The Stravinsky Project is Open! What Did You Think?

We had a wonderful opening weekend performance for The Stravinsky Project, along with a glowing review from Martha Ullman West at The Oregonian. Here’s an excerpt: Stravinsky rocks, and so does Oregon Ballet Theatre. That was abundantly clear on Saturday night when the company opened its spring concerts at the Keller with an all-Stravinsky program […]

My Own First Firebird

by OBT Historian Linda Besant (This is an excerpt from Béjart’s <span style=”font-style: italic;”>Firebird</span>, performed by the National Ballet of China for its 50th anniversary in 2009) I was twenty-five and all by myself in Budapest when I saw my first ballet performance. I had worked as a music teacher in the Beaverton schools for […]

The Rite Riot: The Ballets Russes and The Rite of Spring

By Linda Besant On May 9, 1909, dancers who would come to be known as Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes gave their first performance at the Théatre du Chatelet in Paris. By the time the company dissolved upon Diaghilev’s death in 1929, the “Russian Ballet” had given work to Europe’s best dancers, choreographers, composers and artists, […]

“It’s Exhilarating to be Someone’s Creative Instrument” : The Creation of OBT’s Firebird

From the very beginning of his time with OBT, Artistic Director Christopher Stowell intended that the company would develop a repertoire of works “to scores written specifically for ballet. For the initial effort in that direction,” he says, “I asked Yuri Possokhov to choreograph Stravinsky’s Firebird in 2004. He felt a bit confined at first. […]

Looking Back at the First Firebird

by OBT Historian Linda Besant The original Firebird premiered in 1910 for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in Paris. For nearly twenty years, from 1909 to 1929, Diaghilev’s company of primarily Russian-trained dancers performed radical new ballets that gave equal expression to all the arts involved. Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes were among the greatest fruits […]

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane!

No, it’s Stravinsky superheroes! Yesterday we had a rehearsal in costume for The Stravinsky Project. Much work still needs to be done in all areas, but it is definitely starting to come together. We had the pianists in the studio for Rite of Spring yesterday which was a lot of fun. I’ve have worked with […]

Surprise!

Nap time in studio 1. Just kidding, it’s Firebird rehearsal. I bet you all weren’t expecting to hear from me again… But lo and behold, here I am. Much has been going on here at 818 SE 6th. We’re deep into rehearsals for our Stravinsky rep, and speaking for myself, it’s such a nice change […]

Stravinsky Conducts Firebird

Take a minute or 3 to enjoy the master conducting his own work… here’s some rare footage of the 82 year old Igor Stravinsky conducting Firebird.

The Bad Boys of Classical

Is 21st-century wunderkind Nico Muhly the rightful heir to Stravinsky’s legacy? By Claire Willett Igor Stravinsky Nico Muhly The Game-Changer “One spring evening in 1913 the intelligentsia of pre-war Paris gathered at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées to see & hear a sensational new ballet. The ballet, put on by famed Russian Impresario Serge Diaghilev, was […]

Stravinsky Costume Renderings

Last time we talked about all the amazing collaborators that are coming together to bring The Stravinsky Project to the stage. Choreographers, composers, designers – when you count them all up we have over a half dozen for this one world premiere.As promised, we are revealing some of the original costume renderings for The Stravinsky […]