Press Information
Rebecca Kelly Ballet
On Friday, Jul 12 at 7:30 PM, Upper Hudson Musical Arts will present a dance performance by the The Rebecca Kelly Ballet at the Tannery Pond Community Center in North Creek ,N.Y. The performance will include Writing in Water 2008 (2008), Long Time Passing (2007), and Summer Spice Collection (1995-2008). Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students. For more information, please call (518) 251-3751. The event is made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency.
Background Information:
REBECCA KELLY BALLET
Artistic Director and
Choreographer Rebecca Kelly
Executive Director and
Lighting Design Craig Brashear
Founded
in 1979, REBECCA KELLY BALLET (RKB) brings a humanist outlook to
the
stage through Kelly’s distinctive, emotive, and topical choreography, featuring
her
highly expressive company, versatile in both modern and classical ballet
technique.
From its base in SoHo, primary activities include the collaborative
synergy
of creating and performing ballets, and, bringing people together through
the
arts.
RKB
is distinguished by lyric classicism fused with inventive dance, which reflects
Kelly’s
commitment to classical ballet within a contemporary repertory. RKB has
appeared
in NYC at the Gerald Lynch Theatre, the Duke, the Kaye Playhouse, the
Joyce,
DTW, the 92nd Street &, Symphony
Space, and DTW, and on tour nationally
and
internationally.
Inspired
by the Adirondack region, Kelly has made ballets that stimulate
stewardship
for the natural world. Her body of environmentally-themed works,
Faces
of the Earth, addresses our shrinking borders Boundaries,
pays tribute to
earth’s
grandeur Yellow Stone, reminds us of the fragility of our remaining wild
places
in Adirondack Elemental, and in Wilderness Suite Ballet with its
score by
Richard
Adler, and raises awareness about the health of forests in Tear of the
Clouds,
and for endangered species in A Delicate Balance, acquired by and
recently
performed in the Champlain Valley area by Plattsburgh’s North Country
Ballet
Ensemble.
RKB
has devoted over two decades to thoughtful programs in dance education. In
2008
it establishes a new year-round public studio series P.A.T.H. – Participation,
Access,
Teaching Horizons – using open studios, open rehearsals, and behind-thescenes
presentations
to provide access to creativity and artistic collaboration.
Programs
including Kids Co-Motion, OnStage, and the NYC Teen Program,
encompass
dance training and performance for preschool children, teens, and
professional
dancers, artists in individuals in career transitions, and early childhood
teachers.
For
the past 22 years, RKB has engaged in a summer residency in the Adirondack
Mountains
where it has created many new ballets, provided thousands of students
in
educational programs and brought the experience of dance to rural communities.
This
summer RKB is launching a campaign to transform an anchor building in the
northern
Adirondacks. The newly formed Tahawus Lodge Center of Au Sable
Forks
will foster a vibrant community for arts and culture, and
commercial
opportunity,
while preserving the area’s history, employing green technology in the
building’s
re-use. RKB invites your support and ideas; we invite you to contact us!
With
its imprint on two worlds – urban and rural, SoHo and the Adirondacks – the
intensely
creative vision of Rebecca Kelly and RKB serves a catalyst for bringing
communities
together through the discovery common interests and concerns.
RKB’s Environmental
Partners
Association for the
Protection of the Adirondacks
The Adirondack Council
The Rainforest Alliance
The Sierra Club, NYC
Chapter
Artists
REBECCA
KELLY Choreographer, was raised in London, the Sudan,
and in
Washington
DC. Trained at the School of Washington Ballet, she holds a BA from
Bryn
Mawr College in Oriental Religion. Rebecca Kelly founded RKB with her
husband
and dance partner Craig Brashear. Kelly has long used dance to explore
human
challenges and social issues. With a repertory of over 70 narrative
and
abstract works created for her own company, Kelly’s works have also been
commissioned
by the Neuberger Museum, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The Carlisle
Project,
Ballet Pacifica, Festival of the Lakes, and Boston Ballet II.
