“Prelude to War” Ballet Premiere in Germany
Last Friday I was very fortunate to attend the world premiere performance of “Prelude to War,” my ballet based on my scores for Battlestar Galactica. The ballet was performed by the outstanding dancers of the Theaterhagen, in Hagen, Germany. The choreography was by the resident choreographer Ricardo Fernando, and the orchestra was conducted by Bernhard Steiner.
When I was first approached about writing a ballet based on my Galactica scores, I leapt at the opportunity to translate my music to a new medium. From my initial discussions with Ricardo it was clear that he and I shared a similar vision of the ballet. We wanted to create a new and exciting narrative, using the music of the series but completely stripping it from the context of the show.
(Me and Ricardo Fernando, choreographer)
While I was writing, Ricardo and I struggled with NBC Universal to get the rights to perform this work at all. In the end, they granted us permission to use the music, but not to use the name “Battlestar Galactica” anywhere in the title. (I could fill an entire blog about the creative logic necessary to deal with studios, but its more fun to focus on the artistic side of my job).
However, this decision was a blessing in disguise, because it allowed us to promote this as a bold new work, not a derivative adaptation from another. The rhythms, melodies, taiko patterns and individual movement titles all have meaning for Battlestar fans. However, our hope was that audiences unfamiliar with the series could also enjoy the work, completely unaware of the layers of meaning that BG fans would find in it. The elegantly simple title, “Prelude to War,” invites non-fans and fans alike to enjoy the ballet.
I wrote the ballet by editing together cues and soundtrack album cuts to form individual conceptual movements. Though I would have loved to orchestrate the work myself, there was simply no time to set aside the weeks it would require. So, I turned to my friend and mentor James Hopkins.
Jim has been somewhat of a “consigliere” to the scoring team on Galactica lately, contributing his wisdom and experience to the scores to Unfinished Business, Maelstrom, Revelations, Sometimes a Great Notion, A Disquiet Follows My Soul and Daybreak among others. As a result, he was quite familiar with my work when I asked him to translate my scores into a purely symphonic medium.
This was not a simple task. Although the theater agreed to hire three additional percussionists to play taikos (bringing the grand total to six drummers in all), none of the other signature ethnic instruments would be available to us. Melodies intended for the duduk, bansuri, erhu, yialli tanbur, electric violin, biwa and others had to be translated to instruments within the symphonic orchestra, yet still preserve the distinct ethnic qualities unique to Battlestar.
While Jim and I collaborated on the orchestration, Ricardo choreographed the visual components of the ballet in Germany, working from my sketches and edits. Ricardo and I spoke and emailed frequently, but creatively we basically left one another alone. He gave absolutely no input as to what music I should select, how many movements the work should have or anything in that realm. Likewise, I dictated nothing about the visual elements of the piece, aside from clarifying our shared desire that the dance not directly reflect any characters or story arcs from the series.
The experience was both exhilarating and terrifying because I am a fully-confessed control freak. This work was the first time I let go of the reigns to allow an orchestrator to dramatically revise my work, a choreographer to interpret and provide visuals or another conductor to pick up the baton for my work. However, I had found excellent collaborators and the ballet exceeded my (very high) expectations.
(The Theater in Hagen)
I arrived in Hagen, Germany, a few days before the premiere. I haven’t traveled across the Atlantic in over 20 years, so I was completely unprepared for the obliterating impact of jetlag. I almost slept through our first press conference, which began at 2pm on my first day! Fortunately, everybody was cool about it, especially Peter and Rene from Caprica-City.de who showed Raya and I around town before our interview. (To thank them for their generosity, I gave their website the world-premiere sneak peek at my Theme to Caprica, performed on the piano at the Theater in Hagen!)
The rehearsals last week were challenging, but fun. I was absolutely stunned with the brutal acrobatics Ricardo was asking of his incredibly talented dancers. I was witnessing forms and movements I didn’t know the human body was capable of.
I spent most of the week working alongside Bernhard Steiner and the orchestra. The major issue to deal with concerned the placement of the taikos and percussion. The pit size was limited, so all six percussionists were placed on an eight-foot riser at the back of the stage.
The effect was visually stunning, since the drummers essentially became part of the dance. But on a practical level it was extremely challenging because they were separated from the rest of the orchestra by over twenty feet. Coordinating tempos was a challenge in the early rehearsals, but once the ensemble and the sound engineer got used to the situation, everything lined up.
