The following clip is an excerpt-mix of nearly 20 original cues and underscore for film.

The following clip is an excerpt-mix of nearly 20 original pieces written for dance.

Water Wars – the original full-evening piece on which Sonia and I are collaborating- will premiere June 15-16, 2012. The piece was workshopped last month – great feedback all around – things will get exciting as we start hitting the production home-stretch in the months to come!

Will post a few excerpts as we lock in the music and mix… – Cory

In 2009, I had the fantastic experience of developing the ballet “The Casket Girls” with the talented artistic director Gregory Hancock. The production hit the stage Halloween weekend, and blended an original story, fully original score – and a team of talented dancers, lighting designers, board members and more.

It was truly a pinnacle moment of my music career, and thus, I was hooked.

I’m fairly obsessed with the idea of creating a Halloween version of “The Nutcracker” – a piece that dance companies worldwide could produce every fall in a multitude of ways. Obviously, that vision begins with the original production.

The goal: artistic, gothic, modern, eerie, sexy… even scary. As a true fan of “creepy things” – I’m convinced there is a LARGE portion of the potential ticket-buying public that would relish the opportunity to see a high-art, theatrical, beautiful modern ballet or contemporary dance production that gave them the chills – on multiple levels.

I’m looking to collaborate, partner and co-produce Red Wolf Moon. While I have a strong vision of the finished product, I do NOT have a vision of exact dance steps, actors, lighting or costumes. I understand the value, no – relish it – of the collaborative process. Do you?

If interested, drop me an e-mail, and I’ll forward the working synopsis, music drafts, and more. Let’s see what kind of “bite” we can put into this Halloween ballet.

“My, what big teeth you have…”

Cory

Who Will the Wolf Devour… or Become?

Once every twenty years, a supernatural horror awakens – the Wolf Spirit, a malevolent force that is terrorizing the inhabitants of a small forest village, hunting for a suitable body to inhabit permanently. Scarlett Nuveé is a shy young woman suffering from vivid and violent visions that become more disturbing with each attack. She must learn the truth about the Wolf Spirit and defeat it before she becomes its next and final victim…

Red Wolf Moon, a ballet created by Cory Gabel, is a modern retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood tale, with a gothic twist. Original music, film and projected imagery promise to give the audience a fully immersive and thrilling experience.

Cory is actively seeking a choreographer/dance or ballet company to co-produce and bring Red Wolf Moon to the stage in 2012. Interested? Read more here.

Note: The wonderful artwork above is an original work from Natalie Shau of Lithuania. Cory commissioned Natalie to create the piece to help inspire the dramatic and musical vision of the piece. See the working “poster” – a tentpole for the production to come.

December 8, 2011

So, another December, another Joy for the Kids Christmas show with WFSB’s Scot Haney. This is the 6th year I’ve been a part of Scot’s craziness – a fun, truly “cabaret” style holiday show. Greg Candy – orchestrator extraordinaire – put together a number of tunes that had it ALL going on: orchestra, backing band (in which I play bass), live choirs – BIG numbers!

Scot and I did hook up for what has become an annual tradition – some kind of strange, hopefully cool acoustic/vocal duet mashup. This year, I pulled together a harmonized, up-tempo (Mellencamp-ish?) version of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” – which morphed into rem’s “The One I Love”. Not that “The One I Love” is an Xmas tune – but that’s why I love Scot – he gives me free reign – and off we go!

Much fun, a great way to start the holiday – nearly $40,000 was raised for the Channel 3 Kids Camp. Good stuff… and I’m open to hearing any mashup ideas for next year.

With Halloween approaching, I’m missing not having a piece to “sink my teeth into”. (Sorry- couldn’t resist the horrible vampire pun!) Hard to believe it’s been two years since The Casket Girls premiere with Gregory Hancock Dance Theater. Thanks to all of you that have dropped me emails, tweets and notes about the performance, or the soundtrack release. Gregory and I have talked about revisiting the Girls again in the future, and adding a second act to the production –  something I hope we’re able to make happen.

Truth be told, it still stands as one of the most fulfilling projects I’ve ever worked on. So much so – that I’m officially “in the works” producing a new dark-themed dance piece. More details to come very soon, and I’m thrilled to already have one collaborator on board.

If all goes well – the story and main musical themes of the piece will be coming together over the next couple of months, and the quest to find partners and bring it to stage will begin…

Trick or treat! – C

Choreographed by Artistic Director Sonia Plumb, the dance “Water Wars” will premiere in the spring of 2012. With an original score by award-winning composer Cory Gabel, “Water Wars” delves into our relationship to water—followed by a panel from renowned environmentalists.

