Cultural Arts

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Irvine Barclay Theater’s season 2010 fuses exotic and Avant-Garde

By Lydia E. Ringwald

Unlike most theater venues, whose Season begins in the fall, the Irvine Barclay Theater Season starts its unique series of exotic dance and music performances in January with scheduling through May and into July.

The unusual selection of edgy avant-garde music and dance also distinguishes the UC Irvine based theater from the traditional ballet; dance and music performances often staged other major cultural venues in Orange County.

20-20-20. In celebration of the Irvine Barclay’s 20th season, the 20 featured events are available at ticket prices start in the $20 range. For audience VIP’s, several performance in the series offer $100 Gold Seats with complimentary wine and beverages at the Gold Bar before the show.

Of the 20 featured events offered this Season, here are a few highlights.

The 2010 Season at Irvine Barclay opens on January 16 with an intriguing of the Brazilian contemporary dance company Grupo de Rua, whose Rio de Janeiro based choreographer Bruno Baltrao using hip-hop and contemporary dance in an exotic soundscape to create a revolutionary new dance form merging movement with pulsating rhythm.  Beltrao’s all male company will perform his newest work ‘H3.’

Cutting edge dance aficionados will enjoy a presentation on February 9 of ‘Bahok’ the work of London’s preeminent choreographer Akam Khan exploring the ways the body carries national identity, sense of belonging and alienation. Khan’s dancers carry with them the energy and traditions of their diverse cultures; Korean, Chinese, Indian, South-African and Spanish to create a dance language that challenges geographical and cultural boundaries.

On February 25, Joni Mitchell and the Alberta Ballet present “Fiddle and the Drum,” a collaborative semi-abstract ballet performed to Mitchell’s music and artwork projected onto a canvas screen on stage. Joni Mitchell, who gained famed as a folk rock singer in the ‘70’s has continually renewed herself as a musician, composer and visual artist throughout her challenging artistic career.  ‘Fiddle and Drum’ explores the themes of love and hate, war and peace that have drove humanity to creativity and self-destruction.

Unique music performances scheduled for the 2010 Season at Irvine Barclay fuse the exotic with the avant-garde.

January 30 features a special performance of fusion vocalist Hamed Nikpay, and ensemble singing Persian melodies with Flamenco beat from his album ‘ All is Calm.’ Nikpay merges traditional Persian music and selected Persian poetry into a musical paragon fused with World music.

The Tehran project, featuring Linling Hse and Amir Amiri, presents the ‘East-West Fusion: Music Without Borders’ on March 5, integration of Persian classical music with jazz, Indian and Flamenco, balancing tradition with innovation in the world music scene

The Irvine Barclay Theater brings the world to Orange County.

For tickets and further information, visit www.thebarclay.org

Lydia E. Ringwald is the Laguna Journal's  Cultural Arts Columnist and photo-journalist, as well as a Southern California based artist. 

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