EMILY
SORELLE ADAMS trained at the Kirov Academy in Washington,
D.C., the
Baltimore
School for the Arts, the Washington School of Ballet, and the Rock
School
of PA Ballet. She attended S.M.U. Meadows School of the Arts. Emily
has
appeared with Ballet Austin, the Washington Ballet, Connecticut Ballet,
Eglevsky
Ballet, and the New Chamber Ballet. She appeared as guest artist in the
role
of Sugar Plum Fairy with the North Country Ballet Ensemble, and with the
Belle
Meade Ballet performing the principal role of ‘Beauty’ in Beauty and the
Beast.
She joined RKB in 2004 and has appeared in many principal
roles in
Kelly’s
ballets including A Fine Line, Reves, Air, The Travelers, Jose’s Dream,
Drums,
and Jibun Jishin.
MONA
AFABLE trained at the Philippine High School for the
Arts and Ballet
Philippines.
She danced with Louisville Ballet, Peoria Ballet, Ontario Ballet Theater,
and
Burklyn Ballet Theatre where she was Resident Choreographer. Mona
participated
in the Alonzo King's LINES Ballet Professional Workshop. She has
performed
with the Metropolitan Opera, Tina Croll and Co, C. Eule Dance, and
Thang
Dao Dance Co. Mona’s choreography was presented as part of the 2007
HATCH
series. She joined RKB in 2006 appearing in Silver Circles and The
Travelers.
She is an instructor for RKB in its Intensive Programs for youth, and is
on
the ballet staff at Dance Evolve, in Tarrytown, NY.
UTHMAN
EBRAHIM joined RKB for the spring and summer tour of
2007 in upstate
New
York. Trained in acting and contemporary dance at the North Carolina School
of
the Arts, he received a BFA in 2006. Uthman has performed with Cedar Lake
Ensemble
II, of Columbia, OH, and appeared with Washington Reflections Dance
Company.
Uthman is currently training under a Kenan Fellowship at the Lincoln
Center
Institute.
RAUL
PEINADO from Madrid, Spain, trained at Victor Ullate
School and the
Catedra
Alicia Alonso. Raul studied with Master Ullate, Christina Alverez and
Juana
Taft. He has performed in Le Corsaire, Giselle, Don Quixote, Swan Lake,
and
other classical ballets with the Cuban National Ballet as a guest. He danced
for
Joffrey Ballet Ensemble, Peridance Ensemble, Eglevsky Ballet, Gwinnet Ballet
Theater,
Ruth Michel Dance Theater, Andalusia Ballet, South West Virginia Ballet,
Mobile
Ballet, Configuration Dance, and with the Fukuoka International Ballet in
Japan.
Raul joined Rebecca Kelly Ballet in 2007.
THERESE
MIYOSHI WENDLER from Honolulu, Hawaii, trained in Phoenix,
AZ
with
Nina Marlow, and at the Joffrey Ballet. She has danced with Ballet
Metropolitan
of Caracas, Ballet International, Ballet Hawaii, Victoria Ballet Theatre,
Ballet
Jorgen Canada, Ballet Concierto of Puerto Rico, Connecticut Ballet.
Therese
has danced for RKB since 2003 in many featured principal roles including
Carmen:
Jose’s Dream Silver Circles, Those Who Must be Kept, Spice Suite,
Reves,
and Drums. She has been a featured Guest Artist in
the roles of Queen of
the
North Winds (choreography by R. Kelly) and the Sugar Plum Fairy with the
North
Country Ballet Ensemble’s annual Nutcracker production in Plattsburgh.
ROYCE
ZACKERY, a native of Atlanta,
GA, got his BFA from Southern Methodist
University.
He later joined the musical circuit performing My One and Only, and
Oklahoma!
He spent the year 2000 in Stuttgart. Royce has worked with
Thomas/
Ortiz
Dance Theater, Pascal Rioult Dance Theater, Ballethnic Dance Company, and
Kate
Thomas. He joined Rebecca Kelly Ballet for the Spring Summer tour 2007.
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UPPER HUDSON MUSIC ARTS
PO Box 581 · North Creek, NY · 12853 · (518) 251-3571
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These performances are made possible in part with public funds from the New York Council on the Arts, a State Agency.