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cultural events
DECEMBER
6 First Coast Wind Holiday Concert JU Terry Concert Hall,
Jax
6 Frank Matthews & Gail Taylor Bogda Gallery, Jax
6 Cocktails & Creatives-AIGA European Street/San Marco,
Jax
6 Ritz Chamber Players Opening Concert Performing Arts
Center, Jax
6 Night of Art & Dance FCCJ South Campus, Jax
6- 7 Art & Soul 5 th Annual Invitational Women’s Center of
Jacksonville, Jax
6-8 Santaland Diaries Limelight Theatre, St. Augustine
6-8 International Fest of Cinema & Technology 9 th & Main,
Jax
6- 9 St. Johns County Festival of Trees Convention Center,
St. Augustine
6-9 Play It Again Sam Amelia Community Theatre, Amelia
Island
6-13 Holiday Art Show FCCJ Kent Campus, Jax
6- 14 Coastal Florida Revisited-Works by Henry VonGenk, III
Stellers Gallery, Neptune Beach
6- 15 Palencia’s Annual Holiday Show Homes Palancia, St.
Augustine
6-15 “It’s A Wonderful Life” Players By the Sea, Jax Beach
6- 15 “It’s A Wonderful Life” Players By The Sea, Jax Beach
6- 15 Constructions: Geryl Goldsleger & Larry Millard FCCJ
South Gallery, Jax
6- 30 Art from the Ashes: In Stabiano, Exploring the Ancient
Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite Cummer Museum, Jax
6- 30 The Gift of the Magi The Amphitheatre, St. Augustine
6- 31 Winter Selections Exhibition J. Johnson Gallery, Jax
Beach
6- 31 Spanish Pathways Museum of History, Amelia Island
6- 31 Hugh Holborn-Spirit Celebration Holborn Gallery, St.
Augustine
6- 31 Will Dickey-Images of Florida’s First Coast First Street
Gallery, Jax Beach
Museum, Jax
6-JAN. 5 Expressions of Italy Village Gallery, Orange Park
6-JAN. 6 Sculptor: Minoru Ohira Exhibit MOCA, Jax
6-JAN. 30 “Blurring the Lines” Photography by Heather Blanton
& Ryan Ketterman JIA, Jax
6-JAN. 31 Featured Artist: Charley Harris The Art Center, Jax
6-FEB. 3 In Stabiano: Exploring Ancient Seaside Villas of the
Roman Elite Cummer Museum, Jax
6-FEB. 28 Oh Say Can You See: American Art Cummer
Museum, Jax
7JU Opera Studio-Opera Scenes JU Terry Concert Hall, Jax
7 “Art”rageous First Friday Downtown, Fernandina
7 The Pillowman Body Gallery, Jax
7 Christmas Concert Friday Musicale, Jax
7 Amateur Night at the Ritz The Ritz Theatre, Jax
7 Sounds of the Season Choral Concert FCCJ South Campus,
Jax
7-9 Amahl & the Night Visitors-UnF Opera UnF fine Arts
Center, Jax
7-16 An O-Henry Christmas ABET, Atlantic Beach
7-JAN. 12 First Annual Artist Member Holiday Exhibition
Cultural Center, Ponte Vedra
7-JAN. 16 Apron Chronicles: A Patchwork of American Recollections
Cultural Center, Ponte Vedra
8 Percussion Ensemble JU Terry Concert Hall, Jax
32 december 6-12, 2007 | entertaining u newspaper
from russia with love
Sleeping beauty on Ice
by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
WHAT: Sleeping Beauty on Ice
WHEn: December 13 th @ 7:30 pm
WHERE: Fine Arts Center at UnF
Maybe you’re looking for a family show that
isn’t prefaced by Nutcracker or doesn’t end in Carole.
In that case, buy tickets for Sleeping Beauty on
Ice. It’s still family oriented but less Christmasy. The
show is put on by Russia’s State Ice Ballet Company
and presented at UNF.
Performed to Tchaikovsky’s legendary score,
audience members will see it as more of a ballet on
ice. But on ice they can do faster spins and leap to
more thrilling heights.
“Audience members feel like this is real ballet,
not ballet on ice,” said artistic director and choreographer
Konstantin Rassadin, through an interpreter.
Some of the things that contribute to the ballet
feel, besides the score, are the elaborate sets, romantic
lighting and gorgeous costuming.
“The costumes’ materials come from countries
around the world,” said Rassadin.
The scene opens with the King and Queen celebrating
the birth of their daughter, Princess Aurora.
Beautiful fairies arrive, bringing gifts and fairy blessings.
An evil fairy, peeved at not being invited to the
party, vows vengeance.
On the Princess’ 16th birthday, a witch casts a
spell that causes the entire Kingdom to sleep for 100
years. Only a kiss of love can awaken Princess Aurora.
Enter the Prince, who seeks to break the spell
and restore the Kingdom.
The talent is Russian, some of it coming from
real ballet, but mostly from the world of competitive
sports skating. It can take time to train the skaters
to be actors on the stage, incorporating more ballet
movements into the choreography, but Rassadin is
satisfied with the results.
“In the end, they learn what they need,” he
says.
The long traveling time of the company means
that the troupe has all contingencies accounted for.
They have replacements for costumes if they should
become torn and replacements for skaters, if they
should become ill or injured.
Getting the ice on the stage is an elaborate
business, but one that the traveling troupe has down
to a science. They regularly turn ordinary stages into
ice rinks. They build the rink frame, and then they put
down heavy sheeting in multiple layers to protect the
stage. Cold pipes or tubing start the process.
“It can take [many] hours to have the ice they
need on the stage because they need [it] two or
three inches above the pipes…To make it faster they
will use crushed ice.” says Rassadin
When adding the crushed ice, someone must
be there to spray the surface with a hose. After
five minutes of hosing it down, and 15 minutes of
waiting for it to freeze, the process starts again and
continues.
I had to ask if they had a mini-Zamboni to clean
up between acts, and was disappointed to learn that
they merely use a large scraper.
This show has been on the road for some 40
years, traveling around the globe to exotic locations
in South America, Japan, China, Korea, the U.S.,
Britain and all over Europe.
Tickets are $10 for children and all students
and $28-$38 for adults. This show is on Thursday,
December 13th at 7:30 pm at the Fine Arts Center
at the University of North Florida. Charge tickets by
phone at the UNF Ticket Box Office by calling 620-
2878, or buy online at unf.edu/fineartscenter.