January 12, 2006
One week, three shows at Meany
Meany Hall for the Performing Arts will be a busy place over the next week as it is visited by an acrobatic troupe, a string quartet and a dance company.
First up at Meany are the Peking Acrobats, who will be here on Saturday, Jan. 14. Since their American debut in 1986, The Peking Acrobats have redefined audience perceptions of Chinese acrobatics. They perform maneuvers atop a precarious pagoda of chairs; they are experts at treacherous wire-walking, trick-cycling, precision tumbling, somersaulting and gymnastics. They put on amazing displays of contortion, flexibility and control. They also perform juggling and incredible balancing feats.
Often accompanied by live musicians playing traditional Chinese instruments and high-tech special effects, the group brings the excitement and festive pageantry of a Chinese carnival. The acrobats will do two shows, at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $33 ($20 for children aged 5 to 17).
The Emerson String Quartet will be at Meany for one concert, at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17. In tribute to the Scandinavian heritage of the Pacific Northwest, they will perform Nielsen’s At the Bier of a Young Artist, Sibelius’ Quartet in D Minor, Intimate Voices and Grieg’s Quartet in G Minor, Op. 27.
Acclaimed for its insightful performances, artistry and technical mastery, the Emerson String Quartet is one of the world’s foremost chamber ensembles, and has amassed an impressive list of achievements, including six Grammy Awards — two unprecedented honors for “Best Classical Album” — three Gramophone Magazine Awards and performances of the complete cycles of Beethoven, Bartok and Shostakovich quartets in major concert halls all over the world. Tickets for the concert are $34.
Britain’s largest independent dance company, the Richard Alston Dance Company, makes its Seattle debut in performances Jan. 19-21. Choreographer Richard Alston’s innovative style combines the old and the new, the fantastical and the real. Building on a strong sense of tradition, Alston creates dances flowing in a lyrical and richly sculpted movement style.
Three works are on the program. Fever features music by Claudio Monteverdi — madrigals and sinfonias. Shimmer is danced to music by Maurice Ravel: Sonatine, and Oiseaux Tristes, Une Barque sru L’Ocean, and La Vallee des Closche from Miroirs. And Gypsy Mixture features music from the CD Electric Gypsyland.
Tickets to the Alston Dance Company are $38. All three concerts are at 8 p.m.
Tickets for all of the above events are available at the Arts Ticket Office, 4001 University Way NE, 206-543-4880, or online at www.uwworldseries.org. Tickets for UW students are always $10 (subject to availability); tickets for non-UW students and seniors can be purchased half price one-half hour before the performance.
