Ballet Mori

SF Opera House, 4 April 2006

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To commemorate the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, Ballet Mori engaged the Earth as a living medium and a conductor for dance. In this improvisational performance, SF Ballet Principal Dancer Muriel Maffre responded to a musical composition modulated live by the unpredictable fluctuations of the Earth's movement as measured in real time by a UC Berkeley seismometer at the Hayward Fault.

21st Annual Izzie (Isadora Duncan) Award for Best Music/Score/Text

Color Video of Performance (5:00 mins)

Video Clip of Rehearsal (3:00 mins):

• Quicktime (.mov, 14MB)
• (best) Windows Media Player (.avi, 25MB)
• (reduced resolution) Windows Media Player (.wmv), 8MB)
• (reduced resolution) Quicktime (.mov, 4MB)
• (reduced resolution) Flash Player
• (very reduced resolution) Windows Media Player (.wmv), 1MB)

Creative Team:

• Co-Director and Dancer: Muriel Maffre
• Concept, Co-Director: Ken Goldberg
• Composer: Randall Packer
• Choreographer: Yuri Possokhov
• Scenic and Costume Designer: Benjamin Pierce
• Sound and Special Effects Lighting: Gregory T. Kuhn
• Network Designer: Vijay Vasudevan
• Costume Construction: Christine Darch
• Light Supervisor: Kevin Caunnaughton
• SF Ballet Artistic Director: Helgi Tomasson

Sponsored by:

• San Francisco Ballet
• UC Berkeley Automation Lab
• UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory
• Words on Dance (Fiscal Sponsor)
• We are grateful for support from Randi and Bob Fisher, Doug and Barbara Engmann, and Dugan Moore, and additional support from: John and Jola Anderson, Nion MacEvoy, Steven and Niko Mayer, Dr. Jerome Oremland, Steven and Diana Strandberg, Voltage Security, Inc. Joe and Carole Neil, John Pierce, Andrew and Francoise Skurman, Dr. Roy and Helga Curry, Jim and Eilyne Killoran, Daniel and Lois Shapiro.

Reviews and Related Links:

• High Resolution Image.
• Mori live web display and sound samples.
• San Francisco Ballet to Use Seismic Sounds. Associated Press, 30 March 2006. (picked up by over 40 publications worldwide).
• NPR Radio Interview by Phyllis Owens, NPR Weekend America, 15 April 2006.
• 1906 Earthquake Centennial Inspires Ballet Performed to Live Seismic Data. by Yasmin Anwar, UC Berkeley, 30 March 2006.
• Shaking up the Ballet. by Jonathon Keats, Wired Magazine, April 2006.
• Ballet Mori Review. Allan Ulrich, Voice of Dance, April 5, 2006.
• Ballet Mori Review. Anna Orrghen. Rhizome, 18 April 2006.
• Ballet Conducted by the Earth. David Pescovitz, Boing Boing, 18 April 2006.
• Radio Interview by Sarah Varney. NPR California Report (KQED Radio Bay Area). 4 April, 2006.
• Ballet Mori Review. Rachel Howard, San Francisco Chronicle, April 6, 2006.
• Ballet Mori Fundraiser Leah Garchik, San Francisco Chronicle, March 15, 2006.
• San Francisco Ballet Press Release
• UC Berkeley 1906 Earthquake Centennial Committee
• Northern California 1906 Earthquake Centennial Alliance
• Seismogram of 1906 Earthquake
• Live Seismic Platform installation by D. V. Rogers

Contact: