|
|
||
Extra Andrea
Nemerson's Norman
Solomon's nessie's Tom
Tomorrow's
PG&E and the California energy crisis Arts and Entertainment Electric
Habitat Tiger
on beat Frequencies
Culture Techsploitation
Without
Reservations Cheap
Eats
|
|||
    |
|||
 |
PERSONALS | MOVIE CLOCK | REP CLOCK | SEARCH
By Rita FelcianoDANCEGOERS DON'T CARE whether ballet is a specific style of dancing – a western European form of ethnic dance with its own contexts, traditions, and history, as anthropologist Joann Kealiinohomoku asserted 30 years ago – or an anatomically based universal language that "would have to be invented if it didn't already exist," as choreographer Alonzo King has stated. What an audience wants is an honestly conceived and emotionally communicative piece of work. Yet there is a special pleasure in watching the ways in which a language codified at a French king's court more than three centuries ago continues to evolve. Yes, there are grammatical rules – turn out, pointe work, elevated center of gravity – but they can be infinitely adapted and modified. SFB might be the most eloquent ballet repertory in the country. That is artistic director Helgi Tomasson's greatest achievement – he's assembled an exquisitely trained ensemble of dancers from all over the world who are constantly challenged in new repertoire. Who else but Tomasson would program L'arlésienne (April 4), by Roland Petit, a choreographer much admired in Europe and almost universally despised in this country? It isn't a great piece, and the dancers had a heck of a time with its parallel positions and requisite uniformity. But it stretched preconceptions – theirs and ours. Last week's programs presented two world premieres that couldn't have been more different from each other. Tomasson's Chi-Lin (April 3) was an homage to gorgeous ballerina Yua Yuan Tan and Tomasson's attempt to enter fusion dance. Continuum (April 4) was by Christopher Wheeldon, a young British choreographer that some balletomanes persist in touting as the ever elusive successor to Balanchine. Tomasson patched together a score for Chi-Lin from a number of pieces by Bright Sheng, who possesses a lovely flair for melody and an easygoing sense of East-meets-West in his orchestral writing. However, despite its lavish production Chi-Lin was choreographically thin, and its use of ensemble dancing flirted with mindless appropriation of Chinese folk traditions. In the central pas de deux Tan looked stunning. She unfolded and curled her limbs around a slippery Damian Smith, perching birdlike on her pointes or flitting around as if windblown. What the duet did not do was reveal some theretofore unexplored aspect of Tan as a dancer. It was an opportunity missed. The rest of the choreography – for Yuri Possokhov as a powerfully leaping Dragon and Parrish Maynard as a space-eating Phoenix – was problematic to say the least. Clearly, and admirably, Tomasson was trying not to choreograph literally for these animal emblems of Chinese philosophy. But he didn't tell us why they were in the piece in the first place. Wheeldon has admitted to Balanchine's influence on Polyphonia, the first of his explorations of Gyorgy Ligeti's music, choreographed for New York City Ballet last year. SFB's Continuum is the second in what may become an ongoing series of interpretations of the Hungarian composer's constantly shifting cluster harmonies. Wheeldon's 10 miniatures – for four couples – bounced around Ligeti's sound world inventively, displaying an occasional touch of humor. While Balanchine's heritage cannot be denied, Wheeldon is his own
man. Continuum's choreography was hieratic: dancers moved through
apparently preordained patterns. But it was also explorative: arms
pushed against unseen spatial obstacles, and torsos found fresh ways
to intertwine. A walking dance for women possessed ceremonial formality.
A hand-holding buddy quartet for the men bowed to the tradition of
garland dances even as its casual male camaraderie recalled Jerome
Robbins. Particularly fresh was Wheeldon's free use of the floor,
still somewhat unusual in ballet choreography.
|
||
