Get Ready to Share the Stage (really!) with Ballet Hispanico

by Nina Reynolds

After a weekend of moving and grooving to the amazingly talented musical groups featured at the Madison World Music Festival, I am more ready than ever to be swept away by the lively Latin beats and choreography that Ballet Hispanico will bring to the stage on Saturday night. Under the artistic direction of Eduardo Vilaro, the company's unique fusion of ballet, modern, and Latin-influenced dance brings these styles together in an energetic performance that is bound to have you bopping in the theater seats. If you're anything like me, you'll be swinging your hips to that infectious Latin music, which will be stuck in your head long after you've left the theater.

And do let them swing! As if the performance isn't exciting enough, on Friday night Ballet Hispanico will be sharing their passion and talent for dance with you in an intimate and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Set on the very same stage on which they will be performing, Eduardo, Michelle (Ballet Hispanico's rehearsal director), and two company members will be teaching a free salsa class to anyone who wants to come.

In my 17 years of dancing, I have rarely come across an opportunity like this for dance-loving audience members. A free dance class...taught by a world-renowned artistic director and members of his famous company...on the stage that they will be performing on the next night...under the same lights and with the same sound system....in a casual and personal setting?! Please excuse the run-on sentence, but sign me up!

Oh wait, I'll be there. Dancing in my favorite blue skirt. And you should come too! Better yet, after the class there will be an hour of open dance for those of you who would like to stay and practice, or put your own swing (pardon the pun) on things you will have just learned. So come with a group of friends, your sister, a date, or alone (you never know who you'll meet at these things). This event is for everyone. Don't miss this awesome chance to interact with and learn from the greats of Ballet Hispanico!

I ♥ the Archives

Happy Monday to you all!

This Monday I would like to pay tribute to one of my favorite musicians of all time, John Coltrane. His birthday was last Thursday, September 23rd. He would have been 84.

John Coltrane graced our stage on February 26, 1966. Again, I was born too late.

The Union Theater continues to host artists of superb excellence to this day!

Tuesday Japanland Screening Canceled due to President's Visit

Due to President Barack Obama’s speech on Library Mall on Tuesday, September 28, the Wisconsin Union Theater is canceling the scheduled 7:30 pm screening of Japanland. Security related to the President’s visit will close a large area near Memorial Union, making it inaccessible to audience members.

Those who have bought tickets to the Tuesday screening are encouraged to call the box office at 608-265-ARTS and exchange them for tickets to the Monday screening. Those who choose not to view the film on Monday will receive gift certificate in the amount they have paid.

Box office hours are Monday - Friday: 11:30 am - 5:30 pm and Saturday: noon - 5:00 pm

The Wisconsin Union Theater regrets any inconvenience this may cause.

I ♥ the Archives

Good Monday Morning to you all!

Last night as I thinking about what's coming up for my work week, I remembered that the Madison World Music Festival begins on Thursday. WOW!

This morning I was thinking of past musicians who have been a part of the Festival, and remembered one of my favorites that had the whole Terrace dancing - Seu Jorge. Can you believe it was five years ago that he was here?

Khaira Arby, the Nightingale of Timbuktu

Khaira Arby, the Nightingale of Timbuktu

We asked Christopher Nolan, Khaira Arby’s manager, to tell us why he chose her as an artist to manage and tour. Here’s what he wrote:

Khaïra Arby, known as  the voice of Mali’s north, bridges that multicultural country through the desert blues of her music. She expresses her pride in the struggles and people of her desert homeland.  Her soulful music takes the listener across the Sahara to Timbuktu, crossroad of epochs, religions and cultures. With her rocking band, she sings about love, family, women and the toll of war.

This hot band of eight rips the stage with a smooth blend of traditional instruments and electric guitars.  Complex rhythms, intertwined with Khaira's clear shout, bring the audience to their feet dancing.

