Impressionism

Impressionism: An art movement characterized by an emphasis on light and movement.
Jessica Conniff  dancing in front of “Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jane Avril, 1899. Lithograph, poster on wove paper. The San Diego Museum of Art, Gift of the Baldwin M. Baldwin Foundation, 1987.10.”

Celebrating the world class exhibit featuring the work of Toulouse Lautrec, San Diego Ballet will present the ebullient, sparkling, and oh so chic I <3 PARIS, alongside the premiere of the reimagined DEBUSSY DANCES a nod to French Impressionism, both musical and visual to the
music of Claude Debussy.

Director’s Notes:
     I love Paris. I also love London, Rome, and (of course) San Diego, but I love Paris. I really do. So when the museum asked me to put something together to celebrate the Toulouse Lautrec exhibition I said, “But, of course. Happy to”. 
     A few years back, I was choreographing a ballet called ARTHUR MURRAY’S DANCE SECRETS. One of the songs I used was a swing version of LA VIE EN ROSE from a cd called A BACHELOR IN PARIS. I had always just gone to the track and played it, but when I was recording it, I let it play through. That was when I heard some hidden narration that you would only hear if you didn’t go track to track. It was a lovely travelogue narration by a woman “wiz a very Fraunch accent” that took me from one Parisienne neighborhood to another. So instantly, I thought… “Ah, a ballet has been dropped right into my lap.” Thus I LOVE PARIS was born. As the music is fun and jazzy and humorous and chic, so is the ballet. So come along and stroll and along the Left Bank of the Seine as Henri Toulouse-Lautrec did and soak up ze atmosphere. 
     That said, you can’t talk about art and Paris ,without talking about impressionism. This unconstrained and lyrical movement freed painters and musicians from classicism. And where would the ballet zeitgeist be without Edgar Degas’ impressionistic ballerinas. More swirls of color and light than flesh and blood beings. In DEBUSSY DANCES, I try to bring the spirit of impressionism to life in one ballet. From the crystalline romance of the immortal CLAIRE DE LUNE to Degas’ etherial Little Dancer to the eroticism of AFTERNOON OF A FAUN.  It’s my (and hopefully, your) excuse to wallow in the lush, unbridled world of feelings and just experiencing the “now” To just let yourself get lost in the sublime that happens when beautiful beings dance to beautiful music.

San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park
James S. Copley Auditorium
1450 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101

May 22 @ 7pm
May 23 @ 8pm
May 24 @ 2pm