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Catching Up with Adam Sklute, Artistic Director, Ballet West

April 2021
Salt Lake City, Utah 
by Marianne Adams

As most ballet companies around the world are slowly getting back to what once was normal, Ballet West has clocked in not one, but two live seasons since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. How they did it and what lies ahead were among the topics I was excited to explore in my conversation with Adam Sklute, the company’s Artistic Director.

Back On Stage: If Cautiously, Relentlessly

Precious Gems: Precious Jewels Variations from “Alladin,” “Aria,” “Tarantella,” Solo from “Lambarena,” “Variations for Four,” Sicilienne from “Emeralds,” Duet from “Concerto Six Twenty-Two,” “Paquita”
Capitol Theatre
Salt Lake City, UT
April 15, 2021

by Marianne Adams
copyright © 2021 by Marianne Adams

What would ballet look like on a theater stage, when it returns, has been a question plaguing most ballet lovers and insiders alike, and as one of the first companies in the world, and certainly in the United States, to bring its dancers back in front of a live audience, Ballet West confidently answered it with “resilient.”  The company’s spring 2021 season was its second time performing live since the Covid-19 pandemic began, following a brief season in November 2020, and the mixed bill program of mostly classically dance was a welcome reassurance that when it comes to dance, the pandemic shouldn’t rob us of much more than actual time lost.

Photo of Jordan Veit in "Aria." Photo © Beau Pearson.

To Feast, Perchance to Dream

“Who Cares?” (excerpts), “to be seen,” “Concerto Six Twenty-Two” (duet), “Lady Swings the Blues”
Fall for Dance Festival – Program 2
New York City Center (Pre-recorded Digital Broadcast)
New York, NY
October 26, 2020

by Marianne Adams
copyright © 2020 by Marianne Adams

There may not have been many good news for the dance world this year, but the enduring holding of the Fall for Dance Festival, even if in an abbreviated, digital format, was certainly one of them.  Admittedly, in these trying times the starved audience would have been content with mere fresh performances of old works on a real stage (not that all those recordings of dancers in non-conventional places have been unwelcome!), but the Festival did one better. Rather than taking some old faithfuls out of the refrigerator and reheating them for our delights, it presented some brand new concoctions, and those dishes, along with their execution and presentation, were of the finest flavor.

Photo of Calvin Royal III in “to be seen.”  Photo © by by Christopher Duggan

Fluent Dancing

“Dance Me,” “Blanc,” “The Running Show,” “Chronicle”
Fall For Dance Festival - Program 5
Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, Sara Mearns & Taylor Stanley, Monica Bill Barnes & Company, Martha Graham Dance Company
New York City Center
New York, NY
October 13, 2019

by Marianne Adams
copyright © 2019 by Marianne Adams

The most welcome part about the somewhat somber fifth program of the Fall for Dance Festival was that it was best absorbed as an experience, rather than as a source of deep meanings. The world premiere of the specially commissioned drama-ballet “Blanc,” by Kim Brandstrup, the soft launch of Monica Bill Barnes’s “The Running Show,” and Martha Graham’s time-tested “Chronicle,” all offered accessible and gratifying art. The best though, was the opening work – Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal’s poignantly moving “Dance Me,” to a selection of songs by Leonard Cohen, which set the tone for the program and left a soft echo even as the other works offered their delights.

Photo of Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal in “Dance Me.” Photo © by Paula Lobo

Looking Back, While Facing Forward

“At the Wrong Time,” “Dust Duet,” “Dare to Wreck,” “Lazarus” (Act II)
Fall For Dance Festival - Program 3
The Mariinsky Ballet, English National Ballet, Skånes Dansteater, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
New York City Center
New York, NY
October 6, 2019

by Marianne Adams
copyright © 2019 by Marianne Adams

The third program of this year’s Fall For Dance Festival followed what is now an expected formula: there was a range of dance styles on display, at least one work on pointe, and at least one crowd rouser. And so the “something for everyone” menu of four choreographies, all less than a decade old, predictably had enough to please most viewers, even as the tone stayed somber, and the theme progressive.