Khaïra Arby is the Nightingale of Northern Mali. Born in the Saharan Desert village of Abaradjou, her parents were from different ethnic backgrounds.  You can hear these cultures in her music when she sings in several languages, sometimes within the same song.  The instrumentation and rhythms are just as varied with electric guitar, bass, calabash, ngoni, traditional violin and drum kit, creating a complex mixture of sound and structure.  Some people compare the effect to the rhythms of the camel caravans crossing the Sahara.  Most hear it as the contemporary desert blues, the rock ‘n roll of Mali.

Khaïra won her first singing contest while just a schoolgirl.  She was chosen to represent Mali internationally and by the age of 22, she was singing with the Orchestre Regional de Tombouctou.  It wasn’t long before she was invited to sing with the famous Orchestre Badema in Bamako.  She earned her stripes beside such Malian superstars as her cousin, Ali Farka Touré and the widely influential Fissa Maïga.  Since the mid-1990’s end of the Touareg revolution in Mali, Khaïra has focused all her energies on her music. 

She lives in Timbuktu with her family and performs in concert halls, festivals and clubs throughout Mali.  She appears with her band annually at the mythic Festival in the Desert in Essakane and at the Festival on the Niger River in Segou.  In 2006 she was named a Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mali. 

While her music is rooted in tradition, Khaïra surrounds herself with young musicians influenced by the contemporary world and western rock ‘n roll.  The listener is taken on a complex audio journey across the desert to the essence of Mali, past and present.  She expresses her pride in the history and struggles of her desert homeland and its people. 

Strings Without Safety Nets; Jerusalem String Quartet to Play WUT in October

by Ted Harks, Box Office Manager

I've worked for many years now in the Wisconsin Union Theater and had the great privilege and pleasure of witnessing many phenomenal performances happen on our stage. To me, though, there is something particularly special when professional string quartets like the Jerusalem String Quartet come to play.

What is it about string quartets that fascinate me so? Simple. Players in string quartets have nowhere to hide. In orchestras and choirs, sections can carry one another - if a player or singer drops a note, they will likely be the only ones to notice. In string quartets, there are four soloists playing their own individual parts simultaneously. All alone, naked to the audience, yet perfectly in tune with one another.

I love to close my eyes and pick out the parts. But when I do so, especially with high caliber artists like the Jerusalem String Quartet, what I marvel at the most is how challenging it can be. The unity of these brave soloists is astounding to me - they are so in sync with one another one forgets there are four artists performing, not just one.

My words cannot convey what I mean better than your own experience. So save your Friday, October 22nd and buy tickets now to see and hear the Jerusalem String Quartet for yourselves. And in the meantime, enjoy this video which offers a foretaste of what is to come.



Jerusalem String Quartet - Johannes Brahms String Quartet Op 51 n 2 I-Allegro non troppo

I ♥ the Archives

Good Monday Morning to you all! I'm Claire, the Program Assistant at the Union Theater & I will be sharing with you some images from our incredibly rich archives every Monday morning from now until...eternity? We certainly have an abundance of them!

For my first post, I thought I'd share with you one of my favorite comedians of all time, Bob Newhart. He was here in March 1961 and April 1964. Sigh...I was born too late.

Tickets to his show ranged from $1.50 - 2.50 (!!!).

"How on Earth did you get that gig?" Joan Baez Assistant, UW-Madison Graduate Emma Vasseur, on the Job of a Lifetime

By Emma Vasseur

As guitar tech and personal assistant for the legendary folk queen it isn't uncommon to hear "You work for Joan Baez?! How on earth did you get that gig?" It is a good thing I love my job, otherwise this question would get old quick! The answer is always the same - I had an internship with True Endeavors, the music promoter in Madison, WI, when Joan Baez and her entourage came into town.  I was a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison at the time and was working backstage at the Barrymore Theatre as the hospitality assistant when I met her and her crew. The rest is history!

