Cal Performances | Focus on Twyla Tharp

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Miami City Ballet

Continuing Cal Performances' salute to the visionary genius of choreographer Twyla Tharp, the brilliant Miami City Ballet, under the direction of dance legend Edward Villella, performs two of Twyla Tharp's seminal works. Nine Sinatra Songs (1982) is a wildly popular Tharp classic, presenting its view of 1950s social dancing (complete with Oscar de la Renta's dresses and tuxedos) through the nostalgic and yet sharpened eyes of the 1980s. In the Upper Room, a one-act ballet filled with power, energy, and speed, was last seen at Cal Performances in 1994. Featuring a cast of 13 dancers, performing both en pointe and in sneakers, the piece is set to a fierce and driving score by Philip Glass.

Program: Tharp/Nine Sinatra Songs, set to music sung by Frank Sinatra; In the Upper Room, music by Philip Glass; Balanchine/Agon, music by Stravinsky

Program Notes
Program notes are available online. [PDF]

Video Clips
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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Press
Read Alastair Macauley's Oct 17th, 2007, rave New York Times review of Miami City Ballet, performing Balanchine's Agon
New York Times's Alastair Macauley says of Miami City Ballet "you could feel the whole breadths, depths and heights of stage space powerfully animated by the radiance of the dancing." Read the article in its entirety.
Please note that accessing this article might require free registration and is time sensitive.

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/

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).
Edward Villella and Robert Cole in Conversation
Fri, Oct 26, 6:00 pm
The Great Room, The Faculty Club
Free and open to the public
Cal Performances director, Robert Cole will interview Miami City Ballet artistic director, Edward Villella, as part of the 2007/08 Focus on Tharp. Presented in association with The Faculty Club and made possible in part by the Consortium for the Arts at UC Berkeley.
Film Event Flyer (PDF)