Carmina Burana As Seen In...

Tonight is opening night for Carmina Burana, which runs from March 5 to March 13. Carmina's contemporary choreography and musical stylings set it apart from more classical ballet pieces.

Fabulous, Inovative Choreography...

Choreographer Dwight Rhoden, a Dayton native, is widely known as "a dancer's choreographer." Rhoden has worked with, coached and created for some of the most diverse artists spanning the worlds of ballet and contemporary dance. He has directed and choreographed for TV, film, theater and live performances including So You Think You Can Dance, E! Entertainment's Tribute to Style and Cirque Du Soleil. He has also worked with such high-profile artists as Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Kelly Clarkson and Patrick Swayze.

Check out this video of Rhoden’s choreography on Season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance. This piece, performed to Michael Buble’s At This Moment left the judges almost speechless. Adam praised the dancers and choreography and stressed the importance of live dance performance.

This video of a rehearsal of Rhoden's Othelo that the North Carolina Dance Theatre premiered in 2009 demonstrates his unique and innovative style and his use of powerful, obscure music.

Speaking of music...

Carmina's music, composed by Carl Orff is especially famous for O’Fortuna, which is seen widely in pop culture. O’Fortuna made its movie debut in John Boorman's 1981 film Excalibur and since has been used for dramatic effect in many movies, musical works, television shows and commercials. It is considered to be an unknown-but-known work. See if you recognize it in these commercials: Carlton Draught "Its a Big Add" Commercial and Gatorade's Celebrity Sports Ad.

Make sure to purchase your tickets!

A dancer's perspective...

Zoica Tovar, first year BalletMet dancer says that the choreography is very unique and challenging. (The marketing interns would like to make it known that Zoica is totally adorable and that we love her!)

“The movements are so fast, and every piece of music is different than the other,” Zoica said.
The greatest challenge for Zoica has been remembering the sequence of the steps and the musicality.

Zoica's favorite parts of Carmina are The Tavern and the bench duets. (To understand what that means, you'll have to see the show!)

The training for Carmina has been grueling. BalletMet's dancers have been working on the piece for a month and for the last two weeks have worked on it for up to 6 hours a day.