Thank you for supporting Tulsa Ballet! As one of our most valued supporters, you are a vital part of our performing arts family. We are excited to have you join us virtually for this exclusive event!
Nacho Duato’s Remansos was performed during the 2007|2008 season. This rebroadcast of Remansos is available for 48 hours – from 7 p.m. CDT on Friday, April 2 until 7 p.m. CDT on Sunday, April 4. Curl up on the couch with your family and enjoy Remansos from the comfort and safety of your home, at your leisure. If you have any questions, please contact Special Events Manager Katie Grassmyer.
Performance
Watch Nacho Duato’s Remansos, performed by Alexandra Bergman, Serena Chu, Ma Cong, Rupert Edwards III, Karina Gonzalez, and Alfonso Martin during Tulsa Ballet’s 2007|2008 season.
Interview
In March 2021, Marcello spoke with several of the 2008 cast members to share memories of their time at Tulsa Ballet. Listen to the interview below.
The following information about the piece, creative team, and cast can also be viewed in PDF format here.
About the Piece
This is an archival recording of Remansos, performed by Tulsa Ballet in March 2008 as part of the triple bill In Black. The following article, quote, headshots, and nacho’s bio appear as they did in 2008.
The following selection appeared in an article in Intermission magazine, March 2008:
Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato created this piece, originally called Remanso, in 1997 for three male dancers of American Ballet Theatre.
After returning to his Madrid-based Compania Nacional de Danza, Duato reworked the ballet, adding three female roles and renaming it Remansos, which means eddy or flow. Marcello Angelini describes the ballet, danced to the music of Enrique Granados, as “luscious. It is abstract and yet compelling, the way only Duato can choreograph a ballet.”
Although it has been called a “contemporary reinvention of the waltz,” Angelini sees it more as a series of vignettes, solos, pas de deux and ensemble dance. One thing is certain with Duato’s work: it is always surprising and always masterful. Dancing bodies, in Duato’s hands, become articulate entities. Even when the dance is undefined, the body language is clear.
Duato makes use of a red rose and a large, white square in Remansos, but he leaves it up to the viewer to determine meaning. Even Angelini prefers not to speculate: “Nacho doesn’t like to ‘explain’ his works too much. Each audience member will make their own story about the rose.” Fans of Duato have come to expect the unexpected. His work is both in your face and painfully expressive.
Writing for The Tulsa World on Monday, March 31, 2008, James D. Watts Jr. described Remansos as, “ballet of pure musicality, in which movement and music — in this case, solo piano pieces played with great style and sensitivity by Tulsa Ballet’s music director, Nathan Fifield — are inextricably entwined, instead of being steps and contortions placed on top of sound.”
Creative
Nacho Duato (Choreographer) was born in Valencia, Spain. Nacho Duato started professional ballet training with the Rambert School in London at eighteen, expanding studies at Maurice Bejart’s Mudra School in Brussels and completing his dance education at The Alvin Ailey American Dance Centre in New York. In 1980 Duato signed his first professional contract with the Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm and a year later Jiri Kylian brought him to the Nederlands Dans Theater in Holland, where he was quickly incorporated into company and repertoire. For his achievements as a dancer he received the VSCD Gouden Dansprijs (Golden Dance Award) for the year 1987. Duato’s natural talent had him soon look beyond the limitations of a dancer and turned towards choreography. Since June 1990, invited by the Institute Nacional de las Artes Escenicas y de la Musica of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, Nacho Duato is Artistic Director of Compania Nacional de Danza, where he has created numerous works. In 1995 he received the grade of Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres which is annually given by the French Embassy.