Tag: Ballet

Christopher Williams ~ NARCISSUS @ NYLA

Above: from NARCISSUS; photo by Andrew Jordan

Saturday October 30th, 2021 matinee – At New York Live Arts this afternoon with Roberto Villanueva for a performance of Christopher Williams’ NARCISSUS. It was a purely delightful hour, wherein the music, choreography, lighting, costumes, and the beautiful cast of dancers all combined to create a dreamworld at once quirky, erotic, and poignant.

NARCISSUS is set to Nikolai Tcherepnin’s score “Narcisse et Echo” which was composed in 1911 for Michel Fokine’s ballet of the same title, produced by Serge de Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes. In Mr. Williams re-imagining of the ballet, he takes a fresh look at the timeless tale of Nacissus, a young man very much taken with his own beauty. The enticing production features costume and set designs by Andrew Jordan and lighting by Joe Levasseur.

In a brief prologue, in which bouche fermée voices are heard, a group of Boeotians are silhouetted against the breaking dawn. We then meet the Oreads: a brotherhood of mountain nymphs with Spock-like ears. Dancers Casey Hess, Jack Blackmon, Alexander Olivieri, Michael Parmelee, and Logan Pedon cavort, their heavenly, nearly nude bodies adorned with fantastical red penises. For all the intimacy of their partnering, they paradoxically seem chaste. The music underscores the ecstatic feeling of these youthful males, savoring their delight in nature and in each others company. Throughout this provocative scene – and indeed, throughout the entire ballet – the choreography in superbly musical.

The music shifts with the arrival of Echo, who has both a penis and female breasts; Mac Twining plays the part handsomely. Echo is a lonely creature, and is rejected by the Oreads who hiss at him like animals. Now the Boeotians return: hetero and same sex couples of varying ages are danced by Janet Charleston, Alan Good, Ching-I Chang, Shayla-Vie Jenkins, Justin Lynch, and Jake Montanaro. They are joined by a trio of Bacchantes (Christiana Axelsen, Breckyn Drescher, and Caitlin Scranton), dressed in flame-coloured gowns, their faces painted white, their dark hair almost Medusa-like. Their dance is a highlight of the ballet. Now the music becomes tumultuous, the dancing joyous.

The Oreads re-appear, and we are only too happy to see them again; and finally we meet Narcissus himself – in the magnetic person of New York City Ballet principal dancer Taylor Stanley. Clad in a short blue tunic, his solo depicts the character’s self-love.

For Narcissus has fallen in love with his own reflection: a reflection danced by Cemiyon Barber in a yellow tunic. Their duet of mutual admiration is danced in-sync; meanwhile, their shadows follow them on the wall.

Echo returns; smitten with Narcissus, his dance is a visual lament. As the music veers from powerful to eerie, he sustains a balance as if teetering on the verge. Mr. Twining excelled here. Now Narcissus and his double return; the music gets big as they fill the space with swirling leaps and mirror-image passages. They embrace, sink to the ground, their bodies communing whilst the forlorn Echo watches them in despair. Narcisssus expires; reaching under his dead idol’s tunic, Echo brings forth a yellow narcissus as darkness falls.

The dancers were enthusiastically applauded; though I thought solo bows for Mssrs. Stanley, Barber, and Twining were in order, they were not forthcoming. The choreographer was warmly greeted by dancers and audience alike.

One of the many reasons I wanted to see this production was the presence in the cast of my friend Justin Lynch. Justin has danced for Amanda Selwyn, Lydia Johnson, and Nai-Ni Chen, and in 2014 he appeared in the Metropolitan Opera’s controversial production of DEATH OF KLINGHOFFER. In 2010, he participated in Kokyat’s photoshoot at the Secret Theater. Justn’s such a handsome fellow: it was great to see him again.

~ Oberon

October 29, 2021
Sara Leland Has Passed Away

Above: former New York City Ballet principal dancer Sara Leland has passed away.

In the Autumn of 1974, I had moved into TJ’s dorm room at Sarah Lawrence College, pretending to be a student; he and I were making frequent trips into Manhattan for the opera. We’d spent the Summer on Cape Cod, performing with a small ballet company. I had never liked ballet until I got caught up in it by dancing in COPPELIA. Now that we were living within range of Lincoln Center, TJ began taking me to see The New York City Ballet.

