FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Harriet and Charles Luckman
Fine Arts Complex
Contact: Diane Turner
Phone: (323) 343-6616
Fax: (323) 343-6423
Date: March 10, 1997
LES GRANDS BALLETS CANADIENS APPEARS AT LUCKMAN THEATRE ONE NIGHT ONLY, APRIL 12
Luckman Theatre is the Only California Venue on Les Grands Ballets Canadiens' 1997 Tour
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, hailed as "venturesome and creative" and "the most exciting classical troupe working in Canada today," appears at Cal State L.A.'s Luckman Theatre on Saturday, April 12 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 and $25 for general admission and $12 for seniors over 65 and students. For tickets call TicketMaster at (213) 365-3500 or (714) 740-7878, or the Luckman box office at (323) 343-6600.
Luckman Theatre is the only California venue on Les Grands Ballets Canadiens' 1997 tour.
Admired world-wide for a style that combines the purest classicism with the quirky virtuosity of contemporary movement, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens has a repertoire that reflects some of the most distinctive work by today's finest choreographers. The Luckman program includes Duende, Don Quixote(pas de deux), Étude and Désir.
James Kudelka's Désir uses passages from Prokofiev's Cinderella and his opera War and Peace for six waltzes, performed by seven couples who celebrate passion and pleasure in the light of the moon. "...it is... Désir, a bold meditation on how both emotions and bodies can take flight, that is the real heart-stopper," says The New York Times.
Marius Petipa's Grand Pas de deux from Don Quixote was one of 50 ballets created for the Imperial Theatres in St. Petersburg and Moscow near the turn of the century. Canadian critics have recently acclaimed that Les Grand Ballets Canadiens' rendition was impressively performed and, according to The Vancouver Sun, "was danced with great lightness and precision."
Duende can literally mean elf, fairy or radiating enchantment and great charm. Inspired by the music of Claude Debussy, Choreographer Nacho Duato sees Duende almost as a sculpture: a body, a movement that embraces the melody. Montreal's Gazette writes, "Duato's genius brings to life the shimmering nature under the caresses of the morning light and answers Debussy's harmony to perfection," and "The company is flawless in interpretation, musicality and technique in this piece."
Édouard Lock's Étude uses "a palette of movements so rich that it fairly makes the head spin...Lock has composed (as always) a work that takes your breath away, a veritable feast of gesture," writes Le Devoir.
"Under the inspired direction of Lawrence Rhodes..., Les Grands Ballets Canadiens...is the most exciting classical troupe working in Canada today," says Toronto's The Globe and Mail.
Founded in 1958 by Ludmilla Chiriaeff, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens has earned a world-wide reputation as one of Montreal's foremost cultural institutions. In 1989, former Joffrey Ballet star Lawrence Rhodes became artistic director and continues to offer audiences masterpieces of contemporary ballet.
Luckman Theatre, part of The Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex, brings the performing arts, in their most creative forms, to Southern California. The Complex is located on the campus of Cal State L.A. at the junction of the I-710 (Long Beach) and I-10 (San Bernardino) freeways. For additional Luckman information call (323) 343-6610 or access the Luckman on the Internet through the Cal State L.A. home page at <www//calstatela.edu/>.