Mondavi Center 2011-12 Gala Program

mondavi center Ballet Prel joca j

Blanche Neige U.S. premiere performances

March 17–18, 2012 Commemorative Program

Cover and interior cover photos Š Jean-Claude Carbonne

welcome

Linda P.B. Katehi

Margrit Mondavi

from UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi and Margrit Mondavi

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t is our pleasure to welcome you to these very special performances, the first in North America, of Angelin Preljocaj’s full-length Blanche Neige. That the United States premiere of this great work is taking place at our Mondavi Center, in only its tenth season, indicates how far the establishment of this beautiful venue has brought the cultural life of our region. With the forthcoming establishment of the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art across the street, we expect a similar energizing of the visual alongside the performing arts.

Many of you will be attending the first Mondavi Gala, which surrounds the March 17 performance of Blanche Neige. By doing so, you are generously supporting academic ventures at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and artistic ventures at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. For that we thank you very much. We thank, as well, the Honorary Gala Committee and generous sponsors, who are listed elsewhere in this evening’s program.

To all of you here, whether from our region or visiting, we welcome you to the UC Davis campus and thank you for being part of our Mondavi Center family.

Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi UC Davis

Margrit Mondavi Chair, Honorary Gala Committee

MONDAVI CENTER Blanche Neige Commemorative Program | March 17–18, 2012

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Clare Hasler-Lewis

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n the course of this weekend, we are honoring the legacy of Robert and Margrit Mondavi and their complementary vision of great food, great wine and great art. It is has been our own vision to build a strong partnership between our neighboring organizations, the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts and the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.

The presentation of Blanche Neige in its U.S. premiere and the creation of the first Mondavi Gala is our most ambitious partnership to date, blending events that showcase the great wines of California, great cuisine shaped by Chef Michael Chiarello and the beautiful art of Angelin Preljocaj. The proceeds from the evening of March 17 will go in equal measure to support graduate education at the Robert Mondavi Institute and the Mondavi Center’s Artistic Ventures Fund.

We have had many generous sponsors that have made this event possible, steered by lead presenting sponsor Western Health Advantage and presenting sponsor Wells Fargo.

Our wonderful friend Barbara K. Jackson was a leader, as usual, and the very first individual sponsor to sign up for Blanche Neige. All of our generous sponsors are listed elsewhere in the program.

tive directors

from the execu

Don Roth

We wanted our first Mondavi Gala to be focused around the presentation of a great and universal work of art. We could not have found a work more appropriate than Preljocaj’s Blanche Neige.

Don Roth, Jeremy Ganter, Dean Jessie Ann Owens and Margrit Mondavi traveled to France 15 months ago to view performances of this work. They found it, as we believe you will, moving, exciting and uplifting. We believe this will be seen as one of the great full-length dance works of this century.

Thank you for joining us at these performances and for supporting the vision of the Robert Mondavi Institute and the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

Don Roth, Ph.D. Executive Director Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts UC Davis 2

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Clare Hasler-Lewis, Ph.D., MBA Executive Director Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science UC Davis

Š Jean-Claude Carbonne

Mondavi Gala Please join us in thanking the generous sponsors that have made the Mondavi Gala possible.

Presenting Sponsor

Lead Presenting Sponsor

Sponsors

Barbara K. Jackson Margrit Mondavi The Niello Company Opus One Consul General of France Romain Serman and Laura Serman Table Sponsors

Runyon, Salzman & Einhorn, Inc. UC Davis Health System Food and Wine Sponsors

Alpha Omega C.G. Di Arie Vineyard & Winery Cakebread Cellars Constellation Brands, Inc. Hagafen Cellars Honig Vineyard & Winery Joseph Phelps Vineyards Maytag Dairy Farms Nickel & Nickel Robert Mondavi Winery Staglin Family Vineyard Vellum Wine Craft ZD Wines In-Kind Sponsors

Michael Chiarello and Bottega Napa Valley Opus One Consulate General of France, San Francisco Media Sponsor

The Sacramento Bee Special Thanks to

BP Productions Dixon Florist Elaine Bell Catering Fiore Made in the Shade Tent Rentals Seven One Seven Parking Services of CA 4

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Robert and Margrit Mondavi

Center for the Performing Arts

| UC Davis

© JC Carbonne

Presents

Ballet Preljocaj Blanche Neige (Snow white) A Director’s Choice and Hallmark Inn, Davis Dance Series Event Saturday, March 17, 2012 • 7PM Sunday, March 18, 2012 • 3PM Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, UC Davis Series Sponsor

Question & Answer Session Sunday, March 18, 2012, post-performance Moderator: Ruth Rosenberg, Artist Engagement Coordinator, Mondavi Center, UC Davis (see p. 6)

The artists and your fellow audience members appreciate silence during the performance. Please be sure that you have switched off all electronic devices.

Videotaping, photographing and audio recording are strictly forbidden. Violators are subject to removal.

MONDAVI CENTER Blanche Neige Commemorative Program | March 17–18, 2012

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Q&A session moderator: Ruth Rosenberg Ruth Rosenberg is the artist engagement coordinator for the Mondavi Center, UC Davis. She oversees residencies by touring artists, Pre-Performance Talks and Question & Answer Sessions with the artists. Rosenberg has organized in-depth residencies with artists like Delfeayo Marsalis, American Ballet Theatre’s ABT II and the Merce Cunningham and Limon dance companies.

All photos © Jean-Claude Carbonne

Rosenberg started her career as a dancer and served as artistic director of the Sacramento-based Ruth Rosenberg Dance Ensemble from 1990–2001.

