STARRY NIGHT Directed, Conceived and Choreographed by William Soleau Music: Bartok, Dvorak, Faure, Finzi, Hovhaness, Panufnik, Saint Saens, Shastokovich, Vivaldi, Webern State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara Premiere: November 1989 - Palm Beach Florida - Ballet Florida. Season Winquest and Gary McKenzie : Photo by David Bazemore REVIEWS - Excerpts "When a work of art devastates the senses, it's a glorious calamity: an epiphany, longed for - if unconsciously - by auditors, but rarely experienced. When perfection in conception and execution is achieved, the mind rushes in revelatory overdrive, emotions rise up from atavistic calderas of suppressed collective memory, and the ordinary world in which we live day to day is forgotten, if only for a brief while. Such an experience is New York City-based choreographer William Soleau's "Starry Night," which this scribe saw on Sunday afternoon at The Granada, in an exquisite revival by State Street Ballet...." "Ultimately though, "Starry Night" is Mr. Soleau's child. His choreography - a fusion of classic ballet and contemporary movement - was exciting visually for its imaginative and exquisite detail. There were moments throughout the piece when the creativity of Mr. Soleau's thinking was breathtaking realized in unique movement design, as subtle and sophisticated as a Fabergé egg." Daniel Kepl - Santa Barbara News-Press "This ambitious multi-media performance blends ballet with spoken word, video projection, and music. Soleau premiered the show in 1989 and first brought it to State Street Ballet (SSB) in 1999. In the interim, our small-town company has grown some serious chops, and technological advances have allowed for new effects. The result is a dazzling blend of virtuosic dancing, evocative lighting, scrims that appear and disappear soundlessly, and panels that float across the stage without a sound.." Elizabeth Schwyzer - The Independent