Tag: New Ballet Ensemble

Categories
Intermission Impossible Theater

New Ballet Ensemble’s After School Program Recognized by the White House

Briana Brown (L), Her grandmother Belinda Lowery (R), and Lil Buck (C). At the White House.

I could tell you what perfect beauty looks like. But it’s so much more effective to show you. Before going any further take a second to click on the video embedded below and watch as 17-year-old New Ballet Ensemble student Briana Brown receives some very good news. Also, pay careful attention to the face of her grandmother, Belinda Lowery. It’s the best thing you’ll see all day, I promise you.

New Ballet Ensemble’s After School Program Recognized by the White House

Now that your heart is all warm and happy, here’s the backstory. Today at 1:00 p.m.CST, Brown and 11 other young people from across the country will meet First Lady Michelle Obama, to accept the prestigious National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award on behalf of their respective after school programs. The award honors programs that go beyond basic arts training to change kids’ lives.

“It’s highly competitive,” says Katie Smythe, NBE’s founding director.

The White House award is being presented just days after NBE’s most famous alum, Charles “Lil Buck” Reilly was profiled in the Wall Street Journal. Buck, and fellow NBE alum, Maxx Reed, who performed on Broadway in Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark, are both returning to Memphis this month and will dance with  Brown in Nut Remix, the fusion company’s annual, Memphis-specific answer to The Nutcracker.

Those interested in seeing the award ceremony live can watch at this link. Also, I asked Brown a few questions before she left for Washington D.C. Here’s a taste of what she had to say.

More to come. 

Intermission Impossible: What brought you to New Ballet Ensemble.

Briana Brown: I was seven years old and my mom brought me in because she had a friend whose daughter came here. My mom always wanted to keep me active and I thought it was a really cool after school activity. I started off with basic ballet training, but as the years went by I flirted with other genres like jazz, and a little bit of contemporary.

Was this your first experience with dance?

I took a little tap and did gymnastics, but it wasn’t serious. It was just something my mom tried out, but I didn’t like it.

What made New Ballet Ensemble different?

I was intrigued by how everybody was doing the exact same things together. It was different and I was interacting with people I might not even talk to otherwise. I was a single child at the time. I didn’t have that many friends or a lot of interaction with people at all.

But what is it that made dance more interesting to you than gymnastics?

It was about expression. It was a way to express yourself in a whole different way. Being onstage to tell a story instead of trying to beat someone or to win something. You’re performing and entertaining people. At the same time you’re having fun, so it’s win-win.

Was there a special moment when you knew dance was your thing?

It took a long time to realize this is what I want to do. I didn’t have my “Oh my God, this is important to me” moment until I was 12. It happened onstage, believe it or not. I was in a pose, and the curtains were closing, and I remember feeling so sad because I wanted to do more, to keep dancing. It was a performance of Nut Remix. I was snow. It felt like a movie: No, no! Don’t close the curtains! It just felt so great to be there, with the adrenaline, and the lights, and the people all around me. Wow. It was a pivotal moment for me.

What were your favorite classes in school when you started dancing?

English classes. Anything related to expression.

So dance was, for you, an extension of that, really.

Yes, it was.

New Ballet has changed a lot in 10-years. Can you look back and describe what it looked like to you through seven-year-old eyes?

When I started [NBE] wasn’t where it is now. It was still in the icehouse [on Central]. There were maybe 70 people in the room. And I think I was the only one that didn’t come prepared. Everyone had on a pink leotard, and pink tights, and ballet flats. I had on a white T-shirt and black pants. I was not ready.

The thing that’s neat is how, over the time you’ve been with NBE, the company and school has evolved into a unique place where classical and street styles mingle pretty freely. What’s it been like to watch that?

I’ve always thought that New Ballet was the kind of place that gathered people from every spectrum of our city. That’s exactly what Miss Katie [Smythe] did. She had a vision, and these people came together, and they formed relationships with each other based on their own individuality. That’s what creates things like Nut Remix. The Nutcracker is a classic ballet, but we take it to another level by setting it on Beale Street. That makes us unique. And it’s very special to me, having an opportunity to be part of a community where I can interact with so many people. So many kids don’t ever have a chance to interact with people who are different than them. Kids who go to school in Orange Mound don’t really interact all that often with people from St. Mary’s. At least not the way we do here. And the bonds we form are so strong. 