I consistently find myself asking how I got this lucky. My life was pretty much that of a typical college student before the fated night. I was preparing for the real world - scheduling interviews with companies I had never heard of and researching the bleak job market. Nothing seemed right. Then I met Joan and "interviewed" with the production and tour managers (which consisted of them asking me if I really thought I could handle life on a tour bus and day-in, day-out changes of location and circumstances), and everything seemed to click. I assured them I was serious about this and would thrive in such an exciting environment. I left that night thinking it was too good to be true but when a few weeks later Joan's manager, Mark Spector, called me in-between classes and offered me the job, reality sunk in. I didn't even ask for details, I immediately accepted.

I can't find words to explain how wonderful it is to work with Joan. She is the most talented, gifted woman I have ever met and a true inspiration. She reminds me how important it is to get involved in things I believe in - to pay attention to what is going on in the world and be mindful of the decisions I make in my daily life. As I get to know her more each tour we go on, I learn to love her more and more for the person she is and not just the famous person she is to everyone else. Ha - she is even in better shape, physically, than I am! So she inspires me in that way as well. Of course we all have our quirks and there are moments when I’d rather be at home watching reruns of Dawson's Creek (don't judge!) but I can't imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't been given this opportunity.

Needless to say it is a dream come true and I owe it all to Tag and MJ at True Endeavors. They believed in me and for that I am eternally grateful.

I am really excited to get back to Madison for the show October 8th!

Introducing Elana!

Hello all! My name is Elana and I am the new marketing intern here at the Wisconsin Union Theater. I’m a sophomore studying international studies. I hope to work for a non-profit organization once I graduate (at least that’s the plan right now!). I’ve done theater and dance since I was a child, and I’ve continued my arts involvement here on campus by playing saxophone in the Wind Ensemble. I believe deeply in the value of arts in the community, and I am looking forward to applying my marketing experience to promoting the great events featured at the Union Theater. In my spare time, I enjoy frequenting the farmer’s market, cooking vegetarian food, and watching movies.

Thanks for welcoming me to the WUT family. I hope to see you at a performance this season!

Eduardo Vilaro, Ballet Hispanico’s Artistic Director, Brings “Club Havana” to Madison

In November, Eduardo Vilaro, New Artistic Director for Ballet Hispanico, will make his first trip home to his native Cuba. Although Vilaro's family left Havana for New York when Vilaro was only 6 years old, he was raised with Latin culture and dance. "My mother taught us to dance, to enjoy the music," he says. "It's part of me."

Vilaro and the rest of Ballet Hispanico are bringing this spirit to share. On Friday, October 1 at 7:30pm, they are teaching a salsa dance class to be followed by open social dance on stage here at the Union Theater. Both events are free and open to the public.

A mix of pluckiness and hard work has landed Vilaro at the top of his profession. At age 16 he enrolled in a martial arts class, but snuck into a nearby dance class instead. Soon after, he became a professional dancer.

Disturbed by the lack of dances choreographed by Latin artists, Vilaro launched the Luna Negra Dance Company in 1999. Devoted to Latin choreographers, the company grew from only five dancers to become one of the most preeminent Latin dance companies in the country.

Vilaro has transferred this passion for Latin dance to his work with Ballet Hispanico. The company works to fuse Latin dance with more modern forms in order to create the passionate theatricality that is innate in Latin culture. The result "is something rich and irresistible, with choreography that is exceptionally fluid, dramatic and revealing," according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The audience will get a taste of this Latin culture in "Club Havana" (2000), a piece choreographed by Cuban native Pedro Ruiz. Club Havana includes sweeping, colorful dresses and smoky cigars, and it features many of the genres of Latin dance including Mambo, Cha Cha, Bolero, Rumba and Son.

With Vilaro's passionate blend of Latin culture, magnetic energy and lively choreography, the Ballet Hispanico is not to be missed!

