Kaleidoscope 101

Last Saturday was all about dance. In the afternoon I went Pacific Northwest Ballet’s final Ballet 101 presentation of the season. That evening I finally got to see Kaleidoscope Dance perform their annual spring concert in the Broadway Performance Hall. Pairing the two events worked out very well.

Ballet 101

This year Pacific Northwest Ballet introduced a four-part lecture series called Ballet 101. Two were panel discussions held in the boardroom at Phelps Center. Two included demonstrations by PNB dancers in the main rehearsal studio. Audience Education Manager Doug Fullington announced on Saturday that the series will continue next season with a similar format and new topics. Tickets will be on sale soon. There are only about 75 seats per session, and so far they have all sold out, so if you’re interested don’t wait until the last minute.

I had scheduling conflicts and only managed to get tickets ($25 each) for the last two. I attended the Contemporary Ballet: New Works and Current Trends in Ballet panel session in April. It felt more like Ballet 305 than Ballet 101, but it was cool to get extra context around the history of the more modern pieces in the company’s repertoire.

#4 Ballet Basics Part Two: Terminology and Partnering

The final session was held in the rehearsal studio, where two dancers (Abby Jayne DeAngelo and Adrian Pasten) from the Professional Division at PNB School demonstrated ballet terminology under the guidance of PNB School Principal Abbie Siegel. Once again, I felt I was in over my head. As the dancers moved through the five different foot positions and nine directions of the body, I struggled to match the names with the visuals. I couldn’t really tell the difference between pirouettes and fouettés and á la seconde turns.

After a break, Fullington led the second hour of class with PNB Principals Karel Cruz and Lesley Rausch using sections of the pas de deux from Swan Lake, Diamonds, and After the Rain to illustrate partnering techniques. Even broken into little segments, it was easy to get lost in the dance with two top dancers performing some of the most beautiful movements only feet in front of you. It was interesting to hear the dancers talk about what they are thinking during each part of the dance – it looks like “falling in love” but it’s actually “don’t smash the tutu.” And of course, it was an extra chance to see Karel Cruz before he retires from PNB at the end of the season. But, I still can’t actually explain how partnering in the neoclassical Diamonds differs from the classical Swan Lake.

I couldn’t help but feel a little disheartened listening to the knowledgeable questions from the audience as I sat there like the dunce of the class not getting it.

Kaleidoscope Dance

I first learned about the Kaleidoscope Dance Company researching an article for ParentMap. Kaleidoscope is the performance division of the Creative Dance Center. The Creative Dance Center is a non-profit dance studio. They offer lessons for infants through adults based on brain development theory. Students learn choreography along with performance. The Kaleidoscope Company company predates any of the professional modern dance groups in Seattle. But the performers are all school age children (7-16 years old). We even have a friend in the group, but it still took years before I managed to attend a performance.

Their next performance will be the Summer Community Concert at Creative Dance Center (free with donation at door). The date is still TBA, so you’ll have to check their website.

Kaleidoscope Spring Concert

I’ll be honest. I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was. The execution wasn’t quite as sharp as you’d see in an adult professional troupe. But it was better than “pretty good for kids.” Naturally there was a range of skill levels and natural talent. The choreography took advantage of the variety of sizes, creating interesting partnering options that wouldn’t be possible with adults.

The choreography (much of which was by the students themselves) was much more sophisticated than I expected. A couple of the pieces seemed almost incongruous when performed by such young people. There was so much emotional maturity and awareness of social issues in the dozen short pieces we saw that night. Between each dance, my daughters whispered, “I think I like that one best!” All together, it was a completely satisfying evening of interesting dance.

It was exactly what I needed. After drowning in dance theory, Kaleidoscope reminded me that you don’t have to understand dance to enjoy it.