She also performed with Sacramento Ballet, Capitol City Ballet and Ed Mock & Dancers of San Francisco. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honoraria, including a Dance Fellowship and five choreography grants from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission. In 2008, she was included in Sacramento Magazine’s Power & Influence 100 and named a finalist for the Arts & Business Council’s Individual Leadership award.

From 2009–10, she served on Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s For Art’s Sake Arts Initiative leadership team as arts education chair and currently chairs the Any Given Child program committee.

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© JC Carbonne

Ballet Preljocaj Blanche Neige (Snow white) Creation 2008 Piece for 25 dancers Duration of the performance: 90 minutes without interval Angelin Preljocaj, Choreography Jean Paul Gaultier, Costumes Gustav Mahler, Music 79 D, Additional Music Thierry Leproust, Set Design Patrick Riou, Lighting Cécile Giovansili and Sébastien Dué, Lighting Assistants Youri Van Den Bosch, Associate Artistic Director Natalia Naidich, Rehearsal Assistant Dany Lévêque, Choreologist Alexandre del Perugia, Absailing Trainer Dancers

Snow White: Nagisa Shirai The Prince: Fabrizio Clemente The Queen: Patrizia Telleschi The Mother: Nuriya Nagimova The King: Sergi Amoros Aparicio The Cats/Gargoyles: Natacha Grimaud and Lorena O’Neil and Yacnoy Abreu Alfonso, Virginie Caussin, Gaëlle Chappaz, Aurélien Charrier, Baptiste Coissieu, Sergio Diaz, Carlos Ferreira Da Silva, Céline Galli, Caroline Jaubert, Jean-Charles Jousni, Céline Marié, Fran Sanchez, Anna Tatarova, Julien Thibault, Yurie Tsugawa, Liam Warren, Nicolas Zemmour Atelier Atento, Scenery Construction Les Ateliers du Costume, Costume Maker Luc Corazza, Technical Director Martin Lecarme, General Production and Sound Manager Sébastien Dué, Lighting Manager Michel Carbuccia, Mario Domingos, Stage Manager Juliette Corazza, Stagehand Martine Hayer, Wardrobe Mistress Created during a residency at Grand Théâtre de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, France.

Coproduction Biennale de la danse de Lyon/Conseil Général du Rhône (Lyon, France), Théâtre National de Chaillot (Paris, France), Grand Théâtre de Provence (Aix-en-Provence, France), Staatsballet Berlin (Germany) Special thanks to Jean Paul Gaultier A prize winner at Globes de Cristal 2009 The Ballet Preljocaj, National Choreographic Centre is subsidised by the Culture and Communication Ministry—DRAC PACA, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region, the Bouches du Rhône County Council, the Pays d’Aix Community, the City of Aix-en-Provence and it is supported by the Groupe Partouche—Casino Municipal d’Aix-Thermal helping it to develop its projects and Institut français- Ministry for Foreign Affairs, helping to finance some of its overseas tours.

North American Representative: Sunny Artist Management Inc.—Ilter Ibrahimof, Director—www.sunnyartistmanagement.com MONDAVI CENTER Blanche Neige Commemorative Program | March 17–18, 2012

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Program Notes

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now White is a great romantic, contemporary ballet, based on the Grimm brothers’ version of the fairytale.

I was very keen to tell a story. I have recently created some very abstract pieces with Empty Moves and Eldorado (Sonntags Abschied) and, as often happens, I wanted to do something completely different, write something very concrete and offer something magical and enchanted. No doubt it was to avoid getting into a rut. And, also because, like everyone else, I love stories.

Snow White is a narrative ballet with its own dramatic content. The places are represented by Thierry Leproust’s sets. The dancers play their parts in costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier. It’s not the myth or the legend of Snow White; it is Snow White herself. It is really her story.

It is not easy to tell a story through dance, and that is what is so fascinating. How do you get the story across?

In L’Anoure, I chose to let the audience hear Pascal Quignard’s text on the soundtrack. But with Snow White, I’m using an argument that everyone knows, which allows me to concentrate on what is being said by the bodies, the energies and the space and what the characters feel and experience in order to show how the bodies are transcended. And Snow White contains objects that are wonderful for a choreographer’s imagination.

The symbols of the tale: I have followed the version by the Grimm brothers, with just a few personal variations based on my own analysis of the symbols in the tale.

Bettelheim describes Snow White as an Oedipus in reverse.

The wicked stepmother is without doubt the central character in the tale. She is the one who I examine through her narcissistic determination not to give up on seduction and her role as a woman, even if it means sacrificing her stepdaughter. The understanding of symbols belongs to adults as well as children; it is for everyone, and that’s why I like tales.

This ballet is particularly important to me—and I insist on the word “ballet”—as it brings together 25 dancers of the company. They will be dancing to Mahler’s symphonies, whose magnificent excesses are of a romantic nature. Historically, Grimm’s tales are too, even though their refined style suggests a more contemporary form.

Trying to move people emotionally is a delicate undertaking. Mahler’s music has to be used with enormous care, but it is a risk I am keen to take.

—Angelin Preljocaj

Preljocaj’s Snow White: Indulging both Darkness and Light

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ngelin Preljocaj is an extremely popular and prolific choreographer who creates stylish, sexy, fiercely athletic and playful work that invites us to see with new eyes. He reconsiders iconic themes in art and myth, often exploding a single image into an extended meditation that challenges common interpretations with extraordinary violence, physicality and sexual overtones. Trained in classical ballet and contemporary dance, Preljocaj is an eminently creative inventor of movement that is often delightfully weird. Notice the tenderness expressed within awkward lifts when Snow White’s Prince extends his farewell kiss into a dramatic duet with his seemingly dead beloved. Never shy of exploring humanity’s darkness, Preljocaj expands this necrophiliac urge into an extended-play duet that is both sweet and creepy.

