ANNA! - A Rock Ballet collaboration with The Asheville Ballet and Stephanie's Id, featuring the popular group Menage

Roll over Balanchine. Ann Dunn's teacher never envisioned anything like this. And where did Stephanie's dream come from - to see her music choreographed? A unique collaboration comes to the stage this Fall.

The Asheville Ballet Guild, Inc. Presents ANNA! - A Rock Ballet, at Diana Wortham Theatre, September 23and 24 at 7:30, 24 & 25 at 2:30. ADDANCE, the eight member adult professional corps of The Asheville Ballet will perform Dunn's original choreography. Stephanie's Id (Stephanie Morgan, Chuck Lichtenberger, Matthew Richmond and Cameron Juroff) will be live in the pit pounding out their vibrant sound, accompanied by the popular vocal group, Menage. Tickets are available at the box office, (828) 257-4530. For more information call Ann Dunn, director and choreographer, at (828) 258-1028.

Anna! Is your autobiography, whether you've lived it yet or not: birth, childhood, adolescence, leaving home, first love, first loss, the bottom, the climb, the choices, the triumph of self-hood, and ultimately the sense of cycle. We all know the script. Dunn has choreographed a full-length ballet to Stephanie's Id's new release album, Spiral In, that captures the journey from infancy to adulthood, and beyond. Anna's story is everyone's story. Come rock out with her as she negotiates her life. It's hot. It's cool. It's fast, breathtaking movement. It's slow, sensual, sexy movement. Above all, it's heart-stopping, live music.

Local dance lovers who have become fans, over the years, of Allison Hertzberg, Amy Kohler and Lyle Laney will not want to miss their star turns in this ballet. Amy Strickland, Angelina Waxman Faure, Sarah McGinnis, Megan Weaver and Cassie Wood round out the dancing cast.

For those who can't get enough, there are post-performance parties planned at such local venues as The Grey Eagle. Audience members with ticket stubs can continue to rock the evening away at a discount with such bands as Asheville's Ruby Slippers and Nasheville's The Loft.

ANN DUNN has executed such prestigious choreographic commissions as Turandot for New York City Opera at Lincoln Center, Amahl and the Night Visitors for Gian Carlo Menotti's officially sponsored touring company, and original work for national and international ballet and modern companies, symphonies, opera companies, and colleges.

Here's what the critics have said: "Dunn is relentless in her pursuit of perfection . . . a ballet dancer gone mad . . . a woman of talent and vision." - Thomas Rain Crowe. And "It is both true and insufficient to call Ann Dunn the best artist in the state; poet, painter, educator, choreographer, composer, she may well be the most various and impassioned artist of any sort . . . our one performing artist of truly national rank." - David Brendan Hopes

Stephanie's Id is Asheville's "next best thing" according to Indie magazine. The guitarless band of four has quickly emerged as a musical giant, delivering massive pop/alternative hooks with a vibraphone, keyboards, drums, and an uninhibited female voice.

Singer Stephanie Morgan, a native of the Southwest United States, emotes liberally and onstage "jumps about...like Jim Morrison at a ballet class" (Ed Schiffler, The Asheville Disclaimer). Her vocal style has been compared to that of Bjork, Beth Gibbons of Portishead, and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. Chuck, Matthew and Cameron, all from the southeast U.S., attended music schools and in all their idiosyncratic passion are apt to switch instruments. "S.Id," as their loyal Eastern U.S. coast fans refer to the band, communes with crowds, delivering modernist lyrics and a hefty live show. The sound is a highly effective intersection of four different musical paths. The musicians clocked years of stage time with symphonies, jazz combos, and other rock bands previous to forming Stephanie's Id in 2003. For more information, visit the web site at http://www.stephaniesid.com

Menage is Asheville's finest female vocal trio. The combo has shot to the top of the regional music scene. Mary Ellen Bush, Sarah E. McDonald and Allison A. King create a unique and memorable blended sound. The group has played festivals, balls, listening rooms, colleges and private parties. Their two CDs are available at the web site, http://www.themenage.com/

ADDANCE members have trained and/or performed with New York City Ballet, Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, Boitsov Ballet, The Ed Sullivan and Perry Como Shows, Tokyo Disneyland, Royal Carribean Cruise Line, Hartford Ballet, American Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, Virginia School of the Arts, and Florida State University. In addition to their local and touring work with ADDANCE, members are currently on the faculties of Western Carolina University, University of North Carolina Asheville, and Fletcher School of Dance. They grace the stages of such popular venues as Tressa's and The Orange Peel.

ADDANCE members participate in The Asheville Ballet's season of four annual performances: Locally, they have also danced with The Asheville Symphony, The Asheville Lyric Opera, The Asheville Choral Society, and at The Asheville Art Museum. They have toured to Italy, Yale University, New York City, Keene State College, Georgia Technical Institute, arts council venues and public schools in the Southeast and Midwest, and have performed in such venues as The Dock Street Theater in Charleston, New York State Theater and Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Jacob's Pillow, Dance Theater Workshop in New York, and on television and in films.

Here's what the critics say: "great. . . splendid. . . pert, alert, lively and right on the money. . . spot on, with lovely pointe work and excellent partnering. . . grand pirouettes hit the target every time. . . swirled, bowed and lilted along. . . no drooping petals here! All too soon it was time for the finale." - George Hubbard. And "The dance hits peak after peak, words and music and motion blending, lifting, until at the end one knows one has seen a masterpiece, masterfully performed." - David Brendan Hopes .