Matthew Crudder – Executive Chef at National Geographics
Presiding over National Geographic’s Washington, DC kitchens for over two years, Executive Chef Matthew Crudder draws on his considerable experience. A graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, the 45-year old chef hails from Ann Arbor Michigan, where he briefly attended the University of Michigan before finding his passion for cooking. His resume reads like a primer for aspiring chefs – – The Four Seasons in Las Vegas and Chicago, the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia, the Fairmont in Washington, DC and Sodexo clients, AOL, Gannett, USA Today and Fannie Mae. “NatGeo”, as it is fondly called, is currently served by Sodexo who launched their “Local Artisan” program at NatGeo’s headquarters. Crudder had taken a lead role in sustainability throughout his time at Sodexo and eagerly took the lead in this innovative program described as “a locally-sourced sustainable process highlighted by a chef-driven approach to natural cooking”.
On December 4th the Society will host a local, sustainable farm-to-table dinner in its historic Hubbard Hall, the first headquarters of the National Geographic Society, located at 1145 17th St., NW Washington, DC in DC’s Golden Triangle District.
Inspired by the exhibition “FOOD: Our Global Kitchen”, the evening will feature a guided five-course meal with local wine, beer and cider parings. During dinner Archivist Renee Braden will share the history of National Geographic and discuss its rich relationship with food. To purchase tickets go to http://events.nationalgeographic.com/special-events/2014/12/04/farm-table-hubbard-hall/
Earlier this week Whisk and Quill took the opportunity to speak with Crudder in advance of NatGeo’s exciting event.
What are your earliest food memories?
Growing up my family kept gardens and I started my involvement at home when I’d hear, “The water is about to boil go and get the corn or go pick the string beans.” Or “If you’d like jam on your toast tomorrow, here’s a bucket. Go collect the blackberries on down by the road.” So my grandmother and mother were big influences in terms of really fresh all-American cooking. I mean in the more traditional sense as opposed to the concession stand or freezer aisle.
What was your first professional experience?
I started off in an Italian kitchen and fried zucchini was my specialty for the first two days of my training. But the first real dish I learned to prepare from start to finish was osso buco. And it’s still a dish that I love to prepare.
I like Marcella Hazan’s recipe for osso buco.
Well, actually on many occasions when people say they want to learn to cook, the first thing I do is hand them Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking!
Before I’d even been to cooking school I remember making the first couple of recipes from her book, which gave just four ingredients – – although the results were so much more than that.
Her description of the techniques is what makes her recipes so exceptional. It really helps you to understand how the process should be looking and smelling so you know what you’re supposed to be doing. And then there’s that sense of risk that comes with doing the braise! You put it in the oven and you can’t do any more. You just have to wait.
What style of cooking is your favorite?
I really like what we’re doing now with the “Local Artisan” – – the farm-to-table style program that allows simple cooking techniques and the product itself to showcase the quality of the food. A bit of salt and pepper, olive oil and lemon juice with a properly sautéed or roasted item is maybe all you need – – not hiding things under heavy sauces and sugars and things like that. The food is just so honest and recognizable the flavors really shine through. And it’s healthier too – – if you’re careful with the oil!
We did a small test for the dinner we’ll be doing next Thursday and we’ve been passing it around the kitchen today to let everybody sample it. It’s just unadorned goat’s milk ricotta. There are only four ingredients to making it. But before we drizzled it with olive oil or added salt and pepper, the response we got, that it was so fresh and creamy and wonderful, was so rewarding.
Can you describe the types of events typical to NatGeo that you create dinners for?
The part of what I love about working for National Geographic is that whatever they’re involved in we’re going to be doing themes based on their event schedules. Everyday I practice and focus on our cuisine using natural products and techniques and then I get to use these adventures on our special events.
We’ve done a man-on-Mars themed dinner and a Spinosaurus themed dinner as well as different cultural menus. For South America we focused on the Amazon and Peru for the “Peruvian Gold” exhibit. There are a lot of opportunities to be creative. I do research to learn about cuisines I might not know about. For example, for a group from Durban, South Africa, I got to dig around on the Internet and source some products to make it as authentic as possible, and our guests really got into the spirit of it.
