Studio Connections
Reviewed
by Kathi E.B. Ellis.
Entire
contents are copyright © 2012 Kathi E.B. Ellis. All rights reserved.
Studio
Connections may be the best kept secret of the Louisville Ballet’s programming.
And this should change! Once or twice a year Bruce Simpson, the choreographers
and dancers of the Ballet put together an evening of dances in their Main
Street studio that span centuries and styles. This program is a great way for
audiences to be introduced to a wider span of work than is possible in the main
stage season and, within the confines of a studio setting, the production
values are of equal value to those of the main stage season.
This
fall’s Studio Connections was introduced by Artistic Director Bruce Simpson,
who gave the small audience a concise and witty overview of the choreographic
history that the evening would cover, skillfully drawing a line from Auguste
Bournonville to today’s choreographers, placing this art in both social and
political contexts, and inviting us to see the connections down the centuries.
The Studio Connections program in February of this year was structured more as
a “compare and contrast” across the centuries.
The
first two offerings were both created by Danish choreographer Auguste Bournonville.
Mr. Simpson introduced the act two excerpt of La Sylphide, reminding us that in his ten years with the company,
they have danced the full version of this lissome classic only once. Based on
the strength of the evening’s sylphs – drawn from the increasingly strong
trainee company – it is time to consider remounting this epitome of romantic
ballet. The second piece of the evening was the pas de deux from Bournonville’s
Flower Festival in Genzano.
In
the title role of La Sylphide, Amanda
Diehl embodied the essence of both the allure and the wraith-like appeal of
this spirit. Justin Michael Hogan is another strong addition to the company
this season, dancing James with an assurance unshadowed by the ultimate outcome
of his love for the sylphide, and the crisp footwork needed for this
choreography. The leading sylph was danced by Helen Daigle, together with Leigh
Anne Albrechta and Kateryna Sellars as the two other primary sylphs.
Ms.
Sellars returned for the Flower Festival
pas de deux, partnered by Rob Morrow. This flirtatious and yet demure romantic
encounter was a delightful contrast to La
Sylphide, giving the audience an opportunity to appreciate how
Bournonville’s very specific dance vocabulary travels easily between a fantasy
romantic world and a more recognizable romantic relationship. Crisply costumed
in blue and white, Ms. Sellars and Mr. Morrow enjoyed their romantic interlude
with brio.
Company
member Ben Needham-Wood’s powerful Apollo
and Daphne was the next variation on the program. I originally saw this
ballet during last fall’s Choreographers Showcase, and Erica De La O and
Douglas Ruiz’s partnership in this intense and disturbing ballet has deepened
over time. This piece could be in every compilation program, and audiences
would find new nuances each time – I look forward to experiencing this piece
many times with the powerful partnership between these two dancers.
Returning
to a more traditional pas de deux, the evening continued with the Act III pas
de deux from Sleeping Beauty, one of
the most difficult sequences in the classical ballet canon. The variation was
danced by Natalia Ashikhmina and Kristopher Wotjera. The exacting intricacies
of the partnering, including the signature fish dives, are spell-binding in
such close quarters as the studio, allowing audiences to see in much more
detail how the choreography is executed. While this may add more pressure to
the dancers than in the safe distance of the Whitney, the appreciation with
which this piece was received was an affirmation of the precision with which
these two dancers performed this variation. Placed after Apollo and Daphne, the Sleeping
Beauty pas de deux also provided a fascinating juxtaposition of how
partnering and lifts have developed in the past century and a half.
The
middle section of the evening was rounded out by the delightful and humorous The Rainbow Connection choreographed by
Rob Morrow. Again, my first introduction to this piece was last fall and, again,
I’m delighted that the charm of this piece bears repeated viewings.
The
final offering of the evening was Mikella Bruzina’s 2000 Harmony of Contrasts. This was my first time viewing this ballet. I
enjoyed a different interpretation of Benjamin Britten’s Simple Symphony, a
piece that I always associate with children’s nursery rhymes. In the close
confines of the studio I found the costuming – tie-died browns for the earth
ensemble and blues for sky – to be overly proscriptive (though this may not be
so in a traditional theatre). On the other hand, details such as pointe shoes
and loose hair for the women in the sky ensemble and ballet slippers and hair
in buns for women in the earth ensemble subtly reinforced the choreographic
choices for each ensemble. The piece
intricately balances the differences between these elements and the ways in
which they are interdependent. At one point the dancers form a diagonal
tableau, alternating earth and sky down the line, repeating and sharing motifs
from one end to the other – a conceit carried into the curtain call. A
harmonious piece indeed, one that is both starkly different from the ensemble
work seen in the first piece of the evening, and that carries on the traditions
of past generations of ensemble dance variations.
These
occasional programs are not only wonderful evenings of dance but an informal
opportunity for local balletomanes to place their love of the dance into an
artistic and historic context. We can hope that both Studio Connections and the
Choreographers Showcase will long be staples of the Louisville Ballet’s
programming.
October
31-November 3, 2012
Louisville
Ballet Studios
315
East Main Street
Louisville,
KY 40202
(502)
583-2623
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