If you are seeking to shake up your views of what a ballet company can do these days, then lucky for you, just a few steps away from the center of downtown the Grand Rapids Ballet (GRB) welcomes their third installment of the lively and energetic MOVEMEDIA.
This annual dance showcase features brand spanking new works of choreography from an international roster of artists who will be intersecting dance with stunning advances in visual elements of set construction, costuming and even the latest in technology and digital media to transform the experience in the never-a-bad-seat-in-the-house Peter Martin Wege Theatre.
"Ballet evokes a certain subconscious image in the brain. MOVEMEDIA is about challenging the old image of tutus, pointe shoes and boring pantomime," says GRB's Artistic Director Patricia Barker, "MOVEMEDIA provides a creative canvas for choreographers to explore their talents, their ideas."
Joining our local company will be Colombo-Belgian Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, GRB's 2014 artist-in-residence, who is one of five choreographers who were selected to be part of the MOVEMEDIA I program.
Lopez Ochoa has a world-class resume filled with a prestigious line of venues where she has mounted her productions, including the Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, Dutch National Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet Austin, and the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. She received the Olivier award for the production “A Streetcar Named Desire” created for the Scottish Ballet.
Joining Lopez Ochoa in this special production are Robyn Mineko Williams from Chicago, Pedro Lozano Gómez from Barcelona, Mario Radacovsky from the Eva Jaczova Dance Conservatory, and Japan's Yuka Oba.
MOVEMEDIA has become a true international example of the opportunities for those seeking a world-class dance experience without the dreaded cost of airfare to get to each destination.
As an added educational bonus, one half hour before each MOVEMEDIA I performance (7:00p.m. & 1:30p.m.) ticket holders are welcome to attend a free pre-show question and answer session with the GRB's Barker. (There is even a chance that at a few of these performances, Barker may be joined on stage with other choreographers from MOVEMEDIA.) This Q & A program will also be offered immediately at the end of each performance and will also be led by Barker.
In addition, MOVEMEDIA II will return to the stage April 25 - 27 and will feature different choreographers, except for our artist-in-residence who has a different piece in both programs.
Looking ahead: Parents with children looking for something to do over spring break may want to consider the Brian Vander Ark of The Verve Pipe's musical adaptation of the School Zone book "A Different Tune" - a ballet that seeks to illustrate to children that being different is just another way of being special. (April 8 - 10 http://www.grballet.com/spring-break/)
Admission: from $29.75
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