Peter Martin Wege Theatre

By Matthew Makowski

Grand Valley State University Opera Theatre, Early Music Ensemble and Department of Visual and Media Arts will join forces with the Grand Rapids Ballet School Junior Company to reinvigorate baroque music for modern audiences during “Masquerade: A Baroque Extravaganza.”

Performances will take placeFriday and Saturday, Nov. 9 and 10 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. at the Grand Rapids Ballet’s Peter Martin Wege Theatre, 341 Ellsworth Ave SW, Grand Rapids. Tickets are available through the Grand Rapids Ballet’s box office at (616) 454-4771, extension 10.

Dale Schriemer, GVSU Opera Theatre artistic director and professor of voice, said his goal with these performances is to reintroduce music from 1690-1750 in a visually stunning way.

“We are taking the music of the baroque era with singers, instrumentalists and dancers, and layering 3D projection design over those performances,” said Schriemer. “The end result is reminiscent of the Disney film ‘Fantasia.’”

More than 20 students from the Visual and Media Arts Department will create the projection designs for the performance that will accompany the music of composers such as George Frideric Handel, Henry Purcell and Claudio Monteverdi.

“It has been so exciting for them to take their work from the computer to a stage and see how that becomes and immersive environment,” said Schriemer. “They, as well as the singers, are learning to make older music feel fresh and alive for the 21st century, and I’m excited about that.”

Gerald Arpino’s “Light Rain” will be one of three works presented Oct. 7-9 by the Grand Rapids Ballet as part of its MoveMedia; Made in America program. (Supplied photo)

Grand Rapids Ballet artistic director Patricia Barker, recently discussing the company’s season opening MoveMedia program of three 20th Century works created in America, was asked how one restages modern dance works which defy easy description – music has its scores, drama its screenplays; but dance?

“Tribal memory,” Barker answered, explaining that while notes, video and living memory exist, revisiting works such as Gerald Arpino’s “Light Rain” – one of three works on the “Made in America” program – begins with previous presentations of the work but is always influenced by the unique strengths and personalities of the company and its dancers.

If the brief interaction with the works offered in the ballet’s free to the public Inside Look live rehearsal and discussion Sept. 28, the unique personalities of the dancers as well as the unique visions of the three choreographers will be on full display Oct. 7-9 at Peter Martin Wege Theatre.

Grand Rapids Ballet artistic director Patricia Barker discussed MoveMedia; Made in America program at a free to the public Inside Look live rehearsal and discussion Sept. 28. (Supplied photo)

“MoveMedia: Made In America” features work ranging from classical to neo-classical and contemporary, and will include George Balanchine’s 1935 “Serenade” (the first work by the famed Russian emigre after moving to America) as well as Arpino’s “Light Rain” from 1981, and Paul Taylor’s “Company B,” a truly Americana homage from 1991.

With a deeper appreciation of what some call “contemporary” modern dance, “Light Rain” is the work I am most anticipating experiencing.

Created to showcase the new young dancers of the Joffrey Ballet on its Silver Anniversary, Arpino described his work as “my gift to these talented youngsters … I am inspired by their modes and rituals, their passions.” The work features a contemporary original score by Douglas Adamz and Russ Gauthier.

And it will, undoubtedly feature the unique personalities of the Grand Rapids Ballet’s “tribe”.

What’s Next:

The Grand Rapids Ballet, as part of ArtPrize 8 and through Oct. 9, is hosting a UICA-commissioned “in-process” mural by Louise “Ouizi” Chen and photography by Grand Rapids Ballet dancer Isaac Aoki; it will also present its Michigan Dance Festival on Oct. 15 and the ballet’s Junior Company presents “Peter Pan” Oct. 21-23.

For more on the Grand Rapids Ballet’s season, visit