Carolina Ballet: Monet Impressions
Premieres Wednesday, January 30, at 9 PM

Inspired by the North Carolina Museum of Art's wildly successful Monet in Normandy exhibit, enjoy the Carolina Ballet's remarkable Monet Impressions. Principal Guest Choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett created a ballet highlighting the French life in Monet's paintings of the mid 1800s, with costumes by award-winning Broadway designer and North Carolina native William Ivey Long. Artistic Director Robert Weiss choreographed a ballet based on Monet's exquisite Water Lilies, with costumes by David Heuvel. Picnic on the Grass, based on Monet's Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe and set to the music of Francis Poulenc, is influenced by Monet's later years and a series of his pivotal life events.The dance garnered national headlines in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, as well as enthusiastic local reviews:

"After carefully trolling the North Carolina Museum of Art’s Monet in Normandy exhibition, seeking inspiration for a new dance, the choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett ended up using a painting not in the show: Monet’s “Déjeuner sur l’Herbe.” That’s right, Monet’s — not Manet’s better-known 1863 painting of the same title, depicting a languid luncheon party of four, including unabashedly naked women, but Monet’s more decorous 1865-66 scene of a luncheon party of a dozen or so ladies and gentlemen, elegantly dressed.
“Whenever the word Impressionist is used, most people think first of Claude Monet, who depicted nature in a subjective and innovative way,” she said. 'Conversely, his studies of people seem objective and detached. I wondered about ‘Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe.’ Who were these people, about to sit down outdoors to enjoy a meal together? What had they been doing moments before? What were they feeling?' The dance that resulted from her musings, “Picnic on the Grass,” will be the first part of the Carolina Ballet’s Monet Impressions.... The program, which also features “The Gardens at Giverny,” by Robert Weiss, the Carolina Ballet’s artistic director, coincides with the final weekend of the museum’s substantial Monet exhibition, an astute piece of marketing for both organizations. Having collaborated successfully with the museum six years ago on a Rodin show, when the Carolina Ballet performed “Rodin, Mise en Vie,” Margo Sappington’s evocation of the sculptures, the company found in the Monet show another chance to broaden its audience and commission a work. 'Anything that might bring in people who wouldn’t normally go to the ballet is a good thing,' said Mr. Weiss, known as Ricky, a gruff-voiced former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet." (Excerpted from Making Impressionism Move to a Ballet Beat -The New York Times (Jan. 10, 2007) - Full Article).

PLEDGE NOW to support exceptional programs like Carolina Ballet: Monet Impressions.