Another problem occurring early on was the strict training of German classical musicians getting the better of them in several passages. I found the musicians had occasional difficulty with the fluid, improvisatory and bouncy nature of certain ethnic-inspired melodies. It wasn’t that they were playing it wrong; not at all. They were playing it right… absolutely, metrically and methodically perfect. Melodies like the flute line in “Fight Night” are meant to be a little lighter, more fluttery and dance-like. It was an uphill battle to get there, but we got there.
I decided on creating nine individual movements, with very little connective thematic material. I wanted to represent a diverse collection of the various themes, colors and emotions in Battlestar Galactica. I arranged the movements so that there was a vague sense of narrative structure, and Ricardo picked up on all the subtleties in the music and interpreted them into his movements.
I. Prelude to War
from Pegasus and Resurrection Ship, Pt. I & II
The ballet actually opens with a quotation of “A Distant Sadness” from the Season 3 soundtrack album. The dancers begin motionless behind a screen projecting images of stars and planets (the only science fiction reference in the entire ballet).
The introduction reaches its peak and blasts into Season 2’s “Prelude to War.” The screen lifts and reveals the dancers. Ricardo’s choreography here is aggressive and dynamic, evoking not outer space imagery at all, but savage (almost samurai-like) combat.
For the signature taiko breakdowns in this piece, the dancers pick up large staves and battle one another in tightly choreographed movements. The sounds of their combat blends with the taikos perfectly, essentially forming a twenty-member percussion ensemble.
II. Passacaglia
from Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Pt. I
The most simple music yielded on of the most elegant dances. Pairs of dancers worked together in fluid, parallel motion, mirroring the repetitive ground-bass of the passacaglia.
III. Baltar’s Followers
from He That Believeth and Escape Velocity
This cue was written to represent rituals and ceremonies, and it does so here as well.
Two solo dancers leap across an elevated stage (formed from four multi-function tables), while they are surrounded by a mob of followers.
IV. The Resurrection Hub
from The Hub
The tables forming the stage are split into two, and two pairs of dancers perform on them during one of the most memorable and melodic works from Season 4.
V. Among the Ruins
from Sometimes a Great Notion
This is the piece where Ricardo’s choreography really blew me away. As I mentioned in my blog entry about this piece, “Among the Ruins” is an ambient and atonal bed of frozen sonic tones. There is virtually no perceptible meter or tempo.
I assumed Ricardo would set this to a loosely choreographed solo dancer. But, instead he put eight dancers on the stage, UPSIDE DOWN against four walls. Compounding the complexity is the fact that they are placed where they can’t see one another. Their movements must mirror each other’s exactly, and they had no beats or rhythm to help guide them. This looked like it was brutally difficult, but they pulled it off.
The visual result reminded me of the ruined city on Earth for which I composed this piece. The individual walls were moved into a single continuous wall, across which dancers were lifted in cascading movements. The music of this particular moment is from the cue where Starbuck finds her body in the crash site, an English horn and solo violin playing the erhu melody.
The walls flip down into tables again and form a center stage. The dancers perform on it again as the dissonant, atonal A-Theme returns. By the end of the movement, they have taken their places for the beginning of the next movement.
VI. Fight Night
from Unfinished Business
This one blasts by pretty quick, but is extremely exciting. The dancer’s staves return, but are this time used as part of the set instead of weapons.
VII. Roslin and Adama
from Resurrection Ship, Pt. I & II
This is the movement that really blew people away. Ricardo placed Marcelo and his wife Carla in a huge aquarium and choreographed their movements in six inches of water. The lush and lyrical music accompanied them beautifully.
(Technically, this movement is actually a suite that also includes “Admiral and Commander” from the Season 3 soundtrack. I’ve found that the “Roslin and Adama” and “Wander My Friends” melodies blend together very well, and you’ll hear this idea in action in next week’s final episode.)
At the end of the uplifting “Roslin and Adama” B-Section, Carla falls into his arms as the lights go black on the last note. (This moment gave me chills!) I certainly hope that non-BG-fans also loved this piece, but I must confess that the dance perfectly reflects the complex and bittersweet relationship between Roslin and Adama in Battlestar. Seeing this haunting choreography between a man and woman within the confines of the tank was quite emotional for me, and I assume that BG fans in the audience felt the same way.
VIII. The Signal
from Revelations
This piece was composed in a swinging 7/8 meter, with occasional bars of 3/8, 9/8 and 4/4 thrown in there just to keep things interesting. At the end, it modulates metrically to 6/8, then to 2/4, then accelerates swiftly by almost 100 beat per minute. In short… this was a nightmare for the dancers to count! (Many of them confessed this to me at the afterparty.) I had originally sent it to Ricardo almost as a joke, to see if he’d want to choreograph it, but he was eager to do it. And it was worth the trouble.
