Hartt Dances to Present PETRUSHKA, 11/22-24

The Hartt School presents Hartt Dances, featuring Petrushka, a collaboration of the Dance Division and Hartt Orchestra, Friday, November 22, and Saturday, November 23, at 7:30 PM; and Sunday, November 24, at 2:00 PM, in Lincoln Theater. Hartt's fall mainstage dance concert highlights Stephen Pier's contemporary restaging of Petrushka, features the Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049, with choreography by Doris Humphrey; José Limón's Symphony for Strings, to the music of William Schuman; and a new creation by Katie Stevinson-Nollet, set to the work of Stephen Montague. A full orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Edward Cumming, accompanies the entire concert. Admission is $20, with discounts for seniors, students, and groups of 10 or more. Please call the University of Hartford Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587 or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt for tickets and information.

When Sergei Diaghilev commissioned three ballets from the young Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, his action revolutionized both music and dance. First came The Firebird (1910), then Petrushka (1911), and finally The Rite of Spring (1913), all performed in Paris by Diaghilev's company the Ballets Russes. A soloist from Hartt danced the female sacrifice as part of the Hartford Symphony's presentation of The Rite of Spring in early 2013, and now the Dance Division tackles Petrushka.

The Hartt School's ambitious and exhilarating production of Petrushka re-envisions the iconic Ballets Russes work by Igor Stravinsky and Alexandre Benois by remaining true to the spirit of collaboration between multiple art forms, a guiding vision of both the Diaghilev company and The Hartt School. Premiering in Paris in 1911, the ballet tells the story of the hapless puppet, Petrushka, and his struggle to claim his own humanity. Created on Vaslav Nijinsky as the vulnerable subject of the manipulative Charlatan's abuse, the title role and the ballet became strongly identified with the world famous dancer, his tortured relationship with the impresario Serge Diaghilev, and his subsequent descent into madness.

In the process of re-imagining the piece for contemporary audiences, Stephen Pier, the choreographer and director of The Hartt School Dance Division, has found a number of parallels to the original context. "Most important is the struggle to live and love fully, a universal theme which
applies across all situations and eras. And then there is the need to retell the sad story of the powerful abusing the weak, a very disturbing and obvious similarity with the world's current events. The original Fokine choreography for the soloists has been exquisitely reconstructed by Hilda Morales, who worked with Fokine's nephew in an earlier American Ballet Theater production. Stephen Pier has choreographed the crowd scenes, "keeping the spirit of the original carnival ambience of reveling masses, but using a more contemporary American vocabulary rather than a Russian folk dance idiom." The scenographer and visual artist Power Bothe has created a simple, pared down, and stunningly effective stage design. Edward Cumming has carefully preparEd Hartt's fine musicians and conducts the Hartt Orchestra. Pier noted, "It should all come together in a very contemporary version of Fokine's ballet masterpiece." The program also includes a world premiere by contemporary choreographer Katie Stevinson-Nollet to music of Stephen Montague, and Doris Humphrey's Brandenburg Concerto # 4, staged by Nina Watt. Edward Cumming is the Primrose Fuller Associate Professor of Orchestral Studies at The Hartt School and former musical director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (2002 -2011). Before coming to Hartford, he was resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and has been guest conductor with orchestras throughout Europe, Asia and South America. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and Yale University, and holds an honorary doctorate from Trinity College.

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