The Radiohead ballet in Eugene, Oregon turned out very well. Here’s a summary of what happened:
It was called “Subliminal Messages: A Radiohead Ballet.” Admission was can food donations for the hungry of Lane County.
The evening was divided into two halves: first half was a showcase of dance and performance of local performers in varying styles. The second half was the actual ballet, and it lasted about an hour.
The story followed a girl called Emily who wakes up to two of the Grim Reaper’s servants trying to kill her. The two have escaped from the Underworld, and are trying to take over the Grim Reaper’s job. Emily is saved by her “Scary Bear Guardian”, and falls fast asleep. The ballet then moves to the land of the scary bears where the bears dance for her and the Grim Reaper captures Emily and her guardian. They are taken to the Underworld where the two servants return to terrorize Emily. Emily is put on the chopping block to be killed, but then is saved by her guardian bear. The bear takes it for her. Emily is allowed to escape back to the mortal world.
The ballet featured Paranoid Android, You and Whose Army, Like Spinning Plates, Optimistic, Pyramid Song, No Surprises, Dollars and Cents, In Limbo, Life in a Glass House, The Amazing Sounds of Orgy, Idioteque, and How I Made My Millions.
It was very good, most of the performers also perform in the Eugene youth Ballet troupe. A successful first ballet for Radiohead, and very enjoyable for fans.
{thanks to Cody}
Here’s a little bit more:
Dave Norman and Chase Melendez visited Eugene Oregon on Saturday to see Subliminal Messages: The Radiohead Ballet. The Ballet, and the entire evening for that matter were both surreal and surprisingly good. Framed by local entertainment including flamenco dancers and an Andy Kaufman type comedian (Ben Hickman) who was going for awkward hissing instead of laughs, the ballet smacked of a David Lynch movie filled with wonderful, if not unusual Radiohead visuals and songs including Like Spinning Plates, In Limbo, The Amazing Sounds of Orgy and even How I Made My Millions. All of the sequences were well choreographed, but Spinning plates was exceptional and easily the highlight of the evening featuring the Grim Reaper and backwards dancing businesswomen. The production was put on by Kristal Allen at North Eugene High School and attracted a large crowd of young adults with a surprisingly sophisticated taste in Radiohead music. It was refreshing to meet so many Radiohead fans that talked more about the Amnesiac B-sides than OK Computer and the ballet reflected this in its? wit and drama.
Here are two videos of the ballet:
ftp://www.davenorman.net/dn/RH_ballet.mov
ftp://www.davenorman.net/dn/like_spinning.mov
{thanks to Chase}