The original recording included a choir performing a Samoan war chant. Jim and I decided to transfer this percussive chant rhythm to the horns and trombones and the result worked surprisingly well. Violent and energetic, “The Signal” is basically the big, climactic finale that one would expect for the last movement…
IX. Diaspora
from Revelations
… except that it’s not. The ballet concludes with an instrumental performance of “Diaspora Oratorio,” the epic and sweeping conclusion to Revelations. Here, Ricardo called for costume changes and more dramatic lighting than seen before in the piece. A moving green laser provided the feeling that the work was leaping from the stage into the audience.
At the end of the ballet, the dancers face the audience, holding flashlights to their faces. One by one, they shut them off until the stage is in darkness. They slowly turn and walk away as the last notes of “Diaspora” echo away. Ricardo told me that this was an allegory warning us that the arts may vanish slowly if we’re not careful to avoid this fate.
The obvious choice for the ending of the ballet would have been a big, percussive finale. But somehow this felt more appropriate and judging from the audience reaction, I made the right decision.
The premiere was a magical night. I had already been told that the evening was sold out, but the interesting thing was I saw a lot of people who I suspected had never been to a ballet before in their lives. There were many, many Battlestar fans in attendance. How does one recognize a Battlestar fan? I must admit I’m developing a sixth sense for it, but sometimes it’s easier than others. :)
Throughout the night, and especially at the after party, I was surrounding by fans who offered many interesting insights into the show and the ballet performance. It was fun to connect with them, especially since the great distant prevented most of them from seeing us perform our concerts in Los Angeles last spring.
(Curtain Call. photo courtesy of Tino Krist)
(L-R: Me, Carla Fernando, Ricardo Fernando, Raya and choreographer Young-Soon)
(Me and the taiko players)
(Conductor Bernhard Steiner)
The most exciting aspect of doing “Prelude to War” was transferring my work from one medium to another. This is music that I wrote for a narrative structure, for individual scenes within a television series. And now, Ricardo Fernando and his amazing dancers have crafted a new narrative structure around it. (How unusual, for underscore to have new visuals created specifically for it: a film composer’s dream!) The ballet has its own story to tell, but the spirit of the music, the spirit of Battlestar Galactica, still emanates from the stage.
Tickets and more information are available from the Theater’s Official Site.
The box office phone number is 0049/2331/2073218.
I’d like to leave this entry open as place for fans to post reviews or thoughts about this ballet. It’s running for thirteen weeks and there are still many opportunities to check it out. If you see it, stop back and let us know what you thought.
So Say We All!
-Bear
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37 Responses to ““Prelude to War” Ballet Premiere in Germany”
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Hey guys… some of you posted some great reviews of this premiere on my previous entry. If you wouldn’t mind, copy them into this entry so everybody else can read them. Thanks!
-Bear
Is there any chance of this (or any BSG-related concerts) hitting LA any time soon? I’d love to see it!
I unfortunately wasn’t able to attend the premiere, but I will go in little more than a week from now. (just one day after seeing the series finale in fact) I’m looking forward to it and will post a review here afterwards, although I suspect it to be nothing less than superb. :)
This needs to come to the states.
That is all.
If it doesn’t come to the states, at least have it recorded! Make a DVD. I would be upset if I never get to see this.
Hello Bear,
here is my last Entry :)
Hello Bear McCreary,
im back in Hamburg now (400km from Hagen), and the show was GREAT.
All people do a great job there.
Very nice arrangements from your Music.
After the show i have all the night “The Hup”, “Lauras Running” and the scence from the dead earth in my mind.
The idea to integrate the dancers in to the music with thier staves was very nice!
But i only missed little bit the power from taiko-drums.
What is the difference between the soundtracks and Hagen?
The place where the drums are standing in Hagen, or how many the used there?
After all: The music and dance-performance was very good and funy.
Hope to see more like this.
Is ther any chance to get the music or the complet show as movie?
And at last: THANKS for subscribing my CD-Booklet!
Best regards,
calaador
Left by calaador on March 8th, 2009
Hi Bear. I´m glad you´re happy with the performance and how it all worked out. I have tickets for next Tuesday, and can´t wait to experience it myself. Any chance you´ll still be there?
It was great to see this, and of course the party.
