VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3
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SPRING 2014
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LIFE INSIDE THE ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER
A L S O IN T H I S I S S U E : • Emil Unplugged: New Curatorial Voices • Bringing South Asia to Chapel Hill • Backstage at the Bolshoi • Carolina Performing Arts’ 10th Anniversary
CAROLINA PERFORMING ARTS C R E AT E | P R E S E N T | C O N N E C T
Photo by Andrew Eccles
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mil Kang began the artistic merit of these to seriously consider the performances—which idea of a curatorial faculty are all vibrant examples of fellowship in 2010 during South Asian culture—but a conversation with the also that the process itself then-chair of the American becomes a way for a faculty Studies department. The member to further his idea of handing over artistic or her own teaching and control of any part of the research.” Material related Carolina Performing Arts to the three performances (CPA) season was a bit will be integrated into Taj’s terrifying then, and still is teaching so that Memorial today. “It’s a scary thought, Hall will become an to turn over control like extension of his classroom. this,” he admits. And yet The curatorial O ur mi s s i o n i s t o c o nn e c t w i t h t h e U ni v e r s i t y that feeling provided some fellowship also furthers of the best evidence to CPA’s status as a world-class an d all t h e wo r k an d r e s e ar c h b e in g d o n e b y t h e f a c ul t y. Kang that this was the next performing arts presenter. logical step for CPA. “Our “This is the next step W h a t b e t t e r w ay t o m ake t h a t c o nn e c t i o n t h an t o mission is to connect with for university presenters the University and all the everywhere,” Kang notes. p r ov i d e f a c ul t y w i t h an o p p o r t uni t y t o i d e n t i f y w hi c h work and research being “We are excited to be taking done by the faculty. What the lead in this experiment.” p e r fo r m an c e s c an in s p ir e t h e m an d t h e ir c o ll e a gu e s? better way to make that Without giving too much connection than to provide away, Kang says he is faculty with an opportunity to identify which performances can eager for CPA’s audiences to engage with the diverse range of inspire them and their colleagues?” performances Taj has identified. “These are artists we have not A few short years later, CPA incorporated the idea of a faculty brought to Chapel Hill before,” he explains. “We hope the member curating a few performances into Arts@TheCore, an performances will provoke new ideas and conversations.” initiative funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The And next year’s programming is only the beginning. same professor with whom Emil first discussed the idea, Joy Professor Heidi Kim of the Department of English and ComKasson, became the first Mellon Distinguished Scholar for parative Literature has been selected as the next Arts@TheCore Arts@TheCore, and, together, they have begun to see the fruits curatorial fellow. Kim will explore the idea of adaptation in of their labor. Afroz Taj, a professor of Hindi and Urdu from the performance and this summer she will begin her own curatorial Department of Asian Studies was selected as CPA’s first curatorial process for CPA’s 2015/16 season. Kang is eager to see what ideas fellow, and audiences will have the opportunity to experience the she brings back in the fall and how her curatorial voice will evolve. three artists he has chosen during the 2014/15 season. “The relationships we are building with UNC’s tremendous Kang sees Taj’s chosen performances as further proof that faculty are vital. Their research and creativity are powerful CPA is incorporating the performing arts into the work of the resources that will only strengthen CPA and Carolina in the years entire university. “What is important is not only the content or to come.” —Aaron Shackelford
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ARTS@THECORE
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“ T h e G a n g e s i s s a c r e d t o H i n d u s …w h i l e t h e J a m u n a s e r ve s a s t h e b a c k d r o p f o r t h e Ta j M a h a l , t h e e p i t o m e o f I n d o - I s l a m i c a r c h i t e c t u r e .”
froz Taj, an associate
Even though Taj has worked
professor of Asian Studies, has
with artists throughout his career (and
partnered with CPA to curate three
is an accomplished songwriter and
performances in 2014/15 around
poet himself), he found there was a
the theme “water music.” The
learning curve in taking on this new
idea for the program developed
challenge. Talking to artists about
from his ongoing research in South
dates and visas and thinking about
Asia. “The very
a series of performances does not
social fabric of
usually fall under a faculty member’s
India is tied to two
job description, but Taj has navigated
Afroz Taj
mighty rivers,” he
his new role of curator with the
notes. Look at a
support of CPA staff. The result will
map of India and
As CPA’s curatorial fellow,
be three performances that have never
his explanation
Taj has a unique opportunity
before appeared on the Memorial Hall
becomes clear:
to bring his ideas to life for
stage.
