oberon Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 Today I attended a rehearsal for the upcoming performances of Astor Piazzolla's tango-opera MARIA DI BUENOS AIRES which will be presented by Gotham Chamber Opera at the Skirball Center (Washington Square South/NYC) on September 26, 28 & 29. David Parsons and co-choreographer Pablo Pugliese are creating some exciting dance sequences for this dark, sexy and ultimately tragic work. The Parsons Dancers looked sensational in rehearsal today. http://www.gothamchamberopera.com/upcoming_fall2007.html Link to comment
drb Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 Today I attended a rehearsal for the upcoming performances of Astor Piazzolla's tango-opera MARIA DI BUENOS AIRES which will be presented by Gotham Chamber Opera at the Skirball Center (Washington Square South/NYC) on September 26, 28 & 29. David Parsons and co-choreographer Pablo Pugliese are creating some exciting dance sequences for this dark, sexy and ultimately tragic work. The Parsons Dancers looked sensational in rehearsal today.http://www.gothamcamberopera.com/upcoming_fall2007.html Thanx, Oberon: having enjoyed Paul Taylor's work with Astor Piazzolla, this sounds very interesting. I had better luck with this link: http://www.gothamchamberopera.com/upcoming_fall2007.html Link to comment
Helene Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 I saw a performance of this work with the Seattle Chamber Players a couple of years ago. It's a wonderful piece; I'm glad it's getting more hearings. Here's a review from the Seattle PI: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/classical/21...mp;searchdiff=0 Link to comment
oberon Posted September 8, 2007 Author Share Posted September 8, 2007 Helene, thanks for posting the link to the Seattle review. Interesting that the Seattle production used a narration in English. Gotham Chamber Opera has the good fortune of having Diego Arciniegas in that spoken role and Mr. Arciniegas has one of those gorgeous and slightly ominous voices that gives the Spanish narrative a powerful dimension. He is 'doubled' in the opera by Miguel Quinones, one of the Parsons dancers with that rare ability to keep you watching him no matter what else is happening onstage. In the principal singing roles, Nicole Piccolomini and Ricardo Herrera {both of whom I have known since their Juilliard days} are ideally cast. Nicole is about to start her second season with Deutsche Oper, Berlin. DRB: Thank you for the link correction! I am so clumsy... Link to comment
bart Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 Thanks, oberon. The Parsons company is dancing down here tonight, performing Caught, Kind of Blue, In the End and Nascimento. An interview in our local paper mentioned not only the Piazolla commission, but also Aida for the Verona Arena and an Italian 40th-anniversary production of Hair! I noticed that all the Parsons men joined the company only in 2005-2007, and only one woman has been with him more than 5 years. (Elizabeth Koeppen, who has staged a number of Parsons works for other companies, joined in 1989.) So it's almost an entirely different company from the one I last saw a few years ago. Can you tell us more about the choreography and the performance? The Seattle review mentions only 2 tango dancers, both imported from Argentina. What did Parsons provide? Link to comment
oberon Posted September 8, 2007 Author Share Posted September 8, 2007 Parsons is using all ten of his dancers; the three major singing/speaking roles all have dancing 'doubles'...at the rehearsal I saw Koeppen was doubling the title role as someone was absent. Pablo Pugliese is co-choreographer working on the pure tango aspects which are fused with the free-wheeling Parsons style. It looked sensational at the rehearsal; I can only imagine what costumes and lighting will add. Link to comment
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