Dancers don’t always have to be romantically invested in their partners to create a beautiful ballet pairing. But according to Anna Gerberich and Pete Leo Walker, principal dancers of the Charlotte Ballet and real-life power couple, it certainly doesn’t hurt.
At 8:15 p.m. tonight in the Amphitheater, the Charlotte Ballet will take the stage to pay homage to the iconic dance. With 10 separate pas de deux of all shapes and sizes, however, they are doing far more than just paying homage.
Tonight, the Charlotte Ballet and Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra are putting their thumbprint on two of the dance world’s most revered compositions.
Once upon a time, there was a woman who lived in a tree. She made her home high in the leafy canopy for two years, refusing to leave its branches out of fear that the tree would be cut down.
This has been the summer of Sasha.
Before Week Seven’s focus on “Diplomacy” comes to an end, Chautauqua Dance associate artistic director Mark Diamond will relate diplomacy to Chautauquans in a way no speaker would have attempted.
NCDT dancers will perform Diamond’s “The Decision Maker” to open their final show of the season, which begins at 8:15 p.m. Saturday in the Amphitheater. Dancers will be accompanied by the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, with guest conductor Grant Cooper.
Pete Walker (Romeo) and Anna Gerberich (Juliet), both of the North Carolina Dance Academy, discuss how dating in real life allows them to feel more comfortable in their roles opposite each other on stage. [CLICK “READ MORE” BELOW OR THE HEADLINE ABOVE TO WATCH THE VIDEO]
Just as Chautauqua has brought together different art forms this season for The Romeo & Juliet Project, one year ago, Chautauqua brought together North Carolina Dance Theatre dancers Anna Gerberich and Frederick (Pete) Leo Walker II.
Ballet is a decidedly aristocratic art form, born in the courts of Europe and still, even today, laced with proper positions and bows. Major European ballet groups in Paris, London and Moscow each have precise stylistic proportions and repertoires that are embedded in the history of the art form.
So it is fun to watch how American companies have taken a formal and often staid dance format and given it their own twist, which local audiences can see in an open air, festival-like setting such as Chautauqua’s Amphitheater. However, they thankfully have not often had to deal with cool temperatures such as those seen at the surprisingly terrific — given the circumstances — final performance of North Carolina Dance Theatre and Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, expertly conducted by Grant Cooper.
A sense of joie de vivre permeated the Amphitheater Tuesday night as the North Carolina Dance Theatre and Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, with guest conductor Grant Cooper, presented two very different perspectives on Paris — one from an American point of view, the other from a native son.
Mark Diamond’s An American in Paris concluded the evening in grand style, taking advantage of both George Gershwin’s innovative score and Gene Kelly’s cinematic interpretation of a vibrant Parisian life.
It was amazing that NCDT accomplished so much once more on a bare-bones budget. Without scenery or even background projections depicting the City of Light, Diamond succeeded in capturing the spirit of the piece, now so familiar and showing no signs of waning in popularity.
The Chautauquan Daily 