TRANSIT(ION) III: Dancing on the Rainbow

A panoramic jog through the cultural ups and downs of the nineteen thirties to the present, with choreography by Margot Mink Colbert and music from Leonard Bernstein to the Beastie Boys.

Dancers Jesse Beck, Sophie DeVore, Theresa Duhon, Catherine Green and Tamara Lohrenz.

TRANSIT(ION) III, from Jewish immigrant to American of Jewish descent, is the concluding chapter of Ballet Mink Colbert’s  choreographic trilogy exploring the journey of Jewish immigrants in the United States. TRANSIT(ION) I was based on the experiences of the flood of Eastern European Jews who immigrated to America and settled in New York’s lower east side in the late 18th and early 19th centrury. TRANSIT(ION) II focused on the new immigrant’s artistic contributions to American culture as told through the story of the writer Anzia Yezierska.  TRANSIT(ION) III is about getting there. The children of the Jewish immigrants of the early and mid-20th century express themselves in American vernacular; many, like Philip Glass and Bob Dylan, have become trendsetters for American and international cultural styles. As always, Ballet Mink Colbert presents a performance spiced with elegance and softened by humour. The concert is assembled in the characteristic, eclectic and personal choreographic style that is Mink Colbert’s signature, in close collaboration with her company of magnificent dancers.Mink Colbert is a graduate of the Juilliard School and trained with dance luminaries including Anthony Tudor and Martha Graham and is currently Assistant Chair of the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Dance Department. She is also an American of Eastern European Jewish descent. This trilogy reflects the story of her own family as well as that of thousands of others. In this choreography Mink Colbert successfully brings together the deeply personal and the universally recognizable aspects of  cultural identity.

Tickets: UNLV Performing Arts Box Office 702 685-ARTS (2787)
$18, Student, Seniors and military $10

Information: UNLV Dance Office 702 895-3827
balletminkcolvert@gmail.com
702 269-3029, 702 497-9267

Congregation Ner Tamid
55 North Valley Verde Drive-Just north of the 215 Valley Verde exit
Henderson, NV 89074
702 733-6292

Tickets for Sunday performance:
$6 in advance at the temple office, $12 at the door

Ballet Mink Colbert, Inc., founded in New York City in 1970, has an ongoing history of eclectic ballets with an unusual flair. Ballet Mink Colbert, Inc. is known for an exciting synthesis of styles, using traditional ballet and unconventional surprises. The repertoire features theatrical, site specific and videodance works, which have been performed in proscenium theatres, parks, city streets and maximum-security prisons. Ballet Mink Colbert, Inc has performed throughout the United States, in Denmark, Guatemala, Korea, Russia and Scotland. Transit(ion) III is supported in part by Nevada Arts Council/NEA, UNLV College of Fine Arts

Margot Mink Colbert

Director/Choreographer

1025 Canosa Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89104 - 702 269 3029/497 9267

Fax: 702 895 0920 - email: minkcolbert@gmail.com

Website: balletminkcolbert.com

TRANSIT(ION) III: From Immigrant to Citizen,

a miracle not yet repossessed.

TRANSIT(ION) III from Jewish immigrant to American of Jewish descent;

Americans of various ancestries have created American culture. From Broadway to Hollywood, from pop music to the concert hall, in literature and the sciences, American culture icons come in all stripes, including many of Jewish descent.

The decades from the1930’s to the present are peopled by the offspring of the wave of turn of the 20th century immigrants who may themselves migrate in unknown directions. The globalization of information and trade along with the changing allegiances of populations and changing patterns of weather and scientific developments may bring another sea change in the near future. For which generation will America prove to be a

liminal space?

In this new choreography Mink Colbert further explores the topics of immigration, migration and transitions - ethnicity and identity. It is her own story as a child of the turn of the 20^th century Jewish migration from East Europe, as well as that of many others all over the world. Immigrant or citizen - when exactly does the change come?

Set in the turbulent and expansive decades leading to the present, the ballet offers an innovative and humorous approach to a serious subject. Meet Ballet Mink Colbert at it’s very best! Premiere Performance 2009-2010 season. Cast of professional dancers from New York, Las Vegas and Denmark, including Billy Blanken, Sophie DeVore, Theresa Duhon, Dolly Kelepecz, Tamara Lohrenz and Clarice Rathers.

PLEX TEATER, June 13-14, Copenhagen, Denmark

Collage Video

Digital Age 3

Backdrop images, files named by track number and description.

Going 1-2

Going 3-4

Waves

Grand Central Station

Subway Interior

Fire Fragile Flight

Transit(ion) II – Dancing on the Edge of a Dream

A modern ballet about migration & immigration.

In the second part of the Transit(ion) trilogy, we’re back in New York in the 1910’s, 20’s and 30’s. Reexperiencing the trek across the ocean and the trials of arriving at Ellis Island is in sharp contrast to the new life. The Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe have settled in and found a place for themselves in American culture.

A new generation has grown up insisting on becoming full-blooded Americans. They are discarding the traditions of the old country, refusing to speak Yiddish and pursuing careers according to talent and inclination, rather than restrictive rules and expectations. The generation and culture gap between parents and offspring widens.

Many of the young American Jews embraced the arts with a passion -musicians, composers, moviemakers, scriptwriters, authors, painters, sculptors, singers and dancers - all struggling to make their voice heard, and many succeeding. Even women.

Based on her own family history, numerous books, articles and music, Margot Mink Colbert has created a new ballet in her characteristic choreographic vocabulary: technical finesse and flowing elegance, spiced with a touch of humor and occasional dansant lightness. As the father in Anzia Yezierska’s novel ‘Bread Givers’ says to his headstrong and emancipated daughter, who wants to be an American girl, a ‘person’ in her own right, she is ‘Blood and Iron’

Concept and Choreography: Margot Mink Colbert

Composers: Gerswin, Clark, Copland, Harburg, Arlen, Kahn, Korngold and others.

Dancers: Sophie Devore, Tamara Lohrenz, John Bruun, Theresa Duhon, Jan Gonscak, Dolly Kelepecz and Rose Rørdam.

Narrator: Svend Bunch

Technical Director: Thomas Bek

Ballet Mink Colbert is suported in part by Nevada Arts Council, University of Nevada Las Vegas & MBT/Teaterkalenderen.

Transit(ion) II premiered in Copenhagen, DK June 13th, 2008 and has also been performed at the Medicine Show Theater in New York City, NY August 2nd.

Transit(ion) features dancers Sophie DeVore, Tamara Lohrenz, Clarice Rathers, Theresa Duhon, Jon Gonscak & Mark Lovas…narrator Svend Bunch…technical director Thomas Bek…and original klezmer music performed live by Henrik Goldschmidt and his ensemble.

This year choreographer Margot Mink Colbert gives us a very personal and yet universal story about migration and immigration. It is a story about thousands of European Jews who traveled the long route to America in the late 1800s and early 1900s, arrived at Ellis Island and then settled in New York City’s lower east side in pursuit of freedom and the promise of becoming equal citizens in their new homeland. With her usual twinkle in the eye and eclectic approach to classical ballet techniques, Mink Colbert tells a story true to her sources of inspiration: the author I.B. Singer’s characters, Jewish folklore, her own family, the phenomenon of the impermanence of home, and the miracle of existence.