DANCE

From March 12 - March 22, 2009, Houston Ballet is pleased to introduce three important works into its repertoire on its program Masters of Movement.

The Leaves are Fading is a lyrical study in wistful dreaminess by famed English choreographer Antony Tudor.

William Forsythe's The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude is a demanding neoclassical showpiece set to the music of Franz Schubert.

Jiří Kylián's Soldiers' Mass is a poignant commentary on the destruction and devastation of war.

This year marks the 100-year anniversary of Antony Tudor's birth. Houston Ballet will be joining ballet companies across the United States to pay homage to Antony Tudor by giving the company premiere of The Leaves are Fading. The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and The Juilliard School are joining together to perform works by Tudor in his honor.

Anna Kisselgoff, a dance critic for The New York Times wrote about Antony Tudor's role in the world of dance, "Certainly, along with George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton, and Jerome Robbins, he (Tudor) belongs to a select club of giants in ballet choreography who have emerged in the last 50 years." (May 3, 1984).

With a cast of 15 dancers, Antony Tudor's abstract work The Leaves are Fading is set to a selection of Dvořák's music and presents a series of passionate pas de deux, beginning and ending with a single young woman drifting on stage and evokes the memories of young love. The work was choreographed on American Ballet Theatre and premiered on July 17, 1975.

British born Antony Tudor (1909-1987) was a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. He is best known for establishing the genre of psychological ballet. He was a master of understatement in his approach to choreography and storytelling, and feelings in his ballet are conveyed through subtle gestures, body language, and dramatic expression.

Tudor preferred depicting the emotional lives of ordinary people in his ballets, as opposed to courtly characters and fairy-tale creatures which set him apart from Ashton and Balanchine.

He also was the resident choreographer for two historic companies: Ballet Rambert in the U.K. and American Ballet Theatre in the U.S. Houston Ballet has two works by Antony Tudor in its repertory: Dark Elegies, which the company first performed in 1987, and Jardin aux Lilacs (Lilac Garden) which entered the repertory in 1988.

Another premiere on the program is William Forsythe's The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude. Originally created for the Frankfurt Ballet, it premiered on January 20, 1996 and is now in the repertories of companies across the world, including the Kirov Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre.

A rapid and dynamic 12-minute ballet, it is a series of solo variations, pas de deux, pas de trois and ensemble sections for five dancers, two men and three women.

"The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude was, in this view, the season's best ballet. It is a brilliant outburst of neo-classical style," wrote Anna Kisselgoff, dance critic for The New York Times. (December 27, 1998).

William Forsythe alludes to ballet's classical roots by setting the music to straight classical music, Franz Schubert's Allegro Vivace from his Symphony No. 9 in C Major, dressing the dancers in dish-like tutus, and deriving the choreography from classroom steps. One of Forsythe's more conventional ballets, the ballet is full of energy and vitality and tests the limits of the dancers.

William Forsythe was born in New York and danced briefly with The Joffrey Ballet before joining The Stuttgart Ballet in 1973, where he created his first works as a choreographer. He assumed the directorship of the Frankfurt Ballet in 1984 and led the company until 2004. Under his leadership, the Frankfurt Ballet was transformed from a capable regional troupe into one of Europe's foremost dance ensembles.

Mr. Forsythe's ballets have entered the repertoires of the world's leading companies, including the New York City Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet of London, the Netherlands Dance Theater, and the Royal Swedish Ballet. In March 2003, he received the prestigious Dance Magazine Award for his contribution to the field of dance. After the closure of the Frankfurt Ballet in 2004, Mr. Forsythe established a new, more independent ensemble, The Forsythe Company.

The company was founded with the support of the German states of Saxony and Hesse, the cities of Dresden and Frankfurt am Main, and private sponsors. Mr. Forsythe's most recent creations are developed and performed exclusively by the new company, which tours extensively across the world.

The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude is the second work by William Forsythe to enter Houston Ballet's repertory after his signature piece, In the middle, somewhat elevated, entered the company's repertory in 1999.

Jiří Kylián's requiem dance Soldiers' Mass, a Houston Ballet premiere, closes the mixed repertory program Masters of Movement with a moving tribute to the young soldiers of all wars who died.

Bohuslav Martinů composed his Soldiers' Mass in memory of a battalion of young Czech recruits who were killed the day after they arrived at the front during World War I. Premiered by the Netherlands Dance Theatre on June 13, 1980, Soldiers' Mass is an ensemble piece for twelve men dancing in unison in regimental patterns, with individuals occasionally breaking away in frenzied solos.

A powerful antiwar statement, Soldiers' Mass is also a stunning theater piece. At one point, the dancers suddenly stop, face the audience, and defiantly sing along with the offstage male chorus. Kylián himself designed the striking décor-khaki army fatigues and a purple backdrop slashed with scarlet-to suggest every soldier and all wars.

"The beauty of Mr. Kylián's achievement lies in his use of a faceless mass to define the individual," wrote Anna Kisselgoff, dance critic for The New York Times, "The effect is profound, stemming perfectly from Kylián's forte of choreography for groups as well as a mass. The uniforms are generalized. The men dance against a curved horizon line. There is no specific time or place. The images are not realistic. They are real." (July 19, 1981).

In an interview with Jennifer Dunning of The New York Times, Jiří Kylián said he attempted to recreate the music's emotions, and not specific images of suffering and death on the battlefield. "It could happen in any country, any war, any barrack," he said. "That idiotic device that is always at work. One is drafted. One fights for the fatherland. One's uniform is red. Over there the uniforms are blue. They are worn by bad people that one must kill." (July 10, 1981).

A native of Prague, Mr. Kylián began his training at the Prague Conservatory and London's Royal Ballet School. In 1968, he joined Stuttgart Ballet where he worked alongside the legendary English choreographer John Cranko.

Mr. Kylián choreographed his first ballet in 1970 for The Stuttgart Ballet. After being invited by Netherlands Dance Theater in 1973 to be a guest choreographer, Mr. Kylián joined the company and served as artistic director from 1978 to 1999.

During that time he created over sixty productions for the company, including such works as: Sinfonietta (1978) Forgotten Land (1981), Bella Figura (1995) and Last Touch (2003). Soldiers' Mass is the sixth work by Mr. Kylián to enter Houston Ballet's repertory after Petite Mort and Svadebka, which entered the repertory in 2007, Forgotten Land in 2005, Sinfonietta in 1995 and Symphony in D in 1983.

Pictured: The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, Dancer(s): Lauren Majewski. Photo by: Drew Donovan.