It was a heady time at NYCB, with Kay Mazzo, Patricia McBride, Karin von Aroldingen, and Violette Verdy as reigning ballerinas. And on our third visit to the House of Mr. B that season, Suzanne Farrell returned to the Company after five years in exile following her falling out with Balanchine…yes, we were there that night.

Whilst these lovely ladies were giving one spectacular performance after another, both TJ and I had a special affection for Sara Leland, a truly unique ballerina. I first saw Sara in the Valse Mélanconique of TCHAIKOVSKY SUITE #3; a few days later, she danced the third movement of SYMPHONY IN C in Farrell’s return performance.

In May of 1975, I saw my first JEWELS, and it was RUBIES that most dazzled me, with Ms. Leland and Marnee Morris, another favorite, in the leading roles. Robert Weiss stepped in on very short notice for Edward Villella that night. Read about it here.

We went on to see Sara Leland in Balanchine’s UNION JACK (above, with Helgi Tomasson), SYMPHONY IN THREE MOVEMENTS, and VIENNA WALTZES, and in Robbins’ DANCES AT A GATHERING (in Apricot), SCHERZO FANTASTIQUE, GOLDBERG VARIATIONS, AN EVENING’S WALTZES, and THE CONCERT.

Both TJ and I were especially fascinated whenever Sara danced with Bart Cook. They had a kind of offbeat sexiness, and they somehow could be both edgy and poetic at the same time:

Another of Sara’s frequent partners, John Clifford, posted a film of SYMPHONY IN C, third movement; watch it here.

Sara Leland’s romantic side shines thru in this lovely photo of her with William Weslow in Balanchine’s LA VALSE.

November 29, 2020
Evgeny Kissin ~ Beethoven Piano Concerto #1

Evgeny Kissin (above) plays Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #1 in a 2007 performance with the Verbier Festival Orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Watch and listen here.

I first fell in love with this concerto when Helgi Tomasson set his ballet PRISM to it for the New York City Ballet in 2000.

November 28, 2020
Lydia Johnson Dance ~ Studio Event

Above: Stephen Hanna and Katie Martin-Lohiya

On Sunday, January 26th, 2020, Lydia Johnson Dance presented excerpts from their repertoire – including a new work-in-progress set to music of Ludwig van Beethoven (celebrating the composer’s 250th birthday!) – at a studio showing held at the Alvin Ailey Dance Center. The afternoon offered a preview of the Company’s 2020 season, wherein Craig Hall and Stephen Hanna, both former members of New York City Ballet, will appear as guest artists.

Due to a conflict, I was unable to attend the studio event, but Dmitry Beryozkin provides these images:

Brynt Beitman and Kate Martin-Lohiya

Brynt Beitman and Min Kim

Laura DiOrio and Craig Hall; this is Craig’s second season guesting with Lydia Johnson Dance

Stephen Hanna and Katie Martin-Lohiya; Stephen previously appeared as a guest with Lydia Johnson Dance in 2018

Katie Martin-Lohiya, Craig Hall, Min Kim, and Catherine Gurr in a passage from the new Beethoven piece, which draws inspiration from the writings of Edith Wharton

Brynt Beitman and Craig Hall, with Katie and Min

The ensemble

Lydia Johnson Dance‘s annual New York season will be at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre on June 17, 18, and 19, 2020.

~ Oberon

January 27, 2020
Shanghai Ballet’s SWAN LAKE

~ Author: Oberon

Saturday January 18th, 2020 – Billed as the “Grand SWAN LAKE“, Shanghai Ballet’s production of the Tchaikovsky classic arrived at Lincoln Center for four performances, of which we saw he third. In this very traditional setting, the Derek Deane Petipa-based choreography offers no surprises, aside from the sheer number of swans to be seen: I guess that’s what makes it “grand”.

The production is mostly pleasing visually, but the scene in the palace ballroom has a very ugly mish-mash of a set in which the vision of Odette seems like an afterthought, thus missing a key dramatic point. Garish costumes for the national dances added to the cheesy effect.

But the lakeside scenes were fine, and the 48 swans were wonderfully in-sync choreographically, making the stage seem full but not over-crowded. Mr. Deane deploys them skillfully as they form pleasing patterns and make smooth entrances and exits throughout the White Swan act. Zhu Haibo, a Rothbart with expansive wings dripping with seaweed, menaced Odette and her prince as Rothbarts have ever been wont to do.