Can you tell me a bit about the plans for the upcoming dinner on December 4th?
The house made goat’s milk ricotta I mentioned will be paired with roasted and pickled beets. Some of the other elements I want to hold in surprise. In terms of the event it will be a farm-to-table event. But here we are in the beginning of December in the Mid-Atlantic and many things are not growing at this time of year. When we found out about the event we made up some tomato jam at the height of the season for heirloom tomatoes.
I’m not going to serve a local hothouse tomato that doesn’t taste like anything just because it’s local. And I’m not going to say we can’t have tomatoes because they’re not growing in the field near here now. That wouldn’t be what was done in a more traditional setting either. Back then you would have to take the bounty and preserve it in as many ways as you could. So we have a number of items sprinkled around the menu that are taken from this summer’s bounty which we have prepared and preserved – – whether it was by drying or canning or freezing or pickling – – to hold on to the peak of freshness.
We’ll be featuring key ingredients in every dish that have been locally sourced. We have a direct relationship with farmer/owner Greg Keckler of Orchard County Produce in Gardeners, PA who comes here nine months out of the year on Tuesdays. He supplies subscriptions for a CSA we have in the building and holds a farmers market in our courtyard. His quinces, apples, root vegetables, Swiss chard and kale will be incorporated into the menu.
Will there be other local providers involved in the dinner?
I work very closely with my meat and fish providers to select products that will be readily available locally. The beef we’ll use is Certified Angus Beef but it’s differentiated from other Certified Angus Beef by the fact that the product comes from a “single stream” from a particular small group of farms in Pennsylvania, so the animals are born and raised there. The people that raise the animals also grow the feed for the animals and they’re processed and shipped locally. That’s different from the standard way most Angus cattle are raised. Their entire life span, as well as what they’ve been fed, is all along the line of sight of the ranchers that handle them. So that’s very exciting.
We also will feature some wonderful seafood from the Chesapeake region. And we are working with J. Q. Dickinson Salt-Works from the Kanawha Valley in West Virginia using their wonderful salt. The fact that something so basic can be a hand made product, I think is really special.
We’re not going to say, oh, that product is one county away, so we can’t use it. What we try to share with our guests is the evolution and story of how the food supply evolves and ebbs and flows through the course of the year.
One of the things that we’ve done here is to compare food miles, something I’ve shared on National Geographic Live. We don’t really track it, but we did compare how many miles food travels – – showing how near or far products have to travel when they are purchased from standard sources. So if you are basing it on the availability of food, the radical difference in terms of the miles traveled by the food is a factor of, not tens, but hundreds of miles and we’re very aware of that.
Jordan Wright
July 12, 2014
Photo credit Jordan Wright
At East Lynn Farm in Round Hill
The minute you turn onto Snickersville Turnpike from the John Mosby Highway, the stress of the city begins to fall away like husk off corn. It’s the route I chose to drive to East Lynn Farm in Round Hill, Virginia for a field to plate dinner. In my book driving through a green leafy tunnel, pierced through by the afternoon sun’s golden rays, is a far better introduction to the charms of the countryside than the countless traffic lights, strip malls and gas stations along Route 7. But curving around country lanes and gazing out onto wide swaths of open farmland, allows the spirit to ease mindfully into a more peaceful dimension.
As I pulled into the driveway I noticed a few other guests had already arrived. One of the chefs greeted me from the front porch and steered me to a path behind the historic farmhouse where a long linen-covered table beckoned beneath tall pines. Edging the perimeter of the bucolic scene, farm baskets overflowed with yellow squash. And torches, raised up on bamboo poles, ringed the newly mown grass. On the patio guests introduced themselves and sipped wine in the softening light. Very quickly a shared sense of adventure and camaraderie took hold of the strangers.
Before dinner service farm owner Georgia Ravitz led the twenty or so of us on a brief tour. Surrounded by hayfields dotted with weathered red barns, we strolled down the neat rows of the four-acre vegetable and flower gardens, stopping along the way to nibble on vining peas and spearmint while imagining them in our supper-to-be. On the north end of the gardens pasture-raised chickens foraged on ground insects and a small pond edged in willows afforded ducks and frogs a calm respite from the day’s heat.
