The Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College presents its final two shows of the season, with a modern dance show and contemporary Celtic musicians Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy.
Diavolo Dance Theater "Architecture in Motion"
Diavolo Dance Theater will bring its unique acrobatic dance to the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College on Tuesday, presenting "Architecture in Motion."
An internationally renowned modern acrobatic dance company, Diavolo Dance Theater reinvents dance, re-imagines theater and redefines thrills. The company has earned a reputation for stunning, innovative movement on oversized surrealistic sets and everyday structures. Diavolo is said to make precisely coordinated feats look improvisational, even reckless.
Through its evolution, Diavolo has incorporated a distinct style of Architecture in Motion, one that uses both abstract and standard structures to explore a relationship between the dangers of environment and the fragility of a human's body. Taking all elements to the extreme, Diavolo ultimately creates an abstract narrative about the human experience through surreal tableaux, having formed dozens of works over the years that are some of the dance field's most compelling repertoires.
"What we do on stage is like a live abstract painting," said Jacques Heim, who founded Diavolo in 1992. "There is no narrative, but strong themes pervade the work such as human struggle, fear, danger, survival, chaos, order, deconstruction, reconstruction, destiny, destination, faith, and love."
Heim was born and raised in Paris, France, and his earliest experiences with performance came from street performing. Learn more about Diavolo's "Architecture in Motion," and view clips of the dance performance at http://www.diavolo.org/about-us, click on "Demo Reel."
Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy "Visions from Cape Breton and Beyond"
The first couple of contemporary Celtic Music - Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy - bring their new show, "Visions from Cape Breton and Beyond" to the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College Thursday, May 14.Since marrying in 2002, MacMaster and Leahy have been captivating audiences with their exceptional musical skills and obvious joy in playing together. They have documented their musical growth together with their newest release, One, just released on April 28.
"This CD is a combination of the old and the new, the original and the traditional, the Cape Breton and the Ontario. It's a musical reflection of us as individuals and as spouses, our influences over the years and our personal interpretations and tastes," posted MacMaster and Leahy on their web site.
Both were born into musical families. MacMaster, who hails from Cape Breton Island, Canada, received her first fiddle at the age of 9. Her first recording, Four on the Floor, was released when she was only 16, and she now continues to enjoy a career that has spanned three decades, and is a favorite of Durango audiences.
Honing his remarkable talent since the age of 3, Donnell Leahy has spent his entire life with a fiddle in his hand. First taught at home by a fiddle-playing father from Ontario and a step-dancing mother from Cape Breton, he went on to create his own style and served as bandleader for the group that incorporates seven of his 10 siblings, called Leahy. Some have said he developed a new genre of music known simply as "Leahy."
Leahy was first introduced to MacMaster through her music, and without knowing anything about her (even what she looked like), drove to Truro where she attended teacher's college and asked her out to dinner. The rest is history.
MacMaster and Leahy maintain their devotion to family by having their children, who have embraced their parents' centuries-old musical culture, join them on tour. MacMaster and Leahy have created a musical progeny that is unique and enticing, and ensures that a strong Cape Breton and Canadian fiddling tradition will exist for years to come.
View a performance of MacMaster and Leahy from One at http://www.natalieanddonnell.com.
Both shows are at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for Diavolo "Architecture in Motion" are $34 to $44. Visions from Cape Breton tickets are $42 to $49. They are available online at www.durangoconcerts.com, or call 247-7657, or visit the Ticket Office inside the Durango Welcome Center at 8th St. and Main Ave., Downtown Durango.