There’s no Jester in this production, nor does the prince have any friends to join him on his hunting expedition. There is a Tutor, who is thankfully not given much to do.

At the heart of the matter, Qi Bingxue as Odette/Odile and Wu Husheng as Siegfried (above) danced expressively and with technical polish. Their love, doomed from the start, played out in the moving tenderness of their partnering, in their effortless brilliance in the feats of the Black Swan pas de deux, and in the jolt of betrayal. But the production ends rather weakly, as the lovers float over the stage on a large swan-boat while Rothbart lay dying. Once you’ve experienced the final moments of the Peter Martins SWAN LAKE, nothing else compares.

The New York City Ballet orchestra played the familiar score with some very nice solo parts shining thru, and Charles Barker conducted, keeping a firm rein on things whilst also admirably supporting the principal couple thru both the poignant and the showy passages.

Late seating, and ushers wandering the aisles to admonish viewers about cellphones during the music, were serious distractions, as were the constant babbling of the two Russian women seated next to us, and of the two silly queens sitting behind us. But we stayed until the end, because Wei was enjoying it.

Production photos by North American Photography Associates, courtesy of Michelle Tabnick PR

~ Oberon

January 19, 2020
Shanghai Ballet’s SWAN LAKE

~ Author: Oberon

Saturday January 18th, 2020 – Billed as the “Grand SWAN LAKE“, Shanghai Ballet’s production of the Tchaikovsky classic arrived at Lincoln Center for four performances, of which we saw he third. In this very traditional setting, the Derek Deane Petipa-based choreography offers no surprises, aside from the sheer number of swans to be seen: I guess that’s what makes it “grand”.

The production is mostly pleasing visually, but the scene in the palace ballroom has a very ugly mish-mash of a set in which the vision of Odette seems like an afterthought, thus missing a key dramatic point. Garish costumes for the national dances added to the cheesy effect.

But the lakeside scenes were fine, and the 48 swans were wonderfully in-sync choreographically, making the stage seem full but not over-crowded. Mr. Deane deploys them skillfully as they form pleasing patterns and make smooth entrances and exits throughout the White Swan act. Zhu Haibo, a Rothbart with expansive wings dripping with seaweed, menaced Odette and her prince as Rothbarts have ever been wont to do.

There’s no Jester in this production, nor does the prince have any friends to join him on his hunting expedition. There is a Tutor, who is thankfully not given much to do.

At the heart of the matter, Qi Bingxue as Odette/Odile and Wu Husheng as Siegfried (above) danced expressively and with technical polish. Their love, doomed from the start, played out in the moving tenderness of their partnering, in their effortless brilliance in the feats of the Black Swan pas de deux, and in the jolt of betrayal. But the production ends rather weakly, as the lovers float over the stage on a large swan-boat while Rothbart lay dying. Once you’ve experienced the final moments of the Peter Martins SWAN LAKE, nothing else compares.

The New York City Ballet orchestra played the familiar score with some very nice solo parts shining thru, and Charles Barker conducted, keeping a firm rein on things whilst also admirably supporting the principal couple thru both the poignant and the showy passages.

Late seating, and ushers wandering the aisles to admonish viewers about cellphones during the music, were serious distractions, as were the constant babbling of the two Russian women seated next to us, and of the two silly queens sitting behind us. But we stayed until the end, because Wei was enjoying it.

Production photos by North American Photography Associates, courtesy of Michelle Tabnick PR

~ Oberon

January 18, 2020
Emanuel Ax|Stéphane Denève @ The NY Phil

Above: pianist Emanuel Ax

~ Author: Oberon

Saturday October 26th, 2019 – How wonderful to encounter Emanuel Ax again so soon after his lovely performance of the Schumann piano quintet with the Dover Quartet last week at Zankel Hall. Tonight the great pianist joined The New York Philharmonic for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #1.

The announced program looked long on paper, and indeed – after an engrossing first half – there was something of a slump with Albert Roussel’s 3rd symphony. It’s understandable that Maestro Stéphane Denève would want to include it, but somehow it did not quite fit in with the other works: it didn’t hold hold up well in the company of Beethoven and Ravel.

