Cal Performances | Focus on Twyla Tharp

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Joffrey Ballet

Cal Performances' month-long tribute to Twyla Tharp, "one of the bona fide, boundary-stretching geniuses of modern dance" (The New York Times), begins with a visit from the beloved Joffrey Ballet. One of the first companies to commission ballets by modern dance and contemporary choreographers such as Alvin Ailey, Laura Dean, William Forsythe, Mark Morris, and Twyla Tharp, the Joffrey will perform (along with other works) Tharp's Deuce Coupe, a piece the company originally commissioned in 1973 and one of the first mainstream crossover ballets. A carefree classic about teenagers at play, the work is set to the music of the Beach Boys. "Dazzlingly hot-footed, slippery choreography," said the New York Times of the Joffrey's performance of Deuce Coupe at Lincoln Center in March 2007.

Program: Tharp/Deuce Coupe, set to music by the Beach Boys; Dean/"Sometimes It Snows in April" from Billboards, set to music by Prince; Joffrey/Pas des Déesses, set to a solo piano work by John Field, performed live by Paul Lewis

Program Notes
Program notes are available online. [PDF]

Video Clips
Several video clips are available exclusively on the Official Joffrey Ballet site

Television advertisement:
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Video Program Notes: Focus on Twyla Tharp
Henry Berg, former Joffrey Ballet member and one of the original dancers in Deuce Coup, talks about working with Tharp. (Length: 7:00).:

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Standard version

Podcast
Watch as several dancers from American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, and Miami City Ballet (as well as other companies) take behind the scenes pictures and post to this blog. http://thewinger.com/words/

Sightlines
Fri, Oct 5, 7-7:30 pm, Zellerbach Hall
Pre-performance talk to be announced. This Sightlines event is free to all event ticket holders.

Education/Community Events
Focus on Twyla Tharp, Fall 2007
In addition to the performances by the Joffrey Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre, a ballet by Twyla Tharp will be set on Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies students for the Berkeley Dance Project spring concert. Twyla Tharp is a phenomenon in American dance, merging jazz, ballet and modern dance with a penchant for popular culture and a post-modernism flair. Joffrey Ballet, Miami City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre will perform key works by Tharp this fall, accompanied by a multifaceted look at the choreographer's impact on American culture. Made possible in part by the Consortium for the Arts at UC Berkeley. (More information).
Film Event Flyer (PDF)
Amadeus Flyer (PDF)