Country Gardens
I. Tattoo: Alfieri, Padovani, Boggs, Wallace, Washington, Bishton, O’Day, Roberts
II. Country Gardens: Yeager, Bocca
III. Trio: Washington, O’Day, Roberts
IV. Quartet: Alfieri, Padovani, Boggs, Wallace
V. Country Garden Variations: Yeager, Bocco with Anderson, Brown, Lynn, Tuttle, Chait, Morrison, Selya, Van Fleteren
VI. Suite: Padovani, Wallace, Anderson, Lynn, Chait, Morrison, Alfieri, Boggs, Brown, Tuttle, Selya, Van Fleteren, Washington, Bishton, O’Day, Roberts, Yeager, Bocca
VII. Double Quartet: Washington, Bishton, O’Day, Roberts, Alfieri, Padovani, Boggs, Wallace
VIII. Fugue: Company
IX. Gigue: Company
X. Epilogue: Yeager, Bocca and Company
Claudia Alfieri, Isabella Padovani
Gil Boggs, Robert Wallace
Shelley Washington
Cynthia Anderson, Sandra Brown, Veronica Lynn, Ashley Tuttle
Daniel Chait, Peter Morrison, John Selya, Roger Van Fleteren
From the original program: "Brief Fling is sponsored by Sydney and Frances Lewis, Stephen D. Weinroth, The JCT Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Diker and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Miss Tharp thanks Mr. Mizrahi and Mr. Colombier for their generosity."
Brief Fling is Mikhail Baryshnikov’s last commission from Tharp during his tenure as artistic director of American Ballet Theatre. The title references both the traditional Scottish dance and a short-lived romance. Isaac Mizrahi's tartan costumes divide the dancers into clans of blue, red, green and off-white.
In the opening section, two soloist couples in red and a quartet in green punch out syncopated phrases to a military tattoo. The principal couple clad in blue performs an extended set of variations to an English folk song backed by the ensemble dancers dressed in off-white. The finale features each clan in succession, compounding into a furioso fugue.
The score by Michel Colombier intersperses Percy Grainger’s sunny interpretations of traditional melodies from the United Kingdom with an ominous electronic score.
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Padovani and Wallace in performance.
<p>©Marty Sohl</p> -
Members of the ensemble in performance.
<p>©Marty Sohl</p> -
Costume sketches by Isaac Mizrahi.
<p>©Isaac Mizrahi</p>
Opening sections performed by dancers of American Ballet Theatre.
Original Score by Michel Colombier
Country Gardens (Traditional)
Arranged For Piano by Percy Grainger - 1918
Handel In The Strand
Arranged by Michel Colombier
Composed by Percy Grainger 1911-1947
Country Gardens