Above: composer Jennifer Higdon

Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral, composed in 2000 in memory of her brother, opened the evening. Read the composer’s eloquent program note on this work here.

blue cathedral opens with most ethereal of sounds: barely audible at first, the music slowly seeps into our consciousness. Cello, the plaintive flute, clarinet, piano, and harp bring their colours to bear; the strings are lush and grand, with the high violins set against the deep celli and basses. A massive wave of drums and low brass hits like a tsunami. The marimba, oboe, and Cynthia Phelps’ dusky viola are heard: each solo voice seems to evoke a particular memory of the departed.

The music then becomes cinematic, with a back-beat dynamic. Brass fanfares lead to epic grandeur before calm sets in. Now the solo voices are heard again – flute, clarinet, oboe – and an especially fine passage for a cello/viola quartet as the music fades to the gentle chiming of a solitary bell.

In her program note, Ms. Higdon wrote about her use of the clarinet, which was her brother’s instrument. It was in the passages for that instrument, sublimely played by the inimitable Pascual Martínez-Forteza, that Ms. Higdon’s moving tribute to her sibling found its most poignant voice.

Emanuel Ax, ever a welcome guest at the Philharmonic, was warmly greeted as he took his place at the Steinway. The pianist sat quietly as the musical introduction – at first courtly, then stately – sets the mood. Mr. Ax then began his enchanting performance: crystal-clear arpeggios, subtly modulated, drew us in. Beethoven’s font of melody – both for the pianist and the orchestra – is filled to overflowing. In a long paragraph, the pianist displayed his gifts with nimble downhill scales played pianissimo, and cascades of notes of great delicacy, clarity, and warmth.

Following a majestic orchestral passage, the long cadenza – which seems almost like a sonata in itself – was impeccably delivered, the audience in a state of rapt attentiveness. One sensed that an ovation might erupt at this point, but Maestro Denève was able to forestall an intrusion by keeping a cautionary hand raised.

Now came the Largo, featuring one of Beethoven’s most gorgeous themes. For the next several minutes, my companion and I were transfixed by the ongoing dialog between Mr. Ax’s keyboard and Pascual Martínez-Forteza’s clarinet. Two great musicians, trading subtleties: mesmerizing!

Mr. Ax immediately commenced the concerto’s concluding Rondo: Allegro, bringing to mind – with its jaunty interjections – the ballet Prism which Helgi Tomasson choreographed to this score for New York City Ballet in 2000. The esteemed pianist continued to dazzle us right to the last note, causing the audience to leap to their collective feet as he took his bows; Mr. Martínez-Forteza was also asked to rise, deservedly so.

An encore was demanded, and Mr. Ax sustained the ballet connection for me with his Chopin, used by Jerome Robbins in his ballet Dances at a Gathering.

Following the interval, Maestro Stéphane Denève (above) brought us two works by his fellow Frenchmen: Albert Roussel’s Symphony #3 (composed 1929-1930) and Maurice Ravel’s immortal La Valse, which premiered in 1930.

The Roussel at first seemed wonderfully refreshing: its jazzy, driven, bustling opening augured well for thorough enjoyment. Yet as the work unfolded, it seemed full of ideas but lacking in coherence. The first, second, and fourth movements each felt overly long, and there was a sense of increased audience restlessness. The piece features a lot of ‘big’ music; rhythmic variety and enticing instrumentation are never lacking. Though poignant, witty, and ebullient by turns, the music slips in one ear and out the other, leaving little lasting impression. Some wonderful solo passages for violin, played beautifully by Frank Huang, were appealing.

Above: New York City Ballet’s Marika Anderson in George Balanchine’s La Valse

“We are dancing on the edge of a volcano…” wrote Maurice Ravel’s in his notes for La Valse. Such a timely concept, as our world these days often seems to be rushing toward its doom. This music, which George Balanchine choreographed for his evocative “death and the maiden” ballet of the same title, has been with me for decades.

Tonight’s performance, under Maestro Denève’s ardent baton, was everything one can hope for in this marvelous music. The musicians made the most of every opportunity, whether by solo or by section. La Valse again entranced with its dark allure and inevitability. Resistance is futile.

As we were walking down to the subway, my friend Cherylyn Lavagnino and I both spoke of the effect that the playing of Mssrs Ax and Martínez-Forteza in the Beethoven adagio had on us, and of the consolation of such musical experiences in these dark days. Thank you, gentlemen.