But now I kind of almost wish I hadn’t been able to, and would have had to go later; with your comments from this blog in mind, it has got to be an even better experience.
A DVD would be lovely.
Hey Bear,
the premiere was great! Your music was great and the party at the end was fantastic.I was very happy when you signed the battlestar cd and made a photo with me. thanks very much!!
Hey guys… so glad that so many of you enjoyed it! I’m in London Heathrow again, this time on my way home. My European trip was a blast, and thanks to everybody who turned out to see the ballet!
——
cory… “Is there any chance of this (or any BSG-related concerts) hitting LA any time soon? I’d love to see it!”
“this”… nothing in the works just yet. “other BG concerts” yes, we have some plans. Too early to announce, but keep an eye out on the blog in the coming weeks.
JohnLR… “make a DVD. I would be upset if I never get to see this.”
I’d love to, but I must confess it’s a long shot at this point. Still, I’m hopeful we’ll get some good footage of it and release it at some point in the future.
calaador… “But i only missed little bit the power from taiko-drums.
What is the difference between the soundtracks and Hagen?
The place where the drums are standing in Hagen, or how many the used there?”
What was the difference? All of the above. The biggest problem was the fact that orchestra wasn’t quite big enough to overpower the percussion, so as a result, the drummers had to hold back just a little bit. If they played any louder, you literally wouldn’t hear any chords or melodies at all.
And as for the size of the percussion ensemble, 6 players is the absolutely minimum to cover my “BG” percussion writing. In reality, to do it JUST like it sounds on the soundtrack CD would require a percussion ensemble of at least 15 to 20 players. The stage would have burst! :)
Ralph Kruhm… “Any chance you´ll still be there?”
Not unless I miss my flight in a few minutes. :)
-Bear
Don’t miss your flight. ; ]
And yes yes yes I hope this ballet will come to LA. Bravo for Ricardo’s fantastic vision. I’m sure the whole audience had chills. Wonderful!
Hi Bear,
it’s me, René. Hope you and Raya had a pleasant flight home. I just wanted to say thanks for everything. You two made our journey to Hagen into an unforgettable experience. Thanks for granting us this great (and loooong) interview, thanks for playing “Caprica” for us, and a huuuuuge thanks for showing up at our pre-show party.
Best,
René
P.S.: I just mailed you download links with our photos. Enjoy!
Wow, what a night. I think it’s safe to say that all the BSG fans who had come indeed left happy.
First of all it needs to be said that while for a BSG fan’s ears the third “face”, which featured Bear’s music, at least music-wise probably was the most beautiful one, choreography-wise and dancing-wise all of the three “faces” were superb.
Probably most of the readers here didn’t really know what to expect from a “BSG ballet”. It was not the nutcracker or swan lake type of ballet with dancers on their tiptoes all the time. It was much more Modern Dance than classical ballet and featured many acrobatic dance routines performed by incredibly gifted dancers. Prelude To War especially featured some nice special effects such as laser beams and video backdrops and a choreography including flashlights. Another stunning fight inspired choreography included the dancers as parts of the percussion section with the dancers batting their sword-like wooden sticks intercut with the Taiko drums. A definite highlight was Roslin’s and Adama’s theme staged by a male and female dancer in a water tank. Bear’s music came across extremely well and sounded great performed by the highly talented orchestra and drummers ensemble. Judging by the intensive applause and loud cheers not only BSG fans but everyone in the audience was obviously profoundly wowed by this wonderful show. If there is anything negative to say about it then only that it was too short. I enjoyed every second of it and after it had ended I would have loved to experience it all over again.
While most of the “regular” audience left right after the show, the aftershow party was mainly crowded with BSG fans. And Bear made every single one of us happy. He didn’t mind at all signing hundreds of CD booklets, DVDs or whatever fans asked him to sign. Moreover he took the time to turn every autograph into a personal dedication and was even willing to pose for photos individually with each of the fans so that everyone left with a great personal souvenir. Sporting no star attitude whatsoever Bear took the time to even chat with each of the fans and to get involved in interesting conversations. The same can be said about the lovely Raya who also happily chatted with all the fans and signed CDs. Both Bear and Raya were very busy with enthusiastic fans all the time, during the show’s breaks and throughout the whole aftershow party. I hope they got to enjoy this experience…
Some of us fans (from German fansite caprica-city.de) were so lucky to meet Bear and Raya before the show in a nearby cafe where we all sat together and chatted. How cool is that?! For over an hour we discussed various BSG stuff and Bear provided interesting insights into the production of our favorite show. As you already know by this blog, unlike other stars who cannot do much more than superficially smile into cameras, Bear indeed has interesting things to say.