Thank you, chicks
Inside the farmhouse’s state-of-the-art kitchen, three passionate chefs and their capable crew were abuzz with activity. Terence Tomlin, Mackenzie Kitburi and Kiril Stavrev had set the stage for their six-course dinner and all hands were on deck.
Kitburi and Tomlin had met at Range, Bryan Voltaggio’s American Modern restaurant in Friendship Heights. Coincidentally they had started their jobs there on the same day and, as Kitburi describes their friendship, “It took Terry awhile to warm up to me, but we’ve been clicking ever since.” Eventually Kitburi told his new friend about an idea he’d been hatching. He wanted to start a company that would stage elegant pop-up dinners in supper clubs and existing restaurants. “I told him about my plans and my vision and he got on board right away,” Kitburi explained. Stavrev, who brought along Marriott and Ritz-Carlton experience, came into the brotherly mix soon after. “He’s a great cook who complements us. We’re definitely on the same wave-length,” Kitburi says.
The company they formed, Capital Taste, is not a caterer per se. As Kitburi sees it, “My vision is to switch up the dining experience with unique menus and themes. I prefer a tasting style menu so people can experience a number of different tastes during one sitting. We want people to come to us for the food. We don’t plan to bring food to people.”
Summer Squash Mousse
This evening’s pop-up was the young chefs’ first in a summer series of five farm dinners and it began with a beautiful amuse bouche of watermelon, fennel and mint, followed by zucchini mousse with herbs, and then, a sheer tomato consommé expressed by the fruit and liquid from heirloom tomatoes and crowned by a single squash blossom.
Tomato Consommé with Squash Blossom
Potato rösti topped with a sunny hen egg (Thank you, little chicks!), became a foil for truffle hollandaise. And after segueing the wine pairings from whites to reds, a duo of rack of lamb and lamb sausage with chimichurri and eggplant purée was introduced.
Sunny Hen Egg on Potato Rosti with Truffle Hollandaise
As the light grew dim, candles and torches provided the table’s sole source of illumination, and our fourth course arrived. Slices of the farm’s Angus strip loin steak got the benefit of charred baby Japanese eggplant plus two sauces – a delicate soubise hinting of onions and a glistening summer truffle sauce.
Lamb Rack and Lamb Sausage
The lively conversation and breathless compliments paused only when someone remarked on the moon. A zillion stars sparkled in the Western sky as fireflies performed their staccato dance across the darkened horizon, and the final dish was presented. On a magical night where every course had delivered the promise of pasture and garden, the chefs had given the final nod to the harvest with Tomlin’s specialty, vegetable ice cream – one of red beet, the other using white asparagus. Impossible concepts that proved transcendent before melting into a lasting memory.
Duo of Red Beet and White Asparagus Ice Creams
To dine in such a way is a wonderment. To partake of nature’s bounty expressed in sublime artistry, is truly divine.
The next dinner at East Lynn Farm will be on Sunday evening, July 20th. To book your reservations go to [email protected]. To learn more about the Inn at East Lynn or the farm’s CSA program go to www.EastLynnFarm.com.
Jordan Wright June 4, 2014 all photo credit to Jordan Wright
Pastry Chef Joseluis Flores
You may have noted that I only occasionally report on desserts. Often they can be so cloyingly sweet, targeted to a juvenile palate, or just something to bump up the check total. And unless there is a designated Pastry Chef on board, I find that this is too often the case.
Joseluis Flores, Richard Sandoval’s Pastry Chef and Executive Chef for Kitchen Operations, does not fit into any of the aforementioned categories. He is an astounding and accomplished chef who has been recognized by Star Chefs as a “Rising Star”. As Pastry Chef for Toro Toro he has created two desserts that I would get on a red-eye for. Thankfully I do not have to. His “Cortadito Bar” and the dreamy “Deconstructed Key Lime Pie” are on the I Street restaurant’s printed menu. Recently I spoke with Flores about his work and inspirations.
Whisk & Quill – What was your first dessert or memory of something sweet?
Joseluis Flores – I’d say the orange pound cake my grandma made. As the only boy in the family I learned from her. As kids we’d all gather around and she taught us how.
