Coppélia

The 2012-2013 Boston Ballet season is over!!!

Sniff!

The season went out on a high mark, however, with another story ballet to challenge my assertion that, “I don’t like story ballets.”

Okay, maybe I like them a little bit.

I hadn’t seen Coppélia before, though I knew the story. I did not know that this was another E.T.A. Hoffmann story, though (he of Nutcracker infamy!). Here Ashley Ellis can give you a bit of a synopsis:

It’s presented in three acts. The first takes place in a village square in Galicia where we meet Swanilda, Frantz, and Dr. Coppélius. Swanilda and Frantz, of course, are our two, not-exactly-star-crossed lovers. Swanilda is a silly girl, who, if she were in the modern age would probably be one of those girls posting 15 self-portraits on Facebook each day so that her friends could write, “OMG, why are you so pretty!!!” to which she would then reply, “Tks, bby. <3!" Frantz seems to be easily distracted by shiny things… or, at the very least, life-sized dolls… I guess men haven't changed much since Hoffmann's time. I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Relax, out there!

Anyway, there's the festival (because what village square is complete without a festival?) and lots of dancing. After which both Frantz and Swanilda break into Dr. Coppélius's house/workshop to investigate this curiously stunning but rather vacant-eyed attraction.

Which brings us to the second act in which we see inside the workshop and mind of the crazy doctor. He tries to bring his doll to life using the life force of the drugged/passed-out drunk Frantz (it never pays to climb into strange girls' windows!) not noticing that his doll looks strikingly different than when he left her. Hilarity ensues and our couple finally makes up and escapes back to the village square.

Where — Act Three — we have…. you guessed it! A wedding. And they all lived happily ever after.

Okay, the story is pretty goofy, but darling good fun. If you were looking to introduce a child to ballet I would say that this one is about ten thousand times better than Nutcracker. It's got a lot of the same (slightly creepy) elements… eccentric dude with a strange obsession of bringing toys to life, racially stereotyped Chinese finger-pointing character, and a happy ending. But the plot… well, I mean, at least there is one, and it lasts the entire show. And it's a lot more funny.

Now for the dancers and the dancing.

First, let me mention that there was a pre-curtain talk that we attended. My friend was buying a t-shirt for her daughter, so we missed the very beginning, but I believe the two adults speaking were teachers at the Boston Ballet School, and they were on stage with three wonderfully poised young ladies who are students at the school and were performing in the show that evening. Two represented the two ends of the age spectrum of children in the Waltz of the Golden Hours: Delia, a 10-year-old Intermediate I student, and Hannah, a 14-year-old Pre-Professional I student. The third was Alex, a 17-year-old Pre-Professional Trainee who appeared as the doll and also as one of the villagers/friends. While I was expecting to hear from some of the pros during this talk, it was a lovely treat to hear these three (and their teachers) speak. They expressed a completely unabashed love for ballet and were obviously thrilled to appear on stage. They answered the audience's questions with such sweet candor. All three expressed a hope to dance professionally one day. The youngest talked about the challenges of learning pointe, while the 14-year-old talked about the challenges of not always appearing so serious… things I can certainly relate to. It was fun to connect with this next generation of dancers and made me actually pay attention to the children during the Waltz of the Hours at the end (when I normally would be paying them no never-mind).

As for the pros.

We had Misa Kuranaga as our Swanilda who was simply wonderful. She was silly, slightly bratty, and yet altogether endearing — a lovely actress and a fantastically energetic and light-on-her-feet dancer. As for Frantz, well, I had to restrain myself from bursting into loud applause and cheers when I realized that Jeffrey Cirio was on stage. I think he may just be my favorite BB male dancer. He looks like he simply flies when he dances, but beyond that, his characterization was wonderful. The two together had lovely chemistry and transitioned beautifully from silly, young, jealous love to a more mature interaction at the end. The only slight mar in their exquisiteness came in the third act during their pas de deux… there were some moments where the holds were a bit shaky. Totally understandable based on the amount and quality of dancing they had done throughout the show, but not quite what I wanted to see after the seemingly effortless bounding they exhibited earlier in the show.