~ Oberon

October 26, 2019
ABT Studio Company @ The Joyce

~ Author: Oberon

Thursday April 25th, 2019 – The American Ballet Theatre Studio Company has three evenings at The Joyce this week; I went on the second night for a program in which a pair of well-beloved pas de deux book-ended four new (or very recent) works.

Tarantella, George Balanchine’s Neapolitan duet set to music by Louis Moreau Gottschalk, opened the evening. When the dancers made their entrance, my first thought was that they were too tall for this ballet. They executed all the steps and went thru the motions well enough, but their dancing didn’t sparkle, and the feeling of imminent sex was missing. Perhaps it’s been toned down for the MeToo crowd.

Neon by Claudia Schreier, having its New York premiere, is set to music by Marc Mellits. The dancers, wearing black belted in teal, look sleek and dashing. At curtain rise, two men stand in a pool of light, one behind the other, their arms in sweeping arcs seeming to depict the hands of a clock. Then the dance erupts to the propulsive Mellits music. The sometimes complex partnering motifs Ms. Schreier demands of her dancers are smoothly executed; this is a choreographer who likes to set challenges for her dancers, then rehearse them astutely so they end up looking well-polished.

Neon’s first movement ends with all eight dancers in a circle, taking up the rotating arm gestures of the work’s opening moments. A series of departures clears the stage for a men’s trio in which the women eventually join. Sub-groups come and go, enhanced by excellent lighting. The ballet’s third section opens with a striking overheard lift, the couple commencing a luminous pas de deux, wherein Ms. Schreier’s choice of music pays off handsomely. The concluding movement, alive with musical agitation, displays the choreographer’s trademark surety of structure into which a sense of contemporary poetry has been woven.

As with every Schreier work I have seen to date, Neon ended with the audience whooping up a storm. The choreographers should have been given a bow after their respective ballets tonight, so we could properly show our appreciation.

Overture by Ethan Stiefel is a ballet that mixes – in perfect measure – gorgeousness with wit. In choosing Beethoven’s Egmont overture, Mr. Stiefel is already halfway down the road to success. And a success it was, in every respect: from the stunning opening tableau with the dancers classically arranged in silhouette, Overture is a pleasure to watch…and to hear.

The dancers are prettily costumed in traditional ballet style, but soon we notice contemporary touches – each man has one bare arm. The dancing also mixes old with new: a Romantic atmosphere has been established, and the choreography abounds in classic vocabulary and time-honored partnering themes; but modern modes crop up – a shoulder-shrugging motif and some quirky port de bras keep the ballet vivid. The dancers excelled here, taking their cues from the Beethoven score and bringing touches of tongue-in-cheek charm to their dancing. Overture is a winner on all counts.

Returning to my seat after the intermission, I found the curtain already up. Soon a lone dancer ambled onto the stage and began chatting us up. The performance of Pliant by Stefanie Batten Bland, he told us, had already started…and we were to be part of it. Dancers moved up and down the aisles, supposedly ‘interviewing’ audience members. Since they did not have hand mikes, the rest of us were not privy to these conversations, so we sat there twiddling our thumbs.

Finally the dancers hauled themselves up onto the stage and, to nondescript music, they struck poses and did a bit of dancing (nothing strenuous). While this was going on, I was thinking that I could have been home doing my ironing, whilst one of my fellow writers seated nearby fell deeply asleep. Pliant is exactly the kind of clever, now-for-something-different “ballet” that has dampened my enthusiasm for dance in recent years.

Gemma Bond’s Interchangeable Text was a perfect restorative. Some people think Philip Glass has been done to death in the dance world; I disagree, and I’m glad Gemma shares my feeling that it’s ideal music for dancing. Her ballet, impeccably danced by four couples, had the benefit of atmospheric lighting.

Interchangeable Text opens with a male dancer alone in a pool of light; the music comes from the “romantic” Glass catalog. Soon it begins to pulse, and the dance takes off. Ms. Bond shows off her gift for making classic ballet combinations look fresh. Through ever-shifting patterns, the eight dancers are fully-engaged, the music being their springboard. A chain of pas de deux commences, each couple in turn having their chance to shine. The ballet ends as it began, with the man isolated in the glowing circle.

