50 Years of Jewels

Milestone birthdays inspire reflection. Especially when the milestone in question is 50 years, and Jewels are being reflected. This year, Jewels, the collection of three gemstone-themed ballets by George Balanchine, turns 50. I’ve been watching Pacific Northwest Ballet for nearly half that time – I fell in love with ballet at PNB’s Nutcracker in 1993.

Balanchine choreographed Jewels in 1967. Three movements, each with a different gemstone theme, embody the three major styles of classical ballet. PNB has been performing “Rubies,” the central piece that incorporates elements of jazz and exemplifies Balanchine’s own invention of modern American ballet, since 1988. That means that I must have seen “Rubies” many times over the past 24 years.

But to be honest, I don’t remember. For the first decade that I watched ballet, I rarely bothered to remember the names of the different ballets. I didn’t learn to recognize many of the dancers either (although I could pick out the corps-member who was dating my best friend, and of course, everyone knew who Patricia Barker was). I knew who Balanchine was, but didn’t really know what made him different. That was partly due to my own lack of perception, and partly due to the fact that in those days, PNB rarely performed anything that was inconsistent with Mr. B’s modern American ballet aesthetic.

I watched ballet like a martial artist back then. To me, it was all about the incredible grace and athleticism of the dancers. I marveled at the way they made incredible physical feats look pretty – like X Games winners – and imagined the training routines that enabled them to make it look so effortless. From my spot in the back of the second balcony, choreography was like the view through a kaleidoscope. I enjoyed the surprise rearrangement of patterns on the stage, but nuances of a bent wrist or facial expression went unnoticed.

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Artistic Director Peter Boal brought “Emeralds” and “Rubies” with him when he took over PNB, and the three pieces have been performed together as Jewels here since 2006. I was a subscriber in 2006, but to be honest, I don’t remember seeing Jewels,  except that I have a mental image of Patricia Barker as a Diamond. What I mostly remember from that season was how empty the seats were. I was excited about the departures from typical PNB – like the aerial Kiss – but I guess other people needed convincing.

I started a family after that season, and missed out on a lot of dance during the next five years. When I went back to work and could afford season tickets again, I was a much more conscientious viewer. And PNB was a much more sophisticated company. No longer Balanchine West, the company had used its Balanchine foundations as a springboard to a much broader repertory. Pieces that first debuted on contemporary dance stages were as common as traditional tutu ballets.

The old emphasis on uniformity among the dancers was gone. Something was lost with it, but the gains were so much more valuable. The new variety in body type, skin tone, and individual expression opens ballet to new audience members as much as new dancers, and creates wonderful opportunities for casting. Boal has said that he wants his casting to reflect the reality of the world we live in. It’s a popular sentiment in many circles these days, but I think it’s still revolutionary in the ballet world.

My first clear memories of Jewels come from 2014. That time I brought my 5-year-old daughter with me, and wrote about it for ParentMap. Although the dreamy, romantic movements of French-style “Emeralds” is what people think of when they think of ballet, and the precise, symmetrical clarity of “Diamonds” accentuates the pure technique of classical Russian ballet, we both liked the spunky “Rubies” best. My daughter liked its irreverence. I liked Angelica Generosa.

Watching Jewels again this year, our impressions of the choreography were basically the same. Which made me think; ballets like Jewels are workhorses in a company’s repertory because they are foundational for both the dancers’ skills and new viewers understanding of dance. But if you’ve seen them once – why go again? Dance is expensive. Not as expensive as a lot of people think, but tickets and parking, etc. do add up. What is the value of repeat viewing?

For the 50^th anniversary of the ballet, PNB commissioned all new sets and costumes by Jerome Kaplan, whose streamlined, modern work we’ve seen in some of my favorite ballets (like Romeo et Juliette and Don Quixote). “Emeralds” got a starry night treatment, with electronic stars that seemed to follow the dancers; “Rubies” got stark black and white baffles, reminiscent of The Night Circus; “Diamonds” was placed in a silver metallic picture frame. All lovely, elegant choices that fit the works without straining to accentuate the theme. But I was surprised the costumes didn’t seem much different from before. Long green tutus in “Emeralds,” short red gladiator skirts in “Rubies,” and traditional tutus, albeit with a slight color change, in “Diamonds” were still there. The original concept was preserved (I later found out why). Nevermind. The tiara game was strong, and that’s what really matters.

I’ve been looking forward to seeing Generosa in “Rubies” again since 2014, but for the performance I could attend this year, she was cast in the pas de trois in “Emeralds,” my least favorite of the three. That meant I watched “Emeralds” more closely than I would otherwise have done.

I couldn’t help but compare Leta Biasucci’s Ruby to Generosa’s, but even watching with an unkind eye, my opinion that everyone looks good when they dance with James Moore was reinforced. I thought I remembered an endless-seeming string of pirouettes in “Diamonds,” but if I did, I somehow missed it this time. Maybe I was distracted by new dancers in the corps. Amanda Morgan and Calista Ruat caught my eye. Was that because I’ve gotten better at recognizing individual dancers, or because PNB is bringing in more noticeable performers? Either way, it’s a sign of progress.

Jewels plays at McCaw Hall through October 1. Buy tickets online.