Pennsylvania Ballet at Kennedy Center on June 7th

We went to the Kennedy Center on Saturday evening, June 7th, to see the Pennsylvania Ballet in Balanchine's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.  Balanchine had known Shakespeare's play from his childhood in Russia, even appearing as an elf in a St. Petersburg production.  He put together a score that includes all of Mendelssohn's overture and incidental music for the play, plus selections from several other works of the composer.

Scenery and costumes for this production were designed by Martin Pakledinaz and are on loan from Pacific Northwest Ballet.  They are generally lovely and in keeping with the original designs for New York City Ballet by Karinska (costumes) and David Hays (sets).  Overall, the costume colors are brighter than we're used to at NYCB, but the lines are similar.

When we entered the Kennedy Center Opera House, we initially found the proscenium relatively low -- presenting as a 'letterbox' rectangle.  Once the gossamer front curtain rises on the first scene it seems less oppressive, perhaps because the stage depth allowed us to look both back and up from our orchestra seats at the arches of roses that frame the forest at the back of the set.  However, I wonder if that is true from the upper reaches of the house.

Oberon with Butterflies and Bugs in Act I of Balanchine's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 
photo by Alexander Iziliaev for Pennsylvania Ballet

The company's dancing was generally first rate.  But, the company seemed reticent delivering the mimed passages and choreographed dramatic encounters that Balanchine uses to move the story forward, leaving the first act somewhat perplexing and slack.  It wouldn't hurt for all of the dancers to 'brush up' their Shakespeare to better understand and convey Balanchine's intentions.

In their first encounter, Jermel Johnson* as Oberon and Lillian di Piazza** as Titania failed to convey the fury of their disagreement over Titania's page boy, which has affected both their fairy kingdom and the sphere of the mortals.  Shakespeare's Oberon opens their confrontation with: "Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania".  And in her reply Titania enumerates the woes that have befallen the entire world, noting in exasperation:  "The human mortals want their winters here".  

Mr. Johnson's dancing as Oberon was outstanding -- performing the high-flying leaps, rapid spins, and travelling beats that define the role with bravura and ballon.  I had the feeling that a few of the steps had been altered to better suit his skill set -- a practice that Balanchine himself engaged in as new dancers undertook established roles.

Jermel Johnson as Oberon in Pennsylvania Ballet's production
of Balanchine's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', photo by Alexander Iziliaev

Alexander Peters* (who had danced Oberon at the Saturday matinee) made Puck an impish troublemaker, but seemed somewhat subdued in the dance aspects of the role.

Ms. di Piazza was a lovely Titania with a lyrical line and clear, buoyant jumps.  Titania's Cavalier, Lorin Mathis, was a strong, attentive partner, but too bunchy and muscular to match Ms. di Piazza's lithe Titania and create the ravishing dance images that their pas de deux should have.  The music for this pas de deux (Mendelssohn's 'Overture to Athalie', Opus 74) and Balanchine's corresponding choreography is among my favorite passages in the ballet. 

In their encounters with Puck (who tries to abduct Titania's page boy for Oberon) Titania's retinue of 12 fairies didn't display the contempt and enmity between the two fairy monarchs and their courts which is the motivating impulse of Shakespeare's play.

The lovely scene where the fairy retinue prepares Titania to go to sleep in her snail shell grotto was slightly marred by a sour note from a singer from The Choral Arts Society of Washington in the pit.  The music -- conducted by the company's music director, Beatrice Jona Affron -- was otherwise nicely paced with good rapport between the pit and the stage. The orchestra of Kennedy Center Opera House joined by the choral society provided the music.

Titania and her retinue in Act I of Balanchine's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream',
photo by Alexander Iziliaev for Pennsylvania Ballet

Titania's encounter with Daniel Cooper's** Bottom (as transformed by Puck into an ass) evoked the right blend of comedy and foolish infatuation.

Amy Aldrich**, as Helena, Ian Hussey** as Demetrius, Evelyn Kocak* as Hermia, and Jonathan Stiles as Lysander, danced the confused mortal lovers (of "what fools these mortals be" fame) with varying degrees of success.  Missing from their encounters was the intensity of passions that Balanchine has built into their choreography.  The partnering was often too careful to convey the shifting allegiances of the four mortal lovers as their emotions are manipulated by Puck and Oberon.  These four fared much better in the formality of the wedding dances of Act II.

James Ihde as Theseus, Duke of Athens, was a tall, dignified ruler -- expressing his exasperation with the feuding lovers and his benevolence upon their reconciliations.  Brooke Moore as Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, leading her hounds in the hunt displayed her solid technique in stunning jetes and centered fouettes (through a little too much stage fog).  Mr. Ihde and Ms. Moore were wonderful partners at the center of the Act II wedding celebrations -- haughty rulers, thoughtful hosts, dignified lovers.

Theusus and Hippolyta with Courtiers in Act II wedding march of
Balanchine's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', photo by Alexander Iziliaev for Pennsylvania Ballet

Lauren Fadeley*** and Zachary Hench danced the lead couple in the Act II Divertissement, set to parts of Mendelssohn's Symphony #9 for Strings.  Miss Fadeley struck me as too emphatic and showy for their flowing adagio pas de deux  -- Balanchine's gorgeous tribute to idealized love.  Mr. Hench, on the other hand, was an elegant, slim partner, who presented his ballerina with strength and sensitivity to musical nuances.

Zachary Hench and Lauren Fadeley in the Act II Divertissement from
Balanchine's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', photo by Alexander Iziliaev

I was pleasantly surprised by both the quantity and quality of the company's dancers who had received training at the School of American Ballet -- and had in a couple of cases danced with New York City Ballet.  In addition to those dancing in principal roles starred above, I recognized lovely, delicate Misa Kasamatsu* (a company apprentice); beautiful, dark-eyed Sarah Grace Lee** (also an apprentice); tall, blond Elizabeth Wallace***; and elegant, poised Alejandro Ocasio* (a member of PA Ballet II) -- all in various corps roles.  

*    SAB winter-term alumni 
**  SAB summer-session alumni
*** SAB winter-term alumni and former NYCB dancers