'Stream of Life' combines dance, piano

Western Washington University’s College of Fine and Performing Arts and Bellingham House Concerts played host to a unique music and dance collaboration, "The Stream of Life,” April 9 in the Performing Arts Center Concert Hall.

The artistic collaboration featured Claire Victoria Davison, a 19-year-old ballerina with the American Ballet Theater in New York City, and her aunt Victoria Ebel-Sabo, known to the music community in Whatcom County for her in-house concert series.  The two collaborated to create a program of original music and choreography based on life's experiences and relationships.  Davison combined classical ballet and modern dance movements while Sabo performed on the "Ford Hill" 9-foot Steinway concert grand piano in the WWU Concert Hall.

The performance took its name from poet Rabindranath Tagore’s "The Stream of Life,” which inspired one of Sabo’s compositions.

Davison is a Boulder, Colorado native who received her initial ballet training at the Boulder Ballet School. She subsequently received scholarships to attend the Boston Ballet School, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, School of American Ballet and San Francisco Ballet School summer programs. She was awarded third place at the Denver Ballet Guild Young Dancers Competition and was a finalist at the Youth American Grand Prix competition in New York City in 2009.

Davison was recognized as an international Young Medalist and performed at the International Ballet Festival of Miami. She joined the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre (“ABT”) in 2010 and received the Ron and Toby Altman scholarship at that time. In November of 2014, Davison accompanied Twyla Tharp Dance to Washington, D.C. to perform excerpts from Tharp's "Movin' Out" for the Gershwin Award honoring Billy Joel. Davison joined ABT as an apprentice in November 2012 and became a member of the corps de ballet in June 2013. Davison's performances with American Ballet Theatre are sponsored by Mr. Jeffery L. Berenson.

Victoria Ebel-Sabo is a pianist, teacher, and published composer and was named Composer of the Year in 2009 by the Washington State Music Teacher’s Association.  In addition to composing four full-length ballets for the Boulder Ballet in Colorado, Sabo has composed a number of choral and solo piano works, which have been featured in music festivals across America. Sabo is the creator and Artistic Director of Bellingham House Concerts, which showcases Washington pianists and chamber musicians in homes and intimate concert venues; it is now in its ninth season.

For more information, contact Chris Casquilho, Western Washington University’s College of Fine and Performing Arts manager of Marketing and Special Events, at 360-650-2829, or chris.casquilho@wwu.edu.