Dayton Ballet’s New Music for New Dance Comes To Victoria Theatre 3/24

Kettering Health Network and the Miriam Rosenthal Memorial Trust present Dayton Ballet's New Music for New Dance - the culmination of a year-long choreography and music competition on March 24-27, 2011 at the historic Victoria Theatre.

Selected through a national competition sponsored by The Miriam Rosenthal Memorial Trust Fund, three composition and three choreography finalists will present their collaborations accompanied by an exciting new twist - live music with the Dayton Ballet Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Dr. Tim Olt.

While New Music for New Dance was a national competition, three choreographer finalists (Daniel Karasik, Susanne Payne and Cydney Spohn) have southern Ohio connections. Two composer finalists (Jesse Ayers and Jeff Olmsted) have had music premiered in Ohio. Jeff Olmsted has also had a composition premiered by the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. The third composition finalist, James Barry, is from New York.

An overall winner of the choreographic competition will be announced, in a special ceremony immediately after the Saturday night, March 26 performances.

New Music for New Dance was the brain-child of Dayton Ballet Director Dermot Burke. "There is simply never enough music crafted specifically for the intricacies of dance - there is definitely a need for it," says Burke. "New Music for New Dance addresses that need as well as provides opportunities for composers and choreographers to expand repertoire and exposure. Because the Miriam Rosenthal Memorial Trust Fund chose to support this adventure, the project could have an exponential effect on the careers of the artists, on the Miami Valley community, and on the music and dance world."

Performances of Dayton Ballet's New Music for New Dance will play Thursday, March 24 at 8 p.m.; Friday, March 25 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 26 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, March 27 at 3 p.m.

Tickets are on sale now and start at $20! Call Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630 or (888) 228-3630 or visit online at www.ticketcenterstage.com. Ticket Center Stage hours are Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday Noon-4 p.m. and two hours prior to each performance.

More About New Music for New Dance

Finalists:

Composer Finalists: Jesse Ayers (OH), and James Barry (NY) and Jeff Olmsted (MA).
Choreographer Finalists: Daniel Karasik (PA), Susanne Payne (OH) and Cydney Spohn (OH).

Judges:

NEW MUSIC: Dayton Philharmonic Music Director, Neal Gittleman; Composer Dr. Steven Winteregg; and music producer William Sellers.
NEW DANCE: BalletMet Artistic Director, Gerard Charles; Ballet Austin Artistic Director, Stephen Mills; and, former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer, Kathleen Moore.

Project Timeline:
2010
Sept. 1 - Deadline for choreography submissions. All entries were made anonymous and submitted to the New Music judges.
Sept. 15 - Deadline for choreography submissions. All entries were made anonymous and submitted to New Dance judges.
October - New Music judges ranked top 5 compositions; New Dance judges ranked top 3 choreographers.
November 1- Winning choreographers received recordings of top 5 compositions and asked to chose preference.
November 16 - Via conference call, choreographers drew lots and chose a recording to use for the project. Winning composers were notified.
2011
Feb. 17 - Choreographers begin to arrive for two weeks of intense rehearsal with Dayton Ballet dancers, choose cast from pool of dancers, meet with Costume Designer, Lowell Mathwich.
March 1 - Choreographers begin to meet with Lighting Designer, Dan Feith.
March 21 (tentative) - rehearsals begin with live professional musicians.
March 24 - Opening Night.
March 26 - Overall winner announced at 8 PM performance.

Performances of Dayton Ballet's New Music for New Dance will play Thursday, March 24 at 8 p.m.; Friday, March 25 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 26 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, March 27 at 3 p.m.

Tickets are on sale now and start at $20! Call Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630 or (888) 228-3630 or visit online at www.ticketcenterstage.com. Ticket Center Stage hours are Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday Noon-4 p.m. and two hours prior to each performance.

 

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