The other dancers that stood out to me were the four automatons in the second act, which I suppose sounds ridiculous seeing as they basically just sit there on stage. But to imagine, spending a whole act remaining nearly motionless and the only times you are in motion you have to appear to be mechanical… I would imagine it’s not nearly as easy as it would seem.

The sets were beautiful, as always. I particularly enjoyed Dr. Coppélius’s workshop which seemed an intriguing place to poke around in.

And, as always, the Boston Ballet Orchestra, under the direction of Jonathan McPhee performed brilliantly (though they didn’t rock the house quite as much as a couple weeks ago when they were banging out some Jack White tunes for Chroma).

All in all a wonderful finale to the season. Here’s a small taste for you (wondering if this was videoed the night I was there… looks to be the same cast!).

Now I must wait patiently until September when BB kicks off their 50th season with a free show on the Boston Common. But I’ve got my season subscription renewed (they offered it to me for the same bargain-basement price of $25 a ticket; I simply couldn’t resist!) and I’ll be ready to go when they are.

Cheers, Boston Ballet, for a spectacular 49th season. I’m honored that I had a seat for each of your pieces this year.

Ailey 2013

Last week one of my dance friends sent me a text that put me into a (happy) tizzy. She had planned to go see Alvin Ailey on their annual tour through Boston with a friend, but the friend ended up having a conflict. Would I like the ticket… free?

Um, duh.

This friend and I had gone to see Ailey together last year and had a great time. Couldn’t wait to go again!

Coincidentally I had just watched Carmen & Geoffrey earlier in the week (another dance flick from my Netflix queue). If you’ve not heard of that documentary I highly recommend you watch it. Inspiring on many levels… the love story between the two and the incredible depth and breadth of talent the pair has. Carmen de Lavallade was the woman who, it could be argued, launched Alvin Ailey. Ailey and de Lavallade were in high school together and she was taking classes with Lester Horton and brought Ailey to class with her. The rest, it could be said, was history. Ailey and de Lavallade were very close and performed together quite a lot. In fact when Ailey was first touring internationally the company was called the De Lavallade – Ailey American Dance Theater.

Oh, and Geoffrey Holder is an equally fascinating person. Talented choreographer, artist, and altogether fascinating person. Seriously, watch that film!!!

Anyway, to the Wang Theatre we went… huge, gorgeous theatre. BB used to dance there, but through a variety of things (largely political, I’m sure) they left for the Boston Opera House a few years ago. I like the Opera House because I feel like you can be a bit closer to the stage. But the Wang is gorgeous for its grandeur. Really, you can’t go wrong either way!

The show we went to was a tribute to Renee Robinson who was giving her farewell performance to Boston. I believe she technically retired from Ailey last year as the program listed her as a guest performer and showed her dates with the company as 1981-2012. A 31 year career, can you believe it? She is the only dancer in the company to have performed for all three artistic directors: Mr. Ailey himself, Judith Jameson, and Robert Battle. The insert in the playbill highlighted the great things Ms. Robinson has done for dance education in Boston, introducing children to the arts year after year throughout her remarkable tenure with the company. The house was packed with her many fans.

I was slightly disappointed to see that the company was not performing Petite Mort (Kylián) on this particular evening (they were performing it on other nights), but hardly upset to see that our program included eight excerpts of Alvin Ailey’s own ballets along with the never-boring, and ever-uplifting “Revelations” (1960).

It showcased the incredible breadth of Ailey’s vision. Excerpts were from: “Memoria” (1979), “Night Creature” (1974), “Phases” (1980), “Opus McShann” (1988), “Love Songs” (1972), “For ‘Bird’ — With Love” (1984), “Hidden Rites” (1973), and “Cry” (1971). Some were soul-stirring, some were invigorating, some were groovy, and some were just plain fun. Seeing selections of all these works in one evening made it obvious why the company is perhaps THE preeminent modern company in the world.