the Ganges and
his students and the rest of the
So what artists has Taj selected? You
Jamuna rivers flow hundreds of miles
Carolina community. With funding from
will have to wait until next season’s lineup
through the country then join to form the
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Taj
is announced on May 15 to learn more. Taj
Sangam. Taj, who was selected as CPA’s
traveled to South Asia last summer and
promises a range of performances that will
first Arts@TheCore curatorial fellow, sees
personally talked with artists from all over
echo the diversity of South Asian culture.
these bodies of water as a metaphor for
the subcontinent. The connections he
Opera, theater, cinema, and singing will
the cultural challenges—and beauty—of
made gave him even greater insight into
all make an appearance next year in ways
India. “The Ganges is sacred to Hindus…
the way performances related to water
that address both classic South Asian
while the Jamuna serves as the backdrop
might illuminate the important concepts
traditions and some of the most pressing
for the Taj Mahal, the epitome of Indo-
Taj addresses in his courses. Seeing
issues facing the region. Taj’s work as CPA’s
Islamic architecture.” Just as the two
evocations of water in performance, Taj
first curatorial fellow marks a new chapter
rivers converge to form a third river, Taj
believes, “will add a significant cultural
for CPA—and our audiences—as we
is fascinated by the rich mixture of Hindu
dimension to my teaching and enable me
integrate faculty ideas and research with our
and Muslim art that has evolved over
to convey the concepts from my research
Memorial Hall series. The results should be
centuries in South Asia.
in completely new ways.”
fascinating.
—Aaron Shackelford
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Damir Yusupov
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BACKSTAGE ABOVE: Svetlana Zakharova, principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet, in Don Quixote. RIGHT: Left to right, Emil Kang, Vera Doreefeva, then director general of the Vaganova Ballet Academy, and Tom Kearns (December 2007)
hree translators. Sixty crew members. Sixty-five orchestra members. One-hundred-and-ten ballet dancers. Four unforgettable evenings. It is safe to say that the Bolshoi Ballet’s June 2009 performances at Memorial Hall are among the largest productions in the history of Carolina Performing Arts (CPA). As we prepare to celebrate CPA’s tenth anniversary season this fall, we thought we would share some of what went on behindthe-scenes to bring this spectacular program to life. As you might imagine with any undertaking of this scale, planning and preparations began long before the company boarded their plane from Moscow. “The first email in my Bolshoi folder is from May 2007,” says CPA Director of Production Butch Garris, who oversaw all the technical elements of the program from the lighting to the staging. The early involvement of Garris and his team was critical to the success of the whole endeavor. As CPA Executive and Artistic Director Emil Kang explains, the biggest question was
not would the Bolshoi agree to come to Chapel Hill, but could we make it work once they got here. “Bringing the Bolshoi really tested our institutional capacity—our technical prowess, the limits of the venue, and our fundraising structure,” says Kang. “It proved that CPA could really present anything.” Around the same time that Garris’ initial planning was underway, Kang traveled to Moscow and St. Petersburg with Tom Kearns, CPA’s Advisory Board chairman from 2007-13. “It was December—the worst time of year to go,” Emil laughs in retrospect. Kearns remembers meeting with the Bolshoi’s Director of Touring Elena Perfilova: “The company went to the obvious places like D.C. and New York at the time. They had no clue where Chapel Hill was.”
