Vietnamese
choreographer to debut
Hanoi’s
foremost modern choreographer, Ea Sola, will debut in Santa Barbara with the
Vietnam National Opera Ballet on Jan. 30.
The
program, “Drought and Rain Volume 2,” will be presented at 8 p.m. at Campbell
Hall at the University of California.
Trained
in Paris, Sola spent five years researching the culture of Vietnam before her
original piece, “Drought and Rain.”
Her
new dance will be performed with live musical accompaniment by a traditional
Vietnamese ensemble and original compositions by Nguyen Xuan
Son.
The
program will be presented in cooperation with Santa Barbara Dance Alliance.
Members
of Sola’s troupe, Company Ea Sola, will teach a
community dance class Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Santa Barbara Ballet Center, 1019
Chapala. For information, call 966-6950.
Georgia Ballet makes
visit
The
State Ballet of Georgia, one of the republics that made up the former Soviet
Union, will visit Santa Barbara with its acclaimed prima ballerina, Nina Ananiashvili, on Feb. 19.
The
group of 50 dancers will present “Giselle” at the Arlington Theater at 8 p.m.
Sponsored
by the Santa Barbara Dance Alliance, the troupe will make its Santa Barbara
debut with Alexei Fadeyechev as associate director.
Formerly artistic director with Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet, Fadeyechev
was a principal dancer there for 20 years. Ananiashvili
was invited to the New York City Ballet in 1988 and studied with The Royal
Ballet in 1990.
She
currently enjoys acclaim as one of the world’s most celebrated ballet artists.
Critics
at the New York Times said she “has never failed to light up the stage … the
star presence she brings invariably fills every scene with drama.”
The
troupe will teach a community dance class at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 18 at Gustafson
Dance Studio, 322 State Street.
Call
966-6950 for information.