Val Caniparoli | |
---|---|
Born | Val Caniparoli Renton, Washington (US) |
Known for | Dancer and choreographer with San Francisco Ballet |
Val Caniparoli is an American ballet dancer and international choreographer. [1] His work includes more than 100 productions for ballet, opera, and theater for over 50 companies, [2] and his career as a choreographer progressed globally even as he continued his professional dance career with the San Francisco Ballet. [3]
He joined the San Francisco Ballet as a dancer in 1973. [4] He was appointed to the position of principal character dancer with the San Francisco Ballet by Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson in 1987. [5] [6] [7]
Caniparoli was born in Renton, Washington, to Francisco Caniparoli, a clothing manufacturer, and Leonora (Marconi) Caniparoli, who worked at Boeing. [8] He attended Washington State University (WSU), where he studied music and theater. [9] When the First Chamber Dance Company was touring Eastern Washington, they did performances at WSU, and offered workshops in ballet. [10] Caniparoli attended one and was told he had talent, and should audition at the San Francisco Ballet School. [11] Thereafter he decided to pursue a career in ballet, and left WSU. [12] He received a scholarship from the Ford Foundation that enabled him to attend the San Francisco Ballet School. Caniparoli performed with San Francisco Opera Ballet, and in 1973, just a year and a half into his studies, he was offered a contract with San Francisco Ballet. In his debut season, he worked under Co-Artistic Directors Lew Christensen and Michael Smuin, [13] and later, under Helgi Tomasson. [14]
Caniparoli became interested in choreography when he attended a choreography workshop offered by the Pacific Northwest Ballet. [15] After that work, his choreography career expanded and he was appointed resident choreographer for the San Francisco Ballet in the mid-1980s. [16] In 1984, Caniparoli co-founded a choreographic collective called OMO in San Francisco, and a documentary about OMO's founding was broadcast that year on PBS. [17] In 1994, he created his first full-length ballet entitled Lady of the Camellias, based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas fils, and with a score by Frédéric Chopin. [18] Lady of the Camellias became one of Caniparoli's most popular works, and a part of the repertoire of several ballet companies, including Ballet West, Ballet Florida, Boston Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, and Royal Winnipeg Ballet. [19]
Caniparoli was resident choreographer for Ballet West from 1993 to 1997, and for Tulsa Ballet from 2001 to 2006. [20] He continues to create works for San Francisco Ballet. [21]
In 1995, Caniparoli choreographed a new work entitled Lambarena, [22] set to a musical blend of J.S. Bach with Traditional African music composed by Pierre Akendengue and Hughes de Courson. [23] Lambarena has become another of Caniparoli's most popular creations, a blend of classical ballet and African dance. [24] This ballet has been performed more than 20 companies, including Atlanta Ballet, Boston Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, and State Ballet of South Africa. [25] [26]
In 2002, Caniparoli was invited to choreograph a pas de deux to be performed by Evelyn Hart and Rex Harrington for Queen Elizabeth II to celebrate her Golden Jubilee visit to Canada. [27]
In May 2010, San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) premiered Tosca Cafe, a theater/dance work co-created and co-directed by Caniparoli and A.C.T.'s Carey Perloff; Caniparoli also did the choreography. [28] "'Tosca Cafe"', which started as The Tosca Project, chronicles a wide cast of characters who inhabit Tosca, a bar in the North Beach section of San Francisco in the same location for decades. [29] Caniparoli and Perloff saw this work as a unique opportunity for collaboration between dancers and actors. [30] Since its 2010 premiere in San Francisco, Tosca Cafe has been performed internationally. [31]
While growing up in Renton, Washington, Caniparoli studied music for 13 years. [32] His study included private lessons on alto saxophone, clarinet, and flute. [33] He credits his study of music with nurturing his eclectic interest in world music and composers, and varied genres. [34] He has become well known for his use of widely diverse music as a principal foundation for his choreographic work. [35] [36] He was also influenced by the dancing of film stars Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. [37] Caniparoli's work has been described as "rooted in classicism but influenced by all forms of movement: modern dance, ethnic dance, social dancing, even ice skating." [38]
Caniparoli lives in San Francisco, California. [39]
In 2015, co-choreographed with Helgi Tomasson, a commercial for the 50th Anniversary Super Bowl with dancers from San Francisco Ballet.
