Season starts 'on the rocks'

Merce Cunningham, the return of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Russian National Ballet Theatre highlight the 2008-09 Northrop Dance season at the University of Minnesota.

Northrop will co-produce Cunningham's epic work "Merce on the Rocks: Ocean" in a quarry near St. Cloud, Minn. Walker Art Center and the College of St. Benedict are also involved in the massive production, which will feature 150 classical musicians from across the state and 19 dancers. The event will be Sept. 11-13 in Waite Park.

On Nov. 8, the Royal Winnipeg returns to Minneapolis for the first time since 1977; its program includes Mauricio Wainrot's version of "Carmina Burana."

On Oct. 7, Compañia Flamenco Jose Porcel makes a Northrop debut with the rarely performed"Alma Flamenco."

Lar Lubovitch brings his New York modern-dance company on Dec. 5.

The Russian National is slated for Jan. 30-31. Founded in the late 1980s, the troupe works in the classical Russian tradition. Fifty dancers will re-create Marius Petipa's 1890 ballet, "The Sleeping Beauty."

Batsheva Dance Company, from Tel Aviv, appears Feb. 18 with artistic director Ohad Naharin's "Shalosh" (Three).

Mexican choreographer Jose Limon returns to Northrop on March 19, 2009, with "Missa Brevis," which explores the aftermath of war.

Another Russian troupe, the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg, makes its fourth appearance at Northrop on April 24-25, 2009, with "Eugene Onegin," the Pushkin novel that inspired a Tchaikovsky opera.

Call 612-624-2345 or go to www.northrop.umn.edu for more information.

GRAYDON ROYCE

Designing a greener world

Walker Art Center's design series continues each Tuesday this month. This week, Toronto's Lorraine Gauthier and Alejandro Quinto (a grad of Minneapolis College of Art and Design), who run Work Worth Doing, are on hand to help save the planet through design. More specifically, they have a demonstration project to turn a standard post-World War II house into a "near-zero energy home." Another MCAD grad, Adam Michaels, now of Project Project in New York, will speak March 18, and Ed Fella of Valencia, Calif., closes the series on March 25. The presentations will be webcast live and archived at http://channel.walkerart. org. (7 p.m., Walker Cinema. $10-$20 per event. 612-375-7600.)

CLAUDE PECK