BalletMet presents "Hot Nights, Cool Dance"

'50s revival part of 'Hot Nights, Cool Dance' ballet

by Dwayne Steward
Entertainment Coordinator
The Advoacte
Aug. 14, 2008

If one thing is apparent, it’s that Adam Hundt loves his mom.

Since the onset on his dancing career at an amateur level in high school, the Dayton-born dancer has wanted to dedicate a show to his mother, Sue Hundt. A small goal for some, but for the fifth-year BalletMet academy member it’s a major check off his lifelong to-do list.

Hundt will present and perform in “Rock-a-Betty,” putting ballet and contemporary dance to the tunes from the 1950s rockabilly era of music, in BalletMet’s season opener, “Hot Nights, Cool Dance” which starts its run Thursday night.

“I normally do more abstract pieces that don’t necessarily have a storyline,” said Hundt, who has also danced with Hubbard Street in Chicago and Southern California’s Ballet Pacifica. “But I’ve always really liked artists like Little Richard, so I did my research and was able to combine some of the social dance aspects of the decade into what we normally do.”

Expanding the dedication to all of the women of his family, three of the songs Hundt uses are specifically tied to certain individuals. For instance, “Good Golly Miss Molly,” a Little Richard classic, was inspired by his sister Mollee, while his other sister, Marilee Howard, was the basis for the inclusion of “Mary Lou.”

“‘Mary Lou’ is a bit of a stretch but I couldn’t find any songs with Mary Lee in the title,” Hundt said, laughing. “I remember my mother always singing that song, ‘Good Golly Miss Molly,’ to my sister when we were kids.”

His mother is paid tribute to with the song “Wake Up Little Susie,” made famous by the legendary Everly Brothers, and the title “Rock-a-Betty” was a play on words using the name of his grandmother.

Hundt said he tried to embody what each woman was to the singer in the movements of the dance, incorporating two couples and a soloist representing the song’s title female.

“Rock-a-Betty” appears alongside five other pieces, two of which are also world premieres. John Butler’s masterpiece “Othello,” choreographed for BalletMet by Lawrence Rhodes, who worked with Butler and originated the role of “Iago” during its 1976 premiere, will also be in the program. And the company’s well-known rendition of Stanton Welch’s “Play” is making a welcomed return.

“Hot Nights, Cool Dance” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Aug. 24 in the BalletMet Performance Space, 322 Mount Vernon Ave., Columbus. Tickets are $30. For more information, call (614) 229-4848 or visit www.balletmet.org.