Swan Lake Act 2
2023
Swan Lake Act 2 and Hendersonville Ballet Showcase
Friday, May 19th at 7pm
Thomas Auditorium at Blue Ridge Community College
No tickets necessary: suggested donation at the door Adult $15. Children $10
Hendersonville Ballet Company will perform the Second Act of the classic Ballet, Swan Lake.
Act II: The Lakeside
Prince Siegfried is separated from his friends and sees swans flying overhead. He starts to aim with his new crossbow until he sees one transform into a beautiful maiden (Odette). Odette explains that she and her friends were turned into swans by the evil Rothbart and only return to their human forms at night. The spell can only be broken by a true and faithful love.
Planets: Mercury, Neptune and Jupiter
The Planets, Op. 32, is an orchestral suite composed by English composer Gustav Holst. The full suite contains seven movements, each named after
a planet in our solar system. In original order, they are Mars, the Bringer of War; Venus, the Bringer of Peace; Mercury, the Winged
Messenger; Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity; Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age; Uranus, the Magician; and Neptune, the Mystic. An amateur
astrologist, Holst used the astrological qualities of each planet to create musical impressions. The suite, composed between 1914 and 1917,
debuted in 1918 at the Queen's Hall in London to mixed reviews. Some called it "noisy." Others called it "Holst's greatest work."
Betsy Dixon worked with Hendersonville Ballet Company in Spring of 2020 to perform these three Modern pieces, but was unable
to see her work on stage due to COVID. The company and Mrs. Dixon are excited to get another chance to perform these pieces.
Renowned Ballet dancer, educator and choreography Anna-Marie Holmes helped prepare Hendersonville Ballet dancers for the performance by coaching them and teaching technique classes. She has worked with a variety of world-class Ballet Companies to set and stage Swan Lake and other famous Ballets. See her full biography below.
Anna-Marie Holmes (born April 17, 1942) is a Canadian-born ballet dancer, educator and choreographer. Holmes received an Emmy Award in 2000 for her staging of Le Corsaire for PBS. She was the founder and co-artistic director for the International Academy of Dance Costa do Sol in Portugal.
Holmes was a soloist with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet from 1960 to 1962 and a guest performer with the Kirov Ballet during the early 1960s, the first North American dancer invited to perform with them. Holmes has also performed with the London Festival Ballet, the Scottish Ballet, the Berlin State Opera, the Dutch National Ballet, the Chicago Ballet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.
In 1985, after retiring from performing, she joined the Boston Ballet as ballet mistress and was named that company's artistic director in 1997. She also served as dean of faculty for the Boston Ballet's Center for Dance Education. She left the Boston Ballet in 2001.
She has taught at The Royal Ballet in London, the Ballet du Capitole in Toulouse, the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo and the Royal Danish Ballet in Copenhagen. Holmes was founder and co-artistic director for the International Academy of Dance Costa do Sol in Portugal. She has been artistic director for the school of the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. Holmes has also been artistic director for the Jacob's Pillow dance festival. In 2006, she was co-founder of Ballet Adriatico, a summer festival in Italy.
Holmes danced a pas de deux with her husband in Norman McLaren's award-winning film Ballet Adagio. The pair were also featured in Grant Munro's documentary Tour en l'air, which won first prize in its category at the American Film Festival.
Holmes is known for her restaging of classic ballets, particularly those from Russia, such as Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote, The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadère and The Nutcracker. Various choreographers including Agnes de Mille, Peter Darrell and Ruth Page have created works for her.
Holmes is also co-manager of Editions Anna-Marie Holmes, a publishing house for ballet music.