Thursday, October 16, 2008
“Nashville Ballet – The Bell Witch and the Four Temperaments”
TPAC’s Polk Theater

Paul Vasterling, Artistic Director of Nashville Ballet, will give us a taste of the Nashville Ballet’s fall series which includes Middle Tennessee’s own real-life ghost story, “The Bell Witch,” and Balanchine’s “The Four Temperaments.” He will be joined by anthropology professor Beth Conklin and Blair School of Music’s Adjunct Assistant Professor Virginia Lamothe..

On his way to becoming the most celebrated choreographer of his generation, George Balanchine created “The Four Temperaments” as a witty and ingenious exploration of the ancient belief that personality is determined by the body's balance of the four humors (gloomy pensive, headstrong and passionate, unemotional and passive, and bad-tempered and angry). Each temperament is associated with one of the four classical elements (earth, air, water, and fire), which in turn are the basis of the four humors that compose the body. In a healthy body, the humors are in balance. But if one becomes predominant it determined an individual's temperament. Which temperament rules you?

To help defray the cost of the luncheon series, cash donations will be accepted at the door. A portion of the proceeds collected at this luncheon will be donated to The Nashville Ballet. Founded in 1981 as a civic dance company and becoming a professional company in 1986, Nashville Ballet is the only professional ballet company in Middle Tennessee, and has earned the respect of audiences and reviewers alike by making classical and contemporary ballet accessible to new and traditional audiences.

Box lunches will be provided for the first 300 people to respond.