The nonprofit Malibu Ballet Society will pay tribute to composer Aaron Copland on Sunday with a performance at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theatre.
By Michael Aushenker / Special to The Malibu Times
It’s “rodeo” time at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theatre as the Malibu Ballet Society performs a special tribute to composer Aaron Copland this Sunday at 5 p.m.
The ballet will perform Copland’s “Rodeo” and “Appalachian Spring.” Influenced by such composers as Chopin, Verdi and Debussy, Copland, who wrote the scores for such movies as “Of Mice and Men” and “Our Town,” wrote “Rodeo” in 1942 and “Appalachian” in 1944. Martha Graham starred in the latter, which won a Pulitzer Prize for Music and featured set design by renowned Japanese sculptor Isamu Noguchi. The Brooklyn-born Copland died in 1990.
Diane Linder trains the Malibu Civic, Concert, and Chamber Ballet Companies and dancers of all ages at Malibu Civic Ballet Academy, located at 5 Point Yoga in the Malibu Country Mart. She said she was thrilled to direct and choreograph the Americana extravaganza, which features local talent involved with this production.
“It is invaluable to encourage community-based arts and help these young dancers grow and develop their skills and talents in a safe, nurturing environment, where they can find their authentic selves through expressing themselves in the arts,” Linder said. “I truly believe they can change our world with their accomplishments.”
For more than two decades, the Malibu Civic Ballet and Ballet & Performing Arts Society has spirited an annual production of “The Nutcracker” at Pepperdine’s Smothers Theatre, pretty much since the theatre opened its doors. Liane Weintraub, founding chairperson of the Center of Dance Arts, became involved in the Malibu Ballet via her daughter.
“I was extremely impressed with the quality of the productions and the dancing,” she said, “as well as the way in which the ballet was able to rally community support. This community spirit is something I treasure about living in Malibu, and having so many people turn out for the arts is especially meaningful.”
“Rodeo” is a love story told on tiptoes. Throughout this love triangle, the audience will follow the exploits of the protagonist Cowgirl as she pursues the affections of her childhood friend Head Wrangler. But her beloved is more captivated by the feminine Rancher’s Daughter. When the City Slicker whisks the Rancher’s Daughter away, however, Wrangler realizes where his affections truly lie.
Agnes de Mille, the original choreographer of “Rodeo,” explored “the Cowgirl’s unwillingness to subscribe to traditional gender roles and was well ahead of her time as a champion of women’s equality,” Linder said.
Copland’s music features stirring, energetic Western themes, “along with the poignant sadness of loneliness, and hope,” Linder continued.
To start off the program, the Malibu Civic Ballet will feature award-winning artists Nikki and Ethan White, classical and contemporary dance artists of “White Tree Fine Art,” and concert pianist Nathan Ben Yehuda, an alumni of the Malibu Civic Ballet Company. Deborah La Gorce Kramer, president of the nonprofit Malibu Ballet and Performing Arts Society, will produce the show.
For tickets, call 310.506.4522.