W&Q – What was the first desert you made?
JF– The orange pound cake certainly, and a chocolate pound cake too. We usually ate these cakes once a month on a Sunday and not necessarily for a special occasion.
Deconstructed Key Lime Pie
W&Q – Can you talk about how you came up with the Deconstructed Key Lime pie? I loved it. It is beautiful and unpretentious as well as delicious. Something you want to dig in to, not stand back from.
JF– Italian meringue a rich key lime custard and garnished with complementary flavors without missing the essence of the idea. I think people overthink desserts. They try to put too much stuff in it. Sometimes the simplest thing is the most challenging.
Cortadita Bar – another of Joseluis Flores’ divine desserts
W&Q – What about your lavish Cordadita Bar?
JF – It’s a takeoff on the Cuban coffee that’s an espresso with a dash of milk.
W&Q – What kind of chocolate do you prefer?
JF – I use many different kinds, but for that dessert I use Valrhona 64% chocolate. It’s a combination of white and dark chocolate and a lot of coffee and milk in the mousse. The base is a smooth and silky almond and hazelnut cake, a typical French genoise.
W&Q – Who are your greatest professional influences?
JF – I’d have to say Jacques Torres and Francois Payard, and from elBulli, Ferran Adria, and his brother, Albert Adria, whom I met once at a Star Chef event in New York.
W&Q – What is your favorite dessert?
JF – I like everything chocolate! I like a simple chocolate mousse with raspberries. For myself, believe it or not, I like hot apple pie with chocolate ice cream on top. Sometimes I make apple empanadas in the restaurant using pie dough and eat it with cinnamon and vanilla-flavored chocolate ice cream that I make with Abuelita using some smoked ancho chiles.
W&Q – What types of sugar do you use?
JF – I use granulated white sugar and a lot of brown sugar too, both dark and light, for cookie dough. I use agave for marinating fruits and make a flan with piloncillo. Also I like agave syrup with spices for making my churros. Occasionally I use sugar from beets or dates.
W&Q – What do you think is the next trend in desserts?
JF – Wow! That’s difficult to say. But I think a lot of the pastry chefs are going back to the basics, not so much molecular gastronomy. Everything has its time. A lot of the chefs give us the trend of the food. But some of the desserts have become very expensive to create and not everybody can afford that. A lot of restaurants are using more basic ingredients. So many restaurants try to overdo, and just don’t decorate the plates right. Not everyone can play with the more molecular techniques.
I make one dessert that is served only in Miami and New York. It is a Mexican cream cheese mousse with a cream cheese crust and cookie crumbs and French preserves with strawberries and raspberries. We use the same ingredients to decorate the plate. I try not to go beyond or crazy. You can just take one ingredient and transform it with out losing its integrity.
W&Q – How do you get all your ideas?
JF – The company we have now with Richard [Sandoval], affords me a lot of opportunities to be creative. It also lets me explore flavors and ingredients from around the world to create new Latin and Asian flavors. With so many combinations at hand, I can always create something new.
W&Q – Can you describe the differences in Latin-inspired desserts?
JF – People often ask me, “What’s a Latin dessert, a Peruvian dessert, a Mexican dessert?” If you look back in history there was no sugar in America. It was honey and vanilla. We didn’t have these things until the mix of cultures. For example in Argentina alfajores is a cookie made of corn starch and sugar that they are very proud of. Those desserts came from the Old World, places like Arabia and Dubai – – and the kind of sugars they use. We have to mix the Latin flavors somehow – – otherwise we end up with nothing.
For example some fruits came from America. Pineapple, that’s now used all over the world, was once for the very rich. All these flavors like guava and mamey, they came from Latin America and were brought to Europe.
When I was writing my first book [Dulce: Desserts in the Latin-American Tradition 2010] I did a lot of research about baking ingredients. For example the vanilla bean was brought from Mexico to Spain and then spread around the world. Then, look at who are the masters of chocolate – – Switzerland and France. Chocolate was brought to Europe from the Americas.
W&Q – What’s next for you?
