by OBT Historian Linda Besant (This is an excerpt from Béjart’s <span style=”font-style: italic;”>Firebird</span>, performed by the National Ballet of China for its 50th anniversary in 2009) I was twenty-five and all by myself in Budapest when I saw my first ballet performance. I had worked as a music teacher in the Beaverton schools for… Read More
Your Daily Dance Break: Paul DeStrooper interprets Firebird
Paul Destrooper, who is quoted in our post about the creation of OBT’s Firebird and was Prince Ivan in the premiere of OBT’s version, retired from OBT at the end of the 2006-07 season to become artistic director of Ballet Victoria in Canada. He has choreographed his own Firebird. See what he’s been up to… Read More
Your Daily Dance Break: A Vintage Firebird
In honor of our upcoming production of Firebird, check out this video of the Royal Ballet’s Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes, who was said to have been unsurpassed by any living dancer. This is an excerpt of the end of the ballet. It is based on Fokine’s original choreography from 1910. Our historian, Linda Besant,… Read More
Looking Back at the First Firebird
by OBT Historian Linda Besant The original Firebird premiered in 1910 for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in Paris. For nearly twenty years, from 1909 to 1929, Diaghilev’s company of primarily Russian-trained dancers performed radical new ballets that gave equal expression to all the arts involved. Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes were among the greatest fruits… Read More
Surprise!
Nap time in studio 1. Just kidding, it’s Firebird rehearsal. I bet you all weren’t expecting to hear from me again… But lo and behold, here I am. Much has been going on here at 818 SE 6th. We’re deep into rehearsals for our Stravinsky rep, and speaking for myself, it’s such a nice change… Read More
