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Class Reunion

The Next Ice Age
25th Anniversary Skating Presentations
The Gardens Ice House
Laurel, Maryland
April 12, 2014 

by George Jackson
copyright 2014 by George Jackson

Skaters of The Next Ice Age in Nathan Birch's "A Class Piece". Photo by Kim Zaruba.

To celebrate their balletic skating company’s anniversary, directors Nathan Birch and Tim Murphy didn’t stint. Musically crafted dances alternated with technical demonstration. Current company members and students joined returning alumni for a grand defilé. Exhibited were favorite costumes from past performances and other company memorabilia. Nor was partying forgotten. It all began on the evening of April 11 with cocktails and reminiscences at Baltimore’s Hotel Monaco. A group skate open to all concluded the events at Gardens Ice House. Apparent, too, in the proceedings was modesty: Birch and Murphy were represented by just a few pieces of formal choreography. I watched the dances, demonstrations and the defilé.

Lest We Forget

 “No man's land”, “Firebird”, “Second breath”, “Dust”.
Choreography Liam Scarlett, George Williamson, Russell Maliphant, Akram Kahn
English National Ballet
Barbican Arts Centre
2 -12 April, 2014

by Judith Cruickshank
copyright 2014 by Judith Cruickshank

Russell Maliphant’s "Second Breath." Photo by Ash.

“Lest we forget” is English National Ballet's much anticipated and much applauded commemoration of the outbreak of the first World War.  What gives it still greater significance is that the programme includes three new works commissioned by director Tamara Rojo, a manifestation of her commitment to new work, a difficult ask for this company which relies so heavily on touring a repertoire of family friendly classics.

Of the three choreographers making new work, Liam Scarlett is the most closely associated with classical technique, although it shouldn't be forgotten that Russell Maliphant was for 20 years a dancer with the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet and has worked closely with Sylvie Guillem among others.  Akram Khan has also worked with Guillem, but his style is still firmly rooted in Kathak dance, and this was the first time he had ever worked with a classical company.

Three for the Price of One

"Maelstrom" "Caprice" "The Rite of Spring"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
April 3, 2014

by Rita Felciano 
copyright Rita Felciano © 2014

Maria Kotchekova and Davit Karapetyan in "Caprice", photo © Erik Tomasson

Listening to old music through contemporary ears yielded three ballets that paid respect to the scores and yet opened them up fresh, individualized and decidedly contemporary perspectives on what was so carefully notated a century or more ago. Beethoven wrote the inspiration for Mark Morris' "Maelstrom," the 'Ghost' Sonata' (Piano Trio Op. 70, No.1) in 1808; for his "Caprice," Helgi Tomasson selected Camille Saint-Saens' Symphonies No. 2 in A-minor and the No. 3 in C-minor which date from 1859 and 1886 respectively; and Yuri Possokhov choreographed his "The Rite of Spring" in 2013 as his centenary comment on what perhaps still remains the 20th century's most daring piece of orchestral writing.

Swans of the Night

“LAC (after Swan Lake)”
Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo
New York City Center
New York, NY
March 14, 2014

by Marianne Adams
copyright © 2014 by Marianne Adams

photo © Angela Sterling
Anja Behrend as the White Swan and Stephan Bourgond as the Prince

Reinterpreting a beloved classic is risky business, and in the case of “Swan Lake” akin to a tightrope walk over a yawning chasm. The few examples that got all the way across distanced themselves from the original with enough creative merit to minimize comparison. Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo’s “LAC” sought to follow suit. Choreographed by Jean-Christophe Maillot in 2011 to Tchaikovsky’s score with additional music by the choreographer’s brother, Bertrand Maillot, the work is a fusion of classical and modern styles, and significantly alters the story, costumes and nature of the characters.  The result is no masterpiece, but every now and then it made you forget the original long enough to be enjoyable on its own. 

New York City Ballet's Three Musical Jewels

New York City Ballet
“Jewels”: “Emeralds”, “Rubies”, “Diamonds”
Opera House
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
April 4, 2014

by Ashley McKean
copyright ©2014 by Ashley McKean

Sara Mearns and Ask la Cour in "Diamonds". Photo © Paul Kolnik.

What a difference casting can make. While Tuesday’s opening night cast for George Balanchine’s “Jewels” maneuvered the nuances of the choreography adeptly, Friday night’s cast breathed life into Balanchine’s famous words, “See the music, hear the dance.” This was largely due to the fact that Sara Mearns, Sterling Hyltin and Tiler Peck were cast on the same evening, each representing a different jewel—“Diamonds” for Mearns to music by Tchaikovsky, “Rubies” for Hyltin to music by Stravinsky, and “Emeralds” for Peck to music by Fauré. How remarkable that the New York City Ballet currently has three principal ballerinas, each at similar points in their careers, whose greatest strengths are an instinctive ability to interpret and illuminate the music.  Seeing these dancers perform the three distinct styles of “Jewels” illustrated not only their similarities but also the different ways they approach musicality; while Mearns creates expansive phrases, Hyltin draws attention to musical accents, and Peck plays with timing to reflect mood.

Music and Dance--A Conversation

"Shostakovich Trilogy"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial House
San Francisco, CA
April 2, 2014

by Rita Felciano
copyright © Rita Felciano  2014

photo @ Erik Tomasson, Sarah Van Patten and Carlos Quenedit in "Symphony #9"

Unlike another recent co-production of a full-evening ballet, this one with American Ballet Theater is worth every penny San Francisco Ballet invested in it. The company premiere of Alexei Ratmansky's "Shostakovich Trilogy" was a major event--musically, choreographically and in terms of challenging SFB's dancers. All emerged with (invisible) laurel wreaths around their heads. The sheer complexity of this triptych means that it needs to be seen again. And SOON.

Facts, Reflections

New York City Ballet
“Jewels”: “Emeralds”, “Rubies”, “Diamonds”
Opera House
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
April 1, 2014
 
by George Jackson
copyright 2014 by George Jackson
 

Abi Stafford and Jared Angle in George Balanchine's Emeralds from Jewels. Photo credit: Paul Kolnik.

Over time, different facets of George Balanchine’s three “Jewels” ballets have caught the eye. Sometimes the sense of national character – French, American, Russian - has seemed prime. Or it has been the spirit of the musical styles – the lush yet light pre-impressionism of Faure’s compositions, the terse and tangy modern tone of Stravinsky’s capriccio, the courtly classic romance of Tschaikovsky’s sound (from his third symphony). Personalities have dominated on occasion, the individuality of the leading dancers, their temperaments and interactions – particularly those of the premiere cast forty-seven years ago this month. Paramount for me in this latest “Jewels” was the distinct sense of time in each of the three works. Time present – the action as it happens – impresses us in all three pieces, of course. In “Emeralds”, though, there is also recall. Some of the dancers seem  to be remembering times past or they anticipate, they seem to listen for what will come in the future. Time present passes slowly, softly in “Emeralds” but in “Rubies” it traverses at a jaunty pace. “Rubies” is about the moment, about now. Inherent in “Diamonds” is a sense of timelessness. That catchy phrase, “diamonds are forever”, comes to mind unbidden as we watch a stately pair negotiate its union and consent to ruling a country, a ranked populace, people. Despite the patent imagery, there were problems with this performance of “Jewels” that opened NYC Ballet’s 2014 week in Washington.