Miami City Ballet Matinee Performance on April 17th

Miami City Ballet, Saturday, April 17th, Gary Sheldon, Conductor

Heatscape (Bohuslav Martinu/Justin Peck):
First Movement:  Emily Bromberg, Renan Cerdeiro
Second Movement:  Tricia Albertson, Kleber Rebello
Third Movement:  Andrei Chagas, Jennifer Lauren, Shimon Ito

Viscera (Lowell Liebermann/Liam Scarlett):
Jeanette Delgado, Renato Penteado, Kleber Rebello, Jennifer Lauren, Callie Manning, Zoe Zien
Francisco Renno, Piano

Bourree Fantasque (Emmanuel Chabrier/George Balanchine):
First Movement:  Jordan-Elizabeth Long, Shimon Ito
Second Movement:  Simone Messmer, Rainer Krenstetter, Emily Bromberg, Samantha Hope Galler
Third Movement:  Nathalia Arja, Renato Penteado, Ashley Know, Neil Marshall, Zoe Zien, Chase Swatosh
Fourth Movement: Entire cast


Miami City Ballet was founded in 1985 and is just finishing its 30th Anniversary season.  It's week-long appearance at the Koch Theater was the capstone of the anniversary celebrations -- the first time the Company had performed at Lincoln Center and their first appearance in New York City since 2009.  They brought eight ballets spread over three programs on this visit.  Their music director, Gary Sheldon, conducted the New York City Ballet orchestra for all seven performances.

Lourdes Lopez, the artistic director of Miami City Ballet since 2012, commissioned 'Heatscape' from Justin Peck in 2015.  Justin used the Piano Concerto #1 by Bohuslav Martinu -- a composer whose 'Sinfonietta la Jolla' he had also used for his 'Paz de la Jolla' in 2013.  The well-known street artist and graphic designer Shepard Fairey-- who created the 'Hope' poster of Barack Obama for the 2008 presidential campaign -- created the backdrop and Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung designed the costumes.

Company members in Justin Peck's 'Heatscape'.  Backdrop by Shepard Fairey and costumes by Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung.  
Photo from Miami City Ballet website.

This video by Ezra Hurwitz and Justin Peck shows Justin imagining the choreography amidst Miami's Wynwood Walls -- a site where vivid street art is encouraged and celebrated:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_w11RwHYuw 

'Heatscape' itself is a brilliant introduction to this company -- as sunny and open-hearted as its home city.  The choreography is athletic and complex, but most of all it is immensely fun to watch -- and hopefully to dance.

The curtain opens with the entire 17-member cast lined up across the back of the stage facing Fairey's backdrop -- a huge red and orange sunburst with a wide border in a dark blue and gold border across the bottom, both inspired by Indian mandala patterns.  They're wearing Bartelme & Jung's pale costumes -- short white dresses for the women and beige shorts with white tops for the men.  They turn and race to the front of the stage before beginning to dance to the jaunty opening of the first movement (Allegro moderato).  As the music shifts into a more contemplative mood a central couple (Emily Bromberg and Renan Cerdiero) emerges. 

Tricia Albertson and Kleber Rebello in the second movement of 'Heatscape'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik

In the second movement (Andante) a different couple (Tricia Albertson and Kleber Rebello) dances a sensual pas de deux.  There is a beautifully executed movement repeated several times, where Ms. Albertson rises through a hoop of Mr. Rebello's encircling arms.  Mr. Rebello must be incredibly strong to sustain Ms. Albertson in the air supported on his extended arms.

Miami City Ballet dancers in Justin Peck's 'Heatscape'.  Photo from Vanity Fair

The romping third movement (Allegro) is led by Andrei Chagas, Jennifer Lauren and Shimon Ito.  Peck often devises choreographic patterns which intrigue and sometimes deceive the observer -- here two concentric circles of five and then seven dancers each.  You initially think that you see a circle of men and a circle of women, but then you realize they are probably organized by height with a single tall woman mixed with four tall men and a shorter man with four short women.  By the time you've figured that out, the circles have grown to seven members each -- again seemingly organized by taller and shorter without regard to sex.  It reminded me of the moments in Balanchine's 'Agon' where the three quartets -- initially four men and two groups of four women -- suddenly become mixed and then resolve again by sex.  It is all enormous fun for the observer and obviously for the company.

