I'VE GOT RHYTHM! Family Concert

 FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, AT 10 AM

Girard Academy Music Program (GAMP), performance for school students only

SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, AT 3 PM

The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill

Tipping our top hat to the art of dance in song, Lyric Fest brings to you this dance-inspired tribute to rhythm.

Creatively crafted for kids of ALL ages and their parents, the program introduces songs and dances from around the world and from different epochs:Handel and Purcell, Brahms and Rossini, Ravel and Mahler, Bernstein

and Copland, folk tunes from Africa, Serbia, Ukraine... With hits like Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and Fly Me to the Moon.

See and learn all about the Waltz, Tarantella, Tango, Reel, Rumba and more!  Ask the artists any question you want after the show!

I'VE GOT RHYTHM features a dynamic cast of singers, dancers and choristers: soprano Cristina Nassif, tenor Timothy Bentch, baritone Wes Mason, mezzo-soprano Suzanne DuPlantis, Motet Choir of the Pennsylvania Girlchoir, Mark Anderson director, choreographer Meredith Rainey and dancers from his newly founded Carbon Dance Theatre, a duo from a Ukrainian dance ensemble Voloshky: Katya Syzonenko and Andrew Melio; all accompanied on piano by Laura Ward.

We are thrilled to have two talented students from Girard Academic Music Program join us for the performances: Kara Mulder and Manuel Jimenez are featured on Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - Manuel on solo trumpet and Kara on vocal solo.

TICKETS & INFO:

General $10, Students and Youth $5, Kids under 3 FREE. Buy tickets ONLINE, preorder at 215-438-1702 or at the door. Program duration: 1 hr 15 min, no intermission, including a Question/Answer session with the artists.

I've Got Rhythm Cast (L to R): Top ~ Wes Mason, Cristina Nassif, Timothy Bentch, Suzanne DuPlantis; Bottom ~ Meredith Rainey and Carbon Dance Theatre, the Motets of Pennsylvania Girlchoir, Laura Ward.

Meet Choreographer Meredith Rainey and Carbon Dance Theatre

A veteran of the Pennsylvania Ballet (from where he retired in 2006), a dancer and a choreographer, Meredith Rainey has a big following of his own in Philadelphia and beyond. His dance making talents were commissioned by Pennsylvania Ballet, Incoln Ballet (Ballet Clássico Nacional de Colombia), Brandywine Ballet, BalletX, Delaware Ballet, Hubbard Street 2. His work is performed throughout North and South America and Europe including the International Ballet Festival of Ecuador, the First and Second International Ballet Festival of Calí, (Colombia) and Madrid, Spain.

 

Sun Mi Cho, Dancer and Associate director of Carbon Dance Theatre.   Photo: Portia Jones

In 2009, Meredith founded Carbon Dance Theatre with the goal to "empower performers and entertain audiences by creating work rooted in classical ballet and infused with the collaborative process of theatre."

For his first collaboration with Lyric Fest, Meredith creates several character dance numbers - where he will also be also performing - bringing along three other dancers from his company: Felicia Cruz, Sun-Mi Cho and Willie Brown Jr.

Did you know that Meredith has not been seen dancing in a long while? I'VE GOT RHYTHM is a unique chance for his fans and new audiences to see this gifted dancer back in action! 

For this newsletter, we asked Meredith two simple questions:

Please tell us about your experience working with children. Would you make any adjustments in your choreography for the younger audiences?

MR: I teach kids ballet and what I find is that I don't have to pander to them that much. These days children are pretty savvy and can pick up insincerity pretty quickly. So when it comes to my choreography for Lyric Fest, it will be more about the music and less about any heavy subject matter, which is my usual M.O.(modus operandi).

What would be your message to those who will see this program?

MR: I feel that art in your life opens up so many doors to you. Especially when you are young, it helps you see possibilities and keeps your imagination fresh and alive. It is important for young and old to keep using their imagination.  When you lose your imagination you lose any ability to empathize and to care, you become set in your ways and can't see possibilities. This is why I feel art is so important in peoples lives young and old.