Preljocaj often mixes light and dark in disturbing ways. His 1997 work Annunciation revisits the Virgin Mary’s life-changing encounter with the Angel Gabriel, who announces her new status as Mother of God, chosen to loan her womb to God’s human incarnation. Preljocaj presents this shocking revelation with harsh lighting and austere lines that highlight Mary’s horror at her predicament—and its inevitability. He suggests a Virgin Mary not only blessed but physically violated by the hand of God. We consider not only her shock and the awkward challenge this pregnancy presents to her betrothal to Joseph but also the raw physicality of Immaculate Conception. What would that feel like? Preljocaj is constantly creating opportunities to pose radical new questions within familiar contexts.

Preljocaj’s work is often intensely and violently sexual. Consider his treatment of Stravinsky-Nijinsky’s 1913 Rite of Spring, the story of a maiden chosen to dance herself to death for her community, and the topic of my doctoral research at UC Davis in Practice as Research. In Preljocaj’s 2001 Rite, men sit menacingly in the shadows, watching, as one by one each woman strips her skivvies from beneath her miniskirt, and proceeds to kick and flail in a fierce dance for her life. Do they seek to be chosen?

Or to blend into the crowd? Or to return this fateful “male gaze” with some measure of self-determination? Preljocaj’s sacrifice suggests gang rape: his villagers strip The Chosen One naked, shove her onto a grasscovered platform and paw at her while she flails herself to exhaustion.

This raw and writhing human flesh becomes animal on its grassy island, removed from the sea of humanity that surrounds her. Should we pity her?

Or congratulate her for escaping the clutches of society?

Designer Leproust’s stylized verdure in Rite parallels his moss-covered rocks for Snow White’s forest and the sexual freedom she discovers there.

Unable to formalize her entry to adulthood with the traditional wedding that might normally follow her debutante ball, Snow White consummates her transition in the woods, Midsummer Night Dream style. Leaving the court behind in her narrow escape from the Queen, Snow White wanders the wilderness to happen upon another mating ritual that is as free flowing, chaotic and delightfully lascivious as the courtly quadrille was rigid, ordered, repressed. Snow White eagerly joins the mêlée, escaping not only her stepmother’s murderous envy, but also the repressed adulthood of her father’s palace. Traditional tale; fresh twist of light and dark.

—Hilary Bryan Hilary Bryan, MFA, CMA, is a senior lecturer in critical studies at the California College of the Arts and a doctoral candidate in practice as research at UC Davis, considering contemporary re-imaginings of The Rite of Spring.

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A Century of Snow White

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he long history of Snow White is, of course, punctuated by Walt Disney’s film version from 1937. That first feature length cartoon was an international phenomenon, from sensational openings in Los Angeles and New York through cities and small towns across the United States, in Paris, London and the rest of Europe. But a glance at the “life” of Snow White over just the last hundred years shows the importance of the story in the lives of children as well as adults, before Disney and after.

In 1912, a stage production of the fairy tale opened in New York written by Winthrop Ames, one of the important Broadway talents of the era. Various performances turned up throughout the U.S. for a number of years, and the story seemed perfect for all media and venues. In 1926, a syndicated Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs comic strip appeared in American newspapers, and four years later in New York, and around Christmas—the time for so many revivals of the story—Snow White and Rose Red was performed on the stage of the Roxy Theatre as a preliminary to the films showing there.

The story even made international news, as in Berlin in 1934, when the convention of National Socialist Teachers sought to uncover the deep meaning of fairy tales. For these fascist German educators, Snow White symbolized “the German soul,” with the evil stepmother embodying “the unholy trinity of communism, Catholicism and capitalism.”

For better and for worse, Disney’s version became the model for most of the Snow White films to come. The dwarfs themselves starred in some World War II propaganda films produced by Disney, and in 1943, Warner Bros. released a short cartoon, Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, that deliberately used an all-black cast of characters to invoke the lily-whiteness of Disney’s film and a jazz score (including the Gershwins’ “Blues in the Night”) that contrasted with the homogenized, classical style favored by Disney.

There was also the forgettable Snow White and the Three Stooges from 1961, a low point for the princess and the Stooges. The 1989 Oscar ceremony recorded perhaps the most lamentable of all Snow White references, when an actress portraying the princess opened the show singing a duet with Rob Lowe, with new words set to the music from “Proud Mary.”

More recently, though, Hollywood has gotten the reference right.

Disney’s 2007 film, Enchanted, pays fitting tribute to Snow White, sending up the fairy-tale conventions of that movie but also remaining lovingly respectful of them. And possibly the best sign of the continuing impact of Disney’s film, and of the story in general, is the anecdotal evidence from generation after generation of kids terrified by the Evil Queen, the most compelling character in almost all of the versions of Snow White, and the one who most directly links audiences over the last century.

—Eric Smoodin

The best known of the early Snow White films was produced in 1916. That movie starred Marguerite Clark, who had also played the title role on stage and who made a formidable career out of portraying young girls. She was 33 at the time of the film.

Just a few years before Disney’s film in 1933, Betty Boop starred as an animated Snow White in a Paramount cartoon short. Betty’s trademark “boop-oop-a-doop” is, to say the least, much more grown up than the adolescent sexuality of Snow White in Disney’s film, and the music in Betty’s version is much jazzier than the score of the later animated feature. In Betty’s Snow White Cab Calloway, giving voice to Koko the Clown, provides a rendition of “St. James Infirmary Blues” that stands out as one of the most impressive musical performances in the American cinema from the 1930s.

Eric Smoodin is a professor of American Studies and Film Studies at UC Davis. He is the author of the forthcoming book Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (British Film Institute). He is also the author of Regarding Frank Capra: Audience, Celebrity, and American Film Studies, 1930-1960 (Duke, 2004).

But it’s Disney’s Technicolor cartoon that emerged as a masterpiece.

The film was acclaimed as “poetry” when it opened in Los Angeles in December 1937. New Yorkers came out in record numbers week after week in rain and snow to see the film at Radio City Music Hall in the winter of 1938. In Baltimore, fans rioted as they pushed their way into the theater showing the movie. And the enthusiasm of these “ordinary” fans was matched by the acclaim of more highbrow authorities. The Cleveland Museum proudly announced the acquisition of some of the celluloid paintings from the film in 1939, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York soon made Disney himself one of its trustees.

MONDAVI CENTER Blanche Neige Commemorative Program | March 17–18, 2012

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now White, or Sneewittchen in German, was one of many titles that folklorists attached to the famous fairytale, a story that had multiple meanings to readers in the 19th century. In Italy, one variant of the fairytales—Maria, the Wicked Stepmother and the Seven Robbers—elevated the importance of the evil stepmother, while also casting the seven miners as thieves. A related story that circulated in Switzerland, called Death of the Seven Dwarfs, warned of the perils faced by the dwarfs after their decision to co-habitate with an attractive, single girl. Even the well-known version authored by the Grimm brothers changed over time; after the release of the first edition, the evil mother was changed to a stepmother, thus enhancing the role of the birth mother as a symbolic guardian of Snow White’s innocence.

The Ballet Preljocaj adaptation of the fairytale, Blanche Neige— premiered on September 25, 2008 at the Biennale de la danse in Lyon, France—hews faithfully to the Grimm brothers’ rendition of the story. Shaped by the interpretations of Bruno Bettelheim, a psychologist who specialized in the psychoanalysis of fairytales, the ballet dramatizes the conflict between Snow White and her wicked stepmother, who Angelin Preljocaj has argued is “without doubt the central character of the tale.” Clad in a simple white tunic, Snow White projects an air of youthful innocence in opposition to her stepmother, whose black and red dominatrix garb is tinged with sadomasochistic overtones. The stark juxtaposition of the two characters is in keeping with Bettelheim’s Freudian interpretation of the tale, in which “sexual innocence, whiteness, is contrasted with sexual desire, symbolized by red blood.”

The score of the ballet, made up of a patchwork of symphonic excerpts by Gustav Mahler interspersed with electronic music, further accentuates the differences between Snow White and the evil Queen. The use of Mahler’s music becomes perhaps most apt when symphonic movements with idyllic or pastoral connotations are paired with Snow White’s interactions with forest-dwelling characters, including the seven miners. When the miners make their initial appearance after a day of mining, their vertically choreographed number is accompanied by the third movement of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. The movement—which famously interpolates the folk tune “Frère Jacques” and evokes the style of a Klezmer band—was said to have been inspired by a woodcut print depicting a band of animals marching at the funeral of a hunter.

Elsewhere, the moving “Adagietto” from Symphony No. 5 is used to great effect during the prince’s emotional pas de deux with Snow White, who he has mistakenly assumed dead.

Although some variants of the Snow White tale do not clarify the ultimate fate of the wicked stepmother, in Blanche Neige the Queen’s swift downfall is a climactic part of Snow White’s wedding day Forced to flit about in violent circles wearing red-hot shoes made of iron, the Queen’s dance is closely choreographed with the muscular, brass-infused strains of Mahler. Her deadly dance serves as a cautionary tale for those who abuse the privileges of adulthood out of spite and jealousy: revenge is a dish better served hot.

—Michael Accinno Michael Accinno is entering his second year as a doctoral student in Musicology at UC Davis. He holds a B.M. in vocal performance from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and an M.A. in musicology from the University of Iowa. Michael’s current research explores the reception of street musicians in urban centers of the United States during the 19th century; he will present a paper on the topic at the the Society for American Music’s annual meeting in spring 2012.

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Ballet Preljocaj reated in December 1984, the Preljocaj Company became the National Choreographic Centre of Champigny-sur-Marne and Val-de-Marne in 1989.

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SNOW WHITE

In 1996, the ballet was welcomed at the Cité du Livre in Aix-enPRELJOCAJ Provence and became Ballet Preljocaj—NationalANGELIN Choreographic Centre of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region, the Bouchesdu-Rhône Department, the Pays d’Aix Community and the City CREATION 2008 of Aix-en-Provence.

For 26 dancers

Since founding his company, now composed of 26 dancers, Angelin Preljocaj has created 45 choreographic works, ranging from solo to larger formations. The ballet performs about 100 dates per year on tour, in France and abroad.

Beyond the repertory performances, Ballet Preljocaj has been multiplying its local actions in Aix-en-Provence and neighboring communities in order to share its passion for dance with a broader public: lectures on dance interpretation through video, public rehearsals, contemporary dance classes and workshops and dance interventions in urban public space—all means of viewing and understanding dance from different perspectives.

Ballet Preljocaj is now settled into its new home, designed by architect Rudy Ricciotti in Aix-en-Provence. The Pavillon Noir is the first production center built for dance, where artists will be able to go through the entire creative process, from workshops and rehearsals to staging and performance. The Pavillon Noir opened its doors on October 20, 2006. Angelin Preljocaj is the artistic director.

Performances are programmed all year round and include Angelin Preljocaj’s creations and also invited companies.

CONTACTS

Dancers

Direction  Nicole Saïd, nicolesaid@preljocaj Production / Booking  Mathilde Cocq, diffusion@p Ophélie Coq, production@preljocaj.org Communication Sophie Paul / Elise Pulvérail, com@

Nagisa Shirai (Snow White), was born in Japan Tel : + 33 (0)4 42 93 48 00 - Fax : + 33 (0)4 42 9 in 1981. She began classical dance at Tamami www.preljocaj.org Watanabe Ballet. She pursued her classical dance training in Nantes, and in 1998, entered the National Music and Dance Conservatory of Lyon.

There she performed in Big City by Kurt Jooss, Swinging Charles Trenet by Michel Kelemenis with Myriam Naisy and 4 point 5 by Abou Lagraa. She also danced in Experience, a personal choreography project presented in Japan.

She joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2001.

Fabrizio Clemente (the prince), was born in 1985 in Italy. He began studying classical dance in 2000 and studied contemporary dance in 2004 at a private school in Pistoia. In 2005, he worked for the Rome-based SpellBound Dance Company directed by Mauro Astolfi. In 2007, he left the company to study at the Rosella Hightower Dance School in Cannes. In 2008, he joined the junior section of the Ballet de Lorraine at Nancy, directed by Didier Deschamps. He joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2009.

Patrizia Telleschi (the queen) was born in 1980 in Italy. She studied classical and contemporary dance in Rome with Denys Ganio and Mauro Astolfi and in Florence with Eugenio Buratti, Katiuscia Bozza, Eugenio Scigliano and Francesco Testoni. In 2005, she worked for the Mvuala Sungani Company. In 2007, she joined the Rbr Dance Company directed by Cristiano Fagioli. In 2008, she worked for Kaos Balletto di Firenze directed by Roberto Sartori and Katiuscia Bozza. In 2009, she worked for the Evolution Dance Theater Illusion directed by Anthony Heinl. She joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2009.

Nuriya Nagimova (the mother) was born in 1983 in Russia. She was awarded an Irina Sirova High School diploma with Highest Honors at the Moscow Ballet School. She joined the Bolshoi Theatre in 2001. She danced ballet corps in Raymonda, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Pakhita, Cinderella, In the Upper Room and The Lost Illusion. In 2009, she was one of 10 dancers from the Bolshoi chosen by Angelin Preljocaj to participate with Ballet Preljocaj in the creation of And then, one thousand years of peace. She joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2011.

Sergi Amoros Aparicio (the king), born in 1985 in Spain, he began his classical dance training at the Artemis dance school in Tarragona and later completed his training at the Royal Professional Dance Conservatory in Madrid. After obtaining a scholarship in 2003, he worked with the company Europa Dance led by Jean-Albert Cartier. In 2008, he joined the Young Ballet Gala Chemnitz and performed the work Madrigal created by Nacho Duato. He then worked for the company La Mov led by Victor Jimenez until 2009, when he joined Ballet Preljocaj.

Natacha Grimaud (cat/gargoyle) was born in 1976 in France. She began her studies at the School of Dance of the Opéra de Paris before studying at the Rosella Hightower Dance School in Cannes. She danced in the Nice Ballet and the Northern Ballet troupe—CNC Nord-Pas-de-Calais; and she interpreted several pieces: Blue Beard and Don Quichotte (Maryse Delente), Sync (Nils Christie), Esplanade (Paul Taylor) and La Rue (Jean-Claude Gallotta). She joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2002.

Lorena O’Neill (cat/gargoyle) was born in 1976 in Argentina. She began her studies at the Norma Fontenla school at Mar del Plata in Argentina and continued at the Secondary Art Institute—Colon Opera Theatre, Buenos Aires. In 1998, she continued her studies in France at the National Center of Contemporary Dance L’Esquisse, in Angers.

She played roles in Sweaty Hands with two other dancers from the Fata Morgana Company. She joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2002.

Yacnoy Abreu Alfonso was born in 1985 in Cuba.

He studied modern, contemporary and folkloric Cuban dance and began his professional career in 2003. He danced in the company Danza Contemporanea de Cuba and Ballet of Cuba National

Television. He worked with choreographers Rafael Bonachela, Cathy Marston, Jan Linkens and Lucas Bruni. As professor and first dancer at the National Academy of Dance in Cuba, he decided in 2011 to work in Europe and joined Ballet Preljocaj.

Virginie Caussin was born in 1984 in Belgium.

She trained in Namur (Belgium) at the Centre de danse Osmose dance school, directed by Graziella Gillebertus. In 1998, she joined the In Principaë Ballet. In 2005, she joined the Académie Internationale de la Danse in Paris where she trained in various classes combining dance, song and acting.

In 2006, she took part in the French and Belgian tour of the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in L’amour, la danse and Zarathoustra, le chant de la danse. She joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2006.

Gaëlle Chappaz was born in 1985 in France.

She studied at the Rosella Hightower Dance School in Cannes from 1991–2001, where she worked on several techniques such as contemporary, classical, improvisation workshops and more.

From 1999–2001, she frequently took part in creations with Philippe Tallard (director of the Ballets de Manheim) and Anthony Egea (Révolution Company).

She joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2002.

Aurélien Charrier was born in France in 1989.