The Don Quixote ‘Wedding Suite’ brought the evening to an end; danced with fine technique, lively spirit, and a dash of allure à l‘Espagnole by Chloe Misseldine and Joseph Markey, this gave the hardcore classical ballet fans in the audience something to cheer about. The two ‘bridesmaid’ solos were woven in, and though they were not named in this evening’s cast list, I believe the dancers were Leah Baylin and Kanon Kimura, who were dancing these solos on the other two nights.

The ABT Studio Company has always been a place to spot stars of the future: it’s where I first saw David Hallberg dancing! Tonight, one dancer who often caught my eye was Melvin Lawovi, a native of Toulouse. It did not surprise me to read that Mr. Lawovi is the recipient of The David Hallberg Scholarship.

~ Oberon

April 25, 2019
Lori Belilove ~ Isadora Duncan Dance Company

~ Author: Oberon

Thursday March 28th, 2019 – A studio performance by The Isadora Dance Company, founded by and under the artistic direction of Lori Belilove (above), presenting an evening of Duncan works in an intimate salon setting. At the piano, New York City Ballet’s Cameron Grant regaled us with his vibrant playing of works by Chopin, Brahms, Schubert, and Scriabin.

The room was packed to the bursting point as Lori greeted us, and then the dancing immediately commenced. A set of Duncan works set to music of Franz Schubert opened the evening, starting with dancers Hayley Rose and Faith Kimberling as light-hearted nymphs Moment Musical. Throughout the evening, the women wore classic Grecian-style tunics, iconic elements of the Duncan repertoire, in various hues. Emily D’Angelo, in pale blue, danced Lullabye, with the evocative Isadora motif of raising the arms heavenward. Becky Allen and Caroline Yamada, in pink with flowers in their hair, gave us Classical Duet, and then Lori Beliliove, in dark blue, spoke to us in Duncan’s striking gestural language in the waltz-like Water Study.

The music by Frederic of Chopin – waltzes, etudes and mazurkas – came next, all of it immaculately played by Mr. Grant (I was seated just behind his right shoulder, and could follow along in his score). Nikki Poulos was the soloist in the joyous Grande Valse Brillante – a feel-good Isadora work to be savoured for its freshness and vitality. Mlles. Yamada, Allen, Kimberling, and Rose were the attractive ensemble here. Emily D’Angelo’s solo opened Prelude, with Becky Allen and Caroline Yamada transforming it into a trio; this very familiar music was most cordially played by Mr. Grant. Faith Kimberling – always such an appealing dancer to watch – then appeared for a second trio, Line Mazurka, with Becky and Caroline.

In the solo Ballspiel, Hayley Rose used the space to fine advantage, her dancing responding ideally to the music’s shifting changes of pace. In the moody Slow Mazurka, Mlles. D’Angelo, Rose, Poulos, and Yamada took turns striking stylized poses on the floor – classic Isadora, this – whilst their companions danced. Becky Allen’s dancing of the immortal Minute Waltz was perfectly dovetailed to the playing of Mr. Grant: this was one of the evening’s many highlights.

Hayley Rose, Nikki Poulos, and Faith Kimberling appeared as woodland sprites in Butterfly Etudes, employing scarves in a space-filling dance. Nikki Poulos gave a poignant performance of Death and The Maiden, her gestures indicating longing and then withdrawal, her expressive face beautifully mirroring the sorrowing music.

Isadora’s suite of Brahms waltzes entitled The Many Faces of Love opened with Caroline Yamada’s cheerful energy in Greeting, followed by Faith Kimberling’s Frolic, with its folkish flavour, so lovely to watch. Lori Belilove performed Scarf Dance, a lilting, provocative piece, followed by Mlles. Rose, Yamada, and Poulos in the unison trio that opens Cymbals, with its accented music. Ms. Rose then gave Flames of The Heart a Romany flair: fast, passionate, with streaks of wildness. The lyrical, lovely Rose Petals was danced by Emily D’Angelo with cherishing grace; at the end of the dance, she slowly scatters the flowers about the floor.

Two of Isadora Duncan’s great Scriabin solos were given exemplary performances by Lori Belilove: the deep melancholy of Mother, in which she comforts her ghostly children, and the madly passionate, red-clad Revolutionary, with its silent screams.

As a triumphant finale, honoring Women’s History Month and embracing the power of sisterhood, Nikki Poulos led Mlles. Yamada, Allen, Kimberling, and Rose in the bracing Military Polonaise of Chopin, thrillingly played by Cameron Grant. This made our spirits soar.

