Columbia City Ballet Concludes Season and Celebrates 60th Anniversary with Return of Fan Favorite Show - The Beatles Ballet!

ADDED PERFORMANCE

FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL 16TH @ 7:30

Anna Porter

 The past season of the Columbia City Ballet (CCB) has been unlike any other in its 60-year history. As for all of us, COVID-19 presented difficult obstacles for the CCB, but leaping over barriers is what dancers are built for.

 After having taken the time to consult with members of the CCB and several public health officials, the Columbia City Ballet has still been able to safely offer 22 performances this season. If there’s ever been a time for art, it’s now, and with costumed masks, adapted rehearsals, and tenacious community, the CCB has risen to the challenge.  

Now, this unparalleled season is coming to an end with a show as special as it has been—The Beatles Ballet. This show, created by Artistic and Executive Director William Starrett, was exceptionally popular when it first premiered in 2018. The effervescent aesthetic of The Beatles and their 60s vibes, coupled with the echoing love for the show, made it the perfect candidate to not only end this season but to celebrate what the CCB is calling their “Diamond Anniversary.” 

“When Beatles The Ballet premiered in 2018, it was instantly a hit with audiences,” Starrett expresses in the CCB’s Press Release, “I had always wanted to celebrate our 60th Anniversary Season with a ballet that means so much to me. After everything we faced, it just makes sense that we would end our 60th season with Beatles.” 

Claire Richardson, Dini Tetrick, Bonnie Boiter-Jolley, and Anna Porter

Sakura Oka

The show is a mix of energies, crafting a braid out of interweaving classic and modern music and dance. “In many ways, [The Beatles Ballet] is among Columbia City Ballet’s most ambitious projects,” asserts Michael Layer, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, “It incorporates talent, artistic styles, and inspiration from all over the world.” 

Putting a show with so many elements together takes a lot of hands (and feet!) and a plethora of talent. The full company is dancing with the addition of 6 guest dancers. 12 choreographers came together to set the tone and craft a through-line of bodies across these themes of old and new, which will be traced across more than 35 songs.  

Live music will accompany the show—the first time since the pandemic started—played by local musician Mark Rapp and his Little Big Band as well as members of The Return, a Beatles Tribute Band. Having live music matches the style of the show, which moves in part like a jukebox musical or mixed-rep show, with dancers’ bodies flowing between many sounds and tones. 

Beyond sharing this creative take on ballet and widely loved music, the “multimedia ballet will follow the story of The Beatles’ careers beginning in the 1960’s and [examine] their cultural impact and the elevation of social consciousness throughout their music,” the CCB states on their website.

The show, which is sponsored by the Lexington Medical Center, will open on Friday, April 16th with a newly added performance at 7:30, followed by performances on April 17th, 2021 at 3:00pm and at 6:30pm. Additionally, in honor of their anniversary, the CCB will be screening a film highlighting their history at the very beginning of the evening show. 

The show will take place at the Koger Center for the Arts, which enforces COVID-19 regulations for the safety of all patrons. Tickets are sold in pairs, seats are socially distanced, and face coverings are required at all times. These tickets, which start at $25, can be purchased at the Koger Center’s website or by calling their box office at 803-251-2222.

 

—Christina Xan

FALL LINES 2021: CALL for SUBMISSIONS for the 2020-2021 DOUBLE ISSUE

Fall Lines – a literary convergence is a literary journal presented by The Jasper Project in partnership with Richland Library and One Columbia for Arts and Culture.

Fall Lines will accept submissions of previously unpublished poetry, essays, short fiction, and flash fiction from April 1, 2021 through June 30, 2021. While the editors of Fall Lines hope to attract the work of writers and poets from the Carolinas and the Southeastern US, acceptance of work is not dependent upon residence. 

Publication in Fall Lines will be determined by a panel of judges and accepted authors (ONLY) will be notified by September 30, 2021, with a publication date in October. Two $250 cash prizes, sponsored by the Richland Library Friends and Foundation, will be awarded: The Saluda River Prize for Poetry and the Broad River Prize for Prose.

