Diana Vishneva: Beauty in Motion

Beyond the Tutu

Comments (0) By Ann Haskins Wednesday, Feb 6 2008

Nina Alovert

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Having conquered the major challenges of the classical ballet repertoire, and known for her bravura performances in 20th-century masterworks like Kenneth MacMillan's Manon and George Balanchine's Symphony in C, Diana Vishneva cements her stature as one of the world's reigning ballerinas in this personal showcase of contemporary works, all world premieres, set on her by three internationally celebrated choreographers. Oh, and members of the Kirov Ballet and Orchestra are along for backup. Bolshoi Ballet artistic director Alexei Ratmansky chose Arnold Schonberg's song cycle Pierrot Lunaire, while Moses Pendleton (a founding member of Pilobolus and current director of Momix) drew his inspiration from paintings by Picasso, Caravaggio and Erte for his three-part ballet PiCarTe. The third premiere boasts contributions from Complexions Contemporary Ballet's co-artistic directors, Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson. Rhoden provides the choreography and Richardson partners Vishneva in Three Point Turn, set to a composition by David Rozenblatt that is performed live. The dancing should be fierce with nary a tutu or tiara in sight. Welcome to 21st-century ballet. Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa; Wed.-Sat., Feb. 13-16, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., Feb. 17, 3 p.m.; $20-$92. (714) 556-2787 or www.ocpac.org.