'EAST MEETS WEST' TO BE PERFORMED IN BOTH SEOUL AND LAS VEGAS EIGHT DANCERS FROM NBT TO TOUR SOUTH KOREA - Sponsored by the Andress Family Foundation

Nevada Ballet Theatre continues its 2007-2008 season with the most cultural of all productions – the highly anticipated East Meets West.  Nevada Ballet Theatre will host members of the Seoul Ballet Theatre of Korea for a unique  exchange production – uniting dancers from two different continents on the same stage!

This stylized and distinctive performance will take place on Friday, February March 21 at 8pm, and Saturday, March 22 at 2pm at UNLV's Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall. Ticket prices are $29, $49 and $72 and can be ordered by calling 895-ARTS (2787) or by visiting www.nevadaballet.com/performances/html

Embarking on their second overseas tour, eight members of Nevada Ballet Theatre will travel to South Korea to perform with members of the Seoul Ballet Theatre at the National Theatre of Korea. The company then returns to Las Vegas along with the South Korean-based ballet company to begin preparations for the Las Vegas production of East Meets West.

"Nevada Ballet Theatre is honored to join in this creative cultural exchange with the Seoul Ballet Theatre," said Nevada Ballet Theatre Executive Director Beth Barbre.  She adds, "We are pleased to welcome back James Jeon, who has contributed several works to our repertoire." 

Pairing traditional Asian influences with American classical movements, Nevada Ballet Theatre's second triple repertory program of the season will include three incomparable pieces: Kicking off the program will be Bruce Steivel's The Class, performed by Nevada Ballet Theatre.  This high-energy piece resembles a typical ballet class but turns out to be anything but that. Beginning with very classical "barre" work, our art form's athleticism will be displayed in accordance with the beautiful score of Knudåge Riisager.

Second on the program is James Jeon's new work, Remembering of You…, performed by the Seoul Ballet Theatre. A tribute to the late Roy Tobias, former New York City Ballet Principal Dancer and Artistic Director of the Seoul Ballet Theatre, this is a premiere piece for Jeon.

Lastly, bringing this striking evening to a close will be Jeon's widely-popular Inner Moves, last performed in Las Vegas in 2005. With dancers from both companies performing, this contemporary work will unite dancers from vastly different cultures - adding a brand-new element to this already innovative work.

Dinner & The Ballet 

In celebration of East Meets West, Nevada Ballet Theatre will host a special pre-performance dinner at Morton's The Steakhouse. Mix and mingle with other subscribers and be a part of an exclusive VIP circle of balletomanes.  Cocktails will begin at 5:30 pm, Dinner at 6 pm and then patrons will drive to the performance for an 8 pm curtain. Tickets are $80 per person in addition to the cost of performance tickets. Call Special Events Coordinator Jessica Erali at 243-2623 x 222 or email: jerali@nevadaballet.com

From the Wings

A stimulating, brief pre-performance program, "From the Wings" gives Saturday matinee ticket holders an inside look at the ballet being presented.  For East Meets West, "From the Wings" will take place on Saturday, March 22 at 1:15 pm, 45 minutes prior to curtain.

MEDIA

For interview opportunities with Seoul Ballet Theatre of Korea's Artistic Director James Jeon, please contact Jenn Kratochwill at 702.243.2623 or email at jkratochwill@nevadaballet.com. Additional photos are available upon request. For more information on the Seoul Ballet Theatre of Korea, visit: http://www.ballet.or.kr/en/sbt/sbt.asp

NBT & SBT TOUR SCHEDULE

March 8: Nevada Ballet Theatre dancers & staff depart for Seoul, arriving on the 9th

March 10-13: Rehearsals with Seoul Ballet Theatre

March 14 & 15: Performances at the National Theater of Korea

March 16: Nevada Ballet Theatre and Seoul Ballet Theatre dancers & staff depart for Las Vegas

March 17-20: Rehearsals for both companies in Las Vegas

March 21 & 22: Performances at Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall, UNLV campus

ABOUT NEVADA BALLET THEATRE A 501 © (3) non-profit organization, Nevada Ballet Theatre is the largest professional ballet company and dance Academy in the state.  Committed to the highest artistic standards, dancers for the forty member company have been recruited from around the world and include artists with international performing experience.  This classically-based company is at home in an eclectic repertory, moving easily from the classics to the high-energy contemporary ballets.  The mission of Nevada Ballet Theatre is to educate and inspire regional, statewide and national audiences and vitally impact community life through professional company productions, dance training and education and outreach. Beginning in 2011, Nevada Ballet Theatre will be a resident company in the new world-class Smith Center for the Performing Arts.

Additional Information

ABOUT THE BALLETS 

The Class

We invite you to come inside the dance studio and watch a typical ballet class as presented in anything but a typical manner.  Sit back and enjoy your front row seat as we draw you into the energy and magic of a dancer's most important hours of their day – the class.  You will be entertained and mesmerized as the dancers take the barre and begin their ritual warm-up.  From the most basic exercises to the intricate steps of "floor work," you can't help but be impressed by their grace and athleticism. 

Remembering of You…

A tribute to renowned dancer and teacher, Roy Tobias, this new work by James Jeon will feature eight dancers from the Seoul Ballet Theatre of Korea, performing to the beautiful music of Brahms and Kreisler. Tobias, who passed away on August 16, 2006, is best known for his career as a New York City Ballet Principal Dancer under George Balanchine and as the Artistic Director of the Seoul Ballet Theatre of Korea from 1995- 2002. This significant work is a tribute to Tobias' many contributions to the world of dance, specifically his development of Western classical ballet in Japan and Korea.

Inner Moves

Jeon's Inner Moves experiments with Eastern movements in tandem with traditional ballet.  Originally choreographed for fourteen of Nevada Ballet Theatre's dancers and performed during the 2001-2002 season (for which it received a standing ovation), Inner Moves features the contemporary music of composer Moon Seok Chang, while drawing on the athleticism of the classically trained company.  Mr. Jeon's work is noted for its "evocative sensuality" and "innovative vocabulary." Exploring a new kind of dance movement and expression, this performance Inner Moves will feature dancers from both Nevada Ballet Theatre and the Seoul Ballet Theatre of Korea. States Jeon, "Asian music and dance are completely different from Western dance in spirit, rhythm, and harmony. In Inner Moves, dancers showcase contrasting personalities and, through their movement, a new form of dance is born."

Composer and Choreographer Bios

James Jeon

Born in Seoul, Korea, Mr. Jeon immigrated to the United States at the age of 12 where he began his ballet training at the Menlo Park Academy in California. In 1982, he was accepted into the famed Juilliard School where he received his BFA upon graduation.

Mr. Jeon's career continued as he performed with 20th Century Ballet master Maurice Bejart, following a two year stint with the Florida Ballet in Jacksonville, Florida.  He then returned to his hometown of South Korea to guest with the Universal Ballet Company and the National Ballet of Korea.

In 1995, he co-founded the Seoul Ballet Theatre of Korea where he is now Resident Choreographer and Assistant Artistic Director. Mr. Jeon has created over thirty works for the South Korean company. 

Mr. Jeon set his first ballet for Nevada Ballet Theatre in 2001, Line of Life, for which he became the first choreographer in Korea to be commissioned by an American company.  Later, he was asked by the Las Vegas based ballet company to create a brand-new work, Inner Moves, which they performed in 2002 and again in 2005. Due to the popularity of Mr. Jeon's choreography, he created Variations for Twelve for Las Vegas audiences which Nevada Ballet Theatre performed in 2004.

Bruce Steivel

An internationally recognized choreographer and teacher, Mr. Steivel served as the Artistic Director of Bern Stadt Theatre in Switzerland, the Hong Kong Ballet, the Universal Ballet of Korea and most recently, Nevada Ballet Theatre, where he served as artistic director for over a decade.

Graduating from the North Carolina School of the Arts, Mr. Steivel continued his studies on full scholarship with the American School of Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and the Harkness House for Ballet Arts.  He has trained and worked under some of dance's most famous teachers and choreographers including George Balanchine, Jirí Kylián, Roland Petit, Anton Dolin, Ben Stevenson, Andre Eglevsky, Alexandra Danilova, David Howard, Heinz Spoerli and Sir Frederick Ashton, among others.

He is frequently sought after as a guest teacher, teaching for Nederland Dans Theatre, the Norwegian National Ballet, the Hungarian National Ballet, the National Ballet of Portugal, the Berlin Stadstoper, Beijing Ballet, Shanghai Ballet, Bat-Dor of Israel, the National Institute of Istanbul, Turkey and numerous schools in Japan and America.

COMPOSER BIOS

Moon Seok Chang

(Inner Moves)

In addition to being a composer, Moon Seok Chang earned a Masters Degree in Computer Music and teaches graduate level classes in Music and Composition.  After he was approached by choreographer James Jeon to create an original score for Inner Moves, Chang wrote the music in just a few hours.  By using mainly string instruments, he succeeded in creating breathless rhythms and managed to musically communicate the feelings and emotions of the characters.  Through a combination of repetitive wind, techno and folk music, Chang's score symbolizes "the universal heartbeat."  According to Chang, "The 'Shakuhachi Solo' that follows the Korean 'Buk' drum expresses the solitude accompanying the complicated life of contemporary people." 

Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)

(Remembering of You…)

Born in Hamburg, Brahms was one of the most prominent German composers and pianists of the 19th Century Romantic Period.  The successor to Beethoven and Schubert in chamber and orchestral music, and Schubert and Schumann in regards to piano pieces and songs, Brahms creatively combined the practices of three centuries of folk and dance idioms with the language of the mid and late 19th century art music. His works of "controlled passion," deemed reactionary by some and progressive by others, became well accepted in his lifetime.

Fritz Kreisler (1875 - 1962)

(Remembering of You…)

Born in Vienna, Austria, Kreisler was among the most distinguished violinists and composers of his time.  He became a student at the conservatory at the age of seven, studying with the younger Joseph Hellmesberger and later, in Paris, with Massart. His subsequent international career, interrupted briefly by diversion into medical studies and army service, sealed his position as a leading virtuoso. There is hardly a violinist in the 20th century who has not acknowledged admiration of and indebtedness to Kreisler.

Knudage Riisåger (1897 - 1974)

(The Class)

As a composer, Riisåger was the most internationally orientated Danish composer of his generation. Even in his early works, he distinguished himself with a stylistic alternative to the predominantly national "modernism" of his time. Riisåger's reputation rests particularly on the music he arranged for the ballet, Etudes, a famous work by Danish choreographer Harald Lander, with original score by Carl Czerny. The main characteristics of Riisåger's music are "clarity" and "accessibility" of form, "transparent tonal structure" in regards to chamber music and virtuoso orchestration.