Choreography from Lambarena featured on Sesame Street with dancers Lorena Feijoo and Lorna Feijoo.
Caniparoli appeared on PBS in The San Francisco Ballet in CinderellaDance in America (the Great Performances Series) in the role of Cinderella's father. In addition, he appeared in three television specials:
Susan P. Stroman is an American theatre director, choreographer, film director and performer. Her notable theater productions include Oklahoma!, The Music Man, Crazy for You, Contact, The Producers, The Frogs, The Scottsboro Boys, Bullets Over Broadway, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, and New York, New York.
Mark William Morris is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments. Morris is popular among dance aficionados, the music world, as well as mainstream audiences.
The Joffrey Ballet is an American dance company and training institution in Chicago, Illinois. The Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at the Civic Opera House, including its annual presentation of The Nutcracker.
San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, and effective December 2022 under the direction of Tamara Rojo. It is among the world's leading dance companies, presenting more than 100 performances annually, with a repertoire that spans both classical and contemporary ballet. Along with American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet has been described as part of the "triumvirate of great classical companies defining the American style on the world stage today."
Michael Smuin was an American ballet dancer, choreographer and theatre director. He was co-founder and director of his own dance company, the Smuin Ballet in San Francisco.
Lawrence Pech is a dancer, choreographer and teacher currently living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Singapore Ballet is Singapore's national dance company, founded in 1988 by Anthony Then and Goh Soo Khim. The Artistic Director of the company is Janek Schergen.
The Oakland Ballet Company is a non-profit ballet company based in Oakland, California. OBC was founded in 1965 by Ronn Guidi, an Oakland native, and gained recognition through its historical reconstructions of ballets from the Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev; the mounting of classic works of Americana; and the creation of innovative contemporary choreography.
National Choreographers Initiative (NCI) is a non-profit dance organization based in Irvine, California, that promotes the development of choreographers from all over the United States in the professional ballet world. NCI hosts a three-week workshop with selected professional dancers, who have auditioned from various ballet companies throughout the United States. The choreographers each produce a work in progress, which are then showcased at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. These performances are open to the public and are held every year in late July. National Choreographers Initiative was founded in 2004 by Molly Lynch. The rehearsals and dancer accommodations are hosted by the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine campus.
Ruslan Vasilyevich Skvortsov is a Russian principal dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet.
Norbert Vesak, one of Canada's leading choreographers in the 1970s, was a ballet dancer, choreographer, theatrical director, master teacher, dance columnist, lecturer, and opera ballet director, known for his unique, flamboyant style and his multimedia approach to classical and contemporary choreography. He is credited with helping to bring modern dance to Western Canada.
Smuin Contemporary Ballet, formerly known as Smuin Ballet, is a touring ballet company based in San Francisco, California. Smuin Ballet performs its season in multiple venues: the Dean Lesher Center in Walnut Creek, the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts in Mountain View, the Sunset Center in Carmel, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and The Palace of Fine Arts Theater in San Francisco.
Darren John Anderson is an internationally acclaimed ballet dancer. He is also known for his work in contemporary and classical choreography.
The Richmond Ballet, named the State Ballet of Virginia in 1990 by then Governor Douglas Wilder, is an education and performance institution, founded in 1957.
Liam Scarlett was a British choreographer who was an artist in residence with The Royal Ballet and artistic associate with Queensland Ballet. He also choreographed new works for Ballet Black, Miami City Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, the BalletBoyz, English National Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Polish National Ballet, and the Royal Ballet School.
Evelyn Cisneros-Legate is an American ballerina. Evelyn, who is Mexican American, is considered the first prima ballerina in the United States of Hispanic heritage. She holds an honorary doctorate from Mills College and the University of California at Monterey Bay.
Amy Seiwert is an American contemporary ballet choreographer and artistic director. She is the founder and artistic director of Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, a contemporary ballet company in San Francisco.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)