Second Company @ Home: Episode 2

Second Company @ Home: Broadcast Series showcases many of the works learned and performed by the Second Company during the 2020-2021 season. These three, 20-minute episodes each include an introduction from Kansas City Ballet Artistic Director Devon Carney, two pieces performed by members of the group, and interviews with company members, as well as other behind-the-scenes footage. Click here for full list of episodes.

Kansas City Ballet Second Company is an emerging professionals’ program which gives extraordinarily talented young dancers a professional company experience as a prelude to their joining a professional company. KCB’s Second Company performs throughout the region through public performances, lecture demonstrations, residencies, and workshops, enabling the community to experience live dance in a public setting.

Watch the full episode of August Bournonville’s Flower Festival and Kansas City Ballet 2020-2021 Second Company Dancers’ Coalescence on this page (scroll down) from Thursday, June 17 through August 22. It will also be available to stream by Facebook and Vimeo.

About KC Ballet’s Second Company: Episode 2

Flower Festival
The ballet premiered on 19 December 1858 in Copenhagen and was danced in its entirety by Denmark’s Royal Ballet until 1929, when it was dropped from the repertoire. It is considered one of Bournonville’s most perfect compositions. It has to be seen in the Festival of Flowers in Genzano which is a transition to naturalism (one of the stages of Auguste’s style) and is characterized as a masterpiece of Bournonville’s international virtuosity, so that it is a clear example of the Danish style, with a very strong and quite good technique, giving greater importance to the feet. This is why he made use of the vividness and variety of the jumps, the softness of the feet, the speed and brilliance of the small battery. The original ballet disappeared shortly after its premiere, but in 1875, Bournonville made a divertissement, in which he kept the pas de deux he had used in the montage he had already made for the Vienna Festival of Flowers. This remained in the repertoire until 1929 but in 1949 Harald Lander (director of the Royal Ballet) took it to the stage. That is why the entire ballet is lost but the fragment remains. It is considered one of Bournonville’s most perfect compositions. It is often performed in ballet finery to show the Bournonville style. (provided by WIKIPEDIA)

CREDITS

Coalescence
“In these times of isolation and separation, I was moved to bring everyone together somehow. Throughout the 2020-2021 season, the KCB Second Company was split in to two “Pods” and they rehearsed and performed in these two separate groups. This is contrary to the intended experience we want for our aspiring professionals and, through the magic of film, we were able to have all of them appear on the “same stage” together. That wasn’t enough though. This piece is entirely choreographed by the dancers themselves. I divided the music of composer Joshua Whitehead into 9 even sections, paired up all the dancers in both pods, gave each pair a section of music, and set them loose. The result is a beautiful, creative and meaningful piece that these dancers can always proud of for not only performing, but creating as well.”

CREDITS