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1, 9-13: No NYCB, No Loss
Giving Justice to Balanchine
By Aimee Tsao
Copyright 2000 Aimee Tsao
WASHINGTON --
Last night's performance at the Kennedy Center opened the two-week
long Balanchine Celebration, which offers fourteen of George Balanchine's
works presented by six dance companies: members of the Bolshoi Ballet,
Miami City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Pennsylvania Ballet,
San Francisco Ballet and Suzanne Farrell Ballet. The absence of
New York City Ballet was explained as being a problem with the musicians'
contracts (sound familiar?). NYCB would have had to bring its own
musicians, but the ones at the Kennedy Center were under contract
to play for all visiting companies, so the conflict would have meant
spending a lot of money. In my opinion, it's no great loss -- when
I saw NYCB two years ago in Berkeley, California it looked pretty
sloppy and barely able to give justice to Balanchine's legacy. But
three of the companies at the festival are directed by former NYCB
stars (Edward Villella of Miami, Helgi Tomasson of San Francisco
and Farrell) and judging from what I've seen and heard, they all
take preserving the master's works very seriously and deliver results
which far surpass NYCB.
Balanchine's
work covers a broad range stylistically, from neo-classical to modern
to kitsch. While I love some of his choreography, there is also
a lot I can do without. I do acknowledge that other people have
every right to enjoy what they like so I will try not to be too
harsh. If you are a Balanchine aficionado, here is an opportunity
to see some excellent interpretations of his works.
"Mozartiana"
opened the evening, danced by members of the Bolshoi, with Nina
Ananiashvili and Sergei Filin as the soloists. The program notes
said that in the original production there was a set by Philip Johnson
and John Burgee and that the ballet begins and ends in silence with
the ballerina walking offstage. Neither of those elements appeared
in this production, which leads me wonder how authentic it is, despite
having been staged by Farrell, on whom it was created in 1981, two
years before the choreographer's death. As a result, I felt a definite
lack, that something was missing. Ananiashvili's seamless technique
and her exquisite musicality could not fill the void. The costumes,
uncredited in the program, were frumpy and detracted from the dancing
as well.
Miami City Ballet
danced the "Rubies" section from "Jewels" next. I had seen MCB last
fall, also at Cal Performances in Berkeley, and can only reaffirm
that it not only has one of the most precise corps de ballets I've
seen in years, but they actually enjoy dancing. The jazzy score
by Stravinsky and the wonderfully complex choreography by Mr. B
easily made this the best piece of the evening.
"Square Dance,"
performed by the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, was enjoyable primarily
due to the Baroque music of Corelli and Vivaldi intriguingly overlayed
with a live square dance caller who managed to squeeze in a few
lines to reflect the political environment of Washington. Next to
the Miami dancers, the Joffrey dancers' footwork seems a bit blurred,
though they exude a lot of enthusiasm in compensation.
Nothing in the
Balanchine canon could have suited the Washington audience more
than "Stars and Stripes," to the Sousa music arranged by Hershy
Kay. Again, Miami City Ballet's dancers showed more discipline than
a military drill team. With more than forty dancers onstage in perfect
synchronization, they deserve a Medal of Honor.
The Balanchine
Celebration continues through September 23 with performances of
"Divertimento No. 15," "Agon," "Tarantella Pas de Deux," "The Four
Temperaments," "Serenade," "Bugaku," "Symphony in C," "Symphony
in Three Movements," "Prodigal Son," and "Western Symphony." You
won't have the chance to see so much good Balanchine, danced by
such good companies in so short a time frame, for a while, so those
that are able to should take advantage of the Kennedy Center's great
programming.
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