Love and Ballet and Christopher Wheeldon at PNB

Last weekend I took my daughter to see the final program in Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 2017-2018 season. It was the mixed rep “Love and Ballet.” The first two pieces in the program were Christopher Wheeldon’s “Tide Harmonic” and the pas de deux from “After the Rain.” There were several reasons I was excited for this program of non-narrative ballets.

Ugh Seattle

But first, I have to whine about the challenge of getting there. On a good day, getting to McCaw Hall takes me exactly 11 minutes from driveway to parking lot. On Friday, I left my house at 5:45 and at 6:00 hadn’t even gotten onto Aurora yet. Google told me there was an accident on the Aurora Bridge, so I turned off at the next intersection and went back through the neighborhood to the Ballard Bridge. I finally got to McCaw Hall after Education Programs Manager Doug Fullington’s pre-show talk had already started. I finally sat down half-way through (nerve-calming drink in hand) but most of what I heard went in one ear and out the other. So I won’t have quite as much context as usual when I write about the individual pieces.

Tide Harmonic

Music: Joby Talbot (Tide Harmonic, 2009; arr. 2013)
Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon
Costume Design: Holly Hynes
Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli
Duration: 18 minutes
Premiere: May 31, 2013; Pacific Northwest Ballet (40^th Anniversary Season)

I saw “Tide Harmonic” in 2015 as part of the See the Music program, and I looked forward to seeing this water symphony again. “Tide Harmonic” has no story. Freed from both story and metaphor, the dance is an almost literal exploration of the physics of water – the way water moves. When I saw it the first time, my violinist older daughter noted the relationship between the music and the movement. I was impressed by the music’s avoidance of “flowy” clichés for water. The first movement is percussive and full of eddies like ocean waves breaking on rocks. Another part feels more like being submerged in water when you’re not a strong swimmer.

I took my younger daughter this time around. She wasn’t quite as impressed. She couldn’t quite connect with the abstraction and felt a detached objectivity that made her fidgety. Maybe we were both still coming down from our traffic stress, because I too felt a little detached, despite not having any particular complaints about the performance.

After the Rain pas de deux

Music: Arvo Pärt (Spiegel im Spiegel, 1978)
Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon
Staging: Damian Smith
Costume Design: Holly Hynes
Lighting Design: Mark Stanley
Duration: 8 minutes
Premiere: January 22, 2005; New York City Ballet
Pacific Northwest Ballet Premiere: September 20, 2008

Can I use the stress excuse again? Because I don’t know a better reason that I started crying in the middle of this ballet. I mean, I have really missed seeing James Moore (who’s been out with an injury) on stage this season, and I was really looking forward to seeing him perform again. But I’m not that big a stalker fan.

More than just the name of this beautiful, spare pas de deux reminded me of the movie Ame Ageru (When the Rain Lifts, or After the Rain). The piano and violin duo (Christina Siemens and Michael Jinsoo-Lim respectively) had the same slow, careful pace as that exquisite story. Every note held and faded so that it felt like it might be the last one. I spent the entire 8 minutes on edge, afraid that the piece was ending and not ready for it to stop.

The dancers, James Moore and Rachel Foster, danced with such kindness for one another. Their movements were so deliberate and gentle they made you feel the weight of tragic backstory. They handled each other with the caution of people who’ve been through a lot and don’t want to open any wounds. It wasn’t quite elegant – sometimes their arms shook as they leaned on each other and viewers could see the effort behind the lifts. But rather than detract from the beauty, that served to convey how much work taking care of another person takes.

“After the Rain” was touching. I’m usually a sucker for the flashy, acrobatic dances. But this short piece got the only standing ovation of the evening, and it was fully deserved.

Tickets

The remaining performances are:

June 7-9 at 7:30 pm

June 10 at 1:00 pm

Tickets ($37-$187) may be purchased online. Subject to availability, tickets are also available 90 minutes prior to each performance at McCaw Hall – these tickets are half-price for students and seniors; $5 for TeenTix members. If you are between ages 20-40, sign up for ThePointe to receive discounts.

{I attended this performance of Love and Ballet compliments of Pacific Northwest Ballet.}