Dancers:
Cayla McLaughlin, Ken Carrell
Saddleback College Arts Programs Represented at Mission Viejo’s Reader’s Festival
Mission Viejo, CA –Students and faculty in the Dance Department, Department of Theatre Arts and Entertainment and Theatre Technology at Saddleback College are thrilled to showcase their talents at the City of Mission Viejo’s Readers’ 2012 Festival, A Little Knight Reading. This unique book festival takes place on Sunday, October 14th from 12 noon to 6 pm at the Norman P. Murray Community and Senior Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo. There will be a free shuttle to and from the Civic Center from 11:30 am to 6:30 pm.
Deidre Cavazzi, Dance Department faculty, has choreographed a 20 minute piece based move-by-move on a famous 1972 Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky international chess championship match (game 3), which took place in the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War (it was the first game in which Fischer beat Spassky as well)!
The dancers will perform the piece on a giant 40’ x 40’ painted chessboard on the field behind the Murray Center. There will be bleachers on three sides for raised viewing, and all performances are free to the public. The piece will be performed three times during the afternoon, at 1:00 PM, 2:15 PM, and 4:30 PM.
The dancers have been diligently working in rehearsal on the piece, learning not only the choreography, but also quite a bit about chess in the process. Ms. Cavazzi stated, “It has been an exciting challenge to create choreography based on an actual chess match; I have enjoyed doing the research for this project, and figuring out how to translate the 1972 Fischer-Spassky game into dance phrases for a cast of thirty-two performers! From the entrance and advance of the chess pieces, through vicious battles between knights, rooks, bishops & pawns, and culminating with the dramatic hunting done by the black queen, it has been thrilling to watch this game come to life!”
Acting faculty Bill McGuire will also be directing his students in scenes from Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, Henry V, and Cyrano de Bergerac. These scenes will be performed on the Troubadour Stage at 3:30 and 5:30 pm. Costume designer Diane Lewis is creating costumes designed by her and the students for the actors and other faculty and staff taking part in the event. In fact, visit the Fine Arts & Media Technology booth to see faculty and staff attired in these Renaissance costumes. Also, the talented Entertainment and Theatre Technology students and faculty have designed and built the entry-archway to the festival, which is made of steel in the shape of trees.
For further information log onto www.mvreadersfestival.org.
Located in Mission Viejo, Saddleback College provides quality higher education and training to the greater south Orange County community. Having served more than 500,000 students since 1968, Saddleback College offers over 300 degree and certificate programs to help students reach their personal, career, and educational goals. For more information, please visit www.saddleback.edu and for Fine Arts information, please visit www.saddleback.edu/arts.
Nina Welch
Fine Arts Public Information Officer
Saddleback College
28000 Marguerite Parkway
Mission Viejo, CA 92692
www.saddleback.edu/arts
