DANCE

Like many companies around the world, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Ballets Russes this season with 1909-2009: The Great Collaborators of the Ballets Russes, special performances on October 15, 16, and 17, 2009 at 7:30 PM at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Zilkha Hall in Houston, Texas.

With these performances, Dominic Walsh will also be celebrating another milestone—creating his adaptation of The Firebird with Marie-Agnès Gillot, Etóile of the Paris Opera Ballet.

The Firebird, The Afternoon of a Faun and The Dying Swan along with a revival of his breathtaking Le Spectre de la Rose. Like the original ballets, Walsh’s interpretations will deliver something undiscovered onto the stage that will awaken sensations, ideas, and passion for the arts.

The highlight of this celebratory program will no doubt be Walsh’s tour de force adaptation of The Firebird that will be created on Paris Opera Ballet Etóile Marie-Agnès Gillot and DWDT Company Member Domenico Luciano. (Etóile is the internationally acclaimed title given to only the most outstanding ballet dancers, translated as “Star” in French.)

The Ballet Russes premiered Michel Fokine’s elaborately staged The Firebird in 1910 to a score by Igor Stravinsky. “I have always had a particular interest in this ballet since it was the first request from Diaghilev for the Ballet Russes and brought Stravinsky from Russia to Europe and then North America where he began his prolific and profound career. His score has always fascinated me as an intricate, strange and theatrical composition,” states Walsh. But rather than a lavish production with extravagant sets and costumes, Walsh will take a more psychological approach to The Firebird.

A native of Naples, Italy, Luciano says, “Marie-Agnès has always been one of my favorite dancers because of her strong, powerful temperament on stage. But with her tall stature, she knows precisely how to interpret vulnerability into her roles. After getting to know her and then reconnecting with her in Houston when she performed at Dance Salad Festival, it was amazing to discover that an accomplished artist at that level is still interested in learning about different aspects and expressions of the art form. This motivates me to do the same.”

“With this approach, there will be a profound exchange between Marie-Agnès and me both artistically and emotionally. She is such an intense person and artist and I can not wait to see what all will come out of this experience,” says Luciano. Walsh and Luciano are in Paris now rehearsing with Gillot at the Paris Opera Ballet studios. Then Gillot will travel to Houston in October for the performances. Dominic Walsh Dance Theater’s October program will also include the premiere of Walsh’s adaptation of The Afternoon of a Faun, the first piece of choreography by the great dancer Vaslav Nijinsky that the Ballet Russes premiered in 1912, and The Dying Swan.

Inspired by swans that she had seen in public parks and a poem by Alfred Tennyson, Anna Pavlova worked with choreographer Michel Fokine to create the famous solo. According to tradition, the swan in Pavlova's dance is badly injured and dying. Walsh will take this idea and transport it to a present day scenario of a woman left alone at a formal event with her cocktail and cigarette. He will take an experimental “Dance Theater” approach to this reworking that will be a great vehicle for one of the company’s dancers. In addition, the October program will also include a reprise of Walsh’s stunning interpretation of Michel Fokine’s Le Spectre de la Rose with dramatic set and costumes by visual artist Katy Heinlein.

“I feel that the synergy of Marie-Agnès, Domenico and Frederique de Montblanc, our scenic and costume designer, will take me into a brave and innovative direction. With such complete and able artists to support the ideas of movement and theater, this is definitely a defining moment in my career,” says Walsh. The setting will simply be a couple at their kitchen table, and the ballet will follow them as they relive their story as well as the experiences and obstacles they presently face with each other and themselves.

Pictured:  Domenico Luciano and Marie-Agnès Gillot in Walsh’s “The Firebird” photo by Jean-Daniel Lorieux.