Norbert Vesak
Norbert Vesak (October 22, 1936 – October 2, 1990), one of Canada's leading choreographers in the 1970s, was a ballet dancer, choreographer, theatrical director, master teacher, dance columnist, lecturer, and opera ballet director, known for his unique, flamboyant style and his multimedia approach to classical and contemporary choreography. He is credited with helping to bring modern dance to Western Canada. Biography Although Vesak worked internationally as a choreographer, he was frequently referred to as "Canada's finest male dancer." Early in his career, he often choreographed works and then danced in them as well, receiving critical acclaim for both roles. He was described as a "Renaissance Man", well known as a lecturer, dancer, set and costume designer, and teacher, as well as for his choreography and work in the theater. Vesak was born in Port Moody, British Columbia in 1936 to Frank and Nora Vesak, of Czech and Belgian descent. As a child, he was an opera fan who desc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Port Moody
Port Moody is a city in British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It envelops the east end of Burrard Inlet and is the smallest of the Tri-Cities, bordered by Coquitlam on the east and south and by Burnaby on the west. The villages of Belcarra and Anmore, along with the rugged Coast Mountains, lie to the northwest and north, respectively. It is named for Richard Clement Moody, who was the founder and the first Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of British Columbia. History Port Moody is named for Colonel Richard Clement Moody, of the Royal Engineers. It was created at the end of a trail that connected New Westminster to Burrard Inlet, to defend New Westminster against potential attack by the USA. It grew rapidly after 1859 by land grants to Moody's Royal Engineers. The construction of a transcontinental railroad was the condition that prompted British Columbia to enter into confederation in 1871. The small town received ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Lamont Holder (August 1, 1930 – October 5, 2014) was a Trinidadian-American actor, dancer, musician, director, choreographer, and artist. He was a principal dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, before his film career began in 1957 with an appearance in '' Carib Gold''. For his theatre work, he won two Tony Awards, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Costume Design in a Musical for the original Broadway production of ''The Wiz''. In 1973, he played the villainous Baron Samedi in the James Bond film '' Live and Let Die''. He also appeared in such films as '' Doctor Dolittle'' (1967), '' Annie'' (1982), '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' (2005), and was the voice of Ray the Sun on the children's television series '' Bear in the Big Blue House'' (1998–2002). He also carried out advertising work as the pitchman for 7 Up. Holder was a member of the executive committee of the Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East, a pro-Israel group. Early li ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Val Caniparoli
Val Caniparoli is an American ballet dancer and international choreographer. His work includes more than 100 productions for ballet, opera, and theater for over 50 companies, and his career as a choreographer progressed globally even as he continued his professional dance career with the San Francisco Ballet. He joined the San Francisco Ballet as a dancer in 1973. He was appointed to the position of principal character dancer with the San Francisco Ballet by Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson in 1987. Early years Caniparoli was born in Renton, Washington, to Francisco Caniparoli, a clothing manufacturer, and Leonora (Marconi) Caniparoli, who worked at Boeing. He attended Washington State University (WSU), where he studied music and theater. When the First Chamber Dance Company was touring Eastern Washington, they did performances at WSU, and offered workshops in ballet. Caniparoli attended one and was told he had talent, and should audition at the San Francisco Ballet School. Th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robert Joffrey
Robert Joffrey (December 24, 1930 – March 25, 1988) was an American dancer, teacher, producer, choreographer, and co-founder of the Joffrey Ballet, known for his highly imaginative modern ballets. He was born Anver Bey Abdullah Jaffa Khan in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington to a Pashtuns, Pashtun father from Afghanistan and a mother from Italy. Life and work Joffrey began his dance training at nine years old in Seattle as a remedy for asthma under instructor Mary Anne Wells. He later studied ballet and modern dance in New York City, and made his debut in 1949 with the French choreographer Roland Petit and his Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris. From 1950 to 1955, he taught at the New York High School for the Performing Arts, where he staged his earliest ballets. He founded thJoffrey Ballet Schoolin New York City in 1953, where it remains as a separate organization from The Joffrey Academy of Dance in Chicago, which is the official school of the Joffrey Ballet Company. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joffrey Ballet
The Joffrey Ballet is an American dance company and training institution in Chicago, Illinois. The Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at the Civic Opera House, including its annual presentation of ''The Nutcracker''. Founded in 1956 by dance pioneers Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, the company has earned a reputation for boundary-breaking performances, including its 1987 presentation of Vaslav Nijinsky's ''The Rite of Spring'', which reconstructed the original choreography from the 1913 premiere that was thought to be lost. Many choreographers have worked with the Joffrey, including Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, and George Balanchine. History From its foundation in 1956 through the mid-1960s, Joffrey's and Arpino's dance company initially toured the United States and sometimes other parts of the world (for example: the Soviet Union in 1963). The dance company gained its first permanent residency in New York ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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David Peregrine