After studying at the Conservatory of Dance of Angers in jazz section, he joined the Conservatory of Paris in contemporary section. He danced in the Contemporary Junior Ballet of Paris. He worked with Jean-Claude Gallotta, Toméo Vergès, Carolyn Carlson, Mariko Oyama (for Josef Nadj), Karim Sebbar, Andy de Groat, Hela Fattoumi and Eric Lamoureux among others. He joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2009.

Baptiste Coissieu was born in France in 1987.

He studied at Olivier Coste’s School of Valence, at the National Conservatory of Dance of Valence in classical section and National Conservatory of Dance of Lyon in contemporary section. He then danced for the Junior Ballet of Lyon and worked with Yuval Pick, Michel Kelemenis, Frédéric Lescure and Olivia Grandville. In 2007, he joined the D.A.N.C.E program (Dance Apprentice Network at Cross Europe) where he took part in creations of Frédéric Flamand, William Forsythe, Angelin Preljocaj and Wayne MacGregor. He joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2008.

Sergio Diaz, born in 1981 in Boston, began his career with jazz, classical, contemporary and hip-hop dance at the Annie Oggero Creative Dance School before being admitted to Rosella Hightower Dance School in Cannes. He joined Ballet Preljocaj in 1999. In 2003, he left the company to appear in musical comedies (Damsels of Rochefort and Chicago) and began a career as a model. After this experience, he rejoined Ballet Preljocaj in 2005.

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Carlos Ferreira Da Silva was born in 1979 in Brazil. He studied sport education and classical and contemporary dance at the University of Pernambuco. When he met the French choreographer Marianne Isson, he decided to continue his career as a dancer. He settled in France in 2001, and he worked with Nathalie Gatineau, Philippe Jamet, Myriam Dooge, Katerine Cadol and Gilles Schamber among others. He also participated in the documentary Désir et Sexualité directed by Nils Tavernier and choreographed by Yann Bridard. He then worked for the company Regis Obadia and for Hervé Koubi. He joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2009.

Anna Tatarova was born in Russia in 1986. She received a Tatiana Galtseva High School Diploma with highest honors from the Moscow Dance School. In 2007 she finished her studies with distinction at the University of Bolshoi Ballet Academy with specialization in pedagogy and choreography. She joined the Bolshoi Theatre in 2003. In the ballet corps, trained by Svetlana Adyrkhaeva, she danced in most of Bolshoi ballets, in particular Coppélia, Pakhita, Giselle, Lea and Cinderella. In 2009, she participated in the creation of Angelin Preljocaj’s And then, one thousand years of peace, with Ballet Preljocaj. She joined the troupe in 2011.

Céline Galli, born in 1974 in France, studied dance at the School of Expression, led by Nelly Galli; at the National School of Music in the Region of Nice, led by Janine Monin; and at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance of Paris, led by Quentin Rouillier. She was the assistant of Stéphane Locci, attended master classes with Carolyn Carlson and danced for Bruno Jacquin, Alain Maratra, Maryse Delente and Jean Christophe Paré, as well as in cabarets and musical comedies. She joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2001.

Julien Thibault was born in 1984 in France. He studied at the National Conservatory of Grenoble and the National Conservatory of Dance and Music of Paris. He worked with Pédro Pauwels, Hervé Robbe and Philippe Tréhet in the Junior Ballet of Paris. Then he danced for Odile Duboc and for Fabiene Hamel in several street performances. In 2006, he joined Philippe Tréhet for the creation of Açoka, then he assisted him for Gardiens d’étoiles éparses at the Junior Ballet of Paris. He joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2007.

Caroline Joubert was born in France in 1989. She studied classical, jazz, contemporary dance and theater at the Music Dance and Drama National School in Brives. She then joined the National Conservatory of Dance and Music of Paris. At the Junior Ballet she worked with Toméo Vergès, Juha Marsalo, Edmond Russo, Eric Lamoureux and Héla Fattoumi. She joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2009.

Yurie Tsugawa was born in 1988 in Japan. She began studying classical dance at the Chiba Ballet Academy before pursuing her education at the Chie Tomioka International Ballet of Tokyo. In 2005, she entered the Rosella Hightower Dance School in Cannes under the direction of Monique Loudière. Within the Junior Ballet of Cannes, she performed pieces by choreographers such as Eliezer Di Britto, Jiri Kylian, Myriam Naisy, Hervé Koubi and Jean-Christophe Maillot. In 2008, she worked for Ballet Preljocaj as a trainee within the creation Snow White. At the same time, she was admitted into the company Sylvain Groud. In 2009, she joined Ballet Preljocaj as a dancer.

Jean-Charles Jousni was born in France in 1986.

He studied contemporary and classical dance at the National School of Music and Dance in Brest.

In the meantime, he performed Ose and Experience 4 with Herwann Asseh’s company, Moral Soul. He studied at the Rosella Hightower Dance School in Cannes, working with Monet Robier and Hacène Bahiri. He joined the G.U.I.D. (Urban Group of Dance Intervention) of Ballet Preljocaj in 2007 before integrating into the troupe in 2008.

Céline Marié was born in France in 1979. She began her dancing career at the private school of Mylène Riou, before continuing at the classical School of Music and studying at the P.A.R.T.S school in Brussels, run by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker. She played a role in Give Me Something That Will Not Die with Claire Croizé and 9 Floor Scenes beside Andy Deneys, with whom she founded the Golathar company. She joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2003.

Fran Sanchez was born in 1988 in Spain. He studied jazz dance in Madrid and also studied ballet at the Victor Ullate Dance Centre. He then collaborated with many companies including Santamaria Dance Company, while working with Juan Carlos Santamaria and Dantzaz Konpaina.

He also worked for Thomas Noone and his company in the Bound project. He joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2009.

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Liam Warren was born in 1989 in Canada.

At the age of 11, he joined Canada’s National Ballet School in Toronto. While studying, he performed with the National Ballet of Canada in many ballets. He then studied dance in Paris at l’Ecole du Ballet de l’Institut International de Danse Janine Stanlowa. He attended the Codarts University in the Netherlands in the Bachelor of Dance Program.

He danced pieces by Jiri Kylian, Andre Gingras and Itzik Galili.

He joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2009.

Nicolas Zemmour was born in 1987 in France.

He discovered dancing with Sébastien Oliveros in Marseilles, and he then entered the National School of Dance in Avignon, run by Nicole CalisePetracchi. He learned classical, modern and contemporary dance. He also studied at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, Germany, where he learned about the style and philosophy of Pina Bausch. He joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2009.

Dancer photos © Yang Wang, Jean-Claude Carbonne, Damir Ysupov

© Benoit Linero

Angelin Preljocaj (choreographer) was born in the Paris region of France and began studying classical ballet before turning to contemporary dance, which he studied with Karin Waehner.

In 1980, he went to New York to work with Zena Rommett and Merce Cunningham, after which he resumed his studies in France.

There his teachers included American choreographer Viola Farber and the French choreographer Quentin Rouillier. He then joined Dominique Bagouet before founding his own company in December 1984.

Preljocaj collaborates regularly with other artists including Enki Bilal (Roméo et Juliette, 1990), Goran Vejvoda (Paysage après la bataille, 1997), Air (Near Life Experience, 2003), Granular Synthesis (“N”, 2004), Fabrice Hyber (Les 4 saisons ..., 2005), Karlheinz Stockhausen (Eldorado—Sonntags Abschied, 2007), Jean Paul Gaultier (Snow White, 2008), Constance Guisset (Le funambule, 2009), Claude Lévêque (Siddharta, 2010) and Laurent Garnier and Subodh Gupta (And then, one thousand years of peace, 2010).

MONDAVI CENTER Blanche Neige Commemorative Program | March 17–18, 2012

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His productions are now part of the repertoire of many companies, many of which also commission original productions from him, notably La Scala of Milan, the New York City Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet.

He has made short films (Le postier, Idées noires in 1991) and several full-length films, notably Un trait d’union and Annonciation (1992 and 2003), for which he was awarded the “Grand Prix du Film d’Art” in 2003, the “Vidéo-Danse” First Prize in 1992 and the Prague Video Festival Prize in 1993. In 2009, he created Snow White, featuring his own piece, and in 2011 designed for Air France the commercial L’Envoi, based on the choreography of Le Parc.

He has since has collaborated on several films of his own choreographic work: Les Raboteurs with Cyril Collard (based on the painting by Gustave Caillebotte) in 1988, Pavillon Noir with Pierre Coulibeuf in 2006 and Eldorado/Preljocaj with Olivier Assayas in 2007.

Several books have been written about his work, notably Angelin Preljocaj (2003), Pavillon Noir (2006) and Angelin Preljocaj, Topologie de l’invisible (2008).

Throughout the course of his career, Angelin Preljocaj has received numerous awards, including the Grand Prix National de la Danse awarded by the French Ministry of Culture in 1992, the Benois de la danse for Le Parc in 1995, the Bessie Award for Annonciation in 1997, Les Victoires de la musique for Roméo et Juliette in 1997 and the Globe de Cristal for Snow White in 2009. He is an Officier des Arts et des Lettres and a Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, and he was appointed an Officier de l’ordre du Mérite in May 2006.

© Jean-Claude Carbonne

Since October 2006, Ballet Preljocaj and its 26 permanent dancers have resided at the Pavillon Noir in Aix-en-Provence, a building entirely dedicated to dance, with Angelin Preljocaj as its artistic director.

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The Niello Company proudly supports the Mondavi Gala featuring Ballet Preljocaj’s Blanche Neige.

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Creations Since 1985

1988 Liqueurs de chair, 9 dancers et 1 musician

2010 And then, one thousand years of peace for the Ballet Preljocaj and the Bolshoi Theatre, 21 dancers; Siddharta for the Paris Opera Ballet—Opera Bastille, 50 dancers

1987 Hallali Romée, 7 dancers Le petit napperon bouge, 4 dancers 1986 À nos héros, 7 dancers

2009 Le funambule, solo

1985 Marché noir, 3 dancers Larmes blanches, 4 dancers Peurs bleues, 5 dancers

2008 Snow White, 25 dancers 2007 Eldorado (Sonntags Abschied), 12 dancers; Empty moves (parts I &II), 4 dancers Haka, 15 dancers 2006 Fire sketch, for 19 dancers of the European program D.A.N.C.E. (Grendel choreography), Elliot Goldenthal’s Opera, directed by Julie Taymor for the Los Angeles Opera 2005 Les 4 saisons ..., 12 dancers 2004 Le Songe de Médée for the Paris Opera Ballet, 5 dancers « N », 12 dancers Empty moves (part I), 4 dancers 2003 Near Life Experience, 12 dancers 2001 The Rite of Spring, 12 dancers MC 14/22 « Ceci est mon corps », 12 dancers Helikopter, 6 dancers 2000 Portraits in corpore, 10 dancers 1999 Personne n’épouse les méduses, 12 dancers 1998 Casanova, for the Paris Opera Ballet—Palais Garnier, 16 dancers Centaures, 2 dancers 1997 Paysage après la bataille, 12 dancers La Stravaganza for the New York City Ballet, 12 dancers 1996 Roméo et Juliette for the Ballet Preljocaj, 24 dancers 1995 Petit essai sur le temps qui passe, 7 dancers L’Anoure, 11 dancers Annonciation, 2 dancers L’Oiseau de feu, 22 dancers, for the Munich Ballet 1994 Le Parc for the Paris Opera Ballet—Palais Garnier, 22 dancers

