Program for the 2017 School of American Ballet Workshops

The program for the The School of American Ballet's 2017 Workshops will be:

'Scènes de Ballet', choreography by Christopher Wheeldon, music by Igor Stravinsky;

'Hallelujah Junction', choreography by Peter Martins, music by John Adams;

'Scotch Symphony', choreography by George Balanchine, music by Felix Mendelssohn.

There will be three performances of the workshops: 2pm matinee and 8pm evening performances on Saturday, June 3rd and gala benefit performance at 7pm on Monday, June 5th.

'Scènes de Ballet':

Igor Stravinsky composed 'Scènes de Ballet' in 1944 for 'The Seven Lively Arts', a revue staged by the Broadway impresario Billy Rose at the Ziegfeld Theater in December of that year.  The show starred Beatrice Lillie, Bert Lahr and Benny Goodman.  The leading roles in the ballet were danced by Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin.  Dolin also handled the choreography.  

The score is about 19 minutes long and is divided into 9 sections (or scenes):

• Introduction
• Danses
• Pantomime
• Pas de deux
• Pantomime
• Variations
• Pantomime
• Danses
• Apotheose

Stravinsky composed his music as a suite of dances and did not intend his music to suggest any specific scenario.

In 1948 Frederick Ashton choreographed a piece to the Stravinsky score for the Sadler's Wells Ballet (The Royal Ballet since 1956).  It featured Margot Fonteyn, Michael Somes and a corps de ballet of 16. 

For New York City Ballet's 1972 Stravinsky Festival John Taras used the Stravinsky score for a ballet that was lead by Patricia McBride and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux .  Taras's work soon disappeared from the Company's repertory -- overwhelmed by acclaim for several Balanchine/Stravinsky masterpieces that premiered during the Festival -- including 'Symphony in Three Movements', 'Stravinsky Violin Concerto' and 'Duo Concertant'.

Christopher Wheeldon created his 'Scènes de Ballet' for SAB students during the 1998-99 Winter Term.  It was first performed by 64 SAB students of all ages at the New York State Theater (now David H. Koch Theater) on May 19, 1999. In June of that year it was a featured work in the School's workshop performances.  Wheeldon created the pas de deux for Craig Hall & Faye Arthurs and Seth Orza & Sarah Ricard (now Ricard-Orza) -- although Mr. Orza was unable to dance in those initial performances due to injury.

Wheeldon's ballet has returned both to the Koch Theater and to the SAB workshops since 1999 -- most recently as part of an all-Stravinsky program during the Company's 2017 Winter Season.

I was already a volunteer at SAB in 1999 and I remember watching Wheeldon setting this work on advanced students in Studio One.  He divided the space with a diagonal row of the moveable barres.  They danced in the two trapezoidal spaces in a strangely distorted symmetry.  It wasn't until we viewed 'Scènes de Ballet' on stage with Ian Falconer's backdrop that Wheeldon's theatrical concept made sense. Before us was an Imperial Russian ballet studio with a diagonal wall of mirrors, a portrait of a ballerina at one end reflected in the mirrors along with reflections of a row of windows looking out on an onion-domed Russian church.  It is brilliant stagecraft, especially when populated with 64 students of various ages and stages of development -- 32 'real' ballet students and 32 'reflections'.

Much of Wheeldon's choreography involves maintaining the central illusion of dancers reflected in the studio mirrors -- but the gorgeous central pas de deux is an early example of his skill in creating complex partnered work.  The duet is staged as the daydream of one of the tiniest dancers.

The tiniest student dreams of her glamorous future in Christopher Wheeldon's 'Scenes de Ballet'.
Photo from NYC Ballet's website.

Here is a video clip from the 2017 Winter Season performances at the Koch Theater which shows the end of the pas de deux and the return of the 'real' dancers and their 'reflections':

https://www.nycballet.com/ballets/s/scenes-de-ballet-(wheeldon).aspx 

'Hallelujah Junction':

Hallelujah Junction is a very small town in California near the border with Nevada where State Route 70 meets Interstate 395.  The composer John Adams has a cabin nearby.  In 1996 Adams wrote a piece titled 'Hallelujah Junction' for two pianos -- Adams has said it was "a good title needing a piece, so I obliged".  It is centered on the interchange and overlap of melodic and rhythmic motifs between the two pianos giving a kind of propulsive stuttering effect.

