"Symphony in C", "Alleged Dances", "Anima Animus"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
March 3, 2023
by Denise Sum
copyright © 2023 by Denise Sum
The National Ballet of Canada artistic director Hope Muir continues to enrich the company’s repertoire with another interesting mixed program, featuring two new works (a world premiere and a company premiere). As with last year’s fall mixed program which featured ballets by black choreographers Alonzo King and Vaness G.R. Montoya, Muir continues to show a commitment to creating space for representation of BIPOC and women choreographers at the NBoC. Here, she has commissioned a new work, “Alleged Dances” by Rena Butler, whom she collaborated with previously at Charlotte Ballet. Muir also brought British choreographer David Dawson’s striking “Anima Animus” to Toronto audiences for the first time. Throwing in George Balanchine’s brilliant “Symphony in C”, this triple bill highlights the company’s tremendous range.
Genevieve Penn Nabity and Ben Rudisin in “Anima Animus”. Photo by Bruce Zinger. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada.
The program opened with a strong nod to the classical ballet tradition. “Symphony in C” is Balanchine at his best – a large ensemble work of pure dance perfectly in sync with Georges Bizet’s dazzling score. It also marks the last ballet to be staged by Joysanne Sidimus, who is retiring after 38 years as the NBoC’s primary Balanchine répétiteur. The company did both Balanchine and Sidimus proud with bold and confident execution of the demanding choreography.
Standouts included Koto Ishihara and Harrison James who led the first movement. Ishihara accented her movements to highlight and make different textures in the music visible. She navigated the challenging pirouettes, hops en pointe and quick changes of direction with ease. James also nailed his pirouette sequence and moved through the quick footwork with crispness and attack. In the same movement, Calley Skalnik and Jeannine Haller both had a lovely suspended quality in their jumps. Genevieve Penn Nabity and Ben Rudisin led the second movement adagio with deliberate placement, clean lines and quiet confidence. Penn Nabity, the company’s newest principal dancer, got her big break last year when she was cast as Odette/Odile in Karen Kain’s “Swan Lake”. In the melancholic pas de deux featuring the oboe, there were certainly shades of Odette. The upbeat and sprightly third movement suited Jenna Savella and Naoya Ebe well, with their easy ballon and warm connection with each other. The final movement was led by Tina Pereira and Keaton Leier (a last minute substitute). The usually strong Pereira looked uncharacteristically stiff, especially in the neck, to the point that her spotting with pirouettes seemed slower than usual. Leier delivered a strong performance with exceptional use of his extension.
With this run of “Symphony in C” the NBoC became the first company to use flesh colored tights and shoes customized to each dancer’s skin tone. This enhanced the dancers’ lines and marked another step forward towards greater inclusivity in the company.
Next in the program came Butler’s “Alleged Dances” set to John Adams’ composition “John’s Book of Alleged Dances” for string quartet with recorded prepared piano. While she is quickly establishing herself in the contemporary dance scene, this marks her first commission for a classical ballet company of this size. She wisely makes use of the NBoC dancers’ facility, while highlighting intersections between classical and vernacular genres of dance. By commissioning works by choreographers from different backgrounds, Muir is hoping to bring new voices to the stage and “Alleged Dances” does not disappoint.
“Alleged Dances” features nine dancers that move both as a collective and as distinct individuals. They are outfitted in sleek, red, bandage-like costumes by American fashion designer and dancer Hogan McLaughlin. The women wear a long braid that functions like a prop, used to embellish a head movement or as an object for their partner to hold or even tug. The string quartet is seated upstage on a platform. This allows the dancers to respond to the music in a more concrete way, for instance walking towards or away from the musicians at different moments. In turn, the musicians respond to the dancers - at times gliding on the platform from one side of the stage to the other.
Adams’ music features ten short pieces or “dances” with whimsical titles including “Pavane: She’s So Fine” and “Alligator Escalator”, which can be played in any order, challenging the notion of a definitive chronology. That is all very theoretical, but in terms of what the audience plainly sees, there is inventive, intricate and playful choreography. Butler does not take herself too seriously. The work has a quality of improvisation, organized chaos and moments left just a bit unfinished. While we do not have details about the creative process, the steps for each dancer look so natural, as if Butler took cues and inspiration from the dancers’ own individual movement vocabularies. While other dance styles appear, Butler refrains from the pitfall of inserting random non-ballet steps just for the sake of it. Rather, the choreography looks like different styles talking to each other - a dancehall groove here, a hair whip there, a modern step that morphs seamlessly into acrobatic floor work.
Siphesihle November excelled in Butler’s eclectic choreography, his background in street dances such as kwaito from his early life in South Africa proving to be an asset. He performs a brilliant solo filled with isolations, undulations, powerful holds and witty humour. There is also a supple pas de deux for November and Pereira, the latter looking much more confident and in her element than moments earlier in the Balanchine work.
The headliner of the mixed program was Dawson’s austere and modern “Anima Animus”, created for San Francisco Ballet’s Unbound Festival in 2018. This is the first Dawson ballet to enter the NBoC’s repertoire. The name and inspiration for the ballet come from Carl Jung’s concept of archetypes and the duality of feminine and masculine energies that each person possesses. The trance-inducing violin concerto no. 1 by Ezio Bosso is rich and textured, while the minimalist black and white leotards designed by Yumiko Takeshima call to mind the yin yang symbol. The set is a cold white box that accentuates the shapes created by the dancers in Dawson’s choreography that includes exaggerated lines and flexed wrists.
Dawson plays with the concept of gender and challenges traditional classical norms, without resorting to obvious clichés such as women lifting men or the like. The opposition between feminine and masculine aspects of the unconscious are not shown in a literal way, but rather suggested through various contrasting movements: hard and soft, fast and slow, heavy and light, active and passive. The choreography is quite athletic with variations of cartwheels, somersaults, and precarious overhead lifts. The men have a lot of slipping and sliding motions.
The whole cast was quite strong and consistent in style. Rudisin was especially smooth and fluid, while Penn Nabity commanded attention with the precision of her steps. Skalnik was radiant in the adagio section. Lifted by four men she floated across the stage as if swimming in the air. Spencer Hack does not always immediately stand out, but was a steady partner and team player in this ballet. The surprise of the night came after the curtain calls, when Muir stepped on stage and announced Hack’s promotion to principal dancer. He appeared genuinely shocked and humbled as his colleagues and the audience applauded. The NBoC does not have a tradition of on stage promotions as the Paris Opera Ballet does. It will be interesting to see if this was a one off or if future promotions (at least to principal dancer rank) will occur this way.
Photos:
Artists of the Ballet in “Symphony in C”. Photo by Karolina Kuras.
Tina Pereira and Siphesihle November in “Alleged Dances”. Photo by Bruce Zinger.