Bouand’s French Project Kicks Off

And the French adventure begins.

Thanks to the generosity of many individual contributors and arts funding organizations, Bouand Dance Company embarks on a collaboration with the French company Ando Cie, with the results performed in Lyon this November, and in Portland in May, 2012.

In both performances, Bouand artistic director Alex Ballard will present an updated version of Noesis/Noema, a dance that he recently debuted with a student cast at The Portland Ballet. The original piece was 12 minutes long, and featured five dancers, but Ballard expects the revised version of Noesis/Noema to run 22 minutes, peformed by a cast of four.

Maggie Rupp will reprise her role from the student version of the piece, joined by Emily Bartha, Lucas Threefoot of Oregon Ballet Theatre, and former OBT Principal Dancer Scott Trumbo. Shareen DeRyan is rehearsing with the company as an understudy for the female roles.

Due to intricate scheduling conflicts among Ballard and each of the dancers, studio rehearsals for the November show began last week, and continue at breakneck speed. The company must complete its primary preparations by the end of July, and will continue with a reduced rehearsal schedule until Ballard and the four dancers board the plane for Lyon.

In these early rehearsals, Ballard seeks to integrate the dancers more fully into the creation of the choreography, and has called on them to experiment with more improvisation than classically trained ballet dancers are typically allowed.

“You have to be a part of the process, rather than a blank slate for the choreographer,” Ballard said during early work on a duet with Trumbo and Bartha. “With all three of us working creatively on this dance, it could be three times as good.”

Photo by Erik Palmer/Vico Images

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