A performance with plenty of Heart
Pacific Dance Ensemble and students from Newport School of Artistic Movement will present their 37th annual gift to the community, “Dances from the Heart” at the Newport Performing Arts Center this Sunday, May 26.
Directed by Nancy Mittleman, the program will showcase original choreography, live Ecuadorian music with Chayag en Familia, dances from Mexico and dance excerpts from Red Octopus Theater Company’s recent production of “Fiddler on the Roof,” including the famous Bottle Dance.
Watch the process unfold as the dancers share their talents.
Pieces include choreography reflecting the dancer’s thoughts originating from various points of inspiration, including works inspired from the ice storms that pummeled Oregon, to the paintings of Mondrian, to the jobs that consume our everyday lives, to the music of Schubert and Schumann. The program includes diverse styles of dance ranging from ballet to modern dance, as well as ethnic forms embraced in the dances from Mexico and Russian folk dance in the “Fiddler on the Roof” pieces.
In addition to her own performing experience on both East and West coasts, Mittleman has more than 50 years of expertise, directing and training dancers from preschool to professional. Members of the ensemble and students of the school have gone on to study and perform in New York at Juilliard, Mark Morris Dance Group, American Ballet Theatre and the Martha Graham Studio; in London at The Laban School; in California at the San Francisco Ballet and San Diego Dance Theater; and in Oregon at the Eugene Ballet and Oregon Ballet Theatre, to name a few.
Pacific Dance Ensemble is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide young dancers the opportunity to work and perform with professional artists, produce original works and showcase their talents, it has also worked to increase awareness of the arts to the community at large since its inception in 1986.
“Dances from the Heart” will begin at 2 pm at the Newport Performing Arts Center, located at 777 W Olive Street. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and children. For more information, go to coastarts.org or call 541-265-2787.