ARTS EAST

Having built her career on fusing dance and music, Martha Carter has an uncanny understanding of the interwoven forces that bind the two. In her latest creation – which showcases in Halifax this weekend - her team of five dancers joins forces with renowned string quartet, Microcosmos, to tackle the music of one of the late 20th century’s most innovative composers, György Ligeti. Recently we spoke with Carter about the production and more. When and why did you first become interested in dance? I fell in love with ballet after watching the Nutcracker around age 8. I started classes and advanced quickly with my love of movement and music. Are they the same reasons that you continue to be involved today? Yes. It’s all about the movement and the rhythm...even if the dance is in silence, or if the music is arthythmic! What are the challenges of the vocation? Dance is extremely labour intensive as it is ephemeral and requires constant physical presence in a studio to learn...

Opera Nova Scotia’s Spring Production will explore Aspects of Woman through the performance of three mini-operas this weekend at The Sir James Dunn Theatre in Halifax. Recently we caught up with co-director David Overton about the production. What are your own roots? My roots are in theatre. I was a professor in the theatre department at Dalhousie for forty years, and have been actively engaged as a director for most of that time. How long have you been involved in opera, and in what capacity? My involvement in opera as a director goes back to the eighties when I was engaged by the Dal music department to work on their production of Gianni Schicchi. I have subsequently directed several operas for Opera Nova Scotia. I've always been interested in opera as a form, however, and my awareness of it goes back to my childhood and my father's passion for the great mid-century singers.  pera was always a part of the musical world in our house, and has remained so for me...