Tag: Holly Curran

Open Rehearsal: New Chamber Ballet

Above: dancers Holly Curran and Amber Neff of New Chamber Ballet

Saturday May 16th, 2015 – Preparing for their final performances of the current season, New Chamber Ballet opened their rehearsal at MMAC today to friends of the Company. The works being rehearsed were Constantine Baecher’s Two Tauri And A Tiger (music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) – which the Company premiered in April 2015 – and a new ballet by NCB‘s artistic director Miro Magloire: Friction, set to music by Richard Carrick.

Friction is commissioned as part of an Artist Residency at the Center for Faith and Work. At the moment, the ballet is still in its developmental stages; it is a duet danced by Holly Curran and Amber Neff (above) and the rehearsal process has given rise to a new word: “fricting”. The dance draws on motifs of friction from the dancer’s feet upon the floor, from the dancers’ body contact with one another, and from the application of bow to strings of Doori Na’s violin.

Above: Holly and Amber

Above: Miro observing

Constantine Baecher (above) then discussed the movement elements of his ballet Two Tauri and A Tiger. Melody Fader was at the piano to play the Mozart score as the three dancers demonstrated the free-flowing, improvisational phrases on which the work is built.

Above: Traci Finch, Elizabeth Brown, and Sarah Atkins, about to start Two Tauri

Observing the creative process in retrospect (I have already seen the ballet performed) gave me an entirely different feel for the piece. The dancers spoke of the joys (and challenges) of improvising, especially in the context of the intimate setting of New Chamber Ballet’s performances.

Above: Sarah and Traci waiting to dance

New Chamber Ballet will close their 10th anniversary season Friday, June 12th and Saturday, June 13th, 2015, at 8:00 PM at City Center Studios, 130 West 56th St, 5th floor. Both of the works we saw in the studio today will be on the programme.

May 16, 2015
In the Studio with Miro Magloire

Above: Holly Curran and Traci Finch rehearsing for New Chamber Ballet

Wednesday August 28th, 2013 – Miro Magloire, always one of the busiest people on the New York City dance scene, is busier than ever these days. Not only is he preparing for the upcoming performances of his New Chamber Ballet (September 6th & 7th at City Center Studios) but he is also creating five new works for the Austrian Cultural Forum’s Moving Sounds Festival for a performance on September 20th, as well as looking ahead to New Chamber Ballet‘s tour to Germany.

For the Moving Sounds Festival, New Chamber Ballet will team up with
the Argento Chamber Ensemble for a program of five new ballets – and a
revival – to music by contemporary Austrian and American composers. A world premiere collaboration with
composer Michel Galante, a new work to a new score by composer Nina C.
Young, and new creations to scores by Beat Furrer, Georg Friedrich Haas,
and Arthur Kampela will be featured. The program – which will also include a revival of Miro’s ECHOES to music by Anton Webern – takes place at the Bohemian National Hall, Czech Center, 321 East 73rd Street, NYC on September 20th. Visit the Festival’s page here.

I stopped in at Ballet Hispanico today where Miro and his dancers – Elizabeth Brown, Sarah Atkins, Holly Curran, Amber Neff and Traci Finch – were working on some of the new rep. Composer Nina C Young dropped by to see the piece Miro is creating to her score.

Here are some photos I took of the new works in rehearsal:

Ellizabeth Brown and Amber Neff

Traci Finch and Holly Curran

Amber Neff

Elizabeth Brown

Holly Curran, Amber Neff

The final half-hour of the rehearsal time was devoted to Amber Neff working on the solo IN A SIMPLE BLACK DRESS, one of my favorites among Miro’s ever-expanding repertoire of intimate ballets. Here are some images of Amber rehearsing this solo:

August 29, 2013