Once again, I almost didn’t go to the opera. I was on a deadline and hadn’t been feeling well all weekend. A finished draft and a nap sounded better than getting dressed and leaving the house. But I had never seen a Russian opera before, and I knew I liked Tchaikovsky’s music, and Sunday was the only day I could possibly go. So I dragged myself to McCaw Hall and thoroughly enjoyed every one of the 190-some minutes of the matinee performance; then couldn’t fall asleep that night for thinking about Eugene Onegin.
The final program of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s regular season is Themes & Variations, a mixed rep of four ballets that finishes with the title piece, George Balanchine’s Theme & Variations. It’s common for PNB to end a mixed rep program with a very traditional Balanchine piece. Balanchine is the foundation of this company, and his more classical pieces are sure to satisfy audiences at the end of an eclectic program, especially one that contains works like The Moor’s Pavane that aren’t for everyone. Theme & Variations is what people think of when they think of ballet.
True Tutu Ballet
Even if you’ve never seen it before, you can tell from the
title that it will be a classical tutu ballet with taxing, academic choreography.
It’s what nonballet-types are afraid they’ll end up watching if they go, and the
sort of thing that beginner balletomanes yearn for as “true ballet.” For the
longest time, I had the sophomoric impression that this sort of ballet was like
being tricked into watching the dancers practice a set of drills. Lots of
technique, but very little choreography – and therefore, kind of boring.
I hesitate to say I’ve graduated into some sort of ballet expertise (because I’m sure I’d be wrong). But for the first time in a long time, I was really able to appreciate the structured choreography of a classical ballet for the way it highlighted the dancers’ abilities. The fluid movement of contemporary dance draws attention away from the effort required to perform it. Those dances ask you to think about other things, and any number of mistakes can be made to look intentional. But classical ballet is naked in its predictability, and, like the X-Games of dance, it invites us to marvel at the dancers’ mastery.
True Beauty
And marvel I did. A lot of the time, classical ballet is more about lines and shapes than combinations of movement. When you allow yourself to focus on the images, there is exquisite beauty in the sculptural poses the dancers hold and in the patterns in which they are arranged on the stage.
If I could stand in Mountain Pose with as much stability as Lesley Rausch does vertical splits on pointe, my yoga teacher would be so proud. Jerome Tisserand seemed almost to disappear when partnering, only to burst into view with bold straight lines and powerful spins when it was his own turn to shine. The corps de ballet, even with the new variation in heights and body types that PNB used to avoid, all molded themselves into synchronous uniformity, fluttering on pointe for ages. Individual expression is very important, but there’s also something very stirring in military precision.
And sometimes, it’s comforting to know what should come next and to trust that the dancers can deliver it.
The final ballet of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s regular season is Themes & Variations, a mixed program of four ballets that seems kind of random at first glance. Lately I’ve been trying to study more about the ballets I attend, but last week was a whirlwind that left me craving a quiet night on the couch with a book. I dragged myself to the ballet all unprepared and discovered once again that dance is a balm even for the introvert’s soul.
Pieces of a Puzzle
I never used to think much about how the ballets in a mixed rep
program fit together, but lately I can’t help but notice. I don’t know if that’s
because I’m developing as a viewer or Artistic Director Peter Boal has just
been building some really great programs.
Despite being performed from newest to oldest, the four pieces in this program created a progression of ideas. Starting with a celebration of the individual and ending with a celebration of technique, with variations on both those themes throughout, the evening felt like an exploration of everything that’s wonderful about dance.
Signature
Music: Barret Anspach (VVLD, 2015) Choreography: Price Suddarth Costume Design: Mark Zappone Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli Running Time: 30 minutes Premiere: November 6, 2015, Pacific Northwest Ballet
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Signature before, and I’m sure for the same reason that I can’t really remember seeing it. Signature premiered on a bill with Emergence, once of my favorite ballets. There’s no way I would have missed that night, but I would have spent the whole evening just waiting for Emergence. And that was a mistake. Because watching Signature this weekend, I really loved it.
