Juilliard Evening Division is offering a new series of intensive one-day history and appreciation courses this summer, and I've just got to find a way to work either the Swan Lake or Fences session into my summer fun...
Swan Lake
Henning Rübsam
Why is Swan Lake the most enduring and beloved example of classical ballet? In this day
of immersion, we explore the history and music of this treasured masterpiece. A famous
Swan Queen visits the class to illuminate the legendary dual role of good and evil, Odette/
Odile—including the challenge of transforming from white to black swan. A production
history of the ballet and an examination of its masterful score by Tchaikovsky will prepare
students for a matinee by American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House. A
discussion about the performance concludes the day.
August Wilson’s Fences: Masterpiece of Theater and Film
Shana Komitee
August Wilson’s play Fences, the sixth installation of his 10-play “American Century Cycle,”
won both a Pulitzer and Tony when it appeared on Broadway in 1983. This year, it hit the big
screen, also to great acclaim. Helmed by Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, the film was
widely distributed throughout the U.S., as well as in Brazil, New Zealand, South Africa, and
numerous European countries. Why has the story of Fences—about a garbage collector
named Troy Maxson and his family in Pittsburgh’s working class Hill District in 1957—riveted such diverse audiences? In this class, we read excerpts from the play; analyze its stage-to screen adaptation; and discuss the artistic lives of Wilson and the film’s stars (most of them worked with him). Student and alumni performers deepen our understanding of this majestic work and its place in the American theatrical, and now cinematic, canon.
No comments:
Post a Comment