Legendary artist Joni mITCHELL AND INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED choreographer JEAN GRAND-MAÎTRE COMBINE MUSIC, DANCE AND ART IN an UNFORGETTABLE PERFORMANCE
JONI MITCHELL’S THE FIDDLE AND THE DRUM
This Amazing Production – Now Arriving on DVD – Features Music, Set Design, Video Installation and Direction by Seven-Time GRAMMY® Winner Joni Mitchell
Port Washington, NY (January 14, 2009) – In the winter of 2007, celebrated singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell and Alberta Ballet Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maître joined forces to create an exhilarating and emotional production blending Mitchell’s music and art with Grand-Maître’s choreography. Their collaboration resulted in an unforgettable narrative ballet that explores the human spirit’s potential to create and destroy, its ability to love and hate, as well as its capacity for war and peace. Recorded in High Definition and seen on Bravo! TV in Canada, the once-in-a-lifetime performance film JONI MITCHELL’S THE FIDDLE AND THE DRUM, which captures this truly inspiring spectacle, arrives on DVD February 10 for
$19.99 SRP from KOCH Vision.
Mitchell has referred to the stage production of The Fiddle and The Drum as “the most exciting thing I’ve ever done.” This extremely personal project speaks volumes about Mitchell’s life-long concerns about environmental neglect and the warring nature of mankind. The stunning soundtrack includes re-mastered versions of ten eternal songs from her extraordinary catalog, including three song’s from Mitchell’s most recent album, Shine – “If,” “If I Had a Heart” and a new version of “Big Yellow Taxi.” Additional musical selections include “For the Roses,” “Passion Play (When All the Slaves Are Free),” “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” “The Beat of Black Wings,” “Sex Kills,” “Three Great Stimulants” and “The Fiddle and The Drum.”
The DVD release of JONI MITCHELL’S THE FIDDLE AND THE DRUM includes exclusive, never-before-seen bonus features that go behind the scenes of this amazing production. Joni Mitchell and Jean Grand-Maître share the personal story of their collaboration in the interview/featurette “The Story of Joni Mitchell’s The Fiddle and The Drum.” In two interview segments, Director of Filming Mario Rouleau and Alberta Ballet Dancers Kelley McKinlay and Nicole Caron describe their experiences with the project. The dynamic set for The Fiddle and The Drum features the first release of Mitchell’s latest artwork “Green Flag Song,” which projects onto a large canvass screen during the ballet – an isolated presentation of this video installation is also included as a special bonus feature. In addition, the DVD is accompanied by a photo-rich, 8-page booklet with liner notes by Joni Mitchell.
The stage production of Joni Mitchell’s The Fiddle and the Drum originally debuted in February 2007 in Calgary and continues to tour throughout Canada, garnering rave reviews. Canada’s national newspapers called the production “electrifying...
a poetic plea for sanity and love in a world of hate and chaos” (National Post) and a “blockbuster…an inspiration” (Globe and Mail). Joni Mitchell’s The Fiddle and the Drum will tour the U.S. in early 2010.
JONI MITCHELL’S THE FIDDLE AND THE DRUM was produced by Joe Media Group. The film was recorded in High Definition at the Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Joe Media Group (www.joemedia.tv) is an award-winning, high-definition television and film company based in Calgary, Canada that specializes in the development, production and post-production of dramatic, documentary, performance, lifestyle and sports event programming as well as on-line, commercial and corporate television.
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