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Mystique RDT Presents Mystique: Mystique is a concert of contrasts: Featuring the choreography of Michio Ito with live music by Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation musicians, a New Work by Satu Hummasti titled Songs I Wanna Sing To You and Kraak by Jo Stromgren, choreographers from Japan, Finland and Norway who explore the mysteries of East/West, Male/Female, Historic/Contemporary, Yin/Yang.
In the July of 2009 RDT hosted Kyoko Ryutani and Kumiko Komine, master teachers with Michio Ito Doomonkai in Japan, a school dedicated to preserving Ito’s work. They taught Michio Ito technique and theory and also re-staged eleven works created between 1916- 1929 plus a tribute to Ito choreographed after his death. These 11 historic works will be featured in RDT’s upcoming performance MYSTIQUE on March 25,26,27, 2010 at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. The Ito repertory will be played “live” in collaboration with the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation. The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded RDT an American Masterpieces grant of $120,000 which enables the company to become the repository of information preserving the legacy, method and repertory of Michio Ito in the United States. Support is also provided by Japan Foundation New York Performing Arts Program. Also on the concert is the world premiere of Songs I Wanna Sing (to you) choreographed by Satu Hummasti, an Associate Professor in the Modern Dance Department at the University of Utah. Originally from Helsinki, Finland, Satu is a dancer, choreographer, writer and teacher who has performed and taught throughout the United States, South America and Europe. Her new work explores the poetic underpinnings of five songs from very different genres which address themes of loneliness, nostalgia, desire, and the joy and difficulty of truly being with other people. Through subtle physical phrases, powerful group work, and singing, the dance asks: Isn't there always some degree of loneliness, no matter how close we are to someone? Isn't there always some degree of mystery in others, no matter how well we know them? Kraak created by Norwegian choreographer, Jo Stromgren, examines the mysteries of the male vs female dispositions and offers a certain lightness and absurdity along with explosive dynamic energy.
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Biographies Michio Ito
Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation Since 1976, the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation has held piano competitions and festivals every June. Continuing this tradition, the XV Gina Bachauer International Artist Competition will feature 42 accomplished pianists from 18 countries competing June 17 – July 1, 2010. In the Final Round, six finalists accompanied by the Utah Symphony under the direction of Laurence Leighton Smith will compete for over $80,000 and the international recognition that comes from winning a Bachauer competition. In anticipation of the Competition, acclaimed Russian pianist Vassily Primakov will conclude the 2009-10 Gina Bachauer International Concert Series with a rare performance of Chopin’s compete sonatas March 19 in the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center and March 20 at the Waterford School Concert Hall. Established at Brigham Young University, the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation became an independent non-profit organization in 1986. Its quadrennial International Artists Competition is now recognized as one of the world’s most prestigious piano competitions. Guest Performers from Gina Bachauer International Foundation Include:
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Known for its collection of classic and contemporary masterpieces, RDT is known as a “museum” that preserves over 100 years of dance history. Since 1966, Repertory Dance Theater has been committed to building a living archive of American modern dance from its formative years to the present time. Mystique offers a rare opportunity for audiences to see the work of Michio Ito (1893-1961).
Michio Ito (1893-1961) was a transitional figure in the development of early American modern dance who consciously sought to create art blending elements of "east" and "west,” a synthesis of Japanese Noh and Kabuki and characteristic gestures drawn from Oriental and Western cultures. Born to a progressive Japanese family, Ito studied and performed in Europe and the United States during the flowering of new art in the early 20th century. He was one of a boundary-crossing generation that brought about the literary, musical and artistic breakthroughs of modernism and the eclectic beginnings of American modern dance. He was an electrifying performer who collaborated with major writers, musicians, and artists. In New York and Los Angeles before World War II, he developed a unique system of teaching that was carried on after his death in 1961 by his disciples in Japan.
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