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Oct. 1st, 2006 07:11 pmBirthday well-wishes today to both![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
daemonwolf and hippybngstockng.
Are none of the locals on my f-list ballet fans, or do you simply need more notice to make a performance? As it turned out,damashita was determined to attend, and we both went despite being slightly off. As season ticket holders, we can get additional seats for upcoming performances should anyone be interested in attending future performances with us- and there are some coming up this year which should be fantastic (including both Swan Lake and Carmina Burana).
Today's performances: "Fancy Free", "In the middle, somewhat elevated", and "Theme and Variations".
"Fancy Free", with choreography by Jerome Robbins and music by Leonard Bernstein, was the original form of what became On the Town, featuring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and the irrepressible Ann Miller. It was Robbins' first ballet and Bernstein's first score. Today's performance featured Louise Nadeau in the Janet Reed role. This ballet combines classical and contemporary (to 1944) elements, and serves as a bridge piece between the modern and the classical styles. It also portrays a very clear story without a single word being spoken, and is still a crowd favourite after sixty-two years. Today's performance was no exception.
"In the middle, somewhat elevated" is a William Forsythe piece around music by Thom Willems. Originally created for the Paris Opera Ballet, the title doesn't refer to any particular choreography, but to the sole ornamentation on-stage, placed at the insistance of the Paris Opera- there are a pair of gilded cherries hung at centre stage, perhaps four metres above the performers. The rest of the stage dressing is mimimalist and black. In the strictest sense, "In the middle, somewhat elevated" is a theme and variations on a very contemporary score, and utilizing both classical ballet and modern dance vocabulary. If anything, this piece is too ambitious- there are things happening all over the stage, which make the viewer glad there aren't distracting scene elements. The score fits the visuals well- there are complex, shifting polyrhythms which match the intricate choreography well. Arianna Lallone, Patricia Barker, and Jeffrey Stanton are featured, but supported by four other principals and two members of the corps de ballet.
"Themes and Variations" is a classic ballet, choreographed by George Balanchine on the final movement of Tchaikovsky's Suite No. 3 in G major. In typical Balanchinesque style, it is somewhat progressive and foreshadows later Balanchine neo-classicism within the structure of a traditionally cast classic ballet. Carrie Imler and Batkhurel Bold were today's featured dancers in the lead ballerina and cavalier roles, supported by four couples and an eight couple corps de ballet. Mikhail Baryshnikov rates these "Themes and Variations" as the most difficult he ever danced. It doesn't take a trained eye to appreciate the intricacy of the artistry, and the company does not dissapoint.
November's repetoire pieces from the Pacific Northwest Ballet feature four ballets- three PNB premieres and one world premier- the latter the work of Los Angeles-based choreographer Victor Quijada, made prominent in his work with the Montreal Rubberbanddance Group.
daemonwolf and hippybngstockng.Are none of the locals on my f-list ballet fans, or do you simply need more notice to make a performance? As it turned out,
damashita was determined to attend, and we both went despite being slightly off. As season ticket holders, we can get additional seats for upcoming performances should anyone be interested in attending future performances with us- and there are some coming up this year which should be fantastic (including both Swan Lake and Carmina Burana).Today's performances: "Fancy Free", "In the middle, somewhat elevated", and "Theme and Variations".
"Fancy Free", with choreography by Jerome Robbins and music by Leonard Bernstein, was the original form of what became On the Town, featuring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and the irrepressible Ann Miller. It was Robbins' first ballet and Bernstein's first score. Today's performance featured Louise Nadeau in the Janet Reed role. This ballet combines classical and contemporary (to 1944) elements, and serves as a bridge piece between the modern and the classical styles. It also portrays a very clear story without a single word being spoken, and is still a crowd favourite after sixty-two years. Today's performance was no exception.
"In the middle, somewhat elevated" is a William Forsythe piece around music by Thom Willems. Originally created for the Paris Opera Ballet, the title doesn't refer to any particular choreography, but to the sole ornamentation on-stage, placed at the insistance of the Paris Opera- there are a pair of gilded cherries hung at centre stage, perhaps four metres above the performers. The rest of the stage dressing is mimimalist and black. In the strictest sense, "In the middle, somewhat elevated" is a theme and variations on a very contemporary score, and utilizing both classical ballet and modern dance vocabulary. If anything, this piece is too ambitious- there are things happening all over the stage, which make the viewer glad there aren't distracting scene elements. The score fits the visuals well- there are complex, shifting polyrhythms which match the intricate choreography well. Arianna Lallone, Patricia Barker, and Jeffrey Stanton are featured, but supported by four other principals and two members of the corps de ballet.
"Themes and Variations" is a classic ballet, choreographed by George Balanchine on the final movement of Tchaikovsky's Suite No. 3 in G major. In typical Balanchinesque style, it is somewhat progressive and foreshadows later Balanchine neo-classicism within the structure of a traditionally cast classic ballet. Carrie Imler and Batkhurel Bold were today's featured dancers in the lead ballerina and cavalier roles, supported by four couples and an eight couple corps de ballet. Mikhail Baryshnikov rates these "Themes and Variations" as the most difficult he ever danced. It doesn't take a trained eye to appreciate the intricacy of the artistry, and the company does not dissapoint.
November's repetoire pieces from the Pacific Northwest Ballet feature four ballets- three PNB premieres and one world premier- the latter the work of Los Angeles-based choreographer Victor Quijada, made prominent in his work with the Montreal Rubberbanddance Group.
