Fall Ballet mixes old, new styles

A symphonic world premiere, as well as new traditional and modern choreography, was brought to the Musical Arts Center Friday and Saturday during performances of the Fall Ballet. The evening showcased several IU performers, including associate music professor Emile Naoumoff, the IU Wind Ensemble and the String Academy Chamber Orchestra.\nNow in its 14th year, the Fall Ballet has become a seasonal attraction for IU students and Bloomington community members. \n"This is the first time I've ever seen a ballet," said sophomore Jenny Triplett, a percussion performance major. "I enjoyed it all very much, especially the modern ballet at the end. The combination of the music and the dance was very powerful."\nThe final ballet of the evening was the "Earthdance Concerto," a symphony written by composition professor Don Freund. Freund set about writing a ballet to match Fall Ballet founder Jacques Cesbron's contemporary choreography. Although he only had a few months to compose it, Freund said he embraced the time constraint, which ended up helping his creative process. \n"Jacques and I have collaborated two times previous to this Fall Ballet, so I already had an idea of what he would like musically in my head. The time constraints actually helped to feed the creative process," Freund said. \nThe "Earthdance Concerto" featured Naoumoff as a soloist and was supported by the music school's wind ensemble.\nBesides the much awaited "Earthdance Concerto," three ballets preceded the collaboration. The first ballet of the evening was Vivaldi's "L'estro armonico" with choreography by Virginia Cesbron.\n"With this piece, you see the grammar of ballet," Jacques Cesbron said. "There is a barre in the middle of the stage, and you are able to see what goes on in the classroom." \n"L'estro armonico" featured many of the student ballet dancers and the String Academy Chamber Orchestra.\nThe Fall Ballet was originally accompanied only by piano, but with Jacques Cesbron's initiative, instrumental groups from the music school have been incorporated into the performance. \n"Valse Fantasie," composed by Mikhail Glinka and featuring the neo-classical choreography of George Balanchine, was the second piece in the Fall Ballet. \n"Balanchine was a Russian dancer who came to America in the early 1900s," Cesbron said. "With this piece after the classical choreography of 'L'estro armonico,' you're able to see the change in styles of dance and ballet as time has passed."\nChoreographed by music professor Violette Verdy and composed by Fritz Kreisler and Ernesto Lecuona, "Album" provided yet another style of ballet. It had smaller vignettes of solo dancers, rather than the larger ensembles of the previous pieces.\n"I really liked how you could see such a wide variety of styles in this Fall Ballet," said sophomore horn performance major Jonathan Kuhns. "I had seen 'The Nutcracker' last year, and that really sparked my interest to see more ballet. I think anyone can enjoy ballet if you see it performed as well as the Fall Ballet was performed here"