In 2001 Peter Martins selected Adams' score for a work he created for the Royal Danish Ballet.  It uses a principal couple (in white), a male soloist (in black) and a corps of four men (in white) and four women (in black).  The two pianos were put on an elevated platform at the back of the stage behind a scrim -- an animated, but shadowy backdrop for the restlessly energetic dancers in the foreground.  

At the ballet's premiere on March 24, 2001 at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen 'Hallelujah Junction' was led by Gitte Lindstrom, Andrew Bowman, and Andrey Batalov.  At the ballet's January 22, 2002 New York City premiere at the New York State Theater, Ms. Lindstrom and Mr. Bowman (as guest artists) were joined by Benjamin Millepied in the male solo role.  It has been revived by the Company several times since then. 

Here's a video clip from a recent performance by the Company featuring Lauren Lovette, Taylor Stanley and Daniel Ulbricht:

https://www.nycballet.com/ballets/h/hallelujah-junction.aspx

'Scotch Symphony':

During the summer of 1952 New York City Ballet's European tour included performances at the Edinburgh Festival. George Balanchine attended the military tattoo at Edinburgh Castle during that visit and came away inspired by the massed marching of the various regiments in their regimental kilts -- something he later explored in two ballets: 'Scotch Symphony' later that year and 'Union Jack' 24 years later in 1976.

For 'Scotch Symphony' Balanchine used the last three movements of Felix Mendelssohn's 'Symphony #3 in A Minor, Opus 56' -- the 'Scottish' symphony.  In addition to the tattoo at Edinburgh Castle Balanchine borrowed choreographic ideas from the 19th century Romantic ballet 'La Sylphide' which is set among the clans of Scotland.  The ballet is for a principal couple, a female soloist and a corps of eight couples.  At the first performance by the Company on November 11, 1952, Maria Tallchief and Andre Eglevsky were the leading couple with Patricia Wilde as the 'Highland lassie'.

Maria Tallchief with Anthony Blum in Balanchine's 'Scotch Symphony'.

The first movement seems to be a clan gathering with the 'Highland lassie' in a red tartan kilt dancing technically demanding passages with the corps.  The male corps wear green tartan kilts with red velvet military style jackets.  The female corps wear knee-length pale pink tutus with laced black velvet bodices. 

The second movement is primarily for the lead couple -- the woman in pink tutu and darker rose velvet bodice and the man in black tights, black velvet jacket with white ruffles at the neck and a red tartan scarf across his chest.  Their pas de deux is interrupted by the clansmen from the first movement who repeatedly separate the ballerina from her suitor.  I have always interpreted this as an expression of clan rivalry and felt that the first movement's 'Highland lassie' (also in red tartan) may have been acting as a distraction of the green tartaned clan so that her brother (or cousin) can court the sylph figure.  No matter what one may imagine, this pas de deux is a gorgeous example of Balanchine's Romantic choreography.

Here's a link to a New York Times video of two SAB students (Mira Nadon and Davide Riccardo) rehearsing the pas de deux:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/arts/dance/spellbinding-luminosity-ballet-students-in-balanchines-scotch-symphony.html?_r=0

Mira Nadon and Davide Riccardo rehearsing the pas de deux from Balanchine's 'Scotch Symphony'.
Photo still from NYTimes video.

The third movement combines the lead couple and the corps (the female soloist never returns after the first movement) in a celebratory mode that to me evokes a Highland engagement or wedding celebration for the lead couple as well as a reconciliation of the two clans. 

San Francisco Ballet with Yuan Yuan Tan (center) in the third movement of Balanchine's 'Scotch Symphony'.
Photo from the San Francisco Examiner courtesy of San Francisco Ballet .

Suki Schorer and Susan Pillare are collaborating on the staging of 'Scotch Symphony' for these workshop performances.