Alaska News

ArtBeat: Baroque dance workshop, concert will bring music to life

When concert-goers listen to a Bach suite or a chaconne by Couperin, they're usually only getting half the show. An enormous amount of Baroque music -- perhaps most of it -- was written with the expectation that it would be danced to.

The Anchorage Festival of Music will present a workshop and then a rare concert featuring both tunes and steps from 300 years ago under the guidance of Betty Bang Mather, co-author of "Dance Rhythms of the French Baroque" and an internationally recognized authority on period dances and their connection to the musical scores that nowadays are still heard, but seldom seen.

At a rehearsal this week, Mather said she became interested in the art form while living in France. A flutist, trained at Oberlin and Juilliard, she got a Fulbright scholarship that let her study at the Paris Conservatoire.

"I found that all of the early flute tutors were French," she said. A craze for flute music had coincided with another craze for dance driven by Louis XIV, a monarch who loved to watch dancing when he wasn't doing it himself.

"Louis wanted his artists to come up with a system that would notate choreography as clearly as music," she said, and showed a facsimile of the directions taken from one of her treatises. "They'd get these published, then use pony express or something to get them to all the courts in Europe."

The teenage J.S. Bach was at one such court in Germany, the summer residence of a French noble. There was a French orchestra and a French dancing master on the staff. "That's where he learned this style that he used for the rest of his life," Mather said.

Mather returned to the U.S. as a revival of Baroque performance styles was underway in the 1970s. She connected with dancers and started giving programs to show how the music and dance worked together. "This is almost like a poem," she said, looking over the score to Bach's Orchestral Suite in B Minor, one musical gesture answered by another in a kind of dialogue that matches up with the formal dance moves.

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The historic choreograph, a blueprint for the steps, shows the motions of the dancers in relationship to a "Presence" in front of them. That would have been the king or other dignitary.

Grace and small steps are key to these dances. At the rehearsal, I found myself staring at the dancers' feet. The tops of their bodies remained mannequin-stiff. But, like Baroque music, there are "ornaments" in the dance, the equivalent of trills or grace notes, said Helen Chadima, one of Mather's original dancers who will take the part of the Presence in Sunday's performance.

The different dances -- bourees, menuets, rondeaus, gigues -- may look similar, Chadima said. They often open with a procession, followed by the partners circling each other and then moving in lines reminiscent of a Celtic knot. But the intricacies of the footwork vary, as does the speed.

Baroque music seems to be danced faster than it's commonly played, Chadima said. Indeed, during the rehearsal the musicians regularly spoke about upping the tempo.

The workshop will feature modern instruments, said festival director and flutist Laura Koenig. "That's just to be heard. For the concert, I'll switch to a Baroque flute." Harpsichord and gut violin strings will also help provide an "authentic" sound to go with the period dance.

The "Let's Dance Bach" workshop will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20, at the East High School auditorium. The concert, which will focus on French music of the era, will take place at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 21, in the UAA Fine Arts Building recital hall. Tickets are available at centertix.net. More information about the festival is available at its new website, anchoragefestivalofmusic.org.

Homer film fest opens with 3-D doc

The 11th annual Homer Documentary Film Festival will open on Thursday, Sept. 25, with barbecue and James Cameron's 3-D underwater show, "DeepSea Challenge." The week-long celebration of new documentary films will take place at the Homer Theatre -- formerly the Homer Family Theater, billed as the "longest-running movie house in Alaska."

Festival highlights last year included the debut of "Muscle Shoals," a rock and blues history that went on to garner considerable critical praise. Also in the lineup was "Blackfish," direct from the Sundance festival, an investigation of the treatment of killer whales in commercial aquariums and the death of one of the orcas' handlers. It, too, generated a lot of national attention both in the form of love from film fans and an angry rebuttal from SeaWorld.

On the reel this year (if reels were still used, which I don't think they are) will be:

"Fed Up." Katie Couric narrates a Michael Pollan-inspired look at the American food lobbying industry and why you're fat.

"Life Itself," a biography of film critic Roger Ebert.

"This Ain't No Mouse Music," the story of deep-roots American music archaeologist Chris Strachwist with raw recordings going back to 1960.

"Particle Fever." Six scientists pursue the goal of recreating the Big Bang.

"The Internet's Own Boy," the tragic tale of technology genius Aaron Swartz and the conflict between computers and civil liberties.

"Alive Inside," an inspirational tribute to Dan Cohen, who uses music to help Alzheimer's patients.

"Battered Bastards of Baseball," recalling the wild times of a single-A team composed of players that no one else wanted.

"Last Days in Vietnam." Rory Kennedy probes the chaos and moral conundrum of America's evacuation from Saigon.

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Festival discount passes cost $55 for adults. Regular ticket prices are $8 for adults and $6 for seniors/children/military/Peace Corps. Showtimes and ticket information are at homerdocfest.com and homertheatre.com.

Old-school press

Anchorage artist James Riordan spent much of the summer at Zygote Press in Cleveland, courtesy of a Rasmuson grant. He was printing his translation of Francis Jamme's novel "Le Roman du Lievre" on an antique monotype hand-print press. The work has been underway for some years, starting with the translation from French itself, and the printed, bound volume is ready for distribution.

Riordan, who may be best known around town for his involvement with SOWSEAR cartoon magazine, tells us his next step is to arrange a book tour, which he's trying to fund through a Kickstarter campaign. More info on the artist and his book can be found at riordanjimmy.com.

Local model goes to Big Apple

Magdalena Martynowicz, a local model represented by Thuy Vo of DEP Models, has signed with Major Model Management in New York. The company is one of the biggest such agencies in the world, with offices in Paris, Milan and Munich. Friends said bon voyage to her at a party on Sept. 12 at Studio MOD on Arctic Boulevard.

Zercher in Bellingham show

"PIA Clock" by local artist Lowell Zercher is included in the Northwest Designer Craftsmen show at the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham, Washington. The Northwest craft showcase is observing its 60th year and will be on display through Jan. 4. The clock was part of the Alaska juried "Earth, Fire and Fibre" show in 2013.

Mike Dunham

Mike Dunham was a longtime ADN reporter, mainly writing about culture, arts and Alaska history. He worked in radio for 20 years before switching to print. He retired from the ADN in 2017.

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