1992 La Peau du Monde, 13 dancers 1990 Amer America, 8 dancers Roméo et Juliette, 30 dancers, for the Lyon Opéra Ballet 1989 Un trait d’union, 2 dancers Noces, 10 dancers

© Jean-Claude Carbonne

1993 Hommage aux Ballets Russes: Parade, 10 dancers Le Spectre de la rose, 6 dancers Sand Skin, for the London Contemporary School, 14 dancers

MONDAVI CENTER Blanche Neige Commemorative Program | March 17–18, 2012

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It was not until 1976 that his ideas became a reality. His first clothing collection took the fashion world by storm. The Gaultier style was born. The designer loves to surprise and mix styles. His own look (seaman’s jersey, kilt and crew-cut platinum blonde hair) has turned him into a legend.

Known as the “enfant terrible of French fashion,” he has continually revolutionised fashion—with recycled fashion in 1980 (car leather and cans turned into clothing and jewelry), the Corset Dress in 1983, and the skirt for men two years later.

His success allows him to continue his fight against the barriers of race and geography and against intolerance. The themes of his collections underline his ambition to mix genres and break rules: La concierge est dans l’escalier, Les Rock-Stars, Une garde-robe pour 2, Black Beauties, Barbes. As the darling of show business, he has worked with many celebrities, including Madonna, for whom he designed the famous twin-coned corset. He has also designed costumes for films such as Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element and others for choreographer Régine Chopinot. Following fashion, accessories and film costumes, he designed a perfume that has remained among the best sellers for over a decade.

In 1997, he fulfilled his childhood dream by presenting his first haute couture collection and founding Haute Couture Gaultier Paris. www.jeanpaulgaultier.com

© Rights reserved

© Rights reserved

Jean Paul Gaultier (costume designer) was born in Arcueil in 1952.

Even as a child, he was making his first drawings of haute couture models, taking his inspiration from his urban environment. Fashion proved to be his real passion. At of the age of 18, he joined Pierre Cardin’s team and then worked with Jacques Esterel and Jean Patou, eventually returning to Cardin in 1974.

Thierry Leproust (set designer), born in 1948 in the Nièvre department, studied interior design, design and sculpture at the Boulle School of France.

He lives and works in Paris. Alongside his work as a visual artist, he began a career as a set designer for opera, theater, dance and cinema in 1983. Since 1975, he has regularly exhibited his visual art in France and abroad. His works form part of a number of public and private collections.

Leproust produced the settings for many creations by Angelin Preljocaj: Amer America (1990), La Peau du Monde (1992), Le Parc (1994), L’Anoure and L’Oiseau de feu (1995), Casanova (1998), Le Sacre du printemps (2001) and Le Songe de Médée (2004). He has also worked with the choreographers Nadine Hernu, Blanca Li and Patrick Salliot.

In the theater, he has designed sets for Roger Planchon, including Ionesco (TNP), Le triomphe de l’Amour, L’Avare (Berlin Theatre), Le Radeau de la Méduse (TNP), La Dame de chez Maxime (Opéra Comique) and with Jacques Rosner, Le Mariage de Gombrowicz (Comédie Française), Ivanov (Théâtre 14, Paris) and (Gorki, Moscow). He has also worked for Garance, Marie Hermès and Simone Amouyal (Théâtre de la Criée, Marseille). For the opera, he has designed sets for Christian Gangneron, for productions of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte, Orfeo by Monteverdi, Carmen by Bizet (Lisbon Opera House), Pia de Tolomei by Donizetti (Fenice in Venice), Riders to the Sea (Reims Opera House) and his latest design, Les Sacrifiées (Maison de la Musique, Nanterre). He also worked with Philippe Godefroid for Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten (Nantes Opera House) and Simone Amouyal in the Opéra Comique.

For the cinema, he has designed sets for seven films by Michel Deville, such as La Lectrice and Paltoquet and Dandin by Roger Planchon. He has also worked for Roger Coggio, Eric Heumann and Marion Hansel, for whom he designed the sets for four works, the last of which was Si le vent soulève les sables in 2006.

Patrick Riou (lighting) started his career in the performing arts working with choreographer François Verret. He discovered a deep passion for dance, working with great lighting designers such as Rémy Nicolas, Jacques Chatelet and Pierre Colomère. These experiences enabled him to work in the highly diverse choreographic worlds of Joseph Nadj, François Raffinot, Karine Saporta, Kubilaï Khan Investigation, Catherine Berbessous, Philippe Genty and Angelin Preljocaj—for whom he did the lighting design for Personne n’épouse les méduses (1999), Portraits in Corpore (2000), Helikopter, MC 14/22, Ceci est mon corps (2001) and Near Life Experience (2003).

Blanche Neige costume sketches © Jean Paul Gaultier

Cécile Giovansili (lighting), after having worked with Hans Peter Cloos, Peter Brook and Alexis Moati, joined Ballet Preljocaj in 2001. She has worked on the company’s creations and tours, and designed the lighting of Eldorado (Sonntags Abschied) and Haka in 2007, and And then, one thousand years of peace in 2010.

Sébastien Dué (lighting), after studying musicology, joined Ballet Preljocaj in 1998 as a lighting technician. He has designed the lighting for the creations of Samir Elyamni.

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