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Repertory

AIR AND SIMPLE GIFTS
Choreography by Jennifer Rockwell, Music: John Williams and Ennio Morricone

AUTUMN REVERIES
Choreography by Phillip Carman, Music by Loef Janacek

BOLERO
Choreography by Greg Drotar, Music by Maurice Ravel

CINDERELLA
Staging and choreography by Ross Edwards, Georgia Finnegan Amdahl, Jennifer Murry, Jennifer Rockwell,
Ted Sothern, and Kristina Vozni after Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella. Music by Sergei Prokofiev

COEUR D ‘AMOUR
Choreography by Phillip Carman, Music by Carl Orff
If we take the essence of joy from our past relationships and leave the sorrows behind, then we are able to perceive and embrace joy in our future. Passions, longings, and ultimate acceptance of the past will move your heart as the choreography fills this stage.

CRIMSON TWILIGHT
Choreography by Ross Edwards

DANSE MACABRE
Choreography by Ross Edwards, Music by Saint-Saëns
No matter one’s station in life, the dance of death unites all. The Halloween Eve rendezvous of two lovers is interrupted by personified death leading a row of dancing figures from all walks of life to the grave, an empress, beautiful lady, young girl, and “the unknown” who represents all who have died. The couples’ love triumphs over death as morning breaks.

ENTICED
Choreography by Christa Anderson-Hill, Music by George Maurer
Notes from the choreographer: Enticed “danced” into a season of grief, hope, and transition for me. I had nothing left to say and no ears to listen, but I had the dance. And so, at the forefront of this project, I just moved and let the movement find its way to the music and the meaning. As I added dancers, emotion and intention began to emerge from the work. When I could not speak, the dancers spoke for me. Each one of them brought their own shading and hue to the work. The colors they painted with movement allowed me to “hear” their own stories of grief, hope, and transition. Those stories and mine have melded together in dance.

From the composer: Commissioned to create 30 minutes of original music set to dance seemed like a good challenge, but in reality writing Enticed turned out to be pretty complicated. Not one for repeating myself, it took many “tries” before I settled on each movement’s style. I wanted to give dancers a variety of textures, tempos, time signatures, and challenges. You will hear influences from Scott Joplin to Charlie Mingus, Dave Brubeck to David Sanborn, Tin Pan Alley to Be-bop, and blues to fusion. There’s even a bit of hip-hop thrown in.

GENTLE BREATH, SUSPENDED
Choreography by Ross Edwards, Music: Sonata in G Minor by Tomaso Albinoni

IN THE MOMENT
Choreography by Phillip Carman, Music by Peter Gabriel
We live our lives from one moment to the next…like still points connected. Dance is a visible expression of the continuum of these still points and, by its hypnotic nature, can suspend time. Each fleeting moment is a thing of beauty. And in the words of John Keats, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”

L’APRES-MIDI D’UN FAUNE
Staged with new choreography by Phillip Carman, Music by Claude Debussy
Costumes by Ann Marie Ethen
Ninety-five years ago, this beautiful Debussy music was choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky, ushering in new era in dance, and establishing Nijinsky as the Father of Modern Dance. In 1912, the “Choreographic Poem” shocked the Paris audiences of Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe. The unusual movements, the use of slow-motion, and finally the overt sensuality made Faune a scandal.
In this contemporary ballet treatment of the wonderful score, only the occasional pose, and a general reference to the “story” remain. The dancers are free, the Faune is mysterious, and the sensuality is exaggerated. We only know that a group of young women encounter a creature in a forest, are enchanted by his beauty for a while, then move on, leaving the Faune as they found him — does he remember?

LILI MARLENE
Choreography by Jennifer Murry. As sung by Marlena Dietrich from 1940 recording.

MD2
Choreography by Ross Edwards and Andrew Lester
Music by Miles Davis

NIGHT MUSIC
Choreography by Phillip Carman, Music by W. A. Mozart
Costumes by Ann Marie Ethen
A choreographic exploration of one of the most beautiful of Mozart’s scores in four movements. The incredible melodies and rich orchestration challenge the dancers’ musicality, elevating their artistry and presenting music for your eyes.

NOT AN ETUDE
Choreography by Ted Sothern, Music by George Maurer

NUTCRACKER MAGIQUE
Choreography by Phillip Carman, Music by Tchaikovsky
Our Claire loves the story of the Nutcracker and her dream takes her to enchanted realms of her own imagination. The familiar music of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker and his Sleeping Beauty ballet weaves in and out of Clara’s memory creating the inspiration for a flowing mysterious dream that is wholly her own. Clara’s candies, flowers, snows, princes and princesses are strange and beautiful and move between shadow and light in harmony.

PROTECTED BY ANGELS
Choreography by Jennifer Rockwell Edwards, Music by Babe in the City

RAYMONDA EXCERPTS
Staging by SPCB after Petipa, Music by Glazunov

STATIONS OF THE HEART in five movements:
All the time
Too cold to snow
Near me
You don’t see me
Good for the goose
Choreography by Phillip Carman, Music by George Maurer
Notes from the choreographer: These songs tell a story — lost love, new beginnings, moving on. The choreography does not relate the stories told in the songs, rather it indicates the feelings presented. Choreography is limited in that regard, suggesting — not stating, reflecting — not literal translating. Lyrics are heard, and the poetry is clear; while dance is more of a visceral reaction to what was heard. The vocalist is the protagonist, occasionally interwoven into the ballet, while the dancers give the audience images to stimulate their imagination. Choreographers can relate the basics: love, fear, joy, hate, desire, but to quote Sir Fredrick Ashton, “There are no mothers-in law in the ballet,” and George Balanchine when asked about his plotless ballets…”What more story do you need? When you have a man and woman on stage together there is already a story.”

From the composer: Two years before I had heard of Saint Paul City Ballet, I was developing music for Jim Payne’s Stations of the Heart. It was a commission by Ben Krywosz of Nautilus Music-Theatre for their monthly Rough Cuts series, under the music direction of Jerry Rubino, to be sung by singer/actor Anne Michels. To work with lyrics I had to take a different compositional approach than with instrumental music. The process, while long, did much to prepare me for creating Enticed. Jim had a lyrical sensibility that immediately gave me the imagery and inspiration I needed to come up with the right melodies, tones, and textures for each number.

THE ENCHANTED TOY SHOP, A HOLIDAY BALLET
Choreography by SPCB Artistic Partners after Massine and Petipa
Music by Rossini and Tchiakovsky
The Enchanted Toyshop is the perfect way to introduce young children to the power and beauty of classical dance and is an alternative to the Nutcracker. Set in Europe during the Victorian era, this charming 85 minute ballet is based on La Boutique Fantasque from Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. The Rossini score has been complimented by Tchaikovsky’s Waltz Of The Snow Flakes and Waldteufel’s Skater’s Waltz and is woven seamlessly together in dazzling theatrical staging by SPCB’s Artistic Partners, Ted Sothern, Jennifer Murry, Ross Edwards, Jennifer Rockwell Edwards and Georgia Finnegan Amdahl.

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
Staging and choreography by SPCB Artistic Partners after Marius Petipa’s original production of The Sleeping Beauty premiered at the Maryinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, 1890
Music by Peter I. Tchaikovsky
The Sleeping Beauty is based on the classic French fairytale by Charles Perrault and the grand choreography of Petipa danced to Tchaikovsky’s treasured score.

WITH A LOVE I SEEMED TO LOSE in three movements:
YOU DON’T SEE ME
SLUMBER SONG
FATHER-DAUGHTER DANCE
Choreography by Ross Edwards, Music by George Maurer