BEAR, RAYA, THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR THIS WONDERFUL EVENING. YOU REALLY WERE THERE FOR YOUR FANS AND DEVOTED YOUR TIME TO US WHICH IS NOT SOMETHING TO BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED AND WAS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST FOR YOUR FUTURE CAREERS.
My new friends in Germany just sent in a few reviews that they thankfully translated:
Critic in Westfalenpost by Andreas Thiemann on 10th March 2009
Ballet „Three Faces“ on 7th March 2009 in Hagen / Germany
translated by Annette Hawkridge
Enraptured through Modern Dance
Première-Audience in Hagen experienced with „Three Faces“ a memorable Ballet Night
Hagen
„Three Faces“ is the contemplative title of a new ballet at the theatre in Hagen in which Henrique Talmah, Young Soon Hue and Ricardo Fernando, three internationally renowned choreographers, successively present their demanding pieces.
It was an extremely moving evening of honest enthusiasm, fascination and admiration; ballet dancing presented at a high, even highest standard, ingenious, creative and beautiful.
The Hagen company veritably danced with heart and soul. Once they were daring artists, then aggressive fighters, then naive children and then romantic lovers.
Bodily Tension and Sensitivity
Their absolute perfect bodily control, their vitality, tension and sensitivity forced the enthused audience to interrupt with applause time and again, whereby the choreographic demands on the dancers were enormous. The Brasilian Henrique Talmah has devised a piece without a theme and transformed music from Beethoven-symphonies into movement. This demands absolute sympathetic understanding, and the dancers demonstrated exceptionally dazzling precision and adaptability to the euphonies of the Hagen Philharmonic Orchestra.
Thereupon the South Korean Young Soon Hue offered an absolute ecstasy of feelings with her intensive performance „Glasshouse“. A story about orphans dreaming of their parents while raw reality forces them to survive.
These were the most intimate and moving moments of the evening which Young Soon Hue presented to the audience and were wonderfully interpreted by the dancers.
And last but not least a World Première! „Prelude to War“ is the title of a piece from the American composer Bear McCreary, which was actually performed in Hagen for the first time. For this purpose the Philharmonic Orchestra was especially augmented by the percussion group „Stixx&Soundzzz“, because McCreary likes it powerful and hammering.
Ovations for Cult-Composer
The hardly 30 years old composer has become well known for his music to the TV-cult series „Battlestar Galactica“. Hagen’s ballet director Ricardo Fernando skilfully adepted his company to the science-fiction situation and had them drumming, beating and jumping for all it is worth. The audience was completely beside themselves and the international McCreary-fan-club, which had travelled to Hagen from all over the world especially for this evening, celebrated the US-artist, who was also present, as their star with never ending ovations and during the interval he willingly fulfilled the wishes of his autograph hunters.
„Three faces“ – this evening will cause echos for a long time.
Première was Hagen’s best Marketing Campaign
Reader’s Letter to Westfalenpost from Dr. Mithat Köseoglu concerning Ballet-Première „Three Faces“
„In our theatre in Hagen, I was one of the lucky people in the audience who experienced saturday’s ballet-première „Three Faces“.
Young Norwegians all the way from Bergen were sitting side by side with a group of Dutch visitors. In addition one could recognize fans from England, Switzerland and Hungary, who had taken it upon themselves to come all this way from their home countries to Hagen, a town which was unknown to them before. Further to these international visitors the première audience was made up of a large number of visitors from all parts of Germany.
The reason for this national and international gathering was the presence of the American film composer Bear McCreary, whose innovative music „Prelude to War“ served the Hagen ballet director as the foundation for his creation of an impressive, multimedial choreography. Hagen experienced the world première of this music.
Many of Bear McCreary’s fans were surprised that this event took place outside the USA and far from all metropoles but rather in „little“ Hagen.
With thunderous applause and cheering, the audience thanked the artists who made this unique evening to an unforgettable experience.
This première was the best city-marketing-action that Hagen has had for years! I am proud of all those who were responsible for this production and those who made it possible. My thanks go especially to Ricardo Fernando as well as all the other artists concerned.
One wonders, are those politicians who intend to close the ballet company at the end of the 2009 / 2010 theatre season, aware of the fact that such a decision is equivalent to the slaughter of the chicken that lays golden eggs?