Water is undoubtedly the most essential element of all life on earth. Water makes up 70% of the human body. It refreshes us when we are hot, enables our crops to grow, and cleanses our body and soul. Without it we could not survive. And yet, there are places that do not have enough water for basic necessities. People have been known to claw, scramble, shove, and steal for this life-giving resource.

“Water Wars” brings to the forefront our relationship to water and the assumption that it will always be there. What happens when it’s not available—due to overpopulation, overuse or pollution? What’s our responsibility towards this beautiful, flowing combination of hydrogen and oxygen? “Water Wars” takes a bold look at the responses to these issues, brings them into the community (and into the classroom) and onto the stage.

As part of “Water Wars,” the Company will be joining with local environmental groups to pair conservation with dance. Join us at various events across the state to see excerpts from the dance and hear local experts speak about their efforts to keep our water supply healthy for recreation and daily use.

Cory is looking to collaborate and partner with a progressive dance company/choreographer to develop the project. Exact plans, performance location, etc – all will change depending on who becomes involved.

A top-line, first draft synopsis is included – a very rough draft. If you and/or your company is interested in talking further, please contact Cory directly.

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The Naked Decade
The Naked Decade will be a live dance production, featuring solo, duet and group contemporary dancers. The production will explore the physical body over the human life span, and our psychological relationship to it.

The piece will have a serialized feel, where each song/dance will correspond to a decade in life. The aim of the piece will be dramatic, but with humor and sensual themes as well. Where appropriate, the piece will contain provocative material, and/or nude dancers. Dancers will be of all ages – or not- depending on dance director/company.

FILM
Each section will be introduced with a short (~1 minute) documentary-style interview of a real person (no one in the production) discussing that life phase with an anecdotal story. These segues may also inspire the lyrical basis (those with lyrics) of the songs. This will also be the main device by which to bring some humor to the piece.

The entire production would also be packaged as a short film. Anecdotal excerpts above, followed by filmed performances of the dances (live or staged?). This short film will then be packaged as a serial Internet video series and/or targeted to film festivals and performance arts programming, i.e. PBS, BBC, etc.

Music
The production will feature original music. Pre-recorded for live playback, contemporary – combo of lyric based songs and instrumental.

About This Video:
As many that have followed my site and blog know, we’ve been working on a video for my acoustic version of “Zombie-Sunday Bloody Sunday-Imagine”. My goal was to create a poignant and provacative reflection on how the mainstream media all but ignores the near daily loss of US soldiers (and those from other countries as well). It’s no wonder most Americans have little idea of how many soldiers are dying in combat, nearly every day.

I certainly didn’t.

As I worked on the video, my perspective quickly changed. My rendition of “Zombie” has an unabashedly “anti-war, pro-peace” vibe. Of course it does – listen to the lyrics for any of those three tunes and it’s clear. But a funny thing happened on the way to making a point…

All too often, I feel that honoring our soldiers, paying tribute to freedom, or basically being “patriotic” has become a partisan game. The vast majority of “pro-America” things that hit my email don’t speak to me. They’re often drafted to veil some anti-immigrant, anti-liberal, anti-SOMETHING message. They are crafted to move an agenda or ideology, and often are exactly counter to what I think being “American” should be.

My goal with the video shifted; I truly wanted to try and honor our fallen soldiers in an honest way. A way that could be appreciated by any person – no matter where they fall on the ideological spectrum. In a time of intense polarization, this suddenly seemed very important.

I for one think that Memorial Day is just that – a time to reflect, give thanks, be grateful – and honor those that have given their life in service of our country. There’s a time to debate the what, how, and if of war, the leaders we choose, and how and when we wage war. I don’t think Memorial Day should be that day.

So, a simple piano rendition of “America the Beautiful” serves as the backtrack for the video. “Zombie” will have to wait.

It’s been a sobering and heartbreaking project. To read the stories and see the faces of over 500 service men and women has been profound. It makes me appreciate them and my freedom more. It makes me hope that the painfully slow, but inevitable, march of humanity to a condition that doesn’t know war – will arrive sooner than later.

Best – Cory

Video Credits:
All photos were taken from various government and media sites, in conjunction with military casualty announcements. All photos are licensed under
Creative Commons  Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC 3.0).

Music: God Bless America
Arranged for piano and performed by Cory Gabel.
Written by Irving Berlin. © Irving Berlin Music Company

Great thanks to FreedomRemembered.com