Ballet steps out to Gershwin and Springsteen
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George Gershwin -- The ballet will dance to his "Shall We Dance" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me."
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Don't think Gershwin show tunes and Bruce Springsteen heartland rock can share the spotlight? Think again.
Both are on the bill this weekend when Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre world premieres "A Gershwin Fantasy" with live music and revives for the first time since 2004 "Hungry Heart ... 'We All Have One'!!" Both pieces will be performed Thursday, Saturday and next Sunday at the Byham Theater, Downtown. Only the Gershwin ballet will be staged on Friday. Audiences can catch "A Gershwin Fantasy" again March 26 when PBT performs it and Dwight Rhoden's "Step Touch," set to music by Pure Gold and Charlie Thomas' Drifters, when the company makes its debut at Seton Hill University.
Where: Byham Theater, Downtown.
When: 7:30 p.m. Thurs.; 8 p.m. Fri. and Sat.; 2 p.m. next Sun.
Tickets: $20.75 to $90.75; www.pbt.org or 412-456-6666. Group and student offers also available.
Information: list of pre- and post-performance talks with PBT artists at www.pbt.org/
community_engagement/
audience_enrichment/. A cocktail hour, music and informal discussion of George Gershwin at 5:30 p.m. Thurs. in Byham Theater lobby; cash bar and light snacks.
Upcoming performance: 7:30 p.m. March 26, PBT will perform a mixed repertoire of "A Gershwin Fantasy" and "Step Touch" at Seton Hill University's Carol Ann Reichgut Concert Hall. Tickets $35 at www.setonhill.edu or 724-836-8000. Premium tickets including post-performance party with PBT artists are $100.
The Gershwin compilation by Ukrainian choreographer Viktor Plotnikov will take audiences on a trip back to the sophistication of the American jazz age. PBT tapped Mr. Plotnikov about a year ago to create the ballet for the company after seeing some of his work with dancers in the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School.
"He has done lots of works around the country," artistic director Terrence Orr said.
Mr. Plotnikov is known for marrying contemporary and classically inspired movements to concoct a style that even he says is difficult to describe.
First Published March 13, 2011 12:00 am