It is high time to develop a politcal cultural concept for Hagen which will preserve the well functioning cultural institutions instead of destroying them.“
Hello Bear!
Thank you again for a great great evening in Hagen!
Did I disgruntle you, when i asked about your first name? I was just to nervous to express myself properly! (sorry for that)
I study direction near Hagen and therefore I enjoy a good score!
Thats why I came to “Three Faces” firstly…
and secondly because of Battlestar :)
I’ve listenend to your composing for Battlestar since i heard “Passacaglia” in “Kobols last gleaming” and after that I became a true true fan of your music.
The whole show on Saturday was naturally fantastic, as everyone said before…
BUT somehow I missed the choir for “Diaspora Oratorio” :)
Will there be another concert like this in Europe in the future?
I hope you and Raya enjoyed your visit in Germany (besides the rainy weather *g*)
Good luck for the future and maybe I can win you someday for scoring my movies. :)
Byebye!
Wow! They’re planning on closing this ballet company? So sad :(
By the way… did you know you were nominated for this? http://www.streamys.org/nominees.shtml
I wasn’t sure if the music that is in Face of the Enemy is actually original music or if you just recycled score from previous episodes.
Can’t wait to watch the finale! I’m about to watch part 1 myself.
Hey Bear (and Raya!)
What an amazing experience this was!
The ballet and the music absolutely blew me away; the drums brought me right back into the world of Battlestar, and us fans were secretly playing ‘air-drums’ in our seats, while the choreography combined with the lighting and different sets offered a whole new perspective on the music we’re so familiar with. Absolutely breathtaking and as always, ‘Roslin and Adama’ moved me to tears. Wouldn’t have missed it for the world, and thanks to you and Raya for being so kind and gracious. I hope Berlin was fun!
All the best from Amsterdam,
I’m extremely jealous for the country of Germany. I wish I could fly out there just to watch it (I was born in Germany so it’d be like returning home).
On the note of Prelude to War… Mr. McCreary, I have to ask you one question. Was I just on a natural high during BSG last night, or did you somehow weave a variant of “Prelude to War” during the “Choose Sides” scene? I literally got chills. It must be a sign of things to come. I want to thank you for enhancing my experience of BSG. Here is to the final installment of BSG next week.
P.S. I hope that variant ends up on the album some way or another. I’d die for it.
Congratulations Bear on another remarkable, totally unique achievement. I hope this is successful enough to make a tour through the US.
I was lucky enough to attend the Premiere with my wife (who is German). As an Aussie, living in London, once I heard that the performance was being performed only an hr from my wife’s home town in Germany, there wasn’t any question that I was going.
I’ve been a big fan of Bear’s BSG scores for years, the performance was amazing, memorable and one of those unique experiences that won’t be forgotten for a long time.
Thank you so much to Bear for being so friendly and modest at the after party – it was a pleasure to meet him and get my CD signed!
I am even more in awe of what Bear has achieved considering I am exactly the same age – the crowd reaction at the end of the performance was a testament not only to Bear’s music, but the amazingly talented dancers who brought the performance to life – they blew me away!
The “water dance” to Roslin & Adama was unique and quite brilliant, and I also loved the how the dancers fighting sticks were also used as instrumentation – meaning the dancers also became musicians – a master stroke!
I would never get the opportunity to see this sort of performance if I was in Australia – one of the benefits of living in Europe! My wife loved the performance despite not knowing the music at all which is a testament to the amazing Hagen dancers and the work of the choreographer interpreting the work so it stands alone from BSG.
Thanks for the extensive blog entry and photos Bear. The full day of travelling on the Saturday from London (train then car through England/France/Belgium/Netherland/Germany) to get to Hagen was made all the more worthwhile for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Anybody who gets the chance to go to the performance during it’s 13 week run should definitely take the opportunity.
Hi Bear,
it was absolutely worth driving the total 1100 kilometers from and to Switzerland for this performance! I absolutely loved it, even if the ballet is not my thing at all (I’m the rock concert and Broadway musicals/theaters kind of girl). I guess that was pretty obvious as we were a tiny bit underdressed for this event ;) so it shouldn’t have been this hard to pick the BSG fans out of the audience.
I was perplexed that you and your lovely finacee Raya came to the cafe Extrablatt before the performance (I didn’t know you have planned to come). We had such interesting talks! Thank you so much for taking your time to talk to your fans, I really appreciate that. The afterparty was great as well. Thanks again for taking your time for signing and posing for photos. I guess your hand must still hurt from signing so many booklets!