The choreographer, PNB soloist Price Suddharth, has described Signature as asking the question “Why me?” Not in the self-pitying sense, but in the imposter syndrome sense of self-doubt. This was a timely question for me, since exhaustion and discouragement go hand-in-hand. So I especially appreciated Suddarth’s answer, “Because me.” The dance celebrates the uniqueness of each individual person, whatever their strengths or weaknesses may be.
Plus, the music by Barret Anspach was just gorgeous.
Tarantella is one of those faux-folk dances that classical ballet choreographers love to throw into the middle of story ballets, and that’s not usually my thing. Those dances often feel pretentious to me, like an academic in overalls. But Tarantella is energetic and cheerful with just a hint of camp embedded in its humor, and I was with my 15-year-old daughter, who loves all of those things. Watching her delight made me enjoy Tarantella more. The fact that Angelica Generosa was performing helped, too. I’ve always thought nobody does saucy like she does. At least I did until my daughter whispered, “He’s a saucy boi,” thus proving that Generosa’s partner Kyle Davis can lay it on thick, too.
How does it fit into the program? Signature was about our character as individuals. Tarantella is about two individual characters, Neapolitan street performers. Compared to the contemporary ballet choreography of Signature, Tarantella takes a more academic approach, using classical technique even as it tells a story of common people.
The Moor’s Pavane
(Variations on the theme of Othello)
Music: Henry Purcell (The Gordian Knot Untied, Abdelazer, or The Moor’s Revenge), arranged by Simon Sadoff Choreography: José Limón Direction and Staging: Alice Condodina Costume Design: Pauline Lawrence Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli Running Time: 24 minutes Premiere: August 17, 1949, José Limón Dance Company PNB Premiere: November 12, 1986
Shifting from a common story told through classical technique, The Moore’s Pavane tells a classical story (Othello) through experimental technique. I know I’ve seen The Moore’s Pavane before. Even though it was probably back in the 1990’s, the choreography is instantly recognizable. Back then, I remember disliking it. It was just too weird. If they had prelectures back then, I never went, so I had no idea that the choreographer, José Límon, was experimenting with a particular philosophy of movement that made it look unlike any other ballet.
Armed with that information, the entire piece looked different. The pendulous Límon movements were forced into rigid patterns among the four dancers that gradually disintegrate as the story progresses and the characters’ own behavior deviates from social norms.
It is still weird. But this time it was also intellectually engaging and as a result, emotionally satisfying. Like Heironymous Bosch, a little Límon goes a long way. But you do need a little bit of it.
When I first started watching ballet, I couldn’t wait to see a “real tutu ballet.” I was so disappointed when I did. Compared to the contemporary choreography I really love, tutu ballets are so rigid and predictable. With a name like Theme and Variations, it’s easy to suspect you’re being tricked into watching dancers perform practice drills. Sometimes traditional classical ballets do feel like that.
But sometimes, when you’ve had a rough week, predictable is soothing instead of boring. Sometimes, when you’ve just watched academic choreography based on an experimental philosophy, it’s easier to enjoy academic choreography based on traditional technique. Instead of looking for novelty or surprises, you can just enjoy flawless execution of high level technique.
Details
Remaining performances: June 6 – 8 at 7:30 pm and June 9 at 1:00
pm
Tickets ($30-$187) are on sale online, by phone – 206.441.2424, or in person at 301 Mercer Street at Seattle Center. Subject to availability, tickets are also available 90 minutes prior to show times at McCaw Hall.
{I attended Theme & Variations courtesy of Pacific Northwest Ballet. The tickets were theirs, but the opinions are mine.}
Swan Lake is almost the definition of “canon” for classical ballet. What could be more rigid and tradition-bound than the most famous ballet? It turns out, a lot of things can. Swan Lake has changed a lot from its premiere in 1877, and even today, every performance is a little different. Since it’s also performed every three or four years in Seattle, we can actually watch the evolution of Swan Lake. Read More
Last week was tough. I was sick and I had deadlines. But when the going gets tough, the tough listen to music. Not a lot, though. I’d put on an album then not noticed when it finished. But a few things penetrated the fog. This is what stood out last week.