JF – This September I will be at a Star Chefs competition in New York City. There are usually 20 different pastry chefs from around the country. I really like to do this because a lot of the money goes to the students. Plus it keeps me in shape. The last time I went I had to train for two weeks! I like to see people from the industry and all the latest technology so I can have a knowledge of what’s in the marketplace. Like a lot of other pastry chefs, I like the PacoJet [ice cream machine] a lot and also all the different Silpat pans and molds that allow me to create different shapes.
W&Q – Is there another book we can look forward to?
JF – Actually, I am working on another book. The last one took me a couple of years to develop, compile and test the recipes, so I imagine this one will too. I like to put all my memories in it.
This interview was conducted, condensed and edited by Jordan Wright.
The writing team of Bob Drury and Tom Clavin are best known to their readers as American military historians. Noted for turning out impeccably researched chronicles, their books range in coverage from World War II and Korea to the Vietnam War and usually grace The New York Times bestseller list. But for all their military acumen, the two had overlooked one of the biggest stories in American history: That of Chief Red Cloud, who led the Western Sioux Nation to victory against the U.S.The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, an American Legend (Simon & Schuster, November 2013) was born.
Before that, Drury and Clavin had been kicking around a few ideas for their next subject when they found themselves at the Marine Corps Base at Quantico as they accepted an award for Best Nonfiction from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.
“After the ceremony a Marine said to us, ‘You do know about the only Indian to win a war against the United States?’ ” Drury told Indian Country Today Media Network. “We said we were familiar with the Battle of Big Horn and other well-known battles. And then he said, ‘I didn’t say battle, I said war! An entire war.’ And I thought, Why didn’t we know about that?”
The Marine then told them about Red Cloud, chief of the Western Sioux Nation. The two were stunned to discover that the warrior in question was not Geronimo, Sitting Bull or Crazy Horse—proud fighters who most schoolchildren are taught about. They knew then that they had their next book.The Heart of Everything That Is tells Red Cloud’s story in his own words (he related his tale to a third party before he died) and lays out a riveting timeline of the period.
In researching his life, the authors uncovered a wealth of material from diaries and letters written by U. S. military officers and their wives and children, and wilderness trackers, plus a treasure trove of historical information gleaned from the letters and journals of the pioneers who crossed the Great Plains during the 1800s. Indian Country Today Media Network caught up with each author recently to gain insight into what compelled them to learn more about Red Cloud and write, “His overall leadership, his organizing genius, and his ability to persuade contentious tribes to band together…had enabled perhaps the most impressive campaign in the annals of Indian warfare.”
Your book is meticulously researched, full of the smallest details of life on the American Plains. What surprised you most in your studies of that period?
Clavin: The biggest surprise was how little we know of Red Cloud in our popular culture. We know a great deal about Geronimo, Cochise, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. But Red Cloud wasn’t discussed at all in our history books. As we did more research we discovered stories of his exploits and of his importance in Sioux society and their culture and history.
It was shocking to us that he was little more than a footnote to what we know about the American West. It’s been mostly the white academics and white scholars who have written about the Indian. The Indian point of view has been mostly through the observation of others, as with Frances Parkman’s The Oregon Trail.
What drew you to the story of Red Cloud?
Clavin: I was reading a description of the Fetterman massacre and Red Cloud and thought I was pretty well versed in eighteenth-century history. But ultimately when we decided to take on the story of Red Cloud, it became a four-year journey.
Drury: We saw his life was rich during the period of Manifest Destiny. It told of a way of life that had gone on for a millennium. We were accustomed to interviewing living people. But what we found was almost like Twitter, everyone kept a journal back then. Tom went to all the historical societies and university libraries out west and found so many letters. Some of the documents were so fragile that we had to handle them with gloves. Reading these journals was like interviewing living people. It was an amazing discovery. For example, no one knew how the Indians ‘treatied’ with each other.
Would the Plains Indians have survived without the trading posts and contact with whites?
Clavin: They probably would have survived much better! The trading posts were very destructive to them. They seduced the Indians from finding their own food and clothing, which they had always done. It also introduced alcohol to them and brought diseases they had no immunity from, like smallpox and cholera.
What was Red Cloud’s legacy to the Sioux?
