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Home > Leadership > Mayor > Archive Press Releases > 2007 Archives > January 2007 > PERFORMING ARTS EVENT FOR BUFFALO PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS

PERFORMING ARTS EVENT FOR BUFFALO PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS


Source / Contact
Office of the Mayor
Peter K. Cutler
Director of Communications
716-851-4841

American Ballet Theatre Studio Company to Present “Sneak Peek” of New Dance Commissioned by University at Buffalo Faculty Member Elliot Caplan; Performance to be Presented as a Gift to the City of New Orleans
 
BUFFALO – Mayor Byron W. Brown and Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Dr. James A. Williams today announced a unique performing arts event that will be staged for the benefit of Buffalo Public School students on Monday, January 29th at Shea’s Performing Arts Center.
 
Elliot Caplan, an Emmy Award-winning film maker & faculty member of the University at Buffalo’s Center for the Moving Image, has commissioned a new ballet from the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company (ABTSC), which will be premiered at the University at Buffalo at 8:00 p.m. on February 3, 2007.
 
“This is an exciting and wonderful opportunity for city public school students to get a ‘sneak peek’ of a new ballet performance that will premier later in the week,” said Mayor Brown. “Many partners came together to make this event possible and I thank Elliot Caplan, the University at Buffalo, the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, Brian Reeder, the Buffalo Public Schools and Shea’s Performing Arts Center for cooperating on a such a worthy effort. The performing arts are a critical and vital component of our society – the City of Buffalo has always played a leading role in this area – and it is important that our young people are presented with opportunities to see such performances and understand how the performing arts can positively affect their lives.”

Designated by Congress as “America’s National Dance Company,” the American Ballet Theatre will be in residence at UB from January 28th through February 3rd. 
 
Prior to that performance, the dance company will provide a special, free preview of the new ballet for Buffalo Public School students at Shea’s. The members of the company will follow their free performance with an informal Q & A session with the students.
 
"Arts and music are a vital part of the educational experience, so we are very pleased that our students will be the first to preview this ballet in the beautiful Shea's Theater," said Dr. Williams. "This is another mutually beneficial example of the growing partnership the Buffalo Public Schools have with the City and the University at Buffalo."
 
Choreographer Brian Reeder’s new work for the ABTSC, a ballet for six dancers, will be set to Music for the Theater by Aaron Copland and features costumes designed by Reeder.
 
Following the Buffalo performances, the ABTSC will perform the new dance in New Orleans, making the performance one of the first post-Katrina cultural performances in that city. To commemorate this event, Mayor Brown, in cooperation with Mr. Caplan, will formally present the new ballet as a gift to the citizens of New Orleans from the residents of the City of Buffalo.
 
“We are acutely aware of the continuing challenges the residents of the City of New Orleans are experiencing in the wake of Hurricane Katrina,” said Mayor Brown. “This is just one gesture from the residents of Buffalo to let the people of New Orleans know that we care for them, we wish them continued strength in overcoming such a horrific natural disaster and that we hope to brighten their lives in some measure by presenting this gift from the City of Buffalo.”
                                               
Award-winning filmmaker Elliot Caplan will document the dance-making process as the ABT Studio Company creates a new work as choreographed by Brian Reeder.