Digital Vail Dance Festival 2020

[Bruce Wall]

The Vail Dance Festival, as spearheaded by the extraordinary Damian Woetzel, has announced a Digital Festival.  Details of such are as follows - 

 

We are thrilled to bring you the Vail Dance Festival: Digital Edition July 31-August 7, 2020! This special online series of events will feature unique performances from the past 10 years including debuts and revivals that have only been seen in Vail, a world premiere choreographed by Bobbi Jene Smith made in, and for, the virtual space, plus a range of educational programming including Passing Balanchine On with Heather Watts and Damian Woetzel, and Conversations On Dance with Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden. The Digital season is generously underwritten by Jody and John Arnhold. The Festival will be available for a limited time on our Facebook and YouTube channels. See the schedule below!  OPENING NIGHT Friday, July 31, 6pm MST The Vail Dance Festival: Digital Edition begins with a specially curated selection of performances from the past 10 years including debuts, revivals, and new works that have rarely if ever been seen outside of Vail. Hosted by Artistic Director Damian Woetzel, with appearances by a range of the extraordinary dancers and musicians who have made Vail a summer laboratory for creative collaboration.   | LEARN MORE |   VIRTUAL GALA Sunday, August 2, 6pm MST  The Virtual Gala evening will feature stars of the Vail Dance Festival from the worlds of ballet, tap, modern, and street dance. Among the highlights of this dynamic program will be The Personal Element, a 2019 Vail world premiere from revered choreographer Alonzo King, with an original score composed and performed by jazz luminary Jason Moran, danced by artists from Alonzo King LINES Ballet and New York City Ballet.  | LEARN MORE |   PASSING BALANCHINE ON Monday, August 3, 6pm MST Heather Watts and Damian Woetzel on mentoring, coaching, and curating George Balanchine's works at the Vail Dance Festival, with Tiler Peck, Herman Cornejo, and Calvin Royal III, and featuring archival films of Balanchine repertory on Vail stages.    | LEARN MORE |   NOW: PREMIERES Tuesday, August 4, 6pm MST New works and collaborations made in Vail by a selection of today's most adventurous voices in dance, featuring a world premiere choreographed by Bobbi Jene Smith with dancers Melissa Toogood, Calvin Royal III, and Smith herself joining in this dance made in and for the virtual space. This evening also features Rise Wait Climb Through, a 2018 world premiere choreographed by Justin Peck, with a commissioned score by Caroline Shaw.   | LEARN MORE |   CONVERSATIONS ON DANCE WITH REBECCA KING FERRARO & MICHAEL SEAN BREEDEN Wednesday, August 5, 6pm MST Join Rebecca King Ferraro and Michael Sean Breeden from the popular podcast series Conversations On Dance, as they host in-depth discussions from afar with Festival artists including Lil Buck, Calvin Royal III, and "the Cindies" Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside.  | LEARN MORE |     CLOSING NIGHT Friday, August 7, 6pm MST Closing night of the Vail Dance Festival: Digital Edition brings to the screen the extraordinary 2017 world premiere, we seem to be more than one, choreographed by Michelle Dorrance in collaboration with Dario Natarelli and her extraordinary cast. This piece captures the unique collaborative spirit of the Festival, bringing together dancers from tap, ballet, contemporary, jookin', flamenco, and modern traditions. Hosted by Damian Woetzel, the evening will open with the 2019 world premiere piece d’occasion Carolina Shout with jazz pianist Jason Moran and dancers Michelle Dorrance and Lil Buck.   | LEARN MORE |

[FionaM]

In my diary!   Thank you

[David]

Thank you for this - I would not have picked it up if you had not pointed me to it. I really enjoyed the opening night and am looking forward to the other programmes. 

Edited August 1, 2020 by David

[Jeannette]

Too much Lil’ Buck for my taste but these programs are meant to showcase variety. That said, as mentioned on the general thread,  s out Program 1, I loved Peck and Fairchild in Limon’s Mazurkas Suite and Carla Korbes in Balanchine/Stravinsky Elegie. not performed since 1982.

[SheilaC]

I enjoyed the Vail opening digital programme. To see Tiler Peck in 5 different ballets, and also to see a ballet she had choreographed, was brilliant. The Balanchine excerpts were frustrating, because so brief, but still very welcome. It was wonderful to see Balanchine's Elegie, you could tell from the choreography that it just had to be created on Suzanne (Farrell) although she would have danced it with even more rapt spirituality than Korbes. It must be one of the very last pieces Balanchine choreographed for Suzanne.

Re Lil' Buck, I thought his piece had been chosen as it was so relevant to BLM and the upcoming election. It was great to see an excerpt from one of Robbins's masterpieces and well danced by Herman Cornejo.

[Jeannette]

This is turning out to be an excellent series of programs. For we NYCB and ABT fans, it’s a late-summer bonanza to see many favorite stars & up-and-commers in unfamiliar roles. For example, I believe that Vail A.D. Damien Woetzel had the “goods” on Roman Mejia way before his first appearance at the festival in 2017, while still a student at SAB. He was featured in the 2nd show’s The Personal Element and yesterday's 3rd program, in an excerpt from Neenan’s The Farewell. He closed the initial program with a bang - performing Ratmansky’s Fandango in the role created on Wendy Whelan & later by Sara Mearns. We also saw snippets of Mejia in Rubies pdd. He’s also listed to dance in one of the two full works on the last show (Dorrance’s  “we seem to be more than one”).

 

I’ve also enjoyed seeing so much of ABT’s Herman Cornejo. Vail has uploaded his full Suite of Dances on their Yt channel...if you enjoyed the 4th movement earlier, you can now see the full thing, as well as a conversation about the Robbins ballet:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NudXLr3IyVQ

 

[Jeannette]

Reminder that the last of the Vail 2020 Digital Edition shows premieres tonight @ 8pm EDT. By now, I’ve become a Lil’ Buck fan, so I’ll be sorely disappointed if we don’t see him. 🙏 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTmPWvm5mNynfYJYaq_dbRA