Raiford Rogers Modern Ballet Presents...

This Saturday, August 13, the Luckman Fine Arts Complex presents the world premiere of Seeds of Rain by choreographer Raiford Rogers, with music by Philip Glass and Zbynek Mateju. The performers include Los Angeles organist Mark Alan Hilt, pianist Helena Zakharova Weiser, with art projections by Mike Nava. The featured guest artist is Ukrainian dancer Tetyana Matyanova.

The title for the ballet-diptych, Seeds of Rain, is a line from D.H. Lawrence’s Autumn Rain, a poem about hope and renewal. Each of its two parts has a separate title: The music for Part 1 of Seeds of Rain, performed by Hilt, is a special arrangement of Philip Glass’ masterwork Mad Rush recorded at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica, while the music for Part 2, recorded specifically for this ballet, is set to Czech composer Zbynek Mateju’s Three Stones Concerto—and features Weiser with the Hradec Kralove Philharmonic Orchestra.

The stage artwork is by painter Mike Nava and features projected animations: a chronological evolution of a series of paintings, photographed layer by layer. Hundreds of stages of the paintings' development slowly fade from one to the next without a static moment, providing a living environment for the dancers and a visual embodiment of the music.

After an intermission another work, Naivete of Flowers, will be performed. 

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WHEN AND WHERE: Saturday, May 13, 8:00 pm, at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex, at California State University, Los Angeles. 

Tickets: call the Luckman box office at 323-343-6600. Or go to Ticketmaster.