“ B r i n g i n g t h e B o l s h o i r e all y t e s t e d o ur in s t i t u t i o n al c ap a c i t y — o ur t e c hni c al p r owe s s , t h e li mi t s o f t h e v e nu e , an d o ur f un dr ai s in g s t r u c t ur e . I t p r ov e d t h a t C PA c o ul d r e all y p r e s e n t any t hin g .” — EMIL K ANG SPRING 2014
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helped our artistic team, and one worked just with wardrobe. Every square inch of the backstage area had been cleared out to make room for the company. “We can easily dress 42 people in our dressing rooms,” says Garris. “They had 110. All the dressing spaces were double occupied.” Figuring out the staging for Swan Lake and Don Quixote was another puzzle that required creative solutions. The wings where performers enter and exit as well as the fly space used ABOVE: A drawing by New Yorker cartoonist Chris Weyant depicting Emil and Tom’s meeting with the Bolshoi in Moscow. for rigging sets CPA commissioned the cartoon by Weyant, who is Emil’s brother-in-law, as a gift for Tom. are much smaller at Memorial Hall than at the Bolshoi’s normal venues. Garris The Bolshoi’s agent arranged for the two to see Cinderella, remembers Swan Lake was particularly tricky: “At one point which turned out to be one of the most memorable evenings of during the piece, fifty or sixty swans enter on a diagonal. Since the trip. Kang and Kearns were instructed to get their tickets our wings couldn’t accommodate them all, there was a serpentine backstage before the performance. To help identify them, Kang of dancers lined up backstage. They went all the way down the told the agent he would be “the Korean guy in a suit.” They spiral staircase to the basement.” arrived at the stage door to find a gruff man who didn’t speak Chapel Hill was one of just three cities on the Bolshoi’s 2009 any English with a list entirely in Cyrillic. He had no idea U.S. tour (Washington D.C. and Berkeley were the others), and who they were, so Kang and Kearns sprinted to the front of the only location to present two different productions. Kearns, the theater in search of Perfilova. As they entered the lobby, who led the project’s fundraising efforts, reflected back on the it became clear why they had no hope with the gatekeeper experience recently: “The fact that we were able to pull that off backstage. “What do we see but an endless sea of Korean men in speaks volume about Emil and his team…It was like winning a suits next to a display of televisions and other electronics. It turns national championship in basketball. It brought us to a different out it was Samsung sponsor night,” says Emil. “It was hilarious.” level.” Kearns (‘58) knows that feeling well—he was a starting They pleaded with an usher who spoke English and finally found guard on UNC’s 1957 NCAA National Championship team. Perfilova with two minutes to spare. With the Bolshoi behind us, Kang set his sights on CPA’s Communication barriers persisted once the company was next chapter: “It gave us the confidence to attack a project like here in Chapel Hill. No one with the company spoke English The Rite of Spring at 100. Bolshoi was our first major test.” except for the tour’s production manager. CPA worked with —Rachel Ash three translators—one was assigned to our production staff, one
• Want to see what it was like backstage during the change over from Don Quixote to Swan Lake? Visit http://tinyurl.com/k26p93r To read more about Emil and Tom’s trip to Russia, visit http://emilinrussia.blogspot.com •
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LVIN AILEY
PORTHOLE PERSPECTIVES
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Mari O’Donnell
arolina Performing Arts (CPA) audiences have
come to anticipate the arrival of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater each year at Memorial Hall. The energy and excitement when the world-renowned modern dance company arrives in Chapel Hill can be felt all across campus. One reason for all the buzz is the anticipation of
experiencing the company’s landmark piece Revelations, a suite of dances set to spirituals and blues music that celebrates African-American faith and the journey from slavery to freedom. Usually programmed as the final piece of the evening, Revelations is invariably met with a mix of cheers, tears, and applause. The work is inspiring and powerful whether you have seen it ten times or are seeing it for the very first time. In addition to the company’s vast repertoire with iconic KPO Photo
works like Revelations, part of what sets it apart are the many other programs that operate under the Ailey umbrella. From their home base in the beautiful Joan Weill Center for Dance in midtown Manhattan, Ailey manages multiple touring Mari started with Ailey right out of high school in the
companies, one of the premiere dance training programs in America, and classes tailored for children as young as two all
company’s conservatory certificate program, an intense three-year
the way up to adults.
course of study that she finished with honors. “It was like being any other college student,” she starts to say, and then pauses. “Well, like
We are lucky to have someone on staff with a deep
connection to Ailey—CPA’s Executive and Programming
any other conservatory student. It was not unusual for us to start
Assistant Mari O’Donnell. Before coming to Chapel Hill,
our day in class at eight thirty in the morning and rehearse until
Mari worked at Ailey’s Manhattan school and offices from
nine o’clock at night.” At the school, Mari learned a tremendous
2006 to 2011. A dancer herself, Mari has seen firsthand how
range of dance styles that echo Alvin Ailey’s own dance influences.
