On stage at the Center for the Arts this Saturday, 12 young dancers chosen by the renowned American Ballet Theatre will present a full repertoire of works - one of which was newly choreographed in Buffalo this week.
Prior to the performance, artistic director Kirk Peterson and choreographer Brian Reeder will be indulging in a discussion held at 7 p.m. in the CFA's Screening Room.
The company's talented dancers have been busily preparing in the CFA this entire week. The flighty feet belonging to the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company will be captured with the finesse of director Elliot Caplan. Dance rehearsals and the performance itself will be documented for archival purposes by The Center for the Moving Image.
Peterson described the average seven-hour workday of an ABT Studio dancer.
"We try to make (rehearsals) very workman-like, I think the unusual aspect is that they have so many hours to fulfill everyday as young professionals," Peterson said. "It's an enormous responsibility for such young people."
Some of the dancers are as young as 14, but such arduous preparation is essential to earning a secure spot with ABT.
"I think what's unique about this company is that it's an adjunct to one of the biggest companies in the world, and our studio feeds into that," Peterson said. "The whole purpose of it is to prepare them. When you join a huge company, it's like being thrown into the deep end of a pool and being told to 'swim, or sink.'"
Saturday's performance will consist of five different unrelated pieces. Although there are no stage sets, Light Designer Brian Sciarra will garnish the mood, motion and music with his ambient technique.
"There's a constant atmosphere of being coached," said Peterson. "A large part of being a ballet dancer is memorization. It's very unique in that way, but it's not like there's a test at the end, they have to keep doing it."
The performance opens with Peterson's "Eyes that Gently Touch," which incorporates a piano composition by Philip Glass. The closing piece "Ghost Light" is by Brian Reeder and is set to music by Aaron Copland.
"'Ghost Light' is about nostalgia, and looking back to the theatre world," Peterson said.
The university and the city of Buffalo will be gifting the performance to New Orleans sometime in March. It's disorienting to imagine a gift exchange between Buffalo and New Orleans, but it would conceivably involve a very large bow.
The performance will take place at 8 p.m. at the CFA's Mainstage Theatre. Tickets will be $22 (general public), $15 (UB faculty and staff) and $10 (students).
