Crowe, Keith and Renée to sing Cohen with RWB
By: Staff Writer
Posted: 04/10/2012
CANADIAN singer-songwriter Allison Crowe and Winnipeg duo Keith and Renée will perform live with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet as part of the score for the world-première work The Doorway: Scenes from Leonard Cohen.
The new ballet set to Cohen songs is part of the Pure Ballet mixed-repertoire program that will close the current season, May 9-13 at the Centennial Concert Hall.
The choreographer is Jorden Morris, creator of Peter Pan and Moulin Rouge -- The Ballet for RWB.
Crowe, originally from Nanaimo, B.C. and known for her interpretations of Cohen, will sing Hallelujah, which she recorded on her 2003 CD Tidings.
Keith and Reneé, who recently toured Western Canada with Jann Arden, will perform Cohen's Bird on a Wire.
The ballet score will also include a cover of Cohen's song Sisters of Mercy by American singer-songwriter Cris Williamson, and Cohen's The Letters featuring Jennifer Warnes.
The Doorway is described as "a series of dance vignettes that explore the achingly honest and emotional journey to love and longing."
The Pure Ballet evening also features RWB alumnus Peter Quanz's Luminous and Mauricio Wainrot's Carmina Burana, both to recorded music. Tickets are $33 to $97.50 at Ticketmaster or 956-2792.
NB A subsquent article in the Winnipeg Free Press notes:
"Next season, the (RWB) troupe will tour a mixed-repertoire program, including its new Leonard Cohen ballet The Doorway, to Atlantic Canada."
