Landscapes

Landscape: The depiction in painting of natural scenery, especialy when the main subject is in a wide view.
Marshall Whiteley dancing in front of Nicolai Ivanovich Fechin, Torrey Pines, ca. 1925. Oil on canvas. The San Diego Museum of Art, Gift of Wilda B. Dunnicliffe, by exchange, 1998.87. 

 SDB’s residence at SDMA begins with a program honoring the museum’s Art of the America’s exhibit. Featuring the music of that “Most American” of composers, Aaron Copland.  Artistic Director, Javier reimagines one of the seminal pieces of American 20th Century music, APPALACHIAN SPRING. Also on the program, THREE LATIN AMERICAN SKETCHES.

Director’s Notes:
     Putting a season together is like putting a puzzle together. Working with the San Diego Museum of Art just makes it a different kind of puzzle. When I was walking through the museum and trying to find an appropriate gallery or work of art, the Art of the Americas exhibition was a no-brainer. While later in the season, I would be choreographing pieces to specific work of art, in this case , I decided I wanted to do some thing that was more about the spirit of the exhibition. What exactly is at the heart of Art of the Americas? 
     In a recent discussion on NPR, I recall hearing someone talk about the fact that something that still sets America apart from Europe is that we have set aside large swats of undeveloped land. These national parks and devotion to the wilderness is something that people equate with America, Wide open spaces. Landscapes. And so the name of this program. That decided the program fell easily into place. 
      The first piece, OBLIVION is a brief snippet from a piece called TANGATA. I am using it to start the program as sort of an amuse bouche .I always like to include something Latin American in the season for personal reasons. The fact that the composer is Argentinian, Astor Piazzola, also speaks to the Art of the (South) Americas. But there is also something about the piece that has always had a bit of an eternal, boundry-less, quality to it. A kind of a spiritual landscape. So I felt it fitting.
      Focusing on American art, made me want to feature Aaron Copeland, the dean of American composers.So I have included two of his pieces in the program. The first is a no-brainer, THREE LATIN AMERICAN SKETCHES. The music is intimate chamber music and the dance is an intimate chamber dance. Also any pieces that includes the words “AMERICAN SKETCHES” belongs in a museum program celebrating the Art of the Americas. 
     The final piece, APPALACHIAN SPRING is a piece of music, which is very important to me. I can remember falling in love with it at 16. I heard it on an album of Aaron Copeland’s “Greatest Hits.” It was one of those compilation things that you would buy at Kmart. The moment I heard it I could envision the open plains, the sea of grass, the expansive sky. Like the American folk songs it was based on, it put everything in “order.” Exquisitely. Years later, I can remember how moved I was watching Martha Graham’s seminal ballet. So epic and human at the same time. That said, the piece of music still moves me in a personal way. And it is that personal vision and feeling that I hope to instill in the dancers and share with the audience. As the songs says, “To turn… turn will be our delight. Till by turning… turning, we come out right.” –  Javier Velasco

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

October 24 @ 7pm
October 25 @ 8pm
October 26 @ 2pm