Categories
Intermission Impossible Theater

Will Call: Tips & Tidbits for the Theatrically Inclined

CREDIT: A Teutonic likeness of John Hemphill

A Teutonic likeness of John Hemphill

We are entering into one of those awful/wonderful periods when the weather is perfect and there is so much nifty stuff to do that you can’t possibly do it all. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the more interesting theater and dance offerings available for consumption this weekend. 

I love Steve Martin’s very Martinized adaptation of Carl Sternheim’s German Expressionist comedy, The Underpants. It’s a profoundly silly meditation on the nature of fame telling the story of a middle class couple who have trouble renting a room until the wife experiences a terrible wardrobe malfunction. Don’t let the early 20th-Century trappings fool you, this story could have easily been devised as a response to the age of 4Chan and Instagram. A top-notch cast includes a pair of Johns (Hemphill and Maness), Rebecca Sherrod, Deborah Burda Nelson, and Jenny Kathman. It’s one weekend only, which means I’ll miss it. But I’d love to hear reports back from people who can make it out Bartlett to see this comic gem. 

I’ve Got Your Tea Party Right Here

Our Own Voice Theatre Company is unlike any other company in town. It began as a troupe dedicated to exploring experimental techniques, as well as issues and ideas related to mental health and “normalcy.” So, in some regard, Madhatted, a locally-adapted vision of the mad tea party from Alice in Wonderland is a perfect fit. And I can assure you, if you saw this show at the Memphis Children’s Theatre Festival a few years back, it will be a different experience. Info here. 

The classic farce Servant of Two Masters has been reimagined as a music-filled slapstick extravaganza called One Man Two Guvnors. Francis Henshall (an updated vision of the stock character Harlequino)  has just been fired from his folk jazz skiffle band and being desperate for work he takes employment from—yes— two masters. Hilarity ensues, as it often so does. Details here. 

Dance fans — both street and classical — have a special opportunity this week to explore both the origins and the future of Memphis-style bucking and jookin’. The “Old School vs. New School 3” dance competition at Minglewood Hall pits Memphis’ first generation Gangsta Walkers against younger dancers looking to see if their bucking and chopping measures up against the original masters.

“This is the first time in a long time that people will have an opportunity to see the original Gangsta Walkers,” says instructor, artist, and event organizer Jaquency Ford, who has hand-picked the dance partners who’ll be squaring off against one another at Minglewood. Gangsta Walking is the direct antecedent of jookin’, the Memphis-born dance style that New York Times dance writer Alastair Macaulay recently described as, “the single most exciting young dance genre of our day, featuring, in particular, the most sensationally diverse use of footwork.”

Will Call: Tips & Tidbits for the Theatrically Inclined

Pretty Tony will be in the house to perform his seminal club hit “Get Buck.” Original Gangsta Walkers include Wolf and Romeo, two-thirds of the G-Style, the ’80s-era rap and dance team that first began to mix breakdancing moves with “buck jumps.”

A stone’s throw to the east, at the new Hattiloo Theatre in Overton Square, FreeFall finds New Ballet Ensemble (NBE) presenting a concert showcasing the company’s critically acclaimed hybrid of ballet, Memphis jookin’, and world dance styles. NBE’s program includes a revival of Noelia Garcia Carmona’s Dos, a vibrant mashup of jookin’ and flamenco set to original music by Roy Brewer and showcasing the talents of Shamar Rooks. The New Ballet Youth Company presents Doin’ It Right choreographed by NBE alum and Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark dancer Maxx Reed.

NBE is also premiering “Three Dream Portraits” based on poetry by Langston Hughes with music by Margaret Bonds and choreography by General McArthur Hambrick.

If that’s not enough on the Memphis dance front U-Dig Dance Academy is hosting an evening of wine, international cuisine and (like you couldn’t guess) jookin. That also goes down  Friday, September 26, 2014 at the Jack Robinson Gallery, 400 South Main Street. Tickets for the event are $25; $50 (includes dinner); and $250 for a reserved table and will benefit the U-Dig Dance Club.

