The International Competition for the Erik Bruhn Prize
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
March 25, 2023
by Denise Sum
Copyright © by Denise Sum 2023
The Erik Bruhn Prize is a beloved event for Toronto balletomanes. Established by Bruhn, former National Ballet of Canada artistic director and dance legend, the competition brings together young talents from international ballet companies with which Bruhn had relationships. Participants must be between the ages 18-23. It is a rare chance to see emerging artists from other companies who are selected by their artistic directors for their talent and potential. By participating, the dancers are given the opportunity to prepare a classical pas de deux, as well as have a newly commissioned work created for them.
Roman Novitzky, Mackenzie Brown and Daichi Ikarashi. Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of the National Ballet of Canada.
For this edition of the Bruhn Prize, four companies participated: The NBoC, ABT, Stuttgart Ballet and The Royal Ballet. Each company sends one female and one male dancer. Unfortunately, the Stuttgart Ballet’s male dancer, Gabriel Figueredo, was unable to participate, so on short notice, they sent principal dancer Adhonay Soares da Silva in his place as a non-competing partner for Mackenzie Brown. Most of the participants had some prior experience with larger ballet competitions. All but one of the seven competing dancers were American-born and four of them alumni of the Youth American Grand Prix. Brown previously competed in the Prix de Laussane.
The evening began with the classical repertoire. Both ABT and Stuttgart Ballet chose Victor Gsovsky’s notoriously difficult “Grand Pas Classique” and due to the order being a random draw, they ended up performing one after the other. Tristan Brosnan and Chloe Misseldine of ABT danced first. They looked well-rehearsed and in sync. Details like coordination of their port de bras and tilts of the head made their performance look polished. Brosnan struggled with two serious bobbles on the same step (double tour en l’air to the knee), but had some lovely moments such as the brisé-volés in the coda. He was also a steady partner for Misseldine. He had her on her leg throughout the adage, setting her up for excellent balances. Misseldine is already a soloist and is a very strong technical dancer. She attacked the challenging choreography and wore a look of determination on her face. She nailed the long diagonal on one leg during her variation, showing excellent control with each gradually increasing extension of the leg.
Brown and Soares da Silva were clean and more understated in their performance of the same pas de deux. Brown appeared a bit stiff, possibly thrown off by the last minute change in partner. She seemed to be rushing in the adage slightly, or it could have been a difficulty in adjusting to the tempo of the live orchestra. She seemed more at ease during her variation, playing to the audience more. In the coda, the fouettés were solid but traveled forward quite a bit and lacked Misseldine’s power and speed.
Next was the home team, NBoC’s Emerson Dayton and Noah Parets in the wedding pas de deux from Rudolf Nureyev’s “Sleeping Beauty”. Right off the bat, the start was quite shaky in terms of partnering. Dayton was often shifted off her axis, for instance in supported pirouettes, and Parets was slow to course correct. Thankfully, he came through for the daring fish dives, holding her steadily. In his variation, his cabrioles were powerful with crisp, audible beats and each of his double tours en l’air fully rotated. However, he has a habit of showing his exhaustion with large open mouthed exhales, as if in a yoga class. Dayton was gracious and elegant in her variation, making it look effortless. They danced better apart than together.
Finally, The Royal Ballet’s Daichi Ikarashi and Viola Pantuso brought down the house with the “Diana and Acteon” pas de deux. Watching the classical portion of a competition can be tense, but Ikarashi and Pantuso were by far the most calm of the group. Both gave confident and expressive performances executed with precision. The audience could sit back and relax. Pantuso is petite but dances beyond the tips of her fingers and toes with a grandness suitable for the Vaganova style. The placement of her arabesques was exact and her emboîtés were springy and weightless. Ikarashi was a sensitive partner but really stole the show with his bravura technique. Viewers could do nothing but gasp (multiple times during his variation) at his massive jumps. He had so much height on his double cabrioles derrière that he had the luxury of time, allowing a long pause between beating his legs as time stood still. Yet he made the steps feel joyful and natural, not forced or flashy. Together, they were well matched in temperament and looked like they were just enjoying giving a performance rather than competing for a prize.
In the contemporary round, Lauren Lovette created “Game On” for the ABT team. It was the most classical of the lot, featuring fitted pink and black costumes and Misseldine in pointe shoes. With the pulsating percussive music of Serbian composer Nebojša Jovan Živković and extreme, geometric shapes, it looked like an imitation of William Forsythe but without the musicality or inventiveness. It was evident that this piece was created for a competition, featuring back to back difficult steps to showcase the dancers’ abilities. Lovette threw in everything and the kitchen sink, including many kick-your-head extensions and even a random gargouillade. It is unclear what the pas de deux represented, perhaps a mating ritual or dance battle. Misseldine showed off gorgeous lines, while Brosnan did what he could to bring some swagger and textures to his steps.
Roman Novitzky, artist in residence with Stuttgart Ballet, created “A Dialog” set to Nina Simone’s iconic “Sinnerman”. From start to finish, it was a tour de force. Soares da Silva did well with it (especially as he had to learn the choreography on short notice), but the piece was really a showcase for Brown, who had many solo moments. The dynamic choreography fit her like a glove. It was hard to tell how much of the effect was Novitzky’s skill as a choreographer and how much was Brown infusing it with her own intuition and style, but the end product was electric. The dancers wore simple blue costumes (designed by Novitzky) and soft shoes. The movement followed the arc of the song, taking the audience on a journey. The choreography was varied including isolations, grounded and heavy movements, grooves and alternating tension and release. Whether doing a silent tap dance-like sequence or making gestures as if drawing in the air with her finger, Brown moved with conviction and was always right in the music. She showed tremendous stamina and range. She also has a way of hiding the preparation before a step, creating an element of excitement and surprise. While she may not have been the showiest dancer of the classical round, here she demonstrated a different type of virtuoso performance equally impressive as any number of fouettés.
The NBoC’s new work was “fractured” by Ethan Colangelo who will be joining the company as Choreographic Associate in July. While Lovette’s piece was all “look what she can do”, Colangelo’s was the opposite. There was definitely some type of dark and moody vision. The piece was avant garde and it seemed that he was trying to win the choreographic prize, but did not include much material to highlight the dancers’ unique qualities. The work features electronic/experimental music from a young American-Chilean composer Nicolas Jaar with flashing strobe lights and black costumes. The steps were modern, thrashing and repetitive. Dayton and Parets did their best and were convincing in the style. There was some tricky partnering and they did well with the lifts.
The Royal Ballet dancers performed “Things left unsaid” by their fellow dancer Joshua Junker. It was set to a song by Dutch singer and comedian Paul van Vliet. The work was inoffensive, bland and forgettable. The choreography was conversational, matching the cadence of the lyrics. Ikarashi and Pantuso made the steps look pretty. They looked like classical dancers doing contemporary dance. They do have a lovely rapport together and made good use of timing and stillness, nonetheless they did not have much to work with.
After showing excerpts from the documentary film about Bruhn “I’m the Same, Only More”, the winners were announced. The prizes for the dancers went to Stuttgart’s Brown and the Royal’s Ikarashi, while the choreographic prize went to Stuttgart’s Novitzky. The future of ballet certainly looks bright with the wonderful talent on display at this event.
Daichi Ikarashi in “Diana and Acteon”. Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of the National Ballet of Canada.
Mackenzie Brown and Adhonay Soares da Silva in “A Dialog”. Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of the National Ballet of Canada.