March 11, 2003
Contact: Susan Gwynne
(805) 893-2098
e-mail: gwynne-s@sa.ucsb.edu
Internationally acclaimed Nederlands Dans Theater II makes its Santa Barbara debut at the Lobero Theatre
Summary Facts:
- Nederlands Dans Theater II
- The state of the art in contemporary dance
- Led by revered artistic director Jirí Kylián
- A much-anticipated Santa Barbara debut
- Dancing to music by Mozart, Haydn and Stravinsky
- Monday & Tuesday, April 14 & 15 / 8 pm
- Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St, Santa Barbara
- General: $35, UCSB students: $25 (limited availability)
- Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535 or the Lobero Ticket Office at 963-0761
Nederlands Dans Theater II, noted for its youthful vigor, breath-taking athleticism and brilliant technique, will make its Santa Barbara debut on Monday and Tuesday, April 14 and 15 at 8 pm in the Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St., Santa Barbara. The fourteen dancers of NDT II set the standard among their peers for innovation and excellence. Performing to music by Mozart, Haydn and Stravinsky, the company will dance works by NDT’s revered artistic advisor Jirí Kylián, and other leading European dancemakers—demonstrating once again how “ballistic modern dance doesn’t come better than this” (Sunday Independent). The Scotsman writes, “For technical prowess, musical sensitivity and interpretive skills, the ‘junior’ wing of Nederlands Dans Theater has...been one of the dance world’s most consistently thrilling sights.”
Nederlands Dans Theater is unique in the dance world for being three companies in one: NDT I is the main company; NDT II is its ensemble of young dancer, most of whom go on to dance with NDT I; and NDT III is a small group of dancers 40 years-old and older. The dancers of NDT II, all in their late teens or early 20s, are recruited from around the world. Working with young choreographers and confronting different styles and techniques allow these young dancers the opportunity to react to contemporary developments in music and art.
NDT II’s Santa Barbara program includes Dream Play by Johan Inger, who in June will be appointed the artistic director of Sweden’s Cullberg Ballet. Dream Play is danced to Igor Stravinsky’s “L’adoration de la terre” from Le Sacre du Printemps, and manages a charming balance of drama with flashes of humor. De Telegraaf asserts, “The excellent young dancers of NDT II show every inch of their talent in Johan Inger’s work.” The program’s second work will be Sechs Tänze by Jirí Kylián, danced to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Sechs Deutsche Tänze, KV 571. Choreographer Kylián claims about this work, “Although the entertaining quality of Mozart’s Sechs Tänze enjoys great general popularity, it shouldn’t only be regarded as a burlesque. Its humor ought to serve as a vehicle to point towards our relative values.” The final work of the program is Simple Things by Hans van Manen, resident choreographer of Nederlands Dans Theater. Simple Things is danced to Guy Klusevsek and Alan Bern’s accordion duet “Scarlatti Fever,” Joseph Haydn’s Piano Trio No. 28 in E-major, Hoboken 15, Allegretto, and Peteris Vasks’ Weiße Landschaft for piano. Haagsche Courant praised Simple Things, insisting, “A tender, dramatic and exuberant relationship arises casually with continually changing partners. The manner in which these encounters are worked out, the passionate attraction, the cautious exploration, merging and eventual separation is beautiful.”
Since first working with Nederlands Dans Theater in 1974 as a guest choreographer, Jirí Kylián has created over 50 ballets for the company. Artistic Director of NDT from 1978 to 1999, Kylián has become one of the major forces of world dance, having received one of the Netherlands’ highest honors, becoming Officier in de Orde van Oranje Nassau. He has also been awarded an honorary doctorate from the Juilliard School and the Laurence Olivier Award in the category “Outstanding Achievement in Dance.” The San Francisco Chronicle claims, “Kylián makes the unusual seem natural, creating bold new steps that carry primal echoes of folk dance even as they depend on the most rigorous classical syntax. Kylián has few peers—Maurice Bejart comes to mind, and so does this country’s Paul Taylor—in creating a radically new language that somehow seems familiar or at least intriguing even on first viewing. On a basic, gut level, we see ourselves in Kylián’s dances.”
Nederlands Dans Theater II is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by the Santa Barbara Independent and K-LITE 101.7 FM. Tickets are $35 for the general public and $25, but in limited availability, for UCSB students.
For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.
Editor: For photos, please call
Susan Gwynne at (805) 893-2098.