The Norwegian National Ballet, the country’s most prestigious dance company, is on their 3rd tour to the Dance Salad Festival in Houston. Festival dates are April 1-3 2010.
Now celebrating the 15th anniversary season in Houston and the 18th season since its inception in Brussels, Belgium, Dance Salad Festival promises another gathering of world-class performers.
The Norwegian National Ballet will perform on April 2nd and 3rd only.
"Skew Whiff"
At the festival, the Norwegian National Ballet will present "Skew Whiff" choreographed by the highly innovative choreographers duo Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon, known as Lightfoot/Leon. Set to Rossini’s energetic "The Thieving Magpie", the piece is danced by four dancers, in white body paint and tight yellow suits. Originally created for the Nederlands Dans Theater, it was performed by the Norwegian National Ballet when the new Oslo Opera House officially opened with a Gala performance on April 12, 2008.
"Raw, risque and always very funny"
Several of the company’s best dancers are coming to Houston to perform Skew Whiff. Maggie Foyer of Dance Europe writes: "This Lightfoot/Leon work demands very special dancers… Maiko Nishinio is one of the company’s most versatile dancers…[who] had good company in Philip Currell, whose spine appears boneless, Gakuro Matsui and Kristian Ruutu. Together they dealt with the fiendish coordination in a work that is raw, risqué and always very funny."
The Norwegian National Ballet
The Norwegian National Ballet is a part of The Norwegian Opera and Ballet, which was established in 1959 and is Norway’s largest music and performing arts institution. The Norwegian National Ballet presents a rich repertoire of high quality, consisting of both classics and modern works by contemporary choreographers such as Jirí Kylián, Nacho Duato and Lightfoot/León. The new opera house is located near Oslo harbour with stunning architecture designed by the Norwegian firm, Snøhetta. It is now the largest single cultural-political initiative in Norway.
For tickets and more information about the Dance Salad Festival, visit www.dancesalad.org
For tickets date exchanges and refunds contact Jackie Alfred at jaalfred@flash.net or call 281-531-7298
Also dancing at Dance Salad Festival
Royal Ballet of Flanders, Antwerp, Belgium; Ballet de Lorraine, Nancy, France; Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genéve, Switzerland; Gelabert Azzopardi Companya de Dansa, Barcelona, Spain; Texas Ballet Theater, Fort Worth/Dallas; the Hungarian National Ballet and Central Europe Dance Theatre, Budapest, Hungary; The English National Ballet, London , England; Compañia Nacional de Danza, Mexico; Jiri Kylian’s Toss of A Dice by Netherlands Dance Theatre, Den Haag; Jacoby & Pronk, New York/Amsterdam and Gauthier Dance, Stuttgart, Germany.