Chamber Dance Offers Free Zoom On Contemporary Ballet

By: May. 21, 2020
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Chamber Dance Offers Free Zoom On Contemporary Ballet

Chamber Dance Project (CDP), Washington's premiere contemporary ballet company, continues its well-received Zoom Virtual Chat series at 5 p.m. EDT May 26. CDP will feature its dancers and ballet masters Luz San Miguel and Davit Hovhannisyan demonstrating and discussing contemporary ballet partnering.

Now in their seventh season with Chamber Dance Project, San Miguel and Hovhannisyan have danced in leading roles in many ballets, including "Don Quixote" and "Swan Lake". Introduced by Diane Coburn Bruning, CDP founder and choreographer, the couple will discuss and demonstrate the basics of contemporary ballet partnering including lifts pulling from works they have danced in the CDP repertoire. They will also talk about the physical and psychological demands of partnering as well as share photos and video clips from past performances. The Zoom presentation wraps up with a Q&A.

To receive the link for the Zoom session, email rsvp@chamberdance.org. For more information, visit https://chamberdance.org/virtual-chats or call 202.499.2297.

San Miguel and Hovhannisyan, partners on and off stage, live in Milwaukee and will make their presentation from their basement home studio, with lift demonstrations done outdoors due to the ceiling height there.

Both dancers prefer contemporary ballet over classical. "I believe my dancing is more free and organic without many of the rigid rules that constrain classical ballet. Some of our neighbors might come to their backyards to watch the show," said Hovhannisyan. "If so, we hope they enjoy it as much as we think the Zoom audience will."

The dancers will also talk about how the challenges in contemporary partnering and working with a choreographer.

The series continues next month with presentations every Tuesday at 5 p.m. through June 23. Reservations and free links can be requested at rsvp@chamberdance.org.

On June 2 Diane Coburn Bruning, Artistic Director and founder of CDP, will give a presentation on the recent history of ballet: "Rise of Ballet in America: An overview of the people, companies and organizations driving the growth of the art form in the 20th century."

On June 9 Troy Riemer, Marketing and Design Director of CDP, will give a presentation on the unique demands of graphic design for Chamber Dance Project.

June 16 brings guest choreographer Claudia Schreier, who will discuss her new work for Chamber Dance Project which was paused for now. Schreier was just named Choreographer-in-Residence at Atlanta Ballet.

The series wraps up June 23, when the final Virtual Chat before the July 2020 season focuses on CDP violinists Claudia Chudacoff and Chaerim Smith. Chudacoff is the principal musician and concertmaster of the National Gallery Orchestra and the Alexandria Symphony. Smith is currently a member of "The President's Own" United States Marine Chamber Orchestra.



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