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August 7, 2008

Fete de Danse turns 5

Dance concert celebrates fifth birthday

By ROBIN CAUDELL

OUSES POINT -- Norte Maar celebrates its fifth anniversary with a sizzling Fete de Danse extravaganza, "SUMMERDANCE:RP08," a celebration of art and performance co-presented by the Rouses Point Historical Society.

"It's very exciting for us," said Jason Andrew, director of Norte Maar for Collaborative Projects in the Arts. "It's the fifth anniversary of arts and performance in the Village of Rouses Point, which includes our Fete de Danse. It's been wonderful to look back and see how much we have accomplished."

COUNTRY, CITY

Norte Maar brought famous art and artists from around the world to the rural north for an exchange with homegrown local and regional talent.

"We have been very fortunate. It's very wonderful having the generous support of our friends and neighbors in the North Country and friends and neighbors in New York City and the world who are interested in supporting these projects."

This summer's party started last month with the exhibition openings of "Country Mouse/City Mouse" and "In the Tradition of Ballet Russe," and the site-specific dance performance "At the Pier," by Gleich Dances of London.

The festivities culminate with "SUMMERDANCE:RP08," featuring Gleich Dances (London, NYC), Verbal Graffiti, TAKE Dance Company, Short School of Irish Dance and special appearances by Andrew J. Nemr and CPD PLUS.

"We're in high gear rehearsing. Norte Maar has commissioned a new ballet, a very interesting project, The Pelican Revised.' Julia Gleich will be choreographing the ballet. It will be juxtaposed with Verbal Graffiti from Bushwick section of Brooklyn. He's a hip-hop artist coming with DJ Wave and a few of their collaborators. Julia will create the movement. David Powers, he's the rap artist providing the score for Julia."

CLEAR, DYNAMIC

"The Pelican Revised" pays homage to Robert Rauschenberg, who died in May.

"His first (choreographic) performance was in a roller rink in Washington, D.C. He had three dancers, two on roller skates and very interesting sets. The Pelican Revised' is in response to Rauschenberg's original. It's not our intent to re-create it. It's a performance piece that combines movement, sound and sets."

Verbal Graffiti is the sound component. Norte Maar artists and children ages 5 to 12 of the Champlain Learning Center in Rouses Point are creating the sets. Gleich is constructing the movement without ever hearing the sound. For her, it's a collage.

"So I have to come up with movement structures," she said. "In a way, it's like a mathematical theorem I'm going to examine. (If) a duet travels from downstage left to upstage right, I need them to be in contact with each other pretty much the whole time. This is a movement problem like a theorem, and I have to solve it."

The collage must have a clear and dynamic life that can live against any movement and share that space. It investigates the experimental realm of Rauschenberg and his peers, Merce Cunningham and John Cage.

"Who knows what the music will be? It's exciting," Gleich said. "I was a math major. I think more mathematically about these things. One section is a vector dance. I use the idea of a vector to pull you out of movement that is structured. I have 10 different movement ideas we have to develop for this collage. It's really kind of scary and wonderful. We haven't done anything like this here."

FAST, FURIOUS

She and Andrew will perform "Ghost (for Martin)," a duet in memory of Gleich's brother, who was killed in an avalanche.

"It's about love lost," she said.

For the program's classical section, Gleich reconceived the third act of "Sleeping Beauty." She was inspired by the wooden ballerinas, some elaborately detailed, that have multiplied on village lawns since the first Fete de Danse, appearing each summer as the next performance approaches.

"It's almost like a competition is going on," Gleich said. "I'm looking at them and thought I should do something that uses those."

She seized upon the Royal Ballet's fast and furious "Sleeping Beauty," combined with a fairy solo, pas de trois, pas de quarte and, for a brief moment, pas de cinq.

"It's a funny evolution of these little bits from Sleeping Beauty.' It's a mini Sleeping Beauty' suite that will complement the more contemporary material."

Fete de Dance includes performances by the Short School of Irish Dancing, under the artistic direction of Bernadette and Marie Short, and TAKE Dance Company.

"Takehiro Ueyama is the gentleman that runs TAKE," Andrew said. "He's a former Paul Taylor dancer. He's bringing up six dancers for a piece called "Orange."

There will be a special appearance by Andrew J. Nemr and CPD PLUS, an innovative New York City tap-dancing group.

"This is their third year," Andrew said. "We're very excited they're here. The entire program runs two hours with two breaks. It's a little long, but if you're able to bring together this quality of exciting groups, you don't have to go to anything else the rest of the year.

"Afterward, we've invited the public to a big party. Verbal Graffiti will be rapping and spinning."

E-mail Robin Caudell at:

rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

If you go
WHAT: Fete de Danse 2008, a summer dance concert sponsored by Norte Maar and the Rouses Point Historical Society. Program features Gleich Dances, Verbal Graffiti, TAKE Dance Company, Short School of Irish Dancing, and a special appearance by Andrew J. Nemr and CPD PLUS.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 14.
WHERE: The Rouses Point Civic Center, Lake Street, Rouses Point.
ADMISSION: Advanced tickets through Aug. 14 are $12. All tickets day of event and at the door are $20. Free to children age 10 and under.
PHONE: 297-3035.
RELATED EXHIBITIONS:
WHERE & WHEN: Norte Maar, 20 Pratt St., Rouses Point. Through Aug. 16. Free.
Country Mouse/City Mouse: A group exhibition pairing artists from the North County and New York City: Ali Della Bitta (sculpture), Hermine Ford (painting), Drew Goerlitz (sculpture), Andrew Hurst (collage), Kimberly Mazur (ceramic), Pat Passlof (painting), Mary Lou Reid (ceramic), Robert Segall (ceramic), Daniel Wierner (sculpture) and others.
In the Tradition of the Ballet Russe: An exhibition of photographs and memorabilia celebrating collaboration in dance and the visual arts featuring the centennial of Diaghilev's company and the later dance company incarnations.
PHONE: 314-1516.
WEB SITES: www.nortemaar.org.

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