Bringing Out the Ballet
CRANBERRY TWP — The township will host its first performance by the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre this month.
It will be at 7 p.m. Aug. 22 in the Cranberry Rotary Amphitheatre in the Cranberry Township Community Park off Route 19.
The Pittsburgh Ballet will present the same program the evening before its annual appearance at Hartwood Acres in Hampton Township.
The ballet's appearance in Cranberry is part of the ensemble's Summer Performance Series, which is aimed at reaching audiences outside the Pittsburgh Cultural District.
"We've got our full company of dancers to perform," said Ferris Harris, executive director of the group. "It's a very athletic, contemporary performance, but classically structured."
The company's performance is sponsored by Cranberry Township, the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau and the National Endowment for the Arts.
"It's a great opportunity for the township and the ballet to get exposure," said Mike Diehl, Cranberry parks and recreation director. "We want our folks to get the cultural experience in the park, and the ballet wants people to come out and enjoy the performance and hope they come out to see their other shows.
The ballet will begin with two works by Twyla Tharp: "Known by Heart ('Junk') Duet" and "Octet."
Both pieces were performed in March as part of the company's 2007-08 season.
In "Known by Heart ('Junk') Duet," Tharp places a contemporary spin on the traditional pas de deux structure — an adagio, two solos and a coda.
An excerpt from a suite of dances originally commissioned for American Ballet Theatre in 1998, "Known by Heart ('Junk') Duet" is set to Donald Knaack's "Junk Music."
Described by Tharp as one of her most distilled creations, "Octet" presents four women and four men in a work that comments on gender issues.
Tharp is a world-renowned iconic choreographer who has choreographed more than 135 dances and five Hollywood movies and directed and choreographed three Broadway shows.
Rounding out the program is "Raymonda Variations," staged by the theatre's artistic director, Terrence S. Orr, with choreography after Marius Petipa.
The work features one principal couple, four soloist couples and four corps de ballet couples and uses Alexander Glazounov's classic score.
"I think people will be really surprised how much they enjoy it. People have been asking us to do more cultural events," said Diehl, adding that many comments during the township's Cranberry Plan update called for more cultural events.
"This is just one step toward that goal," he said.
For information on the performances, visit www.pbt.org for information on the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, www.alleghenycounty.us for information on Hartwood Acres and www.cranberrytownship.org for information on the Cranberry performance.
<B>WHO: </B>Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre<B>WHAT: </B>"Known by Heart ('Junk') Duet" and "Octet," both by Twyla Tharp, as well as "Raymonda Variations," staged by PBT artistic director Terrence S. Orr, with choreography by Marius Petipa<B>WHERE: </B>7:30 p.m. Aug. 21 in the amphitheatre at Hartwood Acres, and at 7 p.m. Aug. 22 in the Rotary Amphitheatre at Cranberry Township Community Park<B>ADMISSION: </B>Free. Take lawn chairs or blankets to sit on.<B>INFORMATION: </B>Visit the Web site, www.pbt.org, www.alleghenycounty.us/, or www.twp.cranberry.pa.us.
