Twyla Tharp writes about collaboration with Elvis, where Elvis met Look Now producer

Pretty self-explanatory
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Twyla Tharp writes about collaboration with Elvis, where Elvis met Look Now producer

Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/en ... ertainment

Posted on Fri, Feb. 23, 2007

MIAMI CITY BALLET

Ballet scores artistic coup

The Miami City Ballet will premiere a new commissioned work in late March featuring the creative talents of choreographer Twyla Tharp and pop musician Elvis Costello.

BY JORDAN LEVIN
jlevin@MiamiHerald.com

Modern moves and post-punk grooves come together next year at Miami City Ballet, which has commissioned a new ballet by famed choreographer Twyla Tharp with a new score by genre-hopping pop star Elvis Costello.

''We're absolutely thrilled,'' MCB founding artistic director Edward Villella said Thursday. ``It's every company's fantasy to have a major commission from a major artist -- or two major artists.''

The still untitled piece will have its world premiere on March 28, 2008 at the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts. Tharp, who has already started working with Costello, will begin rehearsing with the dancers in April.

The Tharp piece should be a milestone for MCB, the first time the troupe has commissioned a new work from a major contemporary choreographer. Tharp is widely regarded as one of the greatest dance artists of the 20th century, combining ballet, jazz, and idiosyncratic modern dance to critical and popular acclaim for over 30 years. She has created works for ballet companies, her own troupe, Hollywood, and Broadway.

Some of her most important pieces have been set to pop music. She burst out of the avant-garde and into the mainstream in 1973 with Deuce Coupe for the Joffrey Ballet, set to Beach Boys songs. Her 2003 musical Movin' Out, set to Billy Joel songs, was a Broadway hit.

Elvis Costello has gone from punk icon in the late 1970s to a critically lauded artist who works with pop, jazz, blues, and classical music. In 2004 he released his first symphonic recording, Il Sogno, based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, composed as a score for an Italian ballet troupe.

''It's a very significant step,'' said Villella. ``I think our guys have arrived at a point where they can do justice to any style.''

The match was born when MCB executive director Pamela Gardiner, a long-time Costello fan, went backstage after the rocker's Miami Beach concert in March 2005 and proposed a collaboration. The next morning Costello visited MCB's Miami Beach studios and met with Villella. ''There was a natural rapport,'' says Gardiner.

By the time all the principals met in New York last May, both Tharp and Costello were excited about working together, says Gardiner.

``They were both really impressed with each other's talent and intelligence.''
Last edited by johnfoyle on Thu Dec 03, 2009 8:02 am, edited 5 times in total.
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Post by lostdog »

Oh dear - let's hope it's better than the Dylan fiasco.
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

More like The Catherine Wheel.
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/cont ... _2_co.html

Posted by Greg Stepanich at August 8, 2007

Must-see No. 2: Costello's new ballet

(extract)

The upcoming season offers a couple premieres of new works, including a score for the Miami City Ballet by Elvis Costello, who is writing his piece for none other than Twyla Tharp in what’s being billed as her “return to ballet after years of working on Broadway.â€
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Post by johnfoyle »

Twyla gets a roasting in yesterday's FT -

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/74ffe1ea-4ac8-1 ... fd2ac.html

The sublime and the stressed-out

By Clement Crisp

Published: August 15 2007

(extract)

The only programme of short ballets that the Bolshoi is putting on during this season is curious indeed. It offers one of the family jewels, Asaf Messerer's Class Concert, a study in the ardours of ballet-class; Elsinore, commissioned this year from Christopher Wheeldon; and Twyla Tharp's In the Upper Room, a prizewinner in the Olympics of Unnecessary Stress.

Tharp's In the Upper Room reeks of the 1980s, and I wish it would go away. It's the one where the cast are variously dressed in convict's pyjamas, red point shoes and sort-of-sneakers, and must dance like demons hounded by the energies of Philip Glass's churning fatuities. A stage clouded with mephitic vapours (probably given off by the soundtrack) is the arena in which the Bolshoi's cast rush, twist, ape the unfocused energies of social dance, tear their physical passions to tatters and win applause for sweat-drenched bravura. I have never seen this nugatory piece better danced - but not even Moscow's skills (and trapped in it are such luminaries as Natalia Osipova, who deserves remission of sentence for good behaviour) can make it seem even momentarily worth their while.
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Post by sweetest punch »

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/arts/ ... l?ref=arts

Perhaps the brightest news of all is that Ms. Tharp, ambitious as ever, is collaborating with two of today’s most remarkable composers. As I write, she is at work in Florida, preparing a new 40-minute ballet to commissioned music by Elvis Costello for Miami City Ballet. This work (sharing a program with Balanchine’s “Square Danceâ€
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.miamiherald.com/358/story/266201.html


Mizrahi makes it a triple threat

Wed, Oct. 10, 2007


Miami City Ballet has added another famous talent to the new ballet they've commissioned from choreographer Twyla Tharp and composer Elvis Costello.

Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi will create the costumes for the still-untitled piece, set to debut at the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts on March 28.

Like Tharp, who has choreographed for Hollywood films, Broadway, her own troupe and ballet companies, and Costello, who's gone from punk icon to revered songwriter and is now writing orchestral works, Mizrahi straddles high art and hip pop culture. He designs clothing and housewares for Target as well as couture for Bergdorf Goodman, hosts ISAAC on the Style Network, and has created costumes for modern dance choreographer/director Mark Morris' Orfeo ed Euridice at the Metropolitan Opera and for Broadway shows.

-- JORDAN LEVIN

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Mizrahi
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida ... ily11.html

Monday, October 15, 2007 - 4:37 PM EDT

Miami City Ballet gets $1M grant

South Florida Business Journal

The Miami City Ballet said it has received $1 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation toward the new Twyla Tharp and Elvis Costello dance the troupe has commissioned.

The grant is the largest in the company's 21-year history and will fund the show - which premieres March 28 at the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts.

Performances are also scheduled for April 4-6 at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach and April 11-13 at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale.

Tharp - who created Nine Sinatra Songs and Deuce Coupe - is creating the new, untitled work for 18 MCB dancers. Costello is writing the composition - which will include new music and pieces of existing songs - for a nine-piece band and 32-piece orchestra.

MCB said it applied for the grant with the commission in mind.

The Annenberg Foundation provides funding and support to nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and internationally. It is headquartered in Randor, Penn.
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Post by sweetest punch »

http://www.bocaratonnews.com/index.php? ... 0Sheffield

(...)
The biggest news of the season is Program IV in late March and April. In addition to Ballanchine’s “Square Danceâ€
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.miamicityballet.org/

(extract)


For immediate release: November 1, 2007

Miami City Ballet’s Twyla Tharp/Elvis Costello World Premiere
Named
NIGHTSPOT

Miami City Ballet announces the name of the Twyla Tharp/Elvis Costello World

Premiere. The new work is called NIGHTSPOT.

Why?.., we invite you to find out on March 28, 2008 when the new ballet shows at Carnival Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, March 28-30. 2008, Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in Palm Beach, April 4-6, 2008 and April 11-13. 2008 at Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale. NIGHTSPOT will be on Program IV of Miami City Ballet’s 2007-2008 season.

Although MCB is not releasing details on what NIGHTSPOT exactly means, both Tharp and Costello collaborated on the name and it reflects thematic elements found within the dance and within the music for the piece.

“I am always very divulging about what the ballets we perform mean,’ said Edward Villella, Founding Artistic Director of MCB. “But, this time, I think it would be nice for people to come see this new work with no preconceived notions. A little mystery can be fun, and with such great collaborators as Tharp and Costello, I think audiences are going to be thoroughly entertained.â€
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Post by johnfoyle »

[quote]
“I am always very divulging about what the ballets we perform mean,’ said Edward Villella, Founding Artistic Director of MCB. “But, this time, I think it would be nice for people to come see this new work with no preconceived notions. A little mystery can be fun, and with such great collaborators as Tharp and Costello, I think audiences are going to be thoroughly entertained.â€
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Post by verbal gymnastics »

John - your devotion to going to Denmark was admirable but once bitten and all that. :lol:
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Post by johnfoyle »

Re-enforcing my trepidation about this piece, I see it's programmed with some other more tried 'n trusted sequences ie. the audiences will definitely get something they'll like .

http://www.browardcenter.org/events/mcbprogram4.aspx

Square Dance (Vivaldi, Corelli/Balanchine)

Liturgy (Pärt/Wheeldon)

Tarantella (Gottschalk/Balanchine)

Untitled Tharp/Costello World Premiere (Costello/Tharp)**



Square Dance – George Balanchine’s interpretation of a square dance has a breezy exuberance that seems appropriately connected to the Wild West.