Miami City Ballet dancers in Justin Peck's 'Heatscape'.  Photo from Vanity Fair

 At the end the cast gathers at the back of the stage and then race to the front as the curtain descends.

Liam Scarlett's 'Viscera' to Lowell Liebermann's 'Piano Concerto #1' was created for MCB in 2012 and has since also been danced by the Royal Ballet -- where Scarlett is resident choreographer.  The dark, partially translucent costumes are also by Scarlett. 

Jennifer Kronenberg and Miguel Guerra in Liam Scarlett's 'Viscera'.  Photo by Andrea Mohin for NYTimes

The murky lighting design is by John Hall.  I found what of Scarlett's choreography we could see through the gloom arduous with often clumsy partnering.  The 16-member-cast was led by Jennifer Carlynn Kronenberg, Jeanette Delgado and Miguel Guerra, but the entire group floated on and off stage seemingly at random. 

The program closed with Balanchine's 'Bourree Fantasque' to music of Emmanuel Chabrier.  The work was staged for the Miami company by Susan Pillare -- who had also staged it for the School of American Ballet's 2010 Workshop Performances.  It was one of the first ballets that Balanchine created -- in 1949 -- for New York City Ballet.

The first movement -- created for Tanaquil Le Clercq and Jerome Robbins -- is one of Balanchine's pairings of a tall, long-legged ballerina with a shorter partner.  Both Le Clercq and Robbins were well-known for their wit.
  

Tanaquil Le Clercq and Jerome Robbins in the first movement of Balanchine's 'Bouree Fantasque'.
Photo by George Platt Lynes

Here the Miamians Jordan-Elizabeth Long and Shimon Ito had great fun with the taller woman/shorter man paradigm.  In this movement the women all expertly manipulated fans while the men gave their best toreador impressions.

Balanchine created the second movement for Maria Tallchief and Nicholas Magallanes.  The ballerina -- a relative of the Waltz Girl in Balanchine's 'Serenade'and the Elegie ballerina from his 'Tschaivkosky Suite #3" --  fades in and out of the ensemble as she is pursued by her ardent suitor.  MCB's Simone Messmer and Rainer Krenstetter danced with poignance and longing as the thwarted lovers.

Simone Messmer and Rainer Krenstetter in the second movement of Balanchine's 'Bourree Fantasque'.
Photo by Andrea Mohin for NYTimes

Balanchine set the third movement on Janet Reed and Herbert Bliss.  The Miamians Nathalia Arja and Renato Penteado were dazzling in this performance.

The fourth movement brings the entire cast of 42 dancers on stage for a rousing finale featuring cadres of ballerinas from the three previous movements crisscrossing the stage in space devouring grand jetes.

Mass grand jetes by the women of the second movement  in the final movement of
Balanchine's 'Bourree Fantasque'.
Photo by Gene Schiavone

 The complexity of the patterns -- including more concentric circles -- that constantly change and resolve is extraordinary and offered a final example of the exuberance and joie de vivre that this company brought to the Koch Theater. 

Miami City Ballet dancers in the finale of Balanchine's 'Bourree Fantasque'.
Photo by Renato Penteado for Miami City Ballet

  

Further Ballet Quibbles and Bits . . .

Violette Verdy:

In May, Violette Verdy, came to the School of American Ballet for one of her periodic gigs as 'Principal Guest Teacher' at the School.  Her classes are always wonderful and the students adore her.

Violette Verdy teaching at The School of American Ballet.  Photo by Rosalie O'Connor

While I was rummaging around the internet looking for background information about her, I discovered this lovely 2010 video of  Violette Verdy discussing  with Damian Woetzel three ballets created by George Balanchine in 1960 that she danced in (almost) from the beginning -- 'Donizetti Variations', 'Liebeslieder Waltzer', and 'Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux':

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fFK6-LsQEU

The video runs one hour and 23 minutes during which Violette and Damian discuss the three works and the historical context in which they were created.  Excerpts from the three works are danced by Tiler Peck, Joaquin De Luz, Daniel Ulbricht, Jenifer Ringer and Jared Angle with Cameron Grant providing musical support on the piano.  Both Violette and Damian offer suggestions to the dancers.  Violette's comments are especially interesting and her language is brilliantly evocative, capturing the essence of each work.

ABT's 'Cinderella' -- 6/29 Dress Rehearsal:

My friend Jean invited me to join her for the June 29th dress rehearsal of American Ballet Theater's production of Frederick Ashton's 'Cinderella' at the Metropolitan Opera House.  We sat in a parterre box to watch as two different casts rehearsed in the three-act ballet.  For logistical reasons Act I was followed by Act III and then Act II was performed.  There were 20 minute intermissions between the acts.

The cast for Acts I and III were Stella Abrera as Cinderella, Isabella Boylston as the Fairy Godmother, and Joseph Gorak as the Prince.  The cast for Act II was Gillian Murphy as Cinderella and Alexandre Hammoudi as the Prince.  The dancing was generally excellent, but the acting was less assured.  The comic drag roles of the two step-sisters, played by Sean Stewart and Duncan Lyle, needed to be scaled up to fill the opera house.

Gillian Murphy acknowledging ovation for her performance of Ashton's 'Cinderella'.  Photo by Kent Becker

Gillian Murphy danced brilliantly in the ballroom scene and Stella Abrera caught the pathos of the kitchen scenes.  Both Mr. Hammoudi and Mr. Gorak were struggling with aspects of the Prince's choreography.  Ms. Boylston was gracious and expansive as the Fairy Godmother.   But all of the featured dancers had to compete with the surrounding clutter of Ashton's fussy choreography and David Walker's decor and costumes.

Prokofiev's score has never struck me as particularly hospitable to ballet.  It doesn't fit the contours of ABT's bravura dancing style -- lacking enough grand crescendos and striking climaxes.  ABT has never had distinguished musical support and the orchestral playing that afternoon seemed wan and muffled -- bland even beyond the inadequacies of the score.

Conclusion of Act II Ballroom scene of Ashton's 'Cinderella' at the Met.  Photo by Rosalie O'Connor

The sets are sumptuous but poorly lit.  The drops for the four seasonal fairies in Act I are probably lovely, but the lighting turned them grey and destroyed any sense of depth.  The candlelit ballroom set for Act II and the conclusion of Act III with its receding colonnade is grand, but the lighting often casts the dancers into the shadows.  The kitchen in Act I and the start of Act III is also overly gloomy.

SAB Announces National Visiting Fellows Program:

The School of American Ballet has just announced it's new National Visiting Fellows Program which will commence with the 2015-16 Winter Term.  Up to five ballet teachers from around the U.S. will be selected as national fellows.  Each will come to the School twice during the Winter Term with all expenses paid to meet with faculty and administrative staff, observe classes and demonstrations, attend New York City Ballet performances, and discuss diversity initiatives that SAB and the schools they represent can undertake to expand the opportunities for minority students in ballet.  Their dance schools will each receive a $5,000 grant to be used for expansion of programs to attract and retain students from diverse backgrounds.

You can find out more about the program here: 

https://sab.org/school/diversity__inclusion/visiting_fellows_program.php

If you have connections to a ballet school outside of New York City, please make them aware of this opportunity to partner with SAB in learning more about the school that founder, Lincoln Kirstein called 'the West Point of ballet' while improving opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds.

New York City kids waiting to audition for SAB's Childrens' Division.
"Up a steep and very narrow staircase . . . I was happy -- at the ballet" lyric from 'A Chorus Line'.
Photo by Jason DeCrow for AP

All of the hype about Misty Copeland's promotion to principal dancer at ABT wouldn't be necessary if the career pipeline was filled with dancers from all backgrounds from the very start of their dance training.

Teen Vogue's Strictly Ballet Miami City Ballet School Series:

Teen Vogue has put the entire 17-episodes of Season 2 of its series Strictly Ballet on line.  The second season follows six students in the Miami City Ballet School as they brave the struggles of being away from their families and in several cases their countries (Russia, Brazil and Cuba are represented), suffer through their first injuries, prepare for auditions, and perform in the the School's year-end showcase.  It's a little disconcerting to see them doing the choreography of Balanchine's 'Western Symphony' without the lively and evocative Hershey Kay score.  This URL leads you to the first episode (there is a 15 second advertisement at the start of each episode and the 17 episodes vary in length from about five-to-ten minutes):

http://video.teenvogue.com/watch/strictly-ballet-meet-the-dancers-at-miami-city-ballet-school

Even More Ballet Quibbles and Bits . . .

Video for SAB's Winter Ball

Here's a new video that was produced for The School of American Ballet's Winter Ball on Tuesday, March 3rd:

https://vimeo.com/122016655

It features three advanced students from the 2014-15 Winter Term -- Alicia Holloway from Morgantown, WV; Jocelyn Dolson from Superior Township, MI; and Thomas Davidoff from Atlanta, GA.

