Spoleto Festival USA 2011: Emmanuèle Phuon, Corella Ballet, Shen Wei Dance Arts, Cedric Andrieux, Circa

Emmanuele Phuon

Khmeropides [Courtesy: Esplanade Singapore]

I was reading about French/Cambodian choreographer Emmanuèle Phuon and only discovered as I looked for more about her that she was appearing at this year's Spoleto Festival USA, a detail the author omitted! Her company will be performing Khmeropédies I & II in late May as part of an extremely interesting range of dance performers included in this year's Festival running from May 27th to June 12th in Charleston, South Carolina.

Emmanu̬le Phuon РKhmeropedies I & II [Source: Spoleto Festival USA]

Though I'm primarily posting great photos made available by the Spoleto Festival, I wanted to include the above video to get a sense of how Emmanuèle Phuon is exploring classical Cambodian dance without grafting arabesques onto Cambodian steps, as Deborah Jowitt put it in the Village Voice. There's even a rap track about halfway through the above video that is quite nice and that I assume is Cambodian.

Corella Ballet

Corella Ballet [Courtesy: Corella Ballet]

The Corella Ballet of Spain, founded and directed by Ángel Corella, will also be appearing in late May.

Corella Ballet

Corella Ballet [Courtesy: Corella Ballet]

After a career with American Ballet Theatre and appearances with major ballet companies from the Royal Ballet to the Boshoi, Corella returned to Spain two years ago to create a company building on the talent of Spanish ballet dancers.

Shen Wei Dance Arts

Shen Wei Dance Arts [Photo: Lois Greenfield]

Shen Wei Dance Arts brings a three-part work, Re-Parts I, II, III, to the Festival in early June, in which choreographer Shen Wei "revisits his Chinese roots and explores the cultures of Tibet and Cambodia."

Shen Wei Dance Arts

Shen Wei Dance Arts [Photo: Alex Pines]

"In Re-I, the stunning first part of the dance trilogy, dancers deconstruct a mandala of colored paper to the haunting chants of Tibetan nun Ani Choying Dolma. Re-II takes us to the ruins of Angkor Wat and the inspiration of ancient Cambodian temples as nature engulfs their architecture. Re-III is inspired in part by Shen’s choreography for the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremonies juxtaposing collectivism and individualism, with a score by Pulitzer Prize–winning composer David Lang."

Marco Polo

Cédric Andrieux [Photo: Herman Sorgeloos]

Jérôme Bel "conceived and directed" Cédric Andrieux which was "created and [will be] performed" by Cédric Andrieux in June. That's a confusing statement because it's an autobiographical piece initiated by a director working with the dancer on his autobiographic performance.

"Bel offers snapshots of the renowned contemporary dancer’s life in dance, his training in France, his years with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and his present work with the Lyon Opera Ballet. In an intimate visual autobiography that integrates Andrieux’s narrative with dance excerpts, the dancer sheds his stage persona so that we can peer deeply into his soul."

Circa

Circa [Courtesy: Circa]

Circa is a circus act from Australia appearing at Spoleto in June. You can look at it as bonus coverage if you wish but these photos should make it clear why I've included them in this post.

Circa

Circa [Courtesy: Circa]

"Combining heart-stopping acrobatics with contemporary choreography and cheeky humor, Circa’s seven remarkable performers toss off intricate sequences with a mix of precision and aplomb. Extreme physical feats are framed by dramatic lighting and projections and set to an eclectic soundtrack ranging from Leonard Cohen and Radiohead to Aphex Twin. The result: an altogether new kind of circus, at once lyrical, sensual, intense—and thoroughly unforgettable."

These acts all sound really interesting and I regret not being able to attend this year's Spoleto Festival USA.

Official Site: Spoleto Festival USA ~ YouTube