Whether in choreography or therapy, exploring big themes for years doesn't always leads to startling insight. Often, it just leads to more exploration. Vendetta Mathea has been “examining the foundations of human nature” for a long time; in the current version of “Homme/Animal,” her findings are passionate, but muddy. The Detroit-born choreographer, who has lived and worked in France for 30 years, has created a small, tightly knit dance troupe that includes her own children. The company moves powerfully and meshes beautifully, but the dance roamed in a random mix of choreographic styles to a score that bounced between noise and drumbeat, with some chants occasionally mixed in.
"Onegin" excerpt, "Cortège", "Le Corsaire" pas de deux, "Symphony #9", "Sylvia" hunt scene, "Apothéose", "The Sleeping Beauty" Act III pas de deux, "Symphony in C" American Ballet Theatre Spring Gala Metropolitan Opera House Lincoln Center New York, New York
ABT's Spring gala was more substantial than the usual parade of pas de deux, clocking in at almost three hours, with one intermission, and including two complete works, the new Ratmansky "Symphony #9" and the old Balanchine "Symphony in C". Both of these have gala-friendly casting, allowing many principals to dance in roles that show them off. The other principal dancers (with the exception of Natalia Osipova, who was injured and replaced by Xiomara Reyes in her scheduled "Corsaire" and Irina Dvorovenko, who was hoofing it in the Encores production of "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue", got their chance in various excerpts.
Jonah Bokaer is a man of many parts, a co-founder of the artists’ organization Chez Bushwick, student of the use of technology in dance, a former dancer with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and a compelling performer in his own right. But he is also a son, grandson and member of a large family with Welsh, Italian, Jewish and Tunisian roots. His Tunisian heritage is the subject of "The Ulysses Syndrome," a seventy-five minute long work (which felt longer) given its American premiere as part of the World Nomads Tunisia festival. Its other subject is the sense of dislocation and isolation experienced by immigrants, also called The Ulysses Syndrome (but without quotes). The two come together in the story of the choreographer’s 71-year-old father, Tsvi Bokaer, a screenwriter whose journey has taken him from Tunisia to France, to California (in 1965), and to Ithaca, New York now.
“Soirée Musicale,” “A Place for Us,” “Cool (from “West Side Story Suite”),” “Glass Pieces (excerpt),” “The Man I Love” (from “Who Cares”),” “Stars and Stripes” (“Fourth and Fifth Campaigns”)” New York City Ballet Spring Gala David H. Koch Theater New York, New York May 8, 2013
New York City Ballet’s spring gala program had two audiences, and worked for both of them. The glittering assembly present for the after-the-performance soirée got a brief appearance by Queen Latifah, who served up a powerful rendition of “The Man I Love” from “Who Cares” alongside Balanchine’s familiar choreography. And in lieu of dinner, two new ballets by Christopher Wheeldon provided substantial fare for the ballet aficionados. Dance excerpts from two Robbins ballets and “Stars and Stripes” mediated between the two.
“Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises” The Washington Ballet Eisenhower Theater The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Washington, DC May 9, 2013
by George Jackson copyright 2013 by George Jackson
The problem starts with the literary source, Ernest Hemingway’s novel. Unlike F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”, which choreographer Septime Webre and composer Billy Novick made into a promising ballet a couple of seasons ago, there is no clear classical plot line, no organically developed course of action, no beginning-middle-end in “The Sun Also Rises” by much the same creative team. Hemingway keeps reiterating a single dilemma over and over again – his hero Jake’s inability to consummate with the beautiful Brett, the love of his life. It really makes no difference whether it happens in Paris, France or in Pamplona, Spain. The characters do not grow. Hemingway could have turned this into an Abelard and Heloise tragedy of sublimation but didn’t. Jake and Brett’s situation remains a bad joke, something static. On stage, little of the novel’s situation is transformed into action, personality or atmosphere. It persists as text, words, formula projected as supertitles the audience is expected to read. Much of what we experience in this long, 2-act work are attempts to distract our attention from the failure to fashion a story that can be told thru movement.
Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes, 1909 – 1929: When Art Danced with Music East Wing, National Gallery of Art Washington, DC May 7, 2013
by George Jackson copyright 2013 by George Jackson
This morning the National Gallery gave a preview of its upcoming “Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes”. I used the opportunity to form a first impression of the exhibits’ scope and impact while leaving the detailed examination of some items and the reading of many labels in their entirety to future visits. The display is huge. Yet it isn’t in the slightest heavy as shows of theatrical trappings (sets, costumes) can often be. Even the two largest pieces – Natalia Goncharova’s 1926 “Firebird” backdrop (51.5 x 53.5 ft) and Pablo Picasso’s 1924 “The Blue Train” backdrop (38.5 x 34 ft) seem to lift up into the flies. Costumes are displayed so that they can be seen as in the theater – from far away cheap seats and from the front row. Diaghilev’s designers were remarkable in providing minute details without sacrificing simplicity of form. As bold as was the use of color during the Ballet Russe’s early years, equally impressive are examples of color restraint during the company’s latter years. Certainly this show amply illustrates such design innovations. Diaghilev’s great contribution, though, was his concept of what a ballet should be. Not just novel design, dance, music and idea but a singular synthesis of these things into a sensual, intellectual entity that mirrors and disputes life. Could any exhibit fully present Diaghilev’s synthetic, reflective and adversarial skills?
Christopher Wheeldon's San Francisco Ballet premiere, "Cinderella," a co-production with the Het National Ballet, was possibly the most anticipated program of the season. It has been sold out for weeks, and Opening Night was surrounded by enough hoopla to make next year's Gala a difficult act to follow. Clearly, audiences love story ballets; they love San Francisco Ballet; and they love "Cinderella." I wish I could love her more.
It’s hard to watch the men-monkeys of "Khmeropédies III: Source/Primate" and not be convinced they are evolution's missing link. Long before Darwin ignited his debate in the West, Cambodia had made that lineage clear through dance. In her dance offering for the Season of Cambodia festival, French-Cambodian choreographer Emmanuèlle Phuon has added to the richness of the Cambodian classical dance with a mix of anthropology and the contemporary artistic license. The layers take Phuon and the dancers of Cambodia’s Amrita Performing Arts company back to where they started. These dancers have become primates.
The 2013 New York city Ballet Spring Season opened on the anniversary of Balanchine's death with an all-Balanchine program, celebrating the froth, with the exception of the seldom-seen, dark, and unforgettable "Ivesiana". The present, I supposed, was new costumes for "Who Cares?" by Santo Loquasto. The older ones (by Ben Benson, replacing the Karinska ones, which I never saw) featured light-hearted, fizzy little pastel tutus. The new ones use more saturated colors, the corps boys in atomic blue shirts, pants and shoes, the female corps in strident turquoise and the demis in electric pink with distracting (and vulgar) cutouts under the bust. The three principal women are in the same outfit; a sleeveless do cut like a Western dance-hall girl's come-hither dress, with black net overlaying bright pink (Tyler Peck), purple (Abi Stafford) and turquoise (Ana Sophia Scheller). The older, somewhat garish male costume has been replaced by a sequined vest that might make Liberace avert his eyes. The colors seemed to fight each other, and were so dark that they tended to blend into the background, making the dancing hard to focus on.
"Petite Mort," "Le Jeune Homme et la Mort," "Etudes" Jiri Kylian, Roland Petit, Harald Lander
English National Ballet
London Coliseum
London 18-21 April, 2013
by Judith Cruikshank copyright 2013 by Judith Cruikshank
This was the first programme of Tamara Rojo’s directorship of English National Ballet; something modern, something historic and something familiar, grouped under the rather lurid title, Ecstasy and Death. Only the Kylian was new to the company although it had been a regular in Rambert’s repertory some years ago. ‘Jeune Homme et la Mort’ was introduced by the previous regime in an all-Petit bill which premiered shortly after the choreographer’s death.