The excerpt from “Memoria” was the one I found most stirring. Chills constantly zipped up my spine while I was watching.

The others were equally intriguing in their diversity. “Night Creature” was set to a jazzy score and yet I noticed a lot of traditional ballet moves in there. There was an entire section of very brisk allegro: sisonnes, jétés battus, glissades, etc. “For ‘Bird’ — With Love” felt like an after-hours jazz club. “Love Songs” was achingly poignant.

And then, of course, “Revelations”. The piece that made me fall in love with Ailey and modern dance back when I was 13 years old has not lost any of its soul-stirring quality in the many times I’ve seen in. In fact, I think this was perhaps the most wonderful I’ve ever seen, perhaps because of Ms. Robinson’s presence. Or perhaps because a different movement of the piece speaks to me each time. “Wade in the Water” and “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham” are the ones I always remember, but the one that made me stand up and take notice this time was “Sinner Man.”

The audience deserves some credit for the awesomeness of the evening. For one, it was an evening to honor the first responders of the Boston Marathon bombing. For another… I don’t know, sometimes when I go to BB I feel like the audience is there out of some sense of duty. There always seems to be a contingent of people who are zipping for the exit the moment the performers start taking their bows for the final curtain call (RUDE, people!!!). This audience paid rapt attention throughout the show, even those back in the nosebleed section with us. They were on their feet at the conclusion of “Revelations” and I saw hardly any early exiters.

Altogether amazing (though I expected nothing less). Congratulations to Ms. Robinson on her tremendous career and, as always, a huge thanks to Mr. Ailey and those who have come since and preserved and grown his company to the heights it has reached. If I could have a wish granted to have the talent and strength to dance professionally that would be my dream company, hands down.

Not quite Swan Lake, but…

Wild Swans!

What?

Last night my e-mail was bombarded with messages from the studio… some relevant to my life, some not:

* Rehearsal schedule for the week (relevant)

* Reminder to book photo time for those wanting formal recital pics (not)

* Reminder about importance of participating in summer classes/camps/etc. (somewhat relevant)

* Parent observation week (not)

And finally a big huge relevant and a big huge happy surprise…

* The ballet company is planning a summer ballet! Woot!!!

They had done A Midsummer Night’s Dream a couple summers in a row (I was there for the second), but last year the director had a newborn, so putting on a ballet was a bit out of the question.

I hadn’t heard anything more about resuming the tradition and I know a bunch of kids are headed off to intensives and such at various points, so I figured the summer ballet concept was deader than a doornail. But… no!

And even better is that we will NOT be reprising MND. It was a fun ballet, but I think if we did it one more year in a row it would take on a very tired, Nutcracker-ish feel. I’m all for keeping things fresh.

Instead we’ll be performing The Wild Swans which is going to be a take on the Hans Christian Andersen story (I had to Google the original story… in Andersen’s there was a man with eleven sons and one daughter… seeing as we have a dearth of guys and a plethora of girls, ours shall have all daughters).

Auditions will be held less than a week after our annual recital production as we’re going to have less than two months to put the show together. Eek!

Very exciting!

NYCB Workout Review

I’m totally late to this party, but finally got the two discs of the New York City Ballet Workout from Netflix. I had been tempted to buy these from Amazon before, but I’ve gotten a fair number of “ballet-inspired” workouts in the past that left me anything but inspired, so I figured I’d rather give it a test run before I committed to buying it.

I’m still not sure whether I’ll add this to my collection, but the dancer in me likes these slightly more than the Bar Method, Tracy Anderson, or Ballet Beautiful. Maybe simply because these aren’t workouts to just make you look dancer-ish, but are supposedly based on real exercises that NYCBers do (or did… these were filmed over 10 years ago now!).

