In honor of two upcoming national holidays — the Fourth of July in the U.S. and Canada Day on July 1 — this Wednesday Watch is dedicated to some truly North American treasures.
Few composers are more quintessentially connected with America than Aaron Copland, and Martha Graham’s choreography for his Appalachian Spring is a foundational work of American modern dance, centered on Graham’s desire to highlight the American experience.
More recently, this work from former National Ballet of Canada artistic director James Kudelka, O.C., one of North America’s leading choreographers of concert dance, unites its own strands of Canadian heritage. In Paradisum, set to music from Michael J. Baker, is here performed by Quebec’s Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie.
