Twillite back 'Dancing All Over the World'

Sonitha, Contributor, Jakarta

Two alternatives: One, you could sit back, relax and enjoy the music; two, you might leave your seat, get on your feet and dance along. But wait a minute; this is no salsa competition. This will be part of a concert performed by Twilite Orchestra where dancing may not be allowed.

"Dancing All Over The World" is the theme chosen by Twilite Orchestra that will perform at Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta this Wednesday. With the success of the previous show Movie Spectacular, this time the orchestra brings symphonic music into the light through dances from different parts of the globe.

Some familiar classic tunes from the 19th and 20th century such as the Waltz, Tango and Flamenco will be performed here.

The concert will open with a number from the famous Russian composer Pyotr'Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a great polonaise melody taken from the opera of the aimless love story Eugene Onigin.

Tchaikovsky's music is thoroughly Russian in character; this can also be felt from the orchestra's performance of his famous ballet-scores in Swan Lake and Nutcracker which was first staged in St. Petersburg in 1892.

To bring lively feelings, this time Twilite is also performing with the Genecela Dance Center. Choreographers Edmund and Yasinta Gaerlan will demonstrate the art of dancing for the music of opera, ballet and musicals.

Moving out from the Russian ballets, Twilite Orchestra also introduces a glimpse of Spanish to the audience with the Ritual Fire Dance from El Amor Brujo. El amor brujo (Love the Magician), is a ghostly story of gypsy jealousy. Michael de Falla composed this song, he is one of the Spanish composers who has won international recognition.

Dancing is not only a culture introduced in the European continent, the Americans with its cowboy background also have their own style and music to go along with it. In this concert, the work of a premiere American composer, Aaron Copland, called Rodeo will also be played. It is considered an important work of its time based on American folklore.

Rodeo is one of Copland's most imitated works because whenever a rodeo or round-up is seen in a movie or television show, the background score is usually a rendition derived from Rodeo's Hoe Down. One who is familiar with the ballet may recognize it right away.

Ending the first half of the program is Johan Strauss' Blue Danube. Strauss brought the Viennese waltz to its highest form with his gifts for melody, interesting harmonic structures, and clever orchestrations. This is actually the most demanded song by the Indonesian audience to be played, according to the Twilite Orchestra's survey from the last concert.

After a taste of Viennese music, Twilite will present Dance of the Comedians from the opera The Bartered Bride. This is Bedrich Smentana's best known opera, the overture of which makes a brilliant opening to any orchestral concert program.

His other operas have enjoyed less international success. Bedrich Smetana holds an important place in the development of musical nationalism in his native Bohemia, where he was born in 1824.

Then Dance of Death, a medieval allegorical concept was started in France, expressive of all the conquering power of death, to which the arts of poetry, drama, and music, as well as the visual arts, all made their contribution.

Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens flapped on its musical broomstick through the dark, from wall to wall, zooming and dipping and in general making swooping witch noises through the immense dark of the empty building. It was extremely dark and the darkness grew larger and more populated by the minute as the music claimed it. This music would suit a Halloween party.

Another Dance of Death is from the music of Jean Sibelius called Valse Triste. Written in 1903 to accompany the play Kuolema ("Death") which portrays a dance of death between a dying woman and the grim reaper.

After listening to the darkness of death, Twilite will bring its audience to a classy Tango dance with Jacob Gade's famous Jalousy. It is the best known piece of music written by any Dane. As late as the 1970s someone on the planet played Tango Jalousy once every minute, only the Beatles' Yesterday could match its success.

Before the concerts ends, Aning Katamsi, one of Indonesia's leading sopranos, will once again perform and sing a song from Giuseppe Verdi's opera I Vespi Siciliani portraying the beautiful Duchess Elena.

Visit HYPERLINK http://www.twiliteorchestra.org for further information.

Performance: July 24, 2002; Venue: Taman Ismail Marzuki; Time: 8p.m.