For his ballet Désir, James Kudelka has
drawn music from both the full ballet Cinderella (Op.87)
and the Waltz Suite (Op. 110). The music of Cinderella
has often left choreographers and critics perplexed due to its
sophistication and cynicism as an accompaniment for a fairy tale.
Although using four of the waltzes central to the ballet Cinderella,
Kudelka has liberated himself from having to tell the fairy tale
thus enabling him to go to the heart of the music. Kudelka delivers
a strong and personal interpretation that is uniquely his own
and seems to be the only possible visualization of the music.
It is as if Prokofiev wrote the music for Désir.
Seven couples celebrate their passion and pleasure in this very
personal yet dynamic and physically testing work.
Describing himself as a "conscientious observer,"
Kudelka creates dances that are meditations on the classic themes
of love, sex and death. To these themes he adds an uncanny sympathy
for ballet and modern dance genres that are woven into choreography
that is both refined and expressive.
Désir was created for Les Grands Ballets
Canadiens in Montreal, as the closing ballet on what was to be
James Kudelka’s farewell program as resident choreographer
of that company. All ballets on the program were by Kudelka and
all were to the music of Prokofiev as the event took place in
1991, the centenary of Prokofiev’s birth.
Anna Kisselgoff of the New York Times called Désir
a "piece to put a dance company on the map. . . [It] is
both spectacular and expressive. . . a daring exploration of
the art of the pas de deux."
Since its premiere Désir has been performed
around the world and has been staged for the Compagnia Nacional
de Danza of Mexico, the ballet company of the Grand Théâtre
of Geneva, Mr. Kudelka’s own company, the National Ballet
of Canada, and The Stuttgart Ballet.
Music Used In Désir
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Waltz Suite Op. 110
- I No. 2. In the Palace, (Cinderella)
- II No. 5. New Year’s Eve Ball, (War and Peace)
- III No. 1. Since we Met, (War and Peace)
|
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Cinderella
- IV Act II, no. 36. Duet of the Prince and Cinderella.
- V Act I, no. 19. Cinderella’s Departure for the Ball
- VI Act III, no 49. Slow Waltz
|
Nicholas Cernovitch, lighting designer
The American born designer was educated at Black Mountain
College in North Carolina, where he studied color theory and
design under Josef Albers, as well as dance, theater and photography.
A small, progressive college, Black Mountain also introduced
Cernovitch to such contemporary artists as Buckminster Fuller,
John Cage and Franz Kline during studies from 1948 through 1952.
Arriving in New York, Cernovitch began lighting and stage
managing works for the modern dance companies of Merce Cunningham,
Jose Limon, Alwin Nikolais, Anna Sokolow, Paul Taylor and many
others. From 1954 to 1964 Cernovitch also designed lighting for
numerous off-Broadway plays. Between 1960 and 1962 he designed
all the Living Theater in New York and acted in and directed
many productions for its Monday Night Series of experimental
works.
Cernovitch went on to design all the lighting for the Alvin
Ailey American Dance Theater, from its inception in 1958 until
1969. Cernovitch’s other lighting credits for dance include
work with The Harkness Ballet; the National Ballet of Washington;
the Pennsylvania Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, including
Rudolf Nureyev’s production of Raymonda. He has also
worked with the Anne Wyman Dance Theatre of Vancouver; The Martha
Graham Dance Company’s seasons in New York, London and Copenhagen;
Le Groupe de La Place Royale; Judith Marcuse Dance Company; Eddy
Toussaint Dance Company; Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal; The National
Ballet of Canada and the Royal Winnepeg Ballet.
For theater, Cernovitch has designed the lighting for numerous
off-Broadway plays, as well as James Joyce’s Ulysses
in Night Town, directed by Burgess Meredith and starring
Zero Mostel; the 1962 Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy
and the Paris Opera Centenary production of Paul Dukas’
La Peri.
Cernovitch designed the lighting for every production of Les
Grands Ballets Canadiens of Montreal since he joined the company
as its resident lighting designer in 1970 until his retirement
in 1995. Since emigrating to Canada in 1973 he has also created
lighting designs for the Manitoba Theatre Centre in Winnipeg;
The Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake; Le Théâtre
du Rideau Vert in Montreal; L’Opera du Quebec; several plays
both in French and English at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa
and shows for Yvon Deschamps, Gilles Vigneault and Robert Charlebois.
In 1960, he received the New York City Village Voice Obie
Award for lighting design, and for the 1981-82 season the Dora
Mavor Moore prize for his exceptional lighting designs.
Sylvain Labelle, costume designer
Since the age of twenty, Sylvain Labelle has conceived costumes
for nearly all the dance companies in Montreal as well as many
outside. Among those he has worked with include Les Grands Ballets
Canadiens, The Joffrey Ballet, Eddy Toussaint Dance Company,
La Compania Nacional de Danza in Mexico, Montreal Danse, Helen
Blackburn and Tassy Teekman.
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