Liturgy
—Throughout the serene piece, the two dancers fold and entwine themselves into intriguing shapes.

Tarantella – Complete with tambourines, Italian-inspired costumes and high energy dancing, this piece will have you on the edge of your seat. This pas de deux is sure to captivate you with its breakneck speed.

Twyla Tharp/Elvis Costello Untitled World Premiere – The highlight of the season will be a special commissioned work by one of today’s greatest choreographers, Twyla Tharp, danced to a new score by one of the world’s greatest singer-songwriters, Elvis Costello. This unique and innovative project will include a rock band on stage along with an orchestra in the pit. The dance, featuring 22 of MiamiCity Ballet’s dancers, marks Tharp’s return to ballet after years of working on Broadway.
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Re: 'Nightspot' - Elvis/Twyla Tharp ballet , March/April '08

Post by johnfoyle »

So, is anyone here going to this?

Here's what some of the troupe look like -

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/feb/05/photo-provided/

Image
Miami City Ballet blends classical technique with contemporary and Latin influences.
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Re: 'Nightspot' - Elvis/Twyla Tharp ballet , March/April '08

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

I should be more open-minded, but the photo leads me to expect something horrendous.

My main Twyla Tharp association is some of the great stuff from the Catherine Wheel David Byrne LP. I recall she was staging a piece based on Dylan around the time I was in NY (Sept '06) and word was it was totally dire.
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Re: 'Nightspot' - Elvis/Twyla Tharp ballet , March/April '08

Post by mood swung »

That photo promises, nay! guarantees major suckitude.
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Re: 'Nightspot' - Elvis/Twyla Tharp ballet , March/April '08

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

'Major suckitude or your money back!'
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Re: 'Nightspot' - Elvis/Twyla Tharp ballet , March/April '08

Post by johnfoyle »

A few more details -

http://www.danzaballet.com/modules.php? ... e&sid=1916
(extract)

Tharp created NIGHTSPOT on 18 MCB dancers, and Costello’s composition, which features new music intertwined with various motifs and quotations from existing songs, is written for a nine-piece onstage dance band and a thirty-two piece orchestra in the pit.

Miami City Ballet’s World Premiere Celebration takes place on stage at the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House immediately following the performance on Friday, March 28. The post-show festivities will include a Black Tie on-stage dinner dance with honored guests Twyla Tharp and Elvis Costello and a simultaneous party called “NIGHTSPOT Lounge” in the Peacock rehearsal room hosted by Partners en Pointe. Tickets for the on-stage dinner are available at $1500 per person and $2500 per person. Table sponsorships are also available. Tickets for the “NIGHTSPOT Lounge” party are $500 per person. For information call (305) 929-7000, ext. 1444.
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Re: 'Nightspot' - Elvis/Twyla Tharp ballet , March/April '08

Post by migdd »

Of all of EC's recent activities (touring with Dylan and the Police, solo dates and dates with the Imposters, symphony shows, writing with Loretta Lynn and Burt B., etc) this is the oddest and strangely enough, least interesting.
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Re: 'Nightspot' - Elvis/Twyla Tharp ballet , March/April '08

Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.miamicityballet.org/

Now being described at the above link as a ballet about ( gulp!) ' THE DARK SIDE OF LOVE'............
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Re: 'Nightspot' - Elvis/Twyla Tharp ballet , March/April '08

Post by migdd »

johnfoyle wrote:http://www.miamicityballet.org/

Now being described at the above link as a ballet about ( gulp!) ' THE DARK SIDE OF LOVE'............
Glad to hear Elvis has decided to write about something a bit different for a change. :lol: :lol:
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Re: 'Nightspot' - Elvis/Twyla Tharp ballet , March/April '08

Post by mood swung »

Image
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Re: 'Nightspot' - Elvis/Twyla Tharp ballet , March/April '08

Post by clubland »

That picture of the Miami City Ballet is awful! This was on the NBC website for NIGHTSPOT.
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Re: 'Nightspot' - Elvis/Twyla Tharp ballet , March/April '08

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

The dark side of love indeed!
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Re: 'Nightspot' - Elvis/Twyla Tharp ballet , March/April '08

Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.doclayleemusic.com/

Jazz saxophonist Peter William Brewer is looking forward to being part of this .
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