Clavin: Once he retired as a military leader and after he could see the growing military power of the white people, he wanted to be sure that the Lakota Sioux and their children had education and medical care. He was an advocate in Washington for funds and other resources to come back to the reservation.
What does the book’s title mean?
Clavin: The Lakota Sioux name for the Black Hills ispaha sapa. The area straddles the border between Wyoming and Southwestern South Dakota. They considered it their sacred territory—where they came from. The translation is “the heart of everything that is.”
Does Red Cloud have descendants?
Clavin: Tribal leaders have been descendants of Red Cloud, the leader of the Oglala Sioux, who was considered their leader until he died in 1909. Then it was Jack, his son, then James, his son, then Oliver Red Cloud, his son who died this past July at 93. His son, Lyman, was supposed to take over as leader, but died two weeks later. I have heard there is now a vacuum in terms of their spiritual figurehead.
Do they still live on the Pine Ridge reservation?
Clavin: Quite a few still do. Though some also attend school outside of the reservation and marry outside, there are still grandchildren and great-great- grandchildren living there.
What surprised you the most in your research?
Drury: Well, there were so many things that surprised me. For example, we have the Alamo, the Battle of Big Horn and the Fetterman fight, which somehow had gotten lost in the mists of time. The story is about the demise of one nation, Red Cloud’s nation, and the rise of another nation, the continental power of the United States—and in the middle of it was the Fetterman fight.
Another was old Jim Bridger, the self-taught trapper and explorer. Why were Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Kitt Carson and all these iconic figures mentioned in our American history books but not Bridger? I think he is the most fascinating character in the book because his story lends so much to the book’s narrative. He and Red Cloud lived almost parallel lives on this vast continent. During this period mapmakers described the vast interior of the country as the great American desert. But during their lifetimes we annexed Texas, fixed the Canadian boundary, defeated Santa Ana and took over many of the western and northwestern states. All of a sudden we were becoming a nation, and at the same time Red Cloud was in charge of what whites considered a nation. So it was inevitable that these two nations were going to clash. And this was witnessed by Jim Bridger and Crazy Horse, among others of the period. I wonder to this day why he is not up there in the pantheon of Western pioneers.
What is your takeaway?
Drury: If we had just honored that final treaty, because Red Cloud’s war never really ended, even though he signed a treaty. It still continues in the courts today, because we broke so many treaties. But if we had just honored that final treaty that ended Red Cloud’s war, this would be a better country today for everyone.
So why did two white guys think they could write about the history of American Indians?
Drury: My only answer is I didn’t serve in World War II, but that didn’t stop me from writing Halsey’s Typhoon and doing a good job of it. I didn’t serve in the Korean War but that didn’t stop me from writing The Last Stand of Fox Company, and I was even too young for Vietnam, but that didn’t stop us from writing Last Men Out. So in the same sense I don’t think color, age or creed matters when you’ve got a ripping good yarn. And this one’s a great saga with epic sweep.
On October 9th the equine extravaganza that galloped into town four years ago will return with an even more spectacular show. Sixty-nine horses ranging from Andalusian and Arabians, Belgians to Appaloosas, and Percherons to Paints along with other exotic horse breeds from around the world will grace a big top the size of two football fields. But you don’t have to be horse crazy to be wowed by the beauty and raw power of these magnificent animals performing on a “stage” the size of two hockey rinks and a surface made of sand.
Forty-nine artists (half that number are actual riders) will ride in three major styles. There’s the hell-bent-for-leather “Liberty” style; the side-by-side and in synch for the “Roman” style; and the elegant prancing and posing techniques best known for the elegant “Dressage” style. Watching these massive beauties go through their paces is as riveting, as it is awe-inspiring, and a tribute to the intimate relationship riders and trainers have with their horses.
Grand Cavalia | Credits: Color-ish company
Canadian Marc-Olivier Leprohon, head of artistic and equestrian operations, spoke to the Alexandria Times about Cavalia Odysseo.
Can you describe the development of Cavalia Odysseo?
When we began in Quebec in 2011 we were twelve people. Now there are 130 that are on the tour. Also we bring on an extra one hundred people for seating and food wherever we go and another fifty people to help move the show, tear down the big top, and pack up supplies into one hundred trucks.