The two workouts are pretty similar: some warmups (think port de bras, pliés, slow balancés, etc.), core strengthening (abs, back, and push-ups), some floor barre, a bit of center barre (tendus, dégagés, grand battements, etc.), a bit of jumping.

I wouldn’t call it hard-core. I did work up a minor sweat, but I’ve got some kundalini yoga DVDs that leave me feeling far more drenched. However, I think it might be a worthwhile home DVD set for us dancers who might want to add a little something in on our days outside the studio. I especially liked the core strengthening and floor barre stuff. I’ve always wished I could take a floor barre class… the little bit I’ve experienced has given me a lot to think about in terms of how I approach exercises and which muscles I’m engaging. So I appreciated that. And it seemed to offer good cross-training to enhance what we do in class. Not a total substitute for ballet class and not a total substitute for a stretch and strengthen class, but close.

For the non-dancer, I don’t think the exercises here are so far out there that someone unfamiliar with ballet couldn’t pick it up after going through it a few times. There are some unfamiliar terms and they don’t go over the mechanics, but if someone was thinking of wanting to try ballet this might be a good way to practice a few things in the safety of the home before venturing into a studio. Nothing is too technically complex and a lot is done in parallel position. It might be frustrating the first couple times through, though. The filming, especially in the core and floor barre, used a lot of dark lighting so you couldn’t always see clearly what the dancers were demonstrating. And Peter Martins, though I love listening to his voice, does not explain things exactly as they’re happening.

The bonus materials were kind of fun on these… there were behind-the-scenes segments and interviews with the dancers featured in the workouts. If you’re a balletophile like me, you’re always curious to see what a day in the life is like. They are getting a bit dated now, though. The first one is copyrighted 2001, the second 2003, but still fun. Most of the dancers featured were in the corps de ballet at the time, so I’m curious to see how their careers ended up.

I wish there were more ballet workouts like this. It was more lively than some I’ve tried and definitely gave me the chance to work on some ballet-specific stuff in a space where I had time to really think about my turnout, abs, etc. I may add this to my collection, but even if I don’t it’s given me some ideas for things I can work on outside the studio.

Chroma!!!

Right now the show I consider to be the highlight of Boston Ballet’s 2012-2013 season is going on… Chroma!!!

Originally titled something snoozerific like “Spring Program,” Mikko Nissinen made the wise choice to retitle the bill to honor their premiere of Wayne McGregor’s incredible work. The show also featured two Balanchine works — Serenade and Symphony in C.

It was a gorgeous Saturday and the city of Boston was bustling with people alternately celebrating the food truck festival, the Kentucky Derby, and the Bruins playoff game. So lovely to see the city swarming with people. In the playbill both Nissinen and Barry Hughson (the executive director) addressed the recent tragedies in our city and spoke to the power of the arts to highlight the beauty that mankind can create and the sense of community we strengthen when we share an experience such as going to the ballet together.

Boston Strong.

The first piece was Serenade, which I saw NYCB do a couple years ago at SPAC. I thought the costuming looked familiar, though that was about all I remembered about the piece. The women are dressed in light blue leotards with a long, white, soft tulle skirt over top. I did remember seeing a tumble or two at NYCB at the hands of this costume and sadly saw one dancer slip last night on her skirt. My heart just breaks for the dancer when something like that happens! Aside from that brief moment, though, the piece was simply stunning. The dancer who stole my heart on this one was Seo Hye Han who, according to the playbill, is a member of the corps de ballet, but was a lead in this production. Her fluidity and her facial expression was so exquisite… Absolutely breathtaking. I won’t be surprised if I see that she’s been named a soloist next year.

One of the things I adore about this piece is the use of shapes and lines. His choreography for the leads is, of course, gorgeous, but the stuff the corps does is equally gorgeous. The lines they make, the interaction among the dancers, all just amazing. I found this YouTube video from NYCB with Ashley Bouder which I think sums up the piece nicely and gives you a little taste of the piece.

