Les Grands Ballets
dance
You can't necessarily judge a dance company by its name. Take Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal. That "Ballets" part may evoke preconceived notions, but Randy Swartz, artistic director of the Annenberg Center's Dance Celebration series, asserts, "This is not your mother's ballet company ... It appeals more to a younger free-thinking crowd. This feels more like contemporary dance." The program features TooT, choreographed by Dutch dancemaker Didy Veldman, and Noces, by Belgium-based Stijin Celis. LGBC's director Gradimir Pankov was formerly with Nederlands Dans Theater II and the National Ballet of Finland, so even the Canadiens part is somewhat deceiving: "It's very Eurocentric in its aesthetic," says Swartz. Regarding the two pieces, Noces, inspired by a classic Russian ballet about a wedding, is a modern take on the mating game, while TooT is a theatrical, circuslike work that includes a water-gun fight and a solo by a woman wearing a costume made of balloons. "It's a little edgy," says Swartz. "And there's not a tutu in sight."
Thu.-Sat., Nov. 16-18, $29-$44, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900, www.pennpresents.org.
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