Petra Ballet Set for July 21 Debut

July 5, 2005 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Gordon Peirce Schmidt is choreographing a new ballet, to debut in July, which
will celebrate the ancient, Middle eastern city of Petra.

Schmidt is the executive artistic director of the Grand Rapids Ballet Company
which Calvin College will present performing both Sheherazade and Schmidt's new
Petra ballet from 8-9:30 p.m. on July 21, 22 and 23 at the Calvin College Fine
Arts Center.

The $30 ticket price for the ballet event includes a ticket to Petra: Lost
City of Stone, the comprehensive exhibition of Nabataean culture housed at
Calvin College from now through August 15.

Scmidt says he listened to a lot of Middle Eastern music and studied the
history of the Nabataeans, the nomadic, Middle Eastern culture that created the
ancient city of Petra, to create a dance piece which uses the music of the
Middle East to evoke the sense of history in Petra.

For both Sheherazade and the Petra ballet only the professional dancers from
the Grand Rapids Ballet Company will perform.

Calvin's Souzan Karadsheh says the ballet is a good fit with the many
educational and cultural events Calvin has built around Petra: Lost City of
Stone.

"We planned them so that every month there is something happening," she says.
"I'm really looking forward to the ballet, because it will be a first-class
event."

Organized by the American Museum of Natural History and the Cincinnati Art
Museum, and presented under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania
Al-Abdullah of Jordan, Petra is the first major cultural collaboration between
Jordan and the United States. Air transportation generously provided by Royal
Jordanian.

Contact Karadsheh (KAH RAH CHEE) at 616-526-8442

For the full story see www.calvin.edu/news
Also see www.grballet.com/main.html
For more on Petra: Lost City of Stone see www.calvin.edu/petra

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Received on Tue Jul 5 10:45:26 2005