Lento a Tempo e Appassionato

Kaori Nakamura and Charles Newton in
Lento a Tempo e Appassionato.
Photo © Angela Sterling

Music: Alexander Scriabin (Prelude in C sharp minor, Op. 9, No. 1, 1894; Nocturne in D flat major, Op. 9, No. 2, 1894; Etude in D sharp minor, Op. 8, No. 12, 1894)
Choreography: Vicente Nebrada
Staging: Deborah Hadley
Costume Design: Judith Cooper
Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli
Duration: 12 minutes
Premiere: 1978; Rajatabla Danza and Ballet Nuevo Mundo (Caracas, Venezuela)
Pacific Northwest Ballet Premiere: May 20, 1982

The literal translation of the Italian title to this work is “slow, on time, and passionate,” which the dancers portray as they perform this pas de deux to a series of piano pieces by Alexander Scriabin. Lento begins with two bodies coiled together on the floor and progresses through three sections from sultry to dramatic movements.

Notes by Jeanie Thomas; edited by Doug Fullington, 2009.