Elana Siegel
Marketing Intern

Campus Arts Ticketing Offices Closed for Labor Day; Online Info and Sales Available

Both of our Campus Arts Ticketing locations will be closed for business on Monday September 6th, 2010 in observance of Labor Day. We will re-open to serve you and take your calls at 608-265-ARTS on Tuesday September 7th at 11:30am CST.

In the meantime if you are looking for information about upcoming events or wish to purchase the best possible seats for Joan Baez or the national tour of Spring Awakening, you may visit our website anytime, day or night. The latest details and best remaining tickets are only a few clicks away.

From all of us at the Wisconsin Union Theater, we thank you for your patronage and wish you a safe holiday.

Meet our Friends: David Ravel

David Ravel directs Global Union, the Milwaukee world music festival. We asked him about himself, his festival and his season.

Who are you, what do you do, and how long have you done it?

David Ravel, Director, Alverno Presents. Seven years. Alverno Presents is the performing arts series of Alverno College. This will be our 51st Season. We present (mostly, but not exclusively) jazz, world music and contemporary dance.

When and why did you start Global Union?

First Global Union was in 2006. This will be our Fifth Anniversary. We started Global Union because Mike Orlove told us to. He is the Senior Program Director for Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs. He and his colleagues produce, among many other things, Chicago’s World Music Festival. Mike told us he needed a route in Milwaukee and that he wanted us to do it. There wasn’t much more grace to it than that. So we said “yes”.

Please share a favorite moment or two from past festivals.

Milwaukee doesn’t have many opportunities to experience our extraordinary diversity, and we want to be that place where that begins to happen. At our first festival, when I saw a group of about a dozen African-American women rocking out to Kultur Shock, the Serbian thrash metal band, I knew we were on our way.

How about a horrifying (or just difficult) time?

Easy. 2008. As Hurricane Ike was pounding Texas, we got the tail end of it in Southeastern Wisconsin. Monsoon-like weather throughout the festival weekend, but one great memory – standing backstage during Vieux Farka Toure’s set, seeing black clouds traveling towards us from the south, watching the sky open up, imagining a mass exodus of thousands, but instead seeing a sea of umbrellas spring up all at once so everyone could finish out an amazing performance.

At times we present the same artists, both in our world music festivals and in the season. Who are some shared artists that you’re really excited about and why?

We’re presenting Palmieri, Baez, Acoustic Africa and Dianne Reeves. They’re all damn good, but I’m especially pleased with Acoustic Africa, because there are not a lot of opportunities to get Habib Koite AND Oliver Mtukudzi at the same time on the same stage. Either by himself would be awesome. Together (and with Afel Boucoum in the bargain), and I’m kind of speechless.

Sway Machinery's Jeremiah Lockwood Looks Forward to Returning to Madison World Music Festival

Sway Machinery's guitarist and vocalist Jeremiah Lockwood performed in the 2005 Madison World Music Festival as a member of Balkan Beat Box. The son of a composer and grandson of a cantor, he leads Sway machinery, which resurrects Jewish cantorial music--to rousing, rocking beats. The band will play on Friday, September 24, at 10 pm on the Terrace (rain: Wisconsin Union Theater). Jeremiah will also give a free lecture, titled "Jewish Folklore and the Creative Arts" at 4 pm, place TBA. Find the full schedule on our website.

Here's a little reflection from him.

 I remember back in 2005 coming to Madison with Balkan Beat Box.  It was one of the band's first shows in the US, and one of my first times playing with the band.  There was a great feeling of utter chaos on stage, and I remember how intensely the audience reacted to it and dove into the swirl of feeling of with the band.  The Madison Festival was really a thrill.  I heard incredible music, including Boubacar Traore who is one of my heroes on guitar, and I hung out with his calabash player in the hotel where all the performers were staying. 

I'm incredibly thrilled to be coming back to Madison with my own group, The Sway Machinery.  And I continue to be inspired by the awesome programming the Festival is doing.  Djarara is one of my favorite band's in the world!  Getting to play on the same stage with them is going to be a thrill.   I know it will be a night for the ages for us!