Wednesday, October 10, 2001
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Wednesday, October 10, 2001 |
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Joffrey Ballet sends dancers to Georgia to instruct and perform
By MICHAEL
BOYLAN
The Joffrey Ballet School is in New York City on Avenue of the Americas, a little over a mile from the former World Trade Center towers. The Joffrey Ensemble Dancers, the official company of the school, which had a four-city tour of Georgia planned for this month, was in class at the time of the attacks. "Several of us knew people who were killed and injured, said artistic director Elie Lazar. "We decided that the best way to honor them and to support President Bush and the country would be to pick up and carry on." One of the stops of the group's tour is a weekend in Fayetteville hosted by the Georgia Youth Ballet. The Joffrey Ensemble will conduct a public performance as well as master and pas de deux classes. The performance will take place at Our Lady of Mercy High School in Fayetteville Saturday, Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. The repertoire is varied in style from the passion of the new flamenco music in Lazar's ballet, "Surrender 2 Love," to Mozart's elegant Symphony Number 33 for the contemporary ballet "Layers," to the beautiful and classical "Tete-a-Tete" with music by Andres Messenger. These ballets will be accompanied by two show-stopper pas de deux from the ballets "Le Corsaire" and "Flames of Paris." The classes will be conducted for the junior and senior company members of the Georgia Youth Ballet. Lazar began his relationship with the company in 1998 when, at the request of Magdalena Maury, the artistic director for the Georgia Youth Ballet, he was commissioned to choreograph a ballet. The result was "Suite Fragments" and it was performed by the Georgia Youth Ballet in 1999. Lazar has taught two summer workshops at The Studio in Fayetteville since then, most recently in June. The local dancers will get instruction from world class dancers. The ensemble is comprised of 12 handpicked international artists from Russia, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, China, Japan, Korea and the United States. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. For information phone the Georgia Youth Ballet at 770-716-9858. |
