Popular horse show coming to Costa Mesa

Young Chang

COSTA MESA -- Barely two days since the third annual Eclectic Orange

Festival closed, the Philharmonic Society announced Tuesday that a

gypsy-like team of horses, horsemen, actors and dancers will be the

centerpiece of the fourth annual festival.

Twenty-six horses will be flown in on 747 aircraft in October for

Theatre Zingaro’s national premiere of “Triptyk” -- a production

described by philharmonic leaders as a “one-of-a-kind” show directed and

choreographed by Bartabas.

The French horseman goes by just the one name, Bartabas. His show

involves dancers from Kerala, India, who perform the martial art of

kalaripayatt. The company of horses and humans will set up tents and

perform where the Orange County Performing Arts Center will start

building its new hall immediately after “Triptyk” closes.

“It’s not a horse act, it’s not a circus, it’s a spiritual

experience,” said Dean Corey, executive director of the philharmonic.

“It’s mystical. It’s very, very special. There is nothing like it.”

Divided into three parts, “Triptyk” is 90 minutes of interplay between

man and horse. The show will be performed against Igor Stravinsky’s “The

Rite of Spring,” a clarinet solo of “Dialogue de L’ombre Double” and

Stravinsky’s “Symphony of Psalms.”

Every show by Theatre Zingaro, a renowned French equestrian ballet

company, has sold out in the past, both in Europe and the United States,

Corey said. He attributes the popularity to the fascination people have

with the communion between horses and humans.

“That’s why pets are so big, why everyone has two dogs,” Corey added.

The director explained that pets are often the heads of households and

serve as the natural center of a dwelling place.

Theatre Zingaro has visited the United States twice before, hosted

both times by New York’s BAM Next Wave Festival. The company’s 45 members

and their families live in a nomadic community in Aubervilliers, France,

near Paris. When they travel, they try to create homes away from homes.

“There’ll be paddocks, stables. The horses will stay right there on

the land next to the performing arts center. They’ll have their own area

covered with hay and special dirt,” Corey said. “They’re bringing close

to 80 tons of dirt.”

The company will likely transform the grounds in October, but Center

President Jerry Mandel said “Triptyk” will appropriately introduce the

new hall’s groundbreaking.

“This is a show of international proportions,” he said. “It draws

attention to Orange County, to the Center and the new hall. It’s a

perfect metaphor for what we’re doing.”

* Young Chang writes features. She may be reached at (949) 574-4268 or

by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .