Count on Mozart to bring out the elegance and classiness of cowtown! From March 21 – 23, 2013, the Calgary dance community enthusiastically gathered at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium to attend Alberta Ballet’s production, Celebrating Mozart, as well as to mix and mingle with the ballet’s company and staff at the annual subscribers recognition event.
Celebrating Mozart featured two mesmerizing pieces, Pomp without circumstance and Mozart’s Requiem, both set to music composed by…you guessed it, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Pomp without circumstance, a world premiere choreographed by Alberta Ballet principal dancer, Yukichi Hattori, was a delightful and creatively ingenious piece that humourously poked fun of aristocratic life in 18th and 19th century France.
Mozart’s Requiem, choreographed by Alberta Ballet’s artistic director, Jean Grand-Maitre, provided us with a spectacular and spine tingling interpretation to Mozart’s work, enhanced by The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus. The presentation was brilliantly powerful and allowed audiences to surrender to the married beauty and magnificence of music, dance and artistic visual beauty.
Following the performance, subscribers were treated to a delightful candy buffet in the lobby, where Grand-Maitre thanked subscribers and sponsors for their continued support while also inviting everyone to Alberta Ballet’s upcoming performance of Balletlujah! in collaboration with K.D. Lang in May.
I had the chance to chat with Grand-Maitre, who expressed how proud he was of his dancers, particularly twins Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson, who had once been students at the School of Albert Ballet and are now seasoned company members. The Gibson sisters wowed audiences with their featured duet in Pomp without circumstance.
Additionally, Grand-Maitre also poked fun at how impressive the female corps were in tackling the first section of Pomp without circumstance, as it required them to use their arms to support themselves on a hanging metal bar that was lowered from the ceiling, in order to give audiences the illusion that they were suspended in the air (a curtain was lowered the entire time to reveal only the legs and feet of the dancers).
“They all started to look like Sigourney Weaver,” joked Grand-Maitre, in reference to the muscles his dancers started to build in their arms and upper body.
I also had the pleasure of meeting principal dancers Hayna Gutierrez and Garrett Groat, who were exceedingly fun to chat with! Lastly, I would like to send props out to volunteer coordinator, Elizabeth Dolak, who relentlessly helped to ensure that the event was a success. It was definitely another en pointe event!
See you at Alberta Ballet's upcoming production, Balletlujah!
