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Jun. 10th, 2007 08:45 pmToday marked the end of the Pacific Northwest Ballet's season, and the programme was set to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Igor Stravinsky's birth. The performance was comprised of four pieces, with an intermission after the second and third.
First on the bill was Circus Polka, originally built by Jerone Robbins upon the Ringling Bros., Barnum and Bailey Circus- the initial work was for eight young women and eight elephants, but restaged in 1972 on a corps de ballet of forty-eight students with a ringmaster. This eight-minute piece was light and amusing, and it was fun to see the children perform. It was followed, after a brief pause to reset the stage, by Balanchine's Rubies- the third time in the past two seasons that PNB has danced this piece. As a result, it was somewhat tired, with the exception of a daring interpretation by Kari Brunson of the second lead female role- she managed to imbue it with a subtle sensuality which was not evidenced in the other dancers we have seen in the role.
After the first intermission was State of Darkness, set to Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps. For the first time since we've been attending the ballet, i think we were poorly served by having heard PNB Education Director Doug Fullington's description of this piece, as the performance abjectly failed to meet the expectation set by the talk. In spite of a thirty-two minute solo by Rachel Foster- unusual in the ballet world, where most solos are five minutes or less- Molissa Fenley's choreography seemed poorly matched to the Stravinsky score and felt erratically paced and inconsistent, resulting in a piece of dance which seemed tediously long and showed no real progress along a story arc toward a conclusion. When the piece finally concluded, it was clear that Ms. Foster had poured herself into the role, but her labour could not save but produce some beautiful elements in what otherwise failed to make an emotional connection.
The performance closed to Balanchine's choreography to Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements and allowed the afternoon to close on a strong note. Peter Boal continues to shake up the traditional positions and roles, pairing both principals and soloists with corps de ballet members, but to good effect here, as the corps members seem to fill the more prominent roles more than adequately. With this repetoire closing out the performing careers of principals Patricia Barker and Christophe Maraval, it leaves room for speculation what promotions may follow in the autumn.
First on the bill was Circus Polka, originally built by Jerone Robbins upon the Ringling Bros., Barnum and Bailey Circus- the initial work was for eight young women and eight elephants, but restaged in 1972 on a corps de ballet of forty-eight students with a ringmaster. This eight-minute piece was light and amusing, and it was fun to see the children perform. It was followed, after a brief pause to reset the stage, by Balanchine's Rubies- the third time in the past two seasons that PNB has danced this piece. As a result, it was somewhat tired, with the exception of a daring interpretation by Kari Brunson of the second lead female role- she managed to imbue it with a subtle sensuality which was not evidenced in the other dancers we have seen in the role.
After the first intermission was State of Darkness, set to Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps. For the first time since we've been attending the ballet, i think we were poorly served by having heard PNB Education Director Doug Fullington's description of this piece, as the performance abjectly failed to meet the expectation set by the talk. In spite of a thirty-two minute solo by Rachel Foster- unusual in the ballet world, where most solos are five minutes or less- Molissa Fenley's choreography seemed poorly matched to the Stravinsky score and felt erratically paced and inconsistent, resulting in a piece of dance which seemed tediously long and showed no real progress along a story arc toward a conclusion. When the piece finally concluded, it was clear that Ms. Foster had poured herself into the role, but her labour could not save but produce some beautiful elements in what otherwise failed to make an emotional connection.
The performance closed to Balanchine's choreography to Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements and allowed the afternoon to close on a strong note. Peter Boal continues to shake up the traditional positions and roles, pairing both principals and soloists with corps de ballet members, but to good effect here, as the corps members seem to fill the more prominent roles more than adequately. With this repetoire closing out the performing careers of principals Patricia Barker and Christophe Maraval, it leaves room for speculation what promotions may follow in the autumn.
