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Dance Festival: it’s not just for twinkle toes

Daily Staff Report
Special to the Daily/A. TamoniFrom ballroom to classical ballet, the Vail International Dance Festival presents seasoned classics, contemporary masterpieces and world premieres. This year, the festival turns 15, and begins the first day of August.
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August 1 and 2

The festival opens with the International Evenings of Dance at the Ford Amphitheater in Vail. Produced by festival director, Katherine Kersten, the roster of guest artists includes Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Belotserkovksy, principal dancers from American Ballet Theatre; Dimitry Gudanov and Anastasia Goriasheva of the Bolshoi Ballet; Ana Noya and Edwardo Lao, stars of Ballet Victor Ullate of Madrid, Spain and Desmond Richardson and Sandy Brown, principals with New York’s popular company, Complexions. Laetitia Pujol, Paris Opera Ballet “Etoile” (the highest ranking) and her partner, Bernard Courtot de Boutellier, round out the veritable galaxy of stars.

August 5 and 6



The Choreographer’s Collection, presented at the Vilar Center in Beaver Creek, features a world premiere by the young San Francisco Ballet choreographer, Julia Adam. Adam will set her new work, “If a Rose Falls,” with music by Johann Sebastian Bach, on America’s oldest established ballet company, Atlanta Ballet.

August 7 and 8

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Audiences will be treated to two evening performances of “Ensemble Soloists from La Scala Ballet.” La Scala Ballet is housed at Teatro alla Scala of Milan, Italy – one of the world’s most prestigious theaters. Classical and contemporary repertory along with a world premiere by the choreographer Robert North will be performed by the hand-picked dancers, headed by principal Isabel Seabra.

August 7 and 10

The remarkable company, Lizt Alfonso DANCE CUBA!, weaves passion and emotion with Hispanic rhythms accompanied by feverish musicians and singers. Direct from Havana, Cuba, this dynamic all-female group of 30 dancers and musicians features a blend of Spanish flamenco, African dance and Cuban rhythm.

August 9

Due to the rash of ballroom dancing popularity across the country, the festival has added a new evening of dance, “Steppin’ Out with Ballroom’s Best.” Choreographed by three-time U.S. Ballroom Champion David Hamilton, 12 prominent DanceSport World Champions are incorporated in theatrically staged dance selections with styles including fox trot, American waltz, jive, samba, cha-cha-cha and swing.

“DanceSport is truly an art form and we feel that it is time to present it as such,” said Katherine Kersten, festival producing artistic director. “We’re having great fun putting this production together – it’s going to be so entertaining we predict everyone will be dancing in the aisles.”

For more information on the festival, contact the Vilar Center Box Office at 845-TIXS or visit http://www.vvf.org/dance.cfm.


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