is timeless and universal. My ballet doesn't depict Bach's life or offer new insights into his character," he continues. "By adding another dimension to the audience's sensory experience, I want to express through movement that which is otherwise difficult to express. By setting a ballet to the music of Bach, and melding choreography, music, and lighting design, the work serves as an exploration of the great master's "passion". Bach is present in every dancer's movement and in the energy flowing out of each dancer. Every dancer is a part of Bach's great creation." Also on the program are two other works by Kharatian, St. Gregory's Prayer and Vartanank, both commissioned. for the 1700th Anniversary Celebration of Christianity in Armenia and premiered in New York City last spring. Plans to present the works in the Washington area were cancelled following September 11. Both ballets depict key moments in Armenia's history as the first Christian nation. Armenia adopted Christianity as the state religion in 301 A.D. The millennial nation lies at the crossroads of civilization and, over the centuries, has overcome many challenges and threats to its faith, culture and very existence. Despite invasions, conquest and subjugation to foreign domination - the most destructive of which came when Armenia was part of the Ottoman empire and some 1.5 million Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman Turks in the 20th century's first genocide - the Armenian nation lives on. Kharatian himself is of Armenian heritage and feels he has a responsibility to use his chosen field to educate the world about an ancient nation that has given much to the world. Currently on the faculty of the Washington School of Ballet, he trained as a dancer in Leningrad under the legendary ballet teacher Pushkin (where Baryshnikov was his classmate). During his career as principal dancer in Armenia and with Stars of the Bolshoi, he traveled to all corners of the world and worked with some of the greats of Russian ballet. Kharatian also somehow managed to find time to do choreography and direct his own ground-breaking company of 22 dancers, the Chamber Ballet of Armenia. Since coming to the United States in 1991 at the invitation of the Kirov Academy where he taught for three years, he has focused his energies on teaching, choreography and painting. Well-known throughout the ballet world as a master teacher who actually produces top-notch professional ballet dancers - including international gold medal winners -- Kharatian is a prolific choreographer and artist. Continuing its tradition of featuring classical works on each program, ARKA Ballet will perform two jewels of the ballet repertoire, Le Spectre de la Rose and La Vivandiere. Le Spectre de la Rose is a ballet in one act choreographed by Mikhail Fokine to music by Carl Maria von Weber. It was first performed by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1911 with Tamara Karsavina and Vaslav Nijinsky. The ballet was inspired by a poem by Theophile Gautier, who also provided the inspiration for another timeless classic Giselle. Spectre is a dance poem, a duet created for two great artists. It tells of a young girl who returns from her first ball holding a rose. She sinks into a chair and, in her reverie, the spirit of the rose she holds comes to her. In her dream, they dance, and as she sinks back into the chair, the spirit soars away through the window. The girl awakens and, seeing the rose, recalls her dream. La Vivandiere Pas de Six, also know as Markitanka or The Canteen Keeper, was choreographed by Arthur Saint-Leon to music by Pugni. The dance was preserved through dance notations devised by Saint-Leon. Choreographed in 1848, this buoyant dance represents dancing of the French School. Saint-Leon, who held posts as principal ballet master at the Paris Opera and the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, among others, is best known for his full length ballet Coppelia For this program, ARKA Ballet dancers include company regulars Helen Marie Bunch, Lauren Cox, Jeanette Marie Hanley, Sarkis Kaltakchian, Hagop Kharatian, Sona Kharatian, Jeremy Ownby and Edgar Vardanian. Also appearing will be Molly Carroll, Kara Cooper, Fidel Garcia, Alisa Matthews, Charles Pregger and Maret Weinberger. Reserved seating tickets are $30 for adults and $24 for seniors and students and can be purchased at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center box office or by calling 301-405-ARTS.. The Clarice Smith Center is on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park campus. For more information, call (301) 587-6225, or e-mail: info@arkaballet.org. ARKA Ballet is a non-profit, 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. (For more information or to arrange an interview with Roudolf Kharatian, Artistic Director of ARKA Ballet, please call 301/587-6225 or e-mail taniac@erols.com.) |