Newport Modern Ballet (NCB) (previously identified as Island Shifting Firm) has introduced particulars for Catch Fireplace!, the Firm’s new Frontier Collection manufacturing. The sequence runs Could 18-20, on the WaterFire Arts Middle in Windfall. 

Catch Fireplace! is curated by NCB Creative Director Danielle Genest and options two world premiere works. Working with fireplace as a central theme, this system consists of an all-new FIREBIRD choreographed and staged by Genest, and a brand new work entitled ASHES by visiting visitor choreographer Tristian Griffin.

“The firm is happy to return to Windfall and the WaterFire Arts Middle this spring with our inaugural Frontier Collection manufacturing, Catch Fireplace! True to its title, NCB’s Frontier Collection engages our artists to push previous acquainted boundaries and discover new views and approaches to dancemaking,” mentioned NCB Govt Director Peter Bramante.

Genest added, “My thought for Catch Fireplace! began with FIREBIRD, which can be a novel mix of classical and modern ballet. I wished to have a powerful piece of latest dance on this system to create stability and, as soon as once more, spotlight the broad spectrum of labor that Newport Modern Ballet does. Tristian Griffin instantly got here to thoughts. His choreography is stuffed with energy and originality, and I knew he would have a ravishing approach of connecting to the theme.”

The Firebird is among the world’s most well-known ballets and musical compositions, and a favourite ballet of Genest. Discovering inspiration from the beloved story, Genest got down to create a brand new interpretation of the traditional ballet set to Stravinsky’s fascinating rating. The unique rating was written in 1910, and was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev, founding father of Ballets Russes, for the Paris Opera Home and choreographed by Michel Fokine. The profitable premiere of the Firebird in 1910 was the beginning of an 18-year collaborative partnership between Stravinsky and Diaghilev, leading to different well-known ballets, together with Petrushka (1911), The Ceremony of Spring (1913) and Apollo (1928).

“This can be a ballet that I beloved performing and have all the time wished to choreograph,” Genest mentioned. “FIREBIRD explores themes of excellent, evil and magic on the intersection of the human and mythological worlds. I’m intrigued by the idea, impressed by the music and excited to convey this people story ahead in a contemporary, dynamic approach.”

Native artist/sculptor Shawndavid Berry is collaborating with Genest to supply scenic design and set items for FIREBIRD. Berry is a sculptor and painter working to precise motion and evoke emotion by means of his mediums. He describes his course of for creating set and scenic design parts for Genest’s FIREBIRD as “connecting matter from fluid, vapor to stable and metaphysical, hoping to supply a cohesive stability between dancers and surroundings.”

NCB Resident Costume Designer Eileen Stoops will design the costumes.

Choreographer Tristian Griffin is happy to work with NCB once more. “This can be my second work for the corporate. I’m wanting ahead to collaborating with the dancers in addition to pushing myself as a creator and choreographer.” Griffin goes on to describe his new dance, ASHES, as a piece concerning the flame that resides in each particular person. Composer Michael Wall and Costume Designer Naomi Tanioka contributed to the imaginative and prescient of Griffin’s new work.

“I’ve been considering how the lifetime of the flame represents the evolution of the soul because it progresses throughout our lifetime,” Griffin defined. “A life begins off with a spark, just like kindling a fireplace. And the final breath we draw is sort of a flame being blown out.”

A local of Kansas Metropolis, MO, Griffin danced with Garth Fagan Dance and the Lyric Opera of Kansas Metropolis. Over the previous yr, he taught full-time on the College of Kansas as a Visiting Professor of Observe. At present, Griffin is in his second yr as an Artist-in-Residence at Lawrence Arts Middle.