Apollo's Banquet, a New York City-based Baroque dance and music ensemble, will perform at Hope College on Saturday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Snow Auditorium of Nykerk Hall of Music.
Apollo's Banquet, a New York City-based Baroque dance and music ensemble, will perform at Hope College on Saturday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Snow Auditorium of Nykerk Hall of Music.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Dancers Paige Whitley-Bauguess and Thomas Baird, along with pianist/harpsichordist Hugh Murphy, will present "Dances of the French Baroque Theatre." Costumed in period dress, the dancers will showcase various characters from 18th-century opera such as shepherds, shepherdesses, and Spaniards, as well as noble mythological figures such as Apollo the sun god and the sorceress, Armide. All of the dances being presented on the program have survived in 18th-century-style notation, and have been reconstructed using period sources.
Of the production, Jack Anderson of the "New York Times" wrote, "Apollo's Banquet can provide a feast!"
The performance on Saturday, Nov. 3, will culminate the company's Oct. 31-Nov. 3 residency at the college.
Founded in 1995 by Baird and Murphy, Apollo's Banquet is an ensemble of dancers and musicians that presents 18th century choreographic master works in concert. The ensemble takes its name from a series of music editions containing French and English dance music published in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. The company is dedicated to presenting dances that survive in 18th-century notation with the music to which they were originally choreographed in performances that are historically informed, but live for an audience of today.
Nykerk Hall of Music is located in the central Hope College campus along the former 12th Street between College and Columbia avenues.