I expect that you got my gift to Raya and you safely back home and have eaten all the Swiss chocolate by now. Hope you enjoyed your trip to Hagen as much as your fans did :) You and Raya are always welcome back in Europe anytime ;)
Cheers,
Sandra
PS: please say hi to Raya as well!
Rene… “thanks for playing “Caprica” for us, and a huuuuuge thanks for showing up at our pre-show party.”
No problem. You and Peter were very helpful that first day in Germany. Thanks alot!
Moses Roberts… “P.S. I hope that variant ends up on the album some way or another. I’d die for it.”
It might get released one day, but honestly, it really wasn’t that different than “Prelude to War.” As a stand-alone piece it would be pretty much the same thing.
Sandra… Thanks for the chocolates and goodies. They were enjoyed!
-Bear
We just returned from a fantastic evening. The whole ensemble was outstanding, dancers and musicians gave their very best, and it was a stunning, at times beautiful, at times jaw-dropping performance, and I can only encourage each and everyone who´s only slightly interested in dancing and music to see this.
While I certainly enjoyed the first two “faces” (“Glashaus” was spectacular), my main interest was, of course, “Prelude to War”, and I must say, not only was it absulutely breathtaking to listen to this music performed live, but to get further input by the astounding choreography. To use those wooden fighting staffs as instruments in “Prelude to War” was a stroke of genius, as well as the use of those tables. The music got enhanced by a more than adequate visual component, and while some of the chosen pieces were played very differently, some, (like “Passacaglia”) were as close to the original as humanly possible.
What broke my heart – for a second – was the fact that for some unknown reason Marcelo had to do the dance in the aqua tank as a solo piece. I was totally worried about what had happened and why the choreography had to be changed, because, of course, this was the one piece that HAD to be done by a couple of dancers, but he was alone. I waited for the whole dance to see whether the female part would join later, but the piece came and went.
At first, I felt kind of betrayed of an amazing experience, because I can only imagine how beautiful that dancing pair must have looked, but of course, I was more worried about whether something happened that made them change that part, or worse, something was wrong with Carla, but we had to leave soon after the concert and couldn´t wait for someone to ask.
BUT (and this is very important) nevertheless Marcelo made a heartbreaking solo performance out of this. The dance of love felt turned over to a dance of despair and devastation, not unlike watching Adama loosing control, breaking down. Even if I was sad that the whole meaning had been changed, it came across as an amazing performance, and my wife reported about welling up during this.
I´ll try to find out what happened there, but I can assure you, the solo performance was still one of the many highlights of the evening.
The audience was kind of “seasoned”, if I am allowed to say that. Down there in the first rows, were we were lucky enough to sit, we seemed to be the only persons who ever heard about Galactica, but later on, as people were just clapping “normaly and well-mannered”, my wife broke the ice by breaking out in “who-hoo” cries that resulted – finally – in some echos from higher above on later occasions, so in the end we were quite sure that we were not alone and “islanded in a sea of old people who never heard about frakking Galactica”.
At the end, the theatre was bursting with applause (especially from up above), and the ensemble seemed quite happy about it. They´ve earned every single bit if it.
Thanks, Bear, for your part in all this and for making this possible in a small town in Germany. For once, we can say “we had it here first”. It doesn´t happen very often.
What a mindfrakking evening.
Dear Mr. McCreary,
it was SO difficult to experience your music in combination with these dancers… difficult because I wanted to applaud all the time, I wanted to scream BRAVO after every piece, but I had to hold back – because it was not a Fans-alone-audience – and I might have scared a few people away with my enthusiasm ;O)
Of course I know your music – after all I live in the same house as my husband Ralph does *g* – but I have to tell you, that I would have been moved the same if I had never heard even a single note before – as I had never seen dancing performed to your work.
It was breathtaking – even in the non-metaphorical way, because I stopped breathing so often, when the dancers again did some oft those unbelievable things – on the tables – against the tables – with each other – in the tank….
I didn’t know that there were two people meant to be in the water-tank. And I am glad that I didn´t, because that way I thought it was meant this way.
It changed the whole meaning of it. I had tears in my eyes, because Marcelo’s dance showed blank despair. Caged in this very small space – as the crew of Galactica is caged in the ship – in the fleet – in this no-privacy-at-all-cage … with seconds of non existing freedom when he pressed himself over the top of the tank – just to fall back inside, to fight with himself, to beat the water that was not interested in his doing at all, to beat the glasswalls without any effect, sinking down into the water… even thinking about the power Marcelo put into this gives me goosebumps right now. I love your music – and I have never seen anyone dance like Marcelo – of whom I had never heard before. The ensemble was fantastic as was the orchestra.