The ending, in particular, makes you want to cry or, at the very least, jump out of your seat and cheer wildly. Oh, and there was also one part where the Waltz Girl (I didn’t know the girls had different roles, but now, thanks to Ashley, I do!) is on the floor and one of the other female leads and her partner come out and the other girl does an arabesque en pointe in front of the Waltz girl while her partner kneels behind and turns her in a promenade (en pointe) by spinning her at the leg. I was amazed that the audience didn’t clap for that… it looks easy, but anyone who has been en pointe knows that it isn’t… especially to perform it without a moment off-balance. Stunning. Oh, and Tchaikovsky… that music. Sigh.

First intermission.

And now for something completely different.

CHROMA!!! Originally created for the Royal Ballet. I stumbled across another YouTube video of them performing this a couple years ago and fell in love with it from that alone. This is not the entire piece, by the way, but if you go to YouTube you can find the rest of it.

I was absolutely thrilled to see that Boston Ballet was going to be performing it this year. Now the one thing about watching a video and seeing it live is that you don’t get that perfect perspective. The video shows everything straight on and can zoom in on the faces and the individual dancers. When you’re stuck up in the mezzanine everything suddenly seems painfully far away. I am considering going back and watching this again from a different seat, hopefully one on the orchestra level and closer to the stage, because I want to see more. On the plus side, when watching a video the music comes across as much less dynamic. The Boston Ballet Orchestra rocked this one out. Seriously. The music was so intense. And how did I never notice before now that a good chunk of the music is Jack White’s (formerly of the White Stripes). The Hardest Button part was perhaps my favorite… that song made orchestral gave me a total adrenaline rush, so I can only imagine what it did for the dancers.

As for the dancers, I mean… wow, to go from Serenade which is contemporary, but very pretty, flowy, ballet-ish, to Wayne McGregor’s crazy inversions and intense moves… yet another testament to the versatility today’s ballet dancer must have. BB came through, as always, in tremendous fashion. Oh, and the set… I absolutely love the set. Ours came courtesy of the National Ballet of Canada… I was wondering if they had to build their own. As you can see from the video it looks like the dancers are in a big white box with just one entrance on either side and then the square hole in the back which dancers enter and then step over onto the main stage. I really… I just… I need more Chroma, please!!!

What particularly thrilled me about this was how much the audience loved it. I know contemporary stuff can be a bit risky and some ballet-goers just don’t like it. I saw some people disappear during intermissions of All Kylián, for example. But after this the audience was on its feet, applauding and cheering loudly. They did me proud on that one!

Another intermission in which we collect ourselves and calm down to get ready for the more sedate Symphony in C.

This… perhaps my least favorite piece of the evening. Which is not meant to be negative, simply that after the gorgeousness of Serenade and the hair-raising adventure of Chroma the audience member is a bit spent and Symphony in C is a bit, hm… floofy. It’s got the more traditional looking dancers in their tutus dancing prettily. But, upon reflection, this was probably the best way to end the evening. Brings the tone back down a bit.

There are four movements in this piece with a finale that features 52 dancers on stage at the same time. Fifty-two!!! That is simply amazing and breathtaking all on its own. I believe there were some BBS students included in that, as well. It might sound crazy to say that I had a favorite dancer among 52, but Jeffrey Cirio in the third movement was mine. His jumps and leaps make him appear weightless. He lands like a cat, without a sound, and then springs back up again. The other men are terrific, as well, but he just has this quality that makes it look simply effortless and incredibly fun. All the dancers were incredible, of course. Though there was one corps dancers whose port de bras drove me batty. I realize that there are different schools of thought on the wrists and how straight they should be, but her port de bras looked perpetually broken at the wrist and it was maddeningly distracting.