Peter Walker, an SAB alumnus and NYCB corps member, choreographed a piece for the intermediate students that was also performed at the Ball.

SAB's Intermediate Students in Peter Walker's piece d'occasion for The Winter Ball.
Photo from SAB Facebook page

SAB Workshop: Who's Staging What?


Jock Soto has begun working with the advanced men on the Third Campaign from Balanchine's 'Stars and Stripes'.  Getting all of those rows lined up military style looks like the biggest challenge at this point.

Yvonne Borree and Jonathan Stafford are working with at least two couples on the Wedding Pas de Deux from the last act of  'Sleeping Beauty'.  Tschaikovsky's melodies float out of the studios most afternoons.  (In my earlier 2015 Workshop post I neglected to mention that Ms. Borree danced Aurora during her career at NYCB.)

Suki Schorer is in the midst of teaching two casts of female students Balanchine's 'Valse Fantasie' to the music of Glinka.  Schorer, SAB's senior Balanchine stager, usually teaches the entire work to all of the girls before she selects the casts.

Susan Pillare is working with the individual sections of the 'orchestra' for Jerome Robbins' 'Fanfare' -- some days the reeds, some days the strings, but not yet the brass and percussion sections.

Justin Peck's Ballet 'Heatscape' for Miami City Ballet:

Miami City Ballet cast in Justin Peck's 'Heatscape' with decor by Shepard Fairey.
Photo by Daniel Azoulay for Miami City Ballet.

Here's a promotional video for Justin Peck's new ballet for Miami City Ballet -- a collaboration with the well-known Miami street artist and muralist Shepard Fairey to the music of Bohuslav Martinu (Piano Concerto #1).

https://youtu.be/L_w11RwHYuw?t=13

It's great that today's hot new ballet choreographer collaborates with artists and musicians to create many of his new works.  

I'm reminded of how exciting Twyla Tharp's 'Deuce Coupe' was when it was first staged by the Joffrey Ballet at City Center (1973) with five street artists spray painting graffiti tags on three rolls of paper as they were slowly raised across the back of the stage while Erika Goodman danced the ballet vocabulary at the front of the stage and the rest of the company (plus some Tharp dancers) danced Tharp-isms around her -- all to music of the Beach Boys.

 

Joffrey Ballet in Twyla Tharp's 'Deuce Coupe' (1973) with United Graffiti Artists painting backdrop.
Photo from Dance Magazine archives by Herbert Migdoll

Unfortunately, the fumes from the spray paint were toxic for the dancers, so the backdrop was later replaced by a stationary backdrop for 'Deuce Coupe II'.      

Guest Teachers at SAB in March:

During March there have been guest teachers at The School of American Ballet.  Jason Beechey is the head of the ballet school associated with the Semperoper Ballett in Dresden (the Palucca Hochschule fur Tanz Dresden).  He taught the advanced men's class (and probably others).  Mr. Beechey trained at Canada's National Ballet School and also studied under Stanley Williams at SAB and at the Vaganova School in St. Petersburg.  Mr. Beechey danced with the London City Ballet and Charleroi/Danses (Belgium).  He came to the Dresden school in 2006 and has been expanding its program of global student exchanges and implementing its apprentice program with the Semperoper Ballett.  He has also been involved with Youth America Grand Prix and the Prix de Lausanne.

Aaron Watkin, the Artistic Director of the Semperoper Ballett Dresden, also taught classes.  Mr. Watkin also studied at the National Ballet School of Canada and attended summer sessions at the School of American Ballet.  He went on to perform with the National Ballet of Canada, the English National Ballet, and the Dutch National Ballet before working with William Forsythe at the Frankfurt Ballet.  He has been Artistic Director of the Dresden company since 2006.  

Nikolaj Hubbe, the Artistic Director of the Royal Danish Ballet, taught classes from March 28th through April 1st.  When Nikolaj was a principal dancer at New York City Ballet (from 1992 to 2008) he used to teach occasionally at SAB.  He's always very patient with the students and carefully explains the mechanics of the movements he wants.  Schooled in the fast, light, precise Bournonville style, Nikolaj adds yet another dimension to these students' technical skills.

Hopefully, these gentlemen were also looking at the students as candidates for their schools and companies.