2 years ago Oregon Ballet Theatre came within a razor’s edge of closing its doors forever.
Over a million dollars in emergency community support later, the companys wavers on the brink of a turnaround.
It would be understandable if decided to play it safe for a while.
Right?
Instead, Artistic Director Christopher Stowell has upped the stakes, inviting world-renowned choreographer Nicolo Fonte and 10 new dancers from around the world to collaborate on a world-premiere re-imagining of two bloody classics, Bizet’s Carmen and Stravinsky’s Petrouchka this October.
Their goal: to create new definitive ballet versions of these iconic stories that will restore the organization’s position in the vanguard of national ballet organizations and cement the company’s financial recovery.
The stakes couldn’t be higher, creatively or financially. Will he succeed? Or will the company’s fledgling turnaround end, like Carmen and Petrouchka themselves, in a bloodbath?
What are the lessons to be learned on behalf of the national arts community?
Will it be a new model to be shared? A cautionary tale? Either way it should be a helluva story for anyone interested in taking the current pulse of the arts in America.
Petrouchka/Carmen rehearses in August and world premieres Saturday, October 8th at the Keller Auditorium, Portland Oregon.
By: Trisha Mead