Tripping the Light Stupendous
by Zoë Kirsch
For human beings, dance is an ancient means of self-expression, performance, communication, and connection with one's spirituality. The natural world will dance—Nantucket's ocean waters often churn in an angry frenzy or sway contentedly—and animals follow suit. Birds crisscross in elaborate patterns through the air and puppies perform Irish step dances in anticipation of dinner.
D.H. Lawrence, an English essayist, poet, author, playwright, and literary critic, once said, “We ought to dance with rapture that we might be alive...and part of the living incarnate cosmos.” Do you agree? Do you feel liberated as you move on the dance floor? Adore watching professionals dance? Wish you could fly through air with the grace of a virtuoso? In short, does dancing inspire you?
If so, then you're in luck! Because right now, Nantucket is in the midst of a celebration, an extravaganza that honors all dance, from the just-walking toddler who bounces up and down in time to hip-hop music to the prima ballerina who stars as Clara in The Nutcracker. Since July 8, the Atheneum has been presenting activities in the name of tripping the light fantastic. The fun continues through July 25.
The festival follows last summer's wildly popular Ethan Stiefel dance performance, a show that received feedback so positive that the Atheneum staff decided to organize something similar for summer 2009—something bigger and better than its predecessor. They formed a Dance Committee headed by co-chairs Marion Martin and Marcia Welch and lost no time in preparing for this year's entertainment. The Dance Committee, along with Director of Development Beth Clark and Executive Director Molly Anderson, held their first meeting directly after Stiefel's performance.
Thanks to the organizers' hard work and determination, the 2009 Dance Festival is truly “an extraordinary opportunity for the Nantucket community to see the finest dancing in the world,” as Anderson enthuses.
Benjamin Millepied is Festival Artistic Director. A superior choreographer from Bordeaux, France, he specializes in ballet and modern dance. Millepied is one of just twenty-four principal dancers in the New York City Ballet. He will present a lecture and demonstration on Thursday, July 23 about the creative process of choreography, two free Youth Master Ballet Classes on Saturday, July 25 for students up to eighteen years of age with at least two years of dance training, and two evening performances on Friday and Saturday, July 24 and 25, at the Nantucket High School auditorium.
These recitals star eleven dancers who are no less than the brightest talents in their respective companies. Millepied selected them from his own company, as well as the renowned American Ballet Theater and esteemed Northwest Pacific Ballet. Molly Anderson aptly uses the word “outstanding,” to describe the performers. “These dancers come from the world's finest dance companies,” she says.
Even to the ballet connoisseur who has seen every show under the sun, the performances will be exceptional. “People who regularly attend ballet recitals might have the chance to see these principal dancers, but they'd have to see them with their individual companies,” Anderson explains. “In this unique show, principal dancers share a stage. You just don’t see that in New York City.”
Millepied arranged a special program for the performances, including Apollo and Who Cares?, both choreographed by the famous George Balanchine, Black Swan Pas de Deux from Swan Lake, Herman Schmerman, a modern “deconstruction of classical form and vocabulary,” (Joseph Carman, Production Notes), and a pas de deux from Closer, an original ballet by Millepied. The shows will cover more than one hundred years of history and a range of styles, from “classical precision” to “hyper-mobile quirkiness.” (Joseph Carman, Production Notes)
Two performances of unmatched high caliber must be extremely expensive, right? Happily, that isn't the case. Student and senior tickets start as low as $15, and prices reach only as high as $75.
Tickets have been on sale since July 1 and may be purchased at the Atheneum website: www.nantucketatheneum.org. Sales will benefit the library's operating budget.
Historically, Nantucket's public library has been a leader in bringing cultural and educational programs to the island. The Dance Festival fits beautifully with the following section of the library's mission: “To serve as a cultural center for the Nantucket community by sponsoring educational programming.” Anderson reflects: “Last year, dance was, perhaps, underrepresented in the arts scene on Nantucket,” adding sincerely, “It has been a wonderful addition.” When asked if the staff has plans for more dance festivals in years to come, she replies, “We hope to continue this, yes, yes, yes!”
