The State Theatre Vanemuine welcomes you to the 2009/2010 season of dance and music productions celebrating its 140th anniversary as the oldest theatre in Estonia.
We would like you to celebrate with us and join us in the exciting national premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s renowned musical ‘Evita’, premiering at the Nokia Concert Hall, Tallin, Estonia on November 27th 2009 through to 12th June 2010.
Bringing Argentina’s national heroine to the heart of Estonia’s capital city, ‘Evita’ is a musical about the life of Eva Peron, second wife of the Argentine president Juan Peron. The story, told through the eyes of the famous revolutionary Che Guevara, reveals the sensational life of Eva Duarte, beginning with her poor and illegitimate childhood through to her struggles and success as a young actress and finally to her overwhelming influence over the Argentine people as wife of the President and her tragic death aged just 33.
Originally published in 1976 as a musical album, the amazing popularity and success of ‘Evita’ lead to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s collaboration with director Harold Prince for the London West End production which premiered in 1978 and then in Broadway in 1979. Since then the show has been running throughout the 20th and 21st centuries around the world, arriving this autumn in Estonia.
Already there has been an incredible demand for tickets, so if you want to be a part of this special occasion don’t hesitate to book now before you miss the opportunity.
Not only will you be enthralled with the music, ranging from classical ballads through saucy tangos and paso doubles to the occasional bit of rock, but you will also be thrilled by the beautiful set and costume designs by Ellen Cairns (Scotland) and the exciting and clever choreography by Igor Barberic (Croatia). The whole show will be brought together by Swedish director Georg Malvius. However, this international team of professionals also want to bring this musical to you through an Estonian voice with an entire cast of Estonian singers, actors and actresses, and collaboration with translators Peter Volonski and Hannes Villemson so that the whole score can be brought to you in your national language.
There will also be subtitles in English and Finnish, so don’t worry, you don’t have to miss out if you’re not fluent in Estonian!
Come and join the cast of ‘Evita’ and get a taste of Argentina and its people, from the squalor of a family living in one room through to the terracotta ballrooms full of tango dancers, the garden tea parties of the rich to the inside view of the Presidential apartments. Step back in time, be a part of history and experience through the music the world of this incredible woman, the spiritual leader of Argentina, the ‘Santa Evita’.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Kolb's Learning Cycle
This is the very first time that I have ever had to think about analysing the way I learn and Kolb’s learning cycle has made me quite fascinated with a process that is constantly happening but that I have never taken the time to acknowledge. Kolb has set out a clear cycle consisting of four points, Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualisation and Active Experimentation, all of which can be applied in any order, I’ve realised, to many of my experiences. I have in fact already done this to several past experiences, and actually found it to be quite fun!
Although there are a huge number of things that I could apply Kolb’s learning cycle to, I have chosen an experience that has happened since joining the company here in Estonia.
Apart from suddenly finding yourself at the other end of Europe, coping with complete culture shock and a strange foreign language consisting of lots of double letters, as a new dancer of the Vanemuine Theatre one of the first things that you are required to do is get to grips with learning all of the company’s repertoire. The downfall of being a small country is that you have to keep performing a large variety of productions so that the same audiences will return.
To begin with, my Concrete Experience was making sure I watched the ballet that I needed to learn. I decided that at the rate I had to pick up the choreography I needed to grasp an idea of what the ballet was about, what the part was that I was playing, what the music was like and what the choreographic style was. I would ask to borrow a DVD of whatever production it was I was focusing on and watch it on my laptop at home. As I really had never been able to see much of the company in performance before, I always found it interesting to see my how my new friends appeared as dancers on stage and to see the new productions that I would be dancing in.
Reflective Observation then often managed to manifest itself in the form of panic, at first, when I thought about how much I needed to learn and the time span with which I had to learn it. But to make myself feel better, after having watched the ballet through once, I would then rewind through the DVD to the specific points at which I was dancing to review and to try and memorise the choreography, not only the steps but also where I was on the stage and how I contributed to the storyline. I would also often then retreat to the shower, somewhere where I often find it easy to think and reflect. I would then continue thinking about the steps I had to dance and what character I was playing, visualising in my mind that I was already on stage dancing that role in order to familiarise myself with the part.
Abstract Conceptualisation resulted from having watched and reviewed the DVD. Having begun not knowing anything other than the title of the production, I now had a clear idea of what the ballet was about and of the role that I played. To use examples, when I was preparing to dance in the ballet Onegin, I learnt that I had to be diverse and portray two very different persona, one character being a simple peasant and the other a rich guest at a ball. When getting ready for the Nutcracker, I was able to pick up the sharpness of the movements as a snowflake in the first act in contrast to the fluidity of the pas de deux I would be dancing in the flower waltz in the second act. I also now had an idea of the costume I would be dancing in and the tempo of the music and also if I had a prop to look after and how it should be used.
Of course, having prepared and found out what I could from watching the ballet, it was then really important for me to put all that I had learnt into Active Experimentation. For me this is probably the most exciting bit, as being a dancer I am always itching to start dancing about myself after having seen someone else do it. I also like the feeling of trying out the steps you have seen, accomplishing them and then making them better and improving on them. It is also really great to finally get hold of a partner, because despite how well you know what you are doing, you can never be absolutely sure how he is going to hold you or how high he will lift you and it is particularly this kind of thing that I have to put into action in order to understand how to do it.
Although there are a huge number of things that I could apply Kolb’s learning cycle to, I have chosen an experience that has happened since joining the company here in Estonia.
Apart from suddenly finding yourself at the other end of Europe, coping with complete culture shock and a strange foreign language consisting of lots of double letters, as a new dancer of the Vanemuine Theatre one of the first things that you are required to do is get to grips with learning all of the company’s repertoire. The downfall of being a small country is that you have to keep performing a large variety of productions so that the same audiences will return.
To begin with, my Concrete Experience was making sure I watched the ballet that I needed to learn. I decided that at the rate I had to pick up the choreography I needed to grasp an idea of what the ballet was about, what the part was that I was playing, what the music was like and what the choreographic style was. I would ask to borrow a DVD of whatever production it was I was focusing on and watch it on my laptop at home. As I really had never been able to see much of the company in performance before, I always found it interesting to see my how my new friends appeared as dancers on stage and to see the new productions that I would be dancing in.
Reflective Observation then often managed to manifest itself in the form of panic, at first, when I thought about how much I needed to learn and the time span with which I had to learn it. But to make myself feel better, after having watched the ballet through once, I would then rewind through the DVD to the specific points at which I was dancing to review and to try and memorise the choreography, not only the steps but also where I was on the stage and how I contributed to the storyline. I would also often then retreat to the shower, somewhere where I often find it easy to think and reflect. I would then continue thinking about the steps I had to dance and what character I was playing, visualising in my mind that I was already on stage dancing that role in order to familiarise myself with the part.
Abstract Conceptualisation resulted from having watched and reviewed the DVD. Having begun not knowing anything other than the title of the production, I now had a clear idea of what the ballet was about and of the role that I played. To use examples, when I was preparing to dance in the ballet Onegin, I learnt that I had to be diverse and portray two very different persona, one character being a simple peasant and the other a rich guest at a ball. When getting ready for the Nutcracker, I was able to pick up the sharpness of the movements as a snowflake in the first act in contrast to the fluidity of the pas de deux I would be dancing in the flower waltz in the second act. I also now had an idea of the costume I would be dancing in and the tempo of the music and also if I had a prop to look after and how it should be used.
Of course, having prepared and found out what I could from watching the ballet, it was then really important for me to put all that I had learnt into Active Experimentation. For me this is probably the most exciting bit, as being a dancer I am always itching to start dancing about myself after having seen someone else do it. I also like the feeling of trying out the steps you have seen, accomplishing them and then making them better and improving on them. It is also really great to finally get hold of a partner, because despite how well you know what you are doing, you can never be absolutely sure how he is going to hold you or how high he will lift you and it is particularly this kind of thing that I have to put into action in order to understand how to do it.
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