Less Sylphedes premieres at the 2005 Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
2005 Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
ODC / Lori Perkovich
(415) 699-2196
YBG Festival / David Perry & Associates, Inc.
(415) 693-0583
Less Sylphedes premieres at the 2005
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
August 26 through 28, co-commissioned/co-produced by
ODC Theater
and the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
26 July 2005 - San Francisco, CA: ODC Theater presents the world premiere of KUNST-STOFF's 2005 Home Season September 22 through October 2 featuring Less Sylphedes choreographed by Yannis Adoniou and "ETC" choreographed by Tomi Paasonen at ODC Theater. In addition, ODC Theater announces the premiere of Less Sylphedes at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, a co-commissioned/co-produced work by ODC Theater and the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival.
Mario Garcia Durham, former Executive Director of Yerba Buena Arts & Events commissioned Yannis Adoniou of KUNST-STOFF to choreograph a new version of Les Sylphides to be performed at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival before his appointment to the NEA as Director of Presenting and Multidisciplinary Programs. KUNST-STOFF's residencies at ODC Theater and countless other bay area performances have helped increase their visibility in the community. Their body of work along with Yannis' extensive background in ballet - the Hamburg Ballet, Alonzo King's LINES Ballet, amongst others made Yannis Adoniou the obvious choice to re-create this classic work.
"It's an honor for the Festival to co-commission this important work by Yannis Adoniou," said Linda Lucero, Artistic Director of the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival.
Mr. Adoniou has taken this non-narrative, romantic dance set in a moonlit park, and created a piece for the Festival. He has combined classical and contemporary style, together with natural and minimal lighting. This piece was originally commissioned to be performed on the grass or a low expansive stage in the Gardens. Technical demands and the threat of the permanent damage a low riding stage might cause led to changes around the time of Mr. Durham's departure. He asked Rob Bailis, Theater Director of ODC Theater to partner and include this performance as a part of KUNST-STOFF'S home season.
The compromise was two versions of Less Sylphedes;
one in a low tech setting in the environment of the
gardens, and the other at ODC Theater complete with
the integral lighting, and stunning visual landscapes
which leaves the audience with two vastly different
performances. Filmmaker Austin Forbord and fashion scientist/sculptor
Galya Rosenfeld are an integral part of this performance;
their work illustrates the dialogue between past and
present. Yannis has explained the slight alteration
to the title came about because "The idea of "Less"
makes a point that in our times we are very far from
the Romantic era, something that "Les Sylphides"
is all about."
Choreographer Tomi Paasonen's new work ETC, premiering
at ODC Theater is a choreographic exploration and group
improvisation dance piece featuring 5 dancers, sensor
technology, live camera and projectors based on the
principles of chain reactions, using the means of repetition,
copying, looping, feed-back, amplification, alteration,
mutation, distortion and translation of information
from one medium to another.
The dancers are being directed into an improvisational game with a structure following certain rules to guide them in their process of constructing the piece in front of a live audience, each time in a new and unique form. Their organic bodies, and sensory perception interact with technology triggering chaotic results of the materials already generated, which again are fed back into the ever-growing body of material, which constitutes the piece. For ETC Tomi has collaborated with sensor-based performance system mastermind Aaron Wolf Baum, Ph.D., who also previously worked with Tomi to recreate live soundscapes for Swansong.
2005 has been a extremely busy year for KUNST-STOFF; they were apart of the SCUBA Touring Network, a co-operative enterprise founded by Velocity Dance Center of Seattle, in conjunction with ODC Theater in San Francisco, and The Southern Theater in Minneapolis. Their work was shown at the 2nd San Francisco International Arts Festival and The 4th Choreographer's Festival in Athens, Greece. Mr. Adoniou also received a 2004Dance:Creation to Performance grant funded by The James Irvine foundation and administered by Dance/usa.
CALENDAR EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE:
WHO: KUNST-STOFF
WHAT: A world premiere of Less Sylphedes is based on the original, seminal work by Michael Fokine re-choreographed by KUNST-STOFF Artistic Director Yannis Adoniou. This new work is co-commissioned by ODC Theater and Yerba Buena Gardens Festival.
WHERE: Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission and Third Streets, San Francisco
WEB: www.ybgf.org
WHEN: Thu, August 25 @ 12:30-1:30 pm: free lecture
demonstration
Fri, August 26 @ 12:30 pm Performance #1
Sat, August 27 @ 9:00 pm Performance #2
Sun, August 28 @ 9:00 pm Performance #3
ALL PERFORMANCES ARE FREE
For more information regarding ODC Theater, KUNST-STOFF's Home Season or to request photos please contact Lori Perkovich, 415-699-2196.
Additional Information Links
Festival Calendar
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Destani Wolf |
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Artists Guild John Handy |
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Grind 4 the Green |
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Carne Cruda & Santero |
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Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
produced by Yerba Buena Arts & Events
760 Howard Street
San Francisco CA 94103
Phone: 415 543 1718
Fax: 415 543 1755
info@ybgf.org
www.myspace.com/ybgfestival