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Steamboat arts institutions come together to celebrate heritage

Nicole Inglis
Dancers Nicholas Ranauro, front, and Jennifer Golonka rehearse a dance piece Friday at the Strings Music Pavilion. The Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp dancers combined their talents with Strings Music Festival musicians for Saturday’s “Dance & Camaraderie.” The show is scheduled for 8 p.m.
John F. Russell





Dancers Nicholas Ranauro, front, and Jennifer Golonka rehearse a dance piece Friday at the Strings Music Pavilion. The Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp dancers combined their talents with Strings Music Festival musicians for Saturday’s “Dance & Camaraderie.” The show is scheduled for 8 p.m.
John F. Russell

— The Strings Music Pavilion stage will be alight with firsts on Saturday night.

In the first of three Strings Heritage Concerts, “Dance & Camaraderie” pairs Strings Music Festival musicians with Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp dance students and faculty.

The collaborative performance is the first between the 25-year-old classical and contemporary music series and the 99-year-old renowned performing arts camp.



Strings Music Director Andrés Cárdenes said the evening will mark the first time there will be dance and music on the Strings stage at the same time.

And the music Cárdenes chose — a contemporary, jazzy piece by David Baker called “Roots II” — has never before been choreographed.



“It’s a world premiere in that sense,” he said.

“Dance & Camaraderie” begins at 8 p.m. Saturday at Strings Music Pavilion. Tickets are $36.

The first piece of the evening will be a melodic and virtuosic Schubert work for violin and piano.

Second will be the dance collaboration with a string trio of a violin, a cello and a piano set off to the side of the stage to make room for the two-movement piece featuring six dancers.

The contemporary dance was choreographed by Thang Dao, who also presented a new piece during the Perry-Mansfield New Works Festival earlier this summer.

“They brought the music, we brought the dance,” he said.

Perry-Mansfield Director of Dance Linda Kent said there has never been a collaboration like this one before.

“It was so exciting to be asked,” Kent said. “This is top, top level.”

The finale will be Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet featuring the New York Philharmonic’s Mark Nuccio on clarinet.

Music Director Monique Mead agreed that it was important for to Strings collaborate with other arts institutions, especially one as engrained into the local culture and history as Perry-Mansfield.

“I think it reflects something so unique in our community,” she said. “To have two arts organizations on this level, it’s a display of championing of the arts and it should be applauded. Just that the community supports this is amazing.”

“Dance & Camaraderie” is the first of three Strings Heritage Concerts. The second will partner festival musicians playing Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” with the breathtaking art of three local photographers on July 28.

The final heritage concert will take place during the “Music From the Movies” performance Aug. 1, when local youth musicians will join the professionals on stage.

Strings Executive Director Kay Clagett said after 25 years, Strings is now a part of the heritage of the local arts community and aims to celebrate all the organizations and people that contribute to its strength.

“We hope to continue this program for many years to come,” Clagett said about the Heritage Concert series. “They portray our value; each one tells a story about Steamboat.”

— To reach Nicole Inglis call 970-871-4204 or email ninglis@ExploreSteamboat.com


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