Alvin Ailey’s artistic legacy has lived on as the company has
When he formed the company in 1958, Ailey consciously
grown and evolved. “You can still see his influence in the
recruited dancers from different backgrounds. The school continues
work, she explains. “The company makes a conscious effort to
this approach: “We learned Horton technique, Graham-based
preserve his vision while always bringing in new choreographers
modern, Dunham technique, ballet, African, and tap. The list goes
to work with the dancers.”
on,” Mari recalls, citing the influences of Lester Horton (who was
“ YO U C A N ST I L L S EE H I S I N F LU EN C E I N T H E W O R K . T H E C O M PA N Y M A K E S A C O N S C I O U S E F F O RT
T O P R E S E RV E H I S V I S I O N W H I L E A LWAY S B R I N G I N G I N N E W C H O R EO G R A P H E R S T O W O R K W I T H T H E DA N C E R S .” — M A R I O’ D O N N E L L
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O
KPO Photo
ne way to get a sense for Mike says Mike, recalling the group’s weekJohnson’s tenure with Carolina Performing long stay. “The production combined Arts (CPA) is to ask about his past offices. acting and singing with in-your-face video “I didn’t even have a real office at first,” and sound effects and a powerful subject explains Mike, who transferred from his matter. You really felt immersed in the role as assistant director of the Carolina play.” Union in 2005 to begin working for the Born in Virginia Beach, Mike moved newly-formed CPA. “The Union let me to Chapel Hill in 1992 to attend UNC stay in my old office temporarily,” he and has been here ever since. His recalls. “Then we moved to a vacant extensive knowledge of Memorial Hall storefront next to Ken’s Quickie Mart.” actually dates back to his time as an As the organization grew, CPA and Mike undergraduate. Mike worked backstage moved back to campus with offices in the at the Hall and then continued to gain Carr Building and the Campus Y, and then production experience through fullfinally to our current home in the Porthole time positions at Raleigh’s Memorial Building. Auditorium and the Convention Center. Along with these many moves, He returned to UNC as the Carolina Mike has been a part of each major CPA Union’s production manager and was milestone from the re-opening of Memorial later promoted to assistant director. ABOVE: Mike Johnson Hall in 2005 to the Bolshoi in 2009 to last The Union turned out to be an season’s celebration of The Rite of Spring at 100. The deep important place for Mike both professionally and personally— institutional knowledge he has gained is invaluable in his role as it is where he met his wife Megan, the Union’s current assistant CPA’s associate director. Mike oversees the operation of CPA’s director. The two have an adorable seven-month old daughter three venues—Memorial Hall, Historic Playmakers Theatre, and named Madeline. Given Mike and Megan’s involvement in the Gerrard Hall—as well as the organization’s finances and IT. arts at Carolina, it is not surprising that she has already been to Mike is a fixture at Memorial Hall and has attended nearly her first performance. “We brought her to see Maceo Parker and every performance in CPA’s nine-season history. There have George Clinton last fall,” says Mike. “I think she was the only one been many memorable artists, but one of his all-time favorites there who slept through the booming performance.” It was surely is the National Theatre of Scotland’s 2011 production of Black the first of many trips they’ll make together to Memorial Hall. —Rachel Ash Watch. “It’s great when we have a group here for a longer time,”
Ailey’s teacher), Martha Graham (whose company CPA audiences
her way up from being an intern to assisting the executive director
will remember from April 2013), and Katherine Dunham
of the company and learned a lot about the inner workings of
(another major influence on Ailey).
an internationally recognized dance company. What struck her
As a student, Mari was able to study alongside Ailey
most about the experience was the way everyone—the dancers,
company members. “They would come take class with us some
assistants, and tour managers—possessed a dedication to the
days and were willing to share their studio space and wisdom
company and the craft. For her, that dedication comes from a
with us.” She also gained insight into the choreographic process.
shared respect and love for Alvin Ailey himself. With multiple
“There is nothing quite like being involved in the creation of a
touring companies and countless educational programs, Mari
new work,” explains Mari. “Leaders in the dance world set pieces
witnessed how Ailey’s influence could unite dozens of dancers
on us as students, and we became part of their creative process.”
and staff members. “It was an incredible experience,” she says of
While in the school and upon graduation, Mari took
her time with Ailey. You can bet hers will be one of the cheering
advantage of a program offered by the Ailey school that connects
voices in the Memorial Hall audience when the company returns
dancers to aspects of the arts beyond performing. She worked
this April.
—Aaron Shackelford
• A il ey re tur n s to C hap el Hill on A p r il 22 /23 to c l o s e ou t C PA’s nin t h s e a s on. For tickets, contact the Memorial Hall Box Of fice at 919.843.3333. •
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR CAROLINA PERFORMING ARTS’ 2014/15 SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT BE THE FIRST TO LEARN ABOUT OUR 10TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON. carolinaperformingarts.org TICKET SALE DATES Silver Level Donors and above (gifts of $1,000+) • May 15 Patron Level Donors and above (gifts of $125+) • May 22 2012/13 Subscribers • May 29 UNC Faculty, Staff, and Students • May 29 General Public • June 5
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