DOUBLE ISSUE: Due to restrictions surrounding COVID-19, the 2020 issue of Fall Lines will be published in conjunction with the 2021 issue as a DOUBLE issue. Two unique sets of poetry and prose and two sets of winners will be bound together in ONE BOOK and celebrated with ONE Launch and Reading event at a TBD date in October. Both 2020 and 2021 prizes will be presented at the October 2021 launch event.

Ø  POETRY: Up to five poems may be submitted with each submitted as an individual WORD FILE.

Include one cover sheet for up to five poems. Submit poetry submissions and cover sheet to FallLines@JasperProject.org with the word POETRY in the subject line.

Ø  PROSE: Up to five prose entries may be submitted with each submitted as an individual WORD FILE.

Include one cover sheet for up to five prose submissions. Submit prose submissions and cover sheet to FallLines@JasperProject.org with the word PROSE in the subject line.

COVER SHEET should include your name, the titles of your submissions, your email address, and mailing address. Authors’ names should not appear on the submission. Do NOT send bios.

ALL ENTRIES SHOULD BE TITLED.

There is no fee to enter, but submissions that fail to follow the above instructions will be disqualified without review.

Simultaneous submissions will not be considered. Failure to disclose simultaneous submissions will result in a lack of eligibility in any future Jasper Project publications.

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 The Columbia Fall Line is a natural junction, along which the Congaree River falls and rapids form, running parallel to the east coast of the country between the resilient rocks of the Appalachians and the softer, more gentle coastal plain.

POEM: How Zappa Met Suzy Creamcheese by Al Black & Our 1st BOOMERPEDIA Entry

You climb out of bed, put on a tee-shirt, sweat pants and a ball cap

Walk to the corner store, buy coffee in a Styrofoam cup

Lady at the counter tells you to zip up

Instinctively, you reach down and zip your pants

She barks you could have turned around to zip your pants

You reply she had already seen you unzipped

She calls you rude

Trying to keep peace, you turn to leave

She raises her voice - your Zappa shirt is ugly, too

You turn back around and ask if she ever washes her shirt

Halfway home, you realize sweat pants don't have zippers, go back

Tell her you're sorry that you argued over non-existent zippers

She says it'd been a bad day and she apologizes, too

You realize she is naked from the waist up and ask about her shirt

She tears up, says it was filthy so she took it off to make you happy

You take off Zappa, tell her to put him on

She turns it inside out, puts Zappa next to her skin

You laugh and say that will make Zappa smile

Hand her a napkin from the sandwich display to wipe her eyes

She says quietly she gets off at 8

Back in bed, you wake from your dream, get up

And look for Zappa in the dirty laundry on the floor

The Jasper Project thanks board member Al Black for generously sharing his poetry with our readers. Watch for more in the Al Black Jasper Project Poetry Series in days and weeks to come.

Al Black is a writer, poet, host, and social activist. He is the author of two poetry collections, I Only Left For Tea (2014) and Man With Two Shadows (2018) and he co-edited, Hand in Hand, Poets Respond to Race (2017) and his work has been published in several anthologies and periodicals. Contact Al Black at albeemindgravy@gmail.com.

BOOMERPEDIA: FRANK ZAPPA

Frank Zappa was a multi-instrument musician, singer-songwriter, producer, and filmmaker. A penultimate non-conformist, Zappa injected satire into his art as his musical virtuosity spanned genres and decades. The enigmatic artist often juxtaposed sophomoric humor against cerebrally complex musical compositions and was heavily influenced by the dissonant sounds of composer EDGARD VARESE who he idolized as a child. With his band, MOTHERS OF INVENTION, the self-taught Zappa released more than 60 albums. One of the greatest guitarists of all time (Rolling Stone ranked him #22/100 in 2011) Zappa gave us the concept of PROJECT/OBJECT, or CONCEPTUAL CONTINUITY which means that he connected musical themes and phrases across albums, essentially making the whole of his life’s creative output one large project. In a March 1986 episode of CROSSFIRE, Zappa warned that the United States was on the road to becoming a “fascist theocracy.” Zappa was married to Gail Sloatman Zappa from 1966 until his death from cancer at the age of 52 in 1993. Their children are Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet, and Diva. - Cindi Boiter