For years I have wondered how well the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater would have fared without "Revelations," the superb and by now iconic work that instantly put the company on the map in 1960. There is an Ailey style of dancing -- fast, athletic, precise, infectious -- that has arisen from Alvin Ailey's choreography but would that have been enough to make his troupe the worldwide phenomenon that it is without "Revelations?" Audiences -- I count myself among them -- couldn't get enough of it. It was the highpoint of every Ailey concert, no matter how often you had seen -- and let's not forget -- heard it. But the question may finally be answered.
With her carefully crafted movement, a large and beautiful cast of dancers, and a translucent dark scrim splitting the action in two, it feels like you can’t possibly see everything in Vicky Shick’s “Everything You See.” If you wait and watch patiently, though, all things come. The duets and trios glimpsed through the dark curtain (as you watch the solos or quintets on your own side) migrate into view. Blinking might mean missing something good -- and don’t expect to see everything at once.
“Le Corsaire” American Ballet Theatre Opera House The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Washington, DC April 12 & 14, 2013
by George Jackson copyright 2013 by George Jackson
Kennedy Center during its four decades has now shown five different productions of “Corsaire” - not counting excerpts. All derive from Marius Petipa's late 19th century versions in Russia of what was originally a French ballet. The first version, brought by the Kirov/Maryinsky company, became more than an adventure spectacle about pirates and pashas when danced by the right cast. On such occasions it turned into a commentary on the difference between entertainment and art. The Bolshoi's staging was sophisticated in a different way, invoking the refinement of French styling in both its dancing and miming. The three other versions - ABT's initial production, the one it just premiered and Washington Ballet's minimax edition - seemed made to amuse and astound, managing that directly, simply, straightforwardly. All three appear to be variations on that theme and all were assembled by Anna Marie Holmes. On this visit, ABT danced Holmes's newest "Corsaire" five times with substantial cast changes in the ballet's 11 leading roles.
Program VII "Criss-Cross," "Francesca da Rimini," "Symphony in Three Movements," San Francisco Ballet War Memorial Opera House San Francisco, CA April 11, 2013 by Rita Felciano
In the penultimate line-up of its 80th season, Helgi Tomasson mixed his choices with a vengeance. The program highlighted, among other things, how much we are missing. It's all well and good to offer the public a solid dose of today's star choreographers, most prominently Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon and Wayne McGregor. Liam Scarlett will join them next year. But we have come a long way since 1985 when Tomasson's appointment as Artistic Director raised fears in some circles that he would turn SFB into Balanchine Company West. The great choreographer never dominated the repertoire; now it feels that he has become an also-ran. "Scotch Symphony" and last night's "Symphony in Three Movements" this season; "Agon" and "Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet" next year. This program left me wanting more.
American Ballet Theatre "Symphony in C," "The Moor's Pavane," "Symphony #9" Opera House The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Washington, DC April 9-10, 2013
by Alexandra Tomalonis copyright 2013 by Alexandra Tomalonis
Watching Alexei Ratmansky’s “Symphony #9,” to the Dmitri
Shostakovich work of that name, one can understand why Soviet authorities were
so upset by its brilliant, rebel composer. The music is simply not predictable.
There are quick changes in structure, tone and mood that would have been quite new in 1945. Today, it doesn't sound so rebellious, of course, but Ratmansky somehow captures that aura, and that era, and his choreography rides the music as though it is a big, beautiful wave.
Whether in choreography or therapy, exploring big themes for years doesn't always leads to startling insight. Often, it just leads to more exploration. Vendetta Mathea has been “examining the foundations of human nature” for a long time; in the current version of “Homme/Animal,” her findings are passionate, but muddy. The Detroit-born choreographer, who has lived and worked in France for 30 years, has created a small, tightly knit dance troupe that includes her own children. The company moves powerfully and meshes beautifully, but the dance roamed in a random mix of choreographic styles to a score that bounced between noise and drumbeat, with some chants occasionally mixed in.