That’s a huge production! What’s planned for the future?
There are two distinctly different shows, Cavaliaand Cavalia Odysseo. Our Artistic Director, Wayne Fowkes, has a goal is to create different shows in North America and around the world. Right now it’s the biggest show ever built and includes a huge lake and a hill in the background that the horses run up and down.
What kind of surface do the horses perform on?
We all work in sand. All of the acrobats or aerialists have to adapt, because the ground is not even. Every day we smooth the sand and roll it. It’s soft enough for the horses and compact enough for the artists. In the show there is nothing to obstruct the view of the horses. It’s like bringing nature indoors. In the beginning the horses strut, then jump and canter. We work them into dressage and finally into trick riding. So their warm-up is actually on stage, not backstage.
How are the horses trained and do they perform in every show?
We follow what the horse wants to do and try to understand what they are telling us. Each one is trained to do four different disciplines even though they don’t do the same things every day. In addition we always have some that are in training when we are on the road.
Where do the horses go between cities?
We usually have two weeks in between that’s when we take them to a local farm. Before we open at National Harbor they’ll stay on a farm in Delaware that provides sixty-three stalls with paddocks and fields to run around in with their friends.
Nomads / Nomades | Credits: Pascal Ratthé
Stephanie Evans is one of the artists in the show also spoke to the Alexandria Times about her experiences with the horses. Raised on a horse farm in Canada, she has competed in many international equestrian events and trained in dressage in Lipica, Slovenia, the original home of the Lipizzaner breed. She also learned equestrian skills in Spain at the Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre.
What is the breakdown of horse to rider and how do they get pampered?
Each rider is assigned three to six horses and each horse creates a bond with their rider. We have eleven different breeds – – some are stallions and some are geldings. On site we have round pens and an outdoor stand ring for sun and fresh air. We travel with two vet techs who are in contact with local veterinarians and we have a farrier who travels with us in case a horse throws a shoe.
What are some of the quirks of their personalities?
I have three horses I ride now. One is an Andalusian stallion, who’s super relaxed, super sweet and super lazy. Another Andalusian I ride is very excitable and always looking around for things. Sometimes he is unpredictable!
Do the horses play well together?
No! We have to separate them because we have a lot of stallions, although the geldings get along. There is a group of Arabians that are in a big “Liberty” number and they get turned out together. The oldest is fifteen and the youngest is five.
Why do you have so many stallions?
Stallions have a greater presence and are known for having more muscle tone. Their mane and tail create a more visually impressive horse and they have more character.
Since the artists are from so many different countries how do they communicate with one another?
We mainly speak English and French. You’ll also hear Spanish, Portuguese, and Susu since we have a big group from New Guinea.
UPDATE: For the DC Metropolitan area a 50% discount will apply for a limited time only. This major rebate will apply on all tickets for Cavalia’s newest production Odysseo.
“The shutdown of the national government will affect thousands of employees and businesses in the Washington, DC area,” said Normand Latourelle, Cavalia’s Founder and Artistic Director.“Considering the impact of the shutdown on the local economy,we want to offer a special promotion so everyone can experience the magic of Odysseo.”
JULY 02, 2013 BY JORDAN WRIGHT Special to The Credits – MPAA
Filmmakers Jim Rash and Nat Faxon with Liam James on the set of THE WAY, WAY BACK – Courtesy Fox Searchlight
After winning an Oscar for their screenplay for The Descendants, the screenwriting duo of Nat Faxon and Jim Rash appeared to have burst onto the scene as a couple of unknowns. In reality the writing and directing team have been on Hollywood filmmakers’ short list since 2007, when their script for The Way, Way Back was being read and praised by insiders. The Credits sat down with the old friends and collaborators in advance of their already well reviewed coming-of-age comedy to find out about their process, their history, and what’s on tap next.
The Credits: Can you talk about how you two break down a script that you’re working on? What is your process?
Rash: It evolves. We break the stories down and do the treatments together, and then we get started based only on my wonderful neuroses. That’s to say there are times when Nat needs to send me to a coffee shop while he tends to his family so this single guy can sit and talk to himself. After that we get back together.