I am sitting in my office right now – should do my work – and instead I am humming Galactica-music all the time and had to write this now.
Thank you for a great evening in Hagen. Thank you for your music.
Marion
Okay, I´ve got news from the theatre. Carla is ill and couldn´t dance, so Ricardo improvised. She´ll be back as soon as possible (I got no more details, sorry).
Whoever had previously said you had Youtube videos to share… since the premiere has come and past, would it be okay to post those now??
I went to the performance today and it was superb.
The first “face” was entertaining, but nothing more. The second one was much better in my opinion. The third and last face (and ofcourse the sole reason for being there) was nothing less than spectacular. The transformation to the standard orchestra has held up very well. The dancing was original and moving. I had chills down my spine during The Resurrection Hub (beautiful arrangement), Roslin and Adama (just pefection, including the dance, again performed by 2 dancers btw) and Diaspora Oratorio.
Most of the people in the room weren’t battlestar fans (judging from their age. Somehow, I don’t see 70 year olds being a fan of this series) but everybody seemed to share my opinion. For a while I thought I was the only fan in the room, but based on the amount of cheering afterwards I think there may have been some more. :P It was a nice surprise to see mr. Fernando afterwards on stage as well. I had not expected him to be there.
Thanks to you and all the other people who worked on this for this unforgettable experience.
[...] As noted above, McCreary isn’t entirely done with Galactica, considering he scored “The Plan” (to be released in November) and will be handling scoring duties for Caprica as well. He also went so far as to work on creating a ballet based on his music, “Prelude to War,” that premiered in Germany. [...]
Dear Bear,
Make a DVD release. You have to. Please.
I am from around Hagen but recently moved to the states. I can’t believe I missed this because I was NOT back at home.
Thanks for the great reviews, guys. I’m glad everyone is enjoying the ballet.
Byard… “I am from around Hagen but recently moved to the states. I can’t believe I missed this because I was NOT back at home.”
Ha! Maybe we’ll have to do it in the states so you can see it! :)
-Bear
So I finally got around to seeing “Three Faces” yesterday with a friend and we were absolutely blown away.
All throughout the performance I was constantly dividing my attention between the dancers on stage and the orchestra (it was just such a joy to actually hear and see musicians playing the music from Battlestar live). I am a clarinet-player and the only music I have been able to play on the clarinet is “Roslin and Adama” (the rest either doesn´t work at all or sounds rather weird, which might of course also be due to my lack of improvisational skills).
I really liked the choice of songs you selected, they worked really well together. Definitely the highlight of the evening.
Thank you so much for making it possible for us Germans to experience your music live!
What can I say that other people have not?….. What can I add to some of the brilliant posts?… Not a lot I’m afraid………..
But……….. my son is one of the dancers at Theater Hagen and I have just driven to Hagen from London to watch the performance on Sunday afternoon. Now, personally, I was very impressed with Young Soon Hue’s “Glasshouse”, not least because my son danced a beautiful duet with Viola Crocetti, one that I personally found very moving……….
I have seen the photos, I have spoken to my wife and son about the performance but nothing prepared me for how FANTASTIC “Prelude To War” is.
Whilst I have read the reviews on this blog and can feel the passion with which people write about what they have seen, nothing, but nothing compares to being there, watching it live.
I would like to personally thank Bear McCready, Ricardo Fernando, Henrique Talmah and Young Soon Hue, the very talented musicians, the rest of the theater staff and last but not least the very talented group of dancers who brought the music to life.
It was a privilege to have been able to see and experience the performance, I just wish that more people could do the same.
ferdyg… “my son is one of the dancers at Theater Hagen and I have just driven to Hagen from London to watch the performance on Sunday afternoon.”
Your son and all the other dancers were absolutely astounding. World class! I was very impressed with them and hope to work with them all again very soon. Thank you for the kind words about my work.
Warm Regards,
-Bear
Hello Bear,
do you know if, perhaps, somthing like this ballet is planned again in europe in 2011 ?
Best regadrs and good christmasy days!
calaador
from Germany
calaador… “do you know if, perhaps, somthing like this ballet is planned again in europe in 2011 ?”
I don’t know of any such plans. But, if it is going to be performed again, you can rest assured I’ll blog about it here.
-Bear