. . . from the waters of Lake Erie, travel up the Cuyahoga River and through the entertainment and industrial heart of Cleveland Ohio. An area known as the Cleveland Flats.
“This symphony is dedicated to Cleveland, my home town” – – AZooNY
The Story
Movement I
All is tranquil as we begin our voyage from the calm waters of Lake Erie towards the headwaters of the Cuyahoga River. At the river’s mouth, we pass Whiskey Island, only to be delayed by a lowered drawbridge. A train rumbles across. The bridge rises and like a curtain opening, the Flats entertainment district is revealed. We find ourselves immersed in a variety of sounds, symbolic of Cleveland’s cultural makeup. We pause to experience the Flats “Night Club Serenade”. Leaving the entertainment district and heading up collision bend, we traverse the indelibly crooked path of the river and are passed by a freighter that all but consumes the river channel. The first movement ends with a cry from the river, symbolic of the hard tolls and environmental abuses the Flats’ area has experienced.
Movement II
Around yet more river-bends, under more bridges and traveling on, we approach the heavily industrialized “steel district”. Both sides of the river are alive with activity as we pass through the heart of one of the world’s largest steel making complexes. Traveling further yet, the river wavers between industrial utility and unspoiled natural beauty. As we reach the river’s shallow limits, we reverse course. Winding back past everything we have just seen we return with increasing speed to the quiet waters of Lake Erie, from where it all began.
Full score: (22221-2231, perc, strings, compressed air)
Project Artists
Video Artist Jay Horowitz is a nationally recognized expert in 3D stereoscopic visualizations who recently retired from the NASA Glenn Research Center. For the Cleveland Flats project he utilized sophisticated layered movements to varying Flats imagery.
Choreographer Diane Gray was Associate Artistic Director of the Martha Graham Dance Company and Director of the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance until 1997. Ms. Gray continues to teach, choreograph and stage works for various dance companies and universities.
Verb Ballets, a Cleveland based contemporary dance company is recognized for performing dance works of the highest caliber; a catalyst to promote learning, nurture wellness and encourage dialogue about the dance art form.
Cleveland Flats Performances:
The Cleveland Flats Symphony has not yet been performed by a professional orchestra. However, digital orchestral versions of it have been employed numerous times, mostly in support of performances by Cleveland’s premiere contemporary dance company Verb Ballets.
The Bridge Project (in 3D) – September 25 & 26th, 2009
Cleveland Public Theater – April 8, 9, 10 & 11th, 2010
Ingenuity – September 24 & 25th, 2010
Breen Center for the Performing Arts – October 1st, 2010
Transformer Station – March 6th, 2013
Cleveland Public Theater, DanceWorks – March 21, 22 & 23rd, 2013
The Bridge Project (in 3D) – September 25 & 26th, 2009
A four minute suite from the Cleveland Flats Symphony that has an accompanying 3D video craft by local video artist Jay Horowitz. Composer Rich Rinehart states, “It’s always been my dream to have a local metal-work artist create an industrial display with a 3D flat-panel display inside. This would be a great artistic piece to help promote the region”.
View with red/blue 3D glasses
Cleveland Public Theater – April 8, 9, 10 & 11th, 2010
Ingenuity – September 24 & 25th, 2010
Breen Center for the Performing Arts – October 1st, 2010
October 1st 2010. Jay Horowitz’s video backdrop to Movement I:
Transformer Station – March 6th, 2013
Verb Ballets had a “pop-up” performance of the suite version of the Cleveland Flats Symphony at contemporary art gallery “Transformer Station” in 2013. Bridging Cleveland was the theme of the part-time Cleveland Museum of Art “West side” satellite gallery. The flyer reads:
“On March 7, Verb Ballets and the Transformer Station will present a mini-performance of an excerpt from Cleveland Flats Symphony, an original ballet choreographed to the music of Rich Rinehart and video by Jay Horowitz. This short performance will be staged in the historic Crane Gallery at the Transformer Station where Bridging Cleveland, a show of images of the bridges over the Flats is currently on view.”
Cleveland Public Theater, DanceWorks – March 21, 22 & 23rd, 2013