You both went to prep school. Was that experience helpful in writing a coming of age film?
Faxon: It was more about our memories of summertime and the people that influenced us when we spent our summers in Nantucket. I remember when I was first included in doing cool stuff with the older kids and being part of the gang. It was more about recollections.
Rash: I wasn’t popular like Nat probably was. I pulled more from pain—specifically in the first scene, which we used verbatim from an incident when my stepfather called me a three on a scale from one to ten. We just have a fondness for rites of passage, the moment when something shifted for us. We bond with that protagonist.
What was the lifecycle of this script? It’s been kicking around getting good buzz for a while.
Faxon: This script was sitting around for a while. It was written back in 2005 before The Descendants. And it had gotten on The Black List. It did open a lot of doors for us, and we got some great meetings, one of which was with Alexander Payne’s production company that has the rights to The Descendants. Even still, making a movie in Hollywood is always a challenge no matter what level you’re at, and this was no exception. We had to find financing and casting to put all the pieces together. It was a struggle all the way through.
Allison Janney as “Betty” in ‘The Way, Way Back.’ Courtesy Fox Searchlight
Who was the first talent you got on board?
Rash:Allison Janney. We knew her through different circles and had written the part pretty much with her in mind. So we started with her and it really was a building pattern from there. The last piece was Steve Carrell.
How did your journey into becoming filmmakers begin?
Rash: We met at The Groundlings Theatre in late 1998 when we became part of The Sunday Company, which is the farm team that feeds the main company. Eventually we both got to The Groundlings and we were there for about 11 or 12 years. That’s where we became friends and started writing television together. We’re both actors and we’re still acting.
Faxon: For me I had a lot of characters in my family that I used to imitate and make fun of at the dinner table and get some good laughs. Later I did school plays. I knew early on that I wanted to get into the entertainment industry. After college I moved to LA and got involved in The Groundlings and in acting and sketch comedy, and did commercials. Slowly I got TV jobs. I didn’t know anybody out there. It’s hard. Nobody tells you how to play the game.
Rash: I was consuming some dysfunction and pain and then utilizing it later. It started clicking then. I took screenwriting classes and worked for the student TV channel. I did some theatre and then went to LA.
As writers, what are your favorite books? Do you gravitate to any particular author?
Faxon: I am rereading “A Prayer for Owen Meany” and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.” Also Jonathan Tropper’s “This is Where I Leave You.”
Rash: “A Separate Peace” and, of course, “The Catcher in the Rye.” At Lawrenceville I liked Southern literature, although I really struggled through Faulkner’s “Absalom, Absalom.”
Faxon: I loved Russian literature early on. I found the stories and the writing to be fascinating. Coming from the East Coast I like Nathaniel Philbrick stories and survival tales. Right now I’m reading [Jennifer Egan’s] “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” which is a collection of stories in which the characters are interwoven. For comic writers I like David Sedaris and Bill Bryson and the twisted characters of Carl Hiaasen.
Liam James as “Duncan” and Sam Rockwell as “Owen” on the set of ‘The Way, Way Back’ Photo by Claire Folger, courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures
How was the filming process on The Way, Way Back?
Rash: We pretty much got hit with a lot of rain when we started. The house stuff was shot outside of Marshfield, MA in Green Harbor, and the water park was in East Wareham, MA. The town was very supportive and very helpful during the whole shoot. One night, during a very climactic scene we were shooting in someone’s backyard, most of the town came out to watch from their mini cocktail parties. There was this sort of theatre-in-the-round thing going on and the actors really enjoyed it.
Faxon: Certainly we had challenges at the water park since we shot in the evening. There were a lot of hot days and all we wanted to do was go down the slide. One night the folks at Water Wizz, a family owned place, opened the park for us and it was so much fun.
What’s next?
Rash: We’re writing another movie with Fox Searchlight, a sort of dysfunctional tap-into-some-pain type story, and then we’re writing an action comedy for Kristin Wiig, who is a friend of ours from The Groundlings. It’s a little grittier and little darker.
Featured image: Filmmakers Jim Rash and Nat Faxon with Liam James on the set of The Way, Way Back