David Peregrine, OC (September 19, 1954 – c. June 7, 1989) was a Canadian dancer and actor. Life He was born David Alan Evans in Llay, Wales and grew up in Ottawa. Peregrine studied ballet with Nesta Toumine in Ottawa, going on to study at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet school with David Moroni and at the Banff School of Fine Arts. Evans adopted the stage name David Peregrine. He joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet as a member of the corps in 1975, becoming soloist three years later and principal dancer in 1980, partnering with Evelyn Hart. In 1980 he won a bronze medal at the International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria, performing the pas de deux from Norbert Vesak's ballet "Belong." Hart won a gold medal. In 1986, Peregrine was made an officer of the Order of Canada. He performed two seasons with the San Francisco Ballet and was a guest artist with the Alberta Ballet, Boston Ballet The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Evelyn Hart
Evelyn Anne Hart (born April 4, 1956) is a Canadian ballerina and former principal dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Life and career Born in Toronto, Ontario, Hart studied dance at the Dorothy Carter School of Dance in London, Ontario, Canada, and later at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. Before attending the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Hart auditioned for The National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto, Ontario. She was accepted for its preliminary intensive summer session of auditioning for consideration as a student in the year's intensive academic/professional training program, where students train for its parent company the National Ballet of Canada. Hart did not secure a place for the school year at the National Ballet School, mostly due to her problems with anorexia nervosa. Hart battled with this pathological eating disorder before returning to ballet, training again, and winning a place for herself at The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. She joined the Royal Winnipeg Ball ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Canadian Encyclopedia
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada. Compiled by more than 5,000 scholars and specialists, the publication is a non-partisan, non-political initiative by a not-for-profit organization without political or governmental ties. First published in 1985, the consistently updated version has been available for free online in both Canadian English, English and Canadian French, French since 2001. The physical copy and website includes "articles on Canadian biographies and places, history, the Arts, as well as First Nations, science and Canadian innovation." , over 700,000 volumes of the print version of ''TCE'' have been sold and over 6 million people visit ''TCE'''s website yearly. The encyclopedia website consists of more than 25,000 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Ecstasy Of Rita Joe
''The Ecstasy of Rita Joe'' is a drama by George Ryga. The play, in two acts, premiered at the Vancouver Playhouse, November 23, 1967. It was directed by George Bloomfield. The play has an important place in the history of modern Canadian theatre, as it was one of the first to address issues relating to Indigenous people. It recounts the story of a young Indigenous woman in the city. The play opened the studio theatre of the National Arts Centre in 1969. It was adapted and choreographed as a ballet by Norbert Vesak (commissioned by the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood) and first performed by thRoyal Winnipeg Ballet on July 27, 1971 in Ottawa The play was revived by Alberta Theatre Projects in 1976. It was translated by Gratien Gélinas and presented at the Comédie-Canadienne. It was also produced in Washington, DC, in May, 1973, with Chief Dan George and Frances Hyland in lead roles. Significance The play's structure will be seen by some as clumsy at times while others may a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Albert Giraud
Albert Giraud (; 23 June 1860 – 26 December 1929) was a Belgian poet who wrote in French. Biography Giraud was born Emile Albert Kayenbergh in Leuven, Belgium. He studied law at the University of Leuven. He left university without a degree and took up journalism and poetry. In 1885, Giraud became a member of La Jeune Belgique, a Belgian nationalist literary movement that met at the Café Sésino in Brussels.''Albert Giraud's Pierrot Lunaire'', translated and with an introduction by Gregory C. Richter. Giraud became chief librarian at the Belgian Ministry of the Interior. He was a Symbolist poet. His published works include '' Pierrot lunaire: Rondels bergamasques'' (1884), a poem cycle based on the commedia dell'arte figure of Pierrot, and ''La Guirlande des Dieux'' (1910). The composer Arnold Schönberg set a German-language version (translated by Otto Erich Hartleben) of selections from his '' Pierrot Lunaire'' to innovative atonal music. In a different, late romant ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-century classical music, and a central element of his music was its use of motive (music), motives as a means of coherence. He propounded concepts like developing variation, the emancipation of the dissonance, and the "unified field, unity of musical space". Schoenberg's early works, like ''Verklärte Nacht'' (1899), represented a Brahmsian–Wagnerian synthesis on which he built. Mentoring Anton Webern and Alban Berg, he became the central figure of the Second Viennese School. They consorted with visual artists, published in ''Der Blaue Reiter'', and wrote atonal, expressionist music, attracting fame and stirring debate. In his String Quartets (Schoenberg)#String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10, String Quartet No. 2 (1907–1908), ''Erwartung'' (1909), ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jacob's Pillow Dance
Jacob's Pillow is a Dance studio, dance center, school and performance space located in Becket, Massachusetts, in the Berkshires. The facility itself was listed as a National Historic Landmark District in 2003. History The site of Jacob's Pillow in Becket, Massachusetts, was "originally" settled in 1790 by Jacob Carter III. Due to the zigzagging road leading to the hilltop property, it became known as "Jacob's Ladder", after Jacob's Ladder, the Biblical story, and a pillow-shaped rock on the property prompted the farm to acquire the name "Jacob's Pillow". The farm was purchased in 1931 by modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn as a dance retreat. Shawn and his wife, Ruth St. Denis, led the highly regarded Denishawn Company, which popularized dance forms rooted in theatre and cultural traditions outside European ballet. They were influential in training a host of dance pioneers, including Martha Graham, Charles Weidman, Doris Humphrey, and Jack Cole (choreographer), Jack Cole. Shaw ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |