Ballet, Musicians Team Up for 'Shall We Dance?'

Ballet, Musicians Team Up for 'Shall We Dance?'
By Maryann Gogniat Eidemiller

The aural experience of music will be visual, too, Saturday when the Westmoreland Symphonic Winds and the Laurel Ballet presents "Shall We Dance?" at Seton Hill University, near Greensburg.

"It will be enjoyable to see the music come alive through physical movement," said conductor and music director Kathleen M. Campbell, who is associate professor of music at Seton Hill, where the Symphonic Winds is part of the Division of Performing Arts.

This is the symphony's 18th season and the first time to collaborate with the ballet. The arrangements were initiated by Campbell and Rosalind Stack, who is on the university's music staff, and whose daughter, Beth Anne, dances with the ballet.

The girls will perform to "Suite of Old American Dances" by Robert Russell Bennett, who orchestrated and arranged nearly 200 Broadway musicals, including "The Sound of Music," "My Fair Lady" and "The King and I."

"The girls are having a wonderful time and we are doing a lot of different things," said Judy Rae Tubbs, the ballet's choreographer. "For instance, when Sarah Jane Watkins interacts with the orchestra in the cakewalk, it's unusual, but it's a lot of fun."

Watkins, 22, of Delmont, started dancing with Laurel Ballet when she was 6. She additionally trained at Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, studied dance at the University of Utah, and teaches at Laurel Ballet.

Lindsay Weyandt, of Greensburg, will dance to the "Wallflower Waltz." Other American numbers feature Emily Heinicka, of Irwin, April Johnson, of Mt. Pleasant, Emily Henderson, of Ligonier, and Beth Anne Stack, of Hempfield Township. Sarah Hawk, of Salem Township, will solo in a Japanese dance.

"Sarah is a bit of a gymnast, so I incorporated a couple of movements that are different," Tubbs said. "One is a round-off, which is like a cartwheel, but the legs come together before landing. That's not typical of most ballet work, but they're using everything in modern ballet."

Molly Maiolo is featured in a Japanese dance of mourning and Hayley Rogachesky dances with traditional banners, called pennons. Both are from Greensburg.

"Another Japanese dance calls for swords, but they don't actually use them," Tubbs said. "But choreographically, I have implied the presence of swords. It's a powerful piece."

Heather Lynch, of Irwin, and Courtney Kaczmarek, of Greensburg, also will dance.

The Westmoreland Symphonic Winds includes professional musicians, teachers and college students. Ted DiSantis is assistant conductor.

"It's so enjoyable to see this collaborative effort and to see the commitment of the young performing artists in our community," Campbell said.

Source: Pittsburg Live