After seeing two Balanchine pieces on this particular evening my respect for his choreography increased moreso. The way he uses the music is simply incredible. It’s like the score and the choreography were made to go together. The steps highlight all the right parts in the music. Being both a musician and a dancer it just seems so… right! The other thing I love is his use of technique and simplicity. I obviously respect boundary-breaking and funkiness in dance, but there’s something, too, to be said for pure, clean technique. Sometimes through the simplicity the audience can focus more on the emotion being expressed. I always think of pliés and tendus as those things you do in class because it’s good for you and it’s the basis of so much of our movement. Balanchine manages to make them dance steps that look good! All on their own. The corps doing a nice tendu en croix with port de bras is suddenly a stunning frame for the action in the center.

Altogether a lovely evening of dancing capped by a special treat after the show: one of Mikko Nissinen’s post-show talks in the lobby. He, Russell Kaiser (the assistant artistic director), and Ashley Ellis (a soloist according to the program, but, as Nissinen announced to us, now a principal dancer!) chatted with the group that remained about the program, upcoming events, and the BB 50th anniversary season coming up in a few short months. There were some great audience questions about how long it took to prepare the works and how the dancers are chosen for different pieces. It surprised me to learn that the rehearsal time is actually fairly limited. After hearing exactly how many things the group has in the works at any given time — I mean, not only do they have the home season in the works, but they’re also putting together different pieces to perform in Washington DC and in London — it amazes me that they can present everything so professionally. Of course, I imagine that for dancers who have been around a few years, much of what they do is in the rep, so when they approach it to prepare for a performance it’s not like everything coming at them is brand new. They’ve seen it before and it’s a matter of simply relearning, tidying, etc. Plus, I realize I’m looking at this from the perspective of a recreational dancer. I only get to work on pieces for an hour or two a week. They are doing many more pieces, but since it’s their job working on them day in and day out for a few weeks will yield much greater results than my sporadic practice. But still… impressive, nonetheless.

I really am seriously considering heading back for a second helping of Chroma before the run ends next weekend. If you’re in the area I suggest you get at least one dose in. You won’t regret it.

Some say I’m high maintenance…

But who can help it when one has been crowned a princess?

That’s right.

Princess Rori, comin’ atcha!

I guess there somehow ended up being an odd number of princesses in Cinderella, so I just got drafted to even out the ranks.

I do hope this means a tiara is in my future!

Oh… and, uh… I guess this means I need to stop being a slacker about pointe class. Good thing I finally got my custom Freeds sewn up!

It gives you wiiiings!!!

Did I mention that my studio is doing Cinderella for our annual recital?

We are.

And our all-adult ballet class is playing the role of Winter Fairies. In case you don’t get the drift, the Spring Fairies are little kids (6-7 year old range), the Summer Fairies are slightly older kids (10-11 or so), the Autumn Fairies are the teens en pointe, and then there’s us… the Winter Fairies, AKA the one-foot-in-the-grave fairies. Hahaha…

Of course fairies need wings.

This week we got to practice our dance wearing the wings.

Keep in mind that we have not yet received our costumes, so it was us in our normal dance attire with wings on top.

Did I also mention that this studio has a LOT of windows that face into the rest of the school?

So here we are, a bunch of “mature” ladies, rehearsing away in T-shirts, leotards, and… wings. While the other students and their parents come and go, looking in the windows as they pass, and GIGGLING!

Giggling, dear reader!!!

Now who would laugh at old ladies in wings, who?! I ask you.

Okay, it was a pretty comical sight.

One of my dance friends got too close to the mirror and got the edge of her wing stuck in the crack in the mirror mid-dance. A few of us got bopped in the heads with our flapping wings. Flying takes practice, it seems.

They do have a nice added benefit of ensuring lovely posture, however. You can’t help but keep your shoulders back when the alternative means being smacked in the face with a glittery wing.

I can’t wait to see what dancing in a shield with a hood will be like for my hip-hop Guard dance. Or dancing in an apron and mob cap with a basket in hand for our lyrical Baker dance. Thankfully our mixed teen/adult ballet Townspeople dance seems to be straightforward with no props or funky costume elements whatsoever!