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Old School vs. New School 3, New Ballet Ensemble’s FreeFall

Dance fans — both street and classical — have a special opportunity this week to explore both the origins and the future of Memphis-style bucking and jookin’. The “Old School vs. New School 3” dance competition at Minglewood Hall pits Memphis’ first generation Gangsta Walkers against younger dancers looking to see if their bucking and chopping measures up against the original masters.

“This is the first time in a long time that people will have an opportunity to see the original Gangsta Walkers,” says instructor, artist, and event organizer Jaquency Ford, who has hand-picked the dance partners who’ll be squaring off against one another at Minglewood. Gangsta Walking is the direct antecedent of jookin’, the Memphis-born dance style that New York Times dance writer Alastair Macaulay recently described as, “the single most exciting young dance genre of our day, featuring, in particular, the most sensationally diverse use of footwork.”

Pretty Tony will be in the house to perform his seminal club hit “Get Buck.” Original Gangsta Walkers include Wolf and Romeo, two-thirds of the G-Style, the ’80s-era rap and dance team that first began to mix breakdancing moves with “buck jumps.”

A stone’s throw to the east, at the new Hattiloo Theatre in Overton Square, FreeFall finds New Ballet Ensemble (NBE) presenting a concert showcasing the company’s critically acclaimed hybrid of ballet, Memphis jookin’, and world dance styles. NBE’s program includes a revival of Noelia Garcia Carmona’s Dos, a vibrant mashup of jookin’ and flamenco set to original music by Roy Brewer and showcasing the talents of Shamar Rooks. The New Ballet Youth Company presents Doin’ It Right choreographed by NBE alum and Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark dancer Maxx Reed.

NBE is also premiering “Three Dream Portraits” based on poetry by Langston Hughes with music by Margaret Bonds and choreography by General McArthur Hambrick.

Categories
Intermission Impossible Theater

Memphis Ballet Companies Perform with Renowned Artists, Receive National Attention

Memphis has a diverse and enduring dance community, and some of the cities brightest exports and most exciting regional innovations are have their roots in a full-on collision of classical dance, music, and street cultures.

In recent weeks dance fans have seen classical companies like Ballet Memphis and New Ballet Ensemble taking their place on larger stages.

New Ballet Ensemble students ages recently performed with the Memphis Symphony at the Cannon Center and 13-year-old TJ Benson joined the world renown cellest Yo-Yo Ma for the encore.

New Ballet meets Yo-Yo Ma

  • New Ballet meets Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma has previously performed with NBE alum Li’l Buck.

Meanwhile, Ballet Memphis’ River Project lands some high praise and some prime real estate in the New York Times. An excerpt:

An introductory film suggests that the plan for these three new ballets was to reflect three zones through which the river passes: one ballet (Steven McMahon’s “Confluence”) on the central area around Memphis, one on the Delta and New Orleans (Julia Adam’s “Second Line”), and another on — what? This third ballet (Matthew Neenan’s “Party of the Year”) proved the least obviously river-connected: its setting was a party in Los Angeles. This didn’t make it a disappointment, however. Instead, it was both the evening’s biggest hit and one of the most beguiling new American ballets of our day.

This week dance fans can check out Company D’s “Let it Be a Dance” or the work of MacArthur Genus grant-winning choreographer Bill T Jones, both at the Buckman.

Categories
Intermission Impossible Theater

Was 2011 the year of the Memphis dancer?

&ie

Lil Buck

  • Lil Buck

2010 was a great year for Memphis dancers thanks in no small part to some great headline-grabbing performances by Ballet Memphis. 2011, however, was the year of Memphis Jookin’ and Charles Lil’ Buck Riley whose molten flow is informed by sounds from Orange Mound and shot through with classical sensibilities he honed working with Katie Smythe and the New Ballet Ensemble. Madonna has spoken. And so has Yo-Yo Ma. And Margret Thatcher. And even Dance Magazine.

On top of all of that look at the love Time Out Chicago is giving to Ondine Geary.

Best. Year. Ever?

I don’t know about all that but 2012 has its work cut out.