~ Oberon

March 28, 2019
Ballet Hispánico @ The Joyce ~ 2019

Above: Jared Bogart and Melissa Verdecia of Ballet Hispánico; photo by Paula Lobo

~ Author: Oberon

Wednesday March 27th, 2019 – Ballet Hispánico’s season at The Joyce offered a very strong program: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa has re-set her brilliant masterpiece Sombrerísimo, originally danced by the Company’s men, for an all-female cast; and Asian influences came into the mix with world premieres by Edwaard Liang and Bennyroyce Royon, each of which was highly successful in its own way.

I last saw perform Ballet Hispánico in 2016, and there have been major changes in their roster of dancers since then. Watching the Company tonight at The Joyce, I realized how bad my eyesight has become over time; it’s much more difficult for me now to single out individual dancers, and to put names to faces.

Edwaard Liang, formerly a soloist at New York City Ballet and now the Artistic Director of BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio, has established himself among the front rank of international choreographers; his works have been danced by the Bolshoi Ballet, Houston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Kirov Ballet, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Shanghai Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre and Washington Ballet. Tonight, Ballet Hispánico opened their program with Liang’s El Viaje (“The Voyage”).

Set to the lushly lyrical Ralph Vaughan Williams score Variations on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, and gorgeously lit by Joshua Paul Weckesser, El Viaje resonates with themes of emigration and cultural re-location, particularly of Chinese peoples; it speaks to me personally as I married one such emigrant.

Above: from El Viaje, photo by Paula Lobo

Melissa Verdecia, striking in a red dress, is spotlit facing upstage as the curtain rises. Such rushes into a high lift as the ballet begins. The dance has a ritualistic feel, and a strong architectural framework. Partnering motifs, performed by the couples in unison, underscore the sense of community. Solo and duet opportunities abound, in which the Hispánico dancers revel in their power and beauty, buoyed by the marvelous music. At the end, the dancers stand together, facing the sunrise, uncertain but hopeful.

Above: Dandara Veiga in El Viaje, photo by Paula Lobo

Sombrerísimo was commissioned by New York’s City Center for Fall for Dance in 2013; I was present at the premiere, which was a huge hit with the audience. Choreographed for an all-male ensemble by Belgian-Colombian Annabelle Lopez Ochoa to a collage score by Banda Ionica, Macaco el Mono Loco, and Titi Robin, it of course now has a very different feel as danced by six women: Shelby Colona, Jenna Marie, Eila Valls, Gabrielle Sprauve, Dandara Veiga, and Melissa Verdecia. The movement ranges from swift and accented to cool and sexy, and there’s much by-play with the hats that inspired the ballet’s title. Joshua Preston’s lighting is atmospheric, and often produces a shadow-dancing effect. At the end, the girls toss their hats into the air while dozens of other hats fall from above.

Above: the Ballet Hispanico women in Sombrerísimo, photo by Paula Lobo

Bennyroyce Royon’s Homebound/Alaala is a danced memory-book of his homeland in The Philippines. On the other side of the world, in Bato, Leyte, mi amor de loin keeps me in daily touch with that world – a unique on-line love affair that made Benny’s ballet especially meaningful to me.

Above: Chris Bloom in Homebound/Alaala, photo by Paula Lobo

Opening with a dazzling stars-scape, the stage is full of boxes which the dancers carry, push, construct, take down, open, and close throughout the ballet. Perhaps they are boxes full of memories: some are marked Fragile. To popular songs of the Tagalog, the people work, relax, joke, flirt, and dream. Unison dance passages emphasize the sense of community, which is so very strong in the Filipino culture.

Central to Benny’s ballet is a gay ‘cruising’ duet, performed in silence. The two men warily circle one another, unsure of a response. In an overwhelmingly Catholic society, being gay in The Philippines faces barriers to acceptance; President Duterte tends to send mixed messages on the subject. My Brix thankfully has the support of his family, which many young people in the life there do not.

But, back to Bennyroyce’s ballet: flip flops are lined up as the finale is reached. While I might have wished for more dancing in this piece, I loved the music, the spirit of commitment from the dancers, and feeling the connection to my Tico…a love from afar.

~ Oberon

March 28, 2019