Photo of English National Ballet in “Dust Duet” Photo © Lauren Liotardo

Old Movement, Anew

“Raymonda Variations,” “Variations Pour Une Porte et Un Soupir,” “DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
September 22, 2019 (matinee)

by Marianne Adams
copyright © 2019 by Marianne Adams

New York City Ballet could have presented any combination of works for its “Balanchine + Wheeldon” program, but the particular selection of George Balanchine’s “Raymonda Variations” and “Variations Pour Une Porte et Un Soupir” and Christopher Wheeldon’s “DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse” worked to highlight Balanchine’s creative genius, while contextualizing Wheeldon.  Mr. B’s ballets were both around half-a-decade old, Wheeldon’s – a product of this century. Yet somehow it was Balanchine’s “Porte et Soupir” that seemed the most modern and in-your-face daring, with Wheeldon’s looking like a natural facet of the company’s expressive library. 

Photo of Maria Kowroski in “Variations Pour Une Porte et Un Soupir.” Photo © Paul Kolnik

Saying Something, Meaning More

"Darl," "Seventy-Two Hours," "Two Sides Of," "Reverie," "Dialogue Dances"
The Joyce Ballet Festival, Program B
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
August 10, 2019 

by Marianne Adams
copyright © 2019 by Marianne Adams

Program B of the Joyce Ballet Festival, curated by The Royal Ballet’s star Lauren Cuthbertson, at first could have seemed like an odd grab bag of material, as thematically its one United States and four world premieres hardly had a connecting thread (besides the almost uniform prominence of Cuthbertson).  On reflection though, the program amounted to the ballerina's expression of a multitude of angles, from humorous to lyrical, to ethnic, to dramatic, and a multitude of themes, all in the little time a night’s bill can allot. Whether these were facets of her interests, or themes she wanted to put in front of the audience, the whole was made richer by its parts, and seemed to have left a lot still unsaid upon the curtain’s fall.

Photo of Lauren Cuthbertson in "Darl." Photo Copyright (c) by Maria Baranova

Flavors of American Cool

“The Brahms-Haydn Variations,” “Deuce Coupe,” “In the Upper Room”
American Ballet Theatre
The Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 31, 2019

by Marianne Adams
copyright © 2019 by Marianne Adams

ABT’s Tharp Trio program was in some ways all about the once-new ways of looking at dance, and in others an unequivocal way to underscore the “American” in American Ballet Theatre. The three Twyla Tharp works -- the crowd-pleasing modern “In the Upper Room,” the neo-classical “Brahms-Haydn Variations,” and the completely new to the company, blended-styled “Deuce Coupe” -- showed an American approach to classicism and a very American way of blending forms of dance, innovating, and integrating freedom into musical movement. 

Photo of the company in "In the Upper Room." Photos © Marty Sohl.

Looking Through the Roots

“Scotch Symphony,” “Valse-Fantaisie,” “Sonatine,” “Stravinsky Violin Concerto”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 8, 2019

by Marianne Adams
copyright © 2019 by Marianne Adams

With its “All Balanchine” program, New York City Ballet turned to the older works of its founding master – George Balanchine’s “Scotch Symphony,” “Valse-Fantasie,” “Sonatine,” and “Stravinsky Violin Concerto.”  This particular evening had many debuts, allowing for a fresh look at the company through the older works, and also proving that the company’s classics are alive and well in the hands of NYCB’s debutants and veterans alike.  

Photo of Alston Macgill in “Scotch Symphony.” Photo © Erin Baiano

All American Dance

“Slaughter on Tenth Avenue,” “Barber Violin Concerto,” “Diamonds”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 5, 2019

by Marianne Adams
copyright © 2019 by Marianne Adams

New York City Ballet’s “Barber, Broadway & Balanchine” program, showing Balanchine’s “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” and “Diamonds,” and Peter Martins’ “Barber Violin Concerto,” at first seemed like an odd mix of repertory give the ballets’ vastly different styles. But combining dance hall theatrics, strong American modern dance flavor, and of course one of the best examples of Balanchine’s nod to classicism, actually made a point about the company itself and its fairly unique ability to present such varied, all-American works.

Photo of Sara Mearns in "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue." Photo © Paul Kolnik