Dear Friends,

As some of you know, in 1982, the Cleveland Ballet commissioned my mother to create nine sculptures ranging in size from four feet in diameter to seven feet in diameter for the ballet called "SUMMERSCAPE". (See below)

“SUMMERSCAPE” was not only sculpted for a particular space, but also came into existence in order for another work of art to be born: a ballet by Artistic Director, Dennis Nahat. It was a refreshing affirmation of life and summer romance, found and lost, danced to music by Dimitri Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major.

It is a free-flowing abstract ballet that celebrates love, both humorous and romantic.

A friend of my mother's said "The sculptures are reminiscent of starbursts, colorful suns, or even flowers, a playful mixture of cosmic energy and joyful toys, they reminded the choreographer of the exuberance of youthful happiness and enthusiasm.

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the 1982 ballet I want to share new photos of my mother's sculptures titled "Waterfalls" with several quotes from Dennis Nahat.

Shortly after my mother passed away, the Woman's Art Journal did a feature story on my mother. The WAJ cover above features scenes from the Ballet.

According to Dennis Nahat "The audiences at first glance jumped up out of their seats and when the sculptures started to rise up to the top of the stage setting, and the dancers flood the stage, there was always a huge round of applause at each performance".

The costume designer for the ballet, David Guthrie, based his color scheme on my mother's sculptures. The 24 dancers costumed in white leotards and tights with purple, blue, and yellow accents reflect the colors of the artwork suspended above them. The feeling of motion is established by the starbursts executing their own ballet at the beginning of each performance. The movements of individual dancers and the grouping of dancers were in part determined by the shapes and locations of the rising/raised starbursts.

Summerscape

Choreographer: Dennis Nahat

Costumes: David Guthrie

Sculptures: Dorothy Gillespie

Composer: Dmitri Shostakovich

Music: “Concerto No. 2 in F Major for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 102

First Performed: Cleveland Ballet, October 15, 1982 at the Hanna Theatre, Cleveland, Ohio.

Dennis told me that the sculpture above is the largest sculpture from the Summerscape ballet which they hung in their warehouse about two years after they were created.

According to Dennis "I used the sculpture in outreach programs where I brought children to the theater to the studio or to our wardrobe to educate them on what it took to create for the theater and this particular sculpture was discussion on the creation of Dorothy's sculptures and how the ballet came to be. Then we toured the warehouse so they could see other sets and how they were stored".

When Dennis Nahat called the sculpture on the wall "The Water Falls" — according to Dennis my mother said, “PERFECT...” in her joyous way… This is a company photo taken against the sculpture in 1986.

Dennis Nahat said "I took this photo from the ladder Dorothy used to hang the pieces… I’d pick her up at her hotel at 6:30 for breakfast and she wanted to start working by 7am…2 1/2 hours before the dancers would arrive for company class each day at 9:30 am… she worked on the pieces for 5 days, riveting hooks into the wall and hanging the additional 4 little “Summerscapes” in front of the piece. She came still in her sleep-ware!

The photos above and below are from the studio rehearsal video of world-renowned choreographer Donald McKayle's "Mysteries and Raptures".

According to Dennis Nahat, "The studio was freshly painted with a new floor and Dorothy wanted to create a piece to match the color scheme and give the piano corner a peaceful environment rather than a plain old corner for musicians to sit in…"

This is a photo of the children from the former school of Cleveland Ballet in The Nutcracker - during the 1992 Holiday presentation - ten years after the “WaterFalls” was created where we were celebrating the 100th anniversary of The Nutcracker with 100 children as mice for all the performances that year, which in turn became a tradition each year since both in Cleveland and San Jose.