The course of true love never did run smooth.
ABT ought to be cutting edge, since they continue to call themselves America's company. Yet here we are in the twenty-first century, and they seem to have only just discovered the artistic possibilities of the non-hetero, not to mention the commercial possibilities of having a Pride Night.
This seems to be where the dancers have invested their energies. Everything absent from last week's Giselle turned up in the mixed program. (It seems someone needs to remind the youngsters that those creaky old warhorses are the stuff that pays the bills for the new works which spark their interests.)
Alexei Ratmansky is said to be a taskmaster. If so, he seems to be exactly what the dancers need to bring out their full potential. A new Ratmansky work is always a cause for joy, and Bernstein in a Bubble brought out the exuberance of ballet, both for those who dance and those who can only sit and watch. Dancers who seemed to barely make it through the technical demands of Giselle, in this piece appeared to have rediscovered their reason for living.
Christopher Rudd's Touche is hardly groundbreaking, but ABT treats it as such. Romantic pas between same sex couples are nothing new, especially those which explore the angst of working through "forbidden" desires. It's easy to act out that which you may already feel. The challenge of ballet theater is to figure out how to portray a character unlike yourself. Where his performance as Albrecht fell flat, Calvin Royal managed to wow the audience in Touche. Hopefully he'll soon learn to translate his experiences to unfamiliar roles.
A revival of Clark Tippet's whimsical Some Assembly Required reflected all the ups and downs of a courtship, in a completely different manner from the previous piece. One wonders what possibilities might be unleashed if this choreography were set on a same sex couple. Granted, some of the lifting might have to be adapted if set on two women – or even on two men – but such an exploration could serve to shake the cobwebs off the company's artistic direction.
Darrell Grand Moultrie's Indestructible Light finally saw the light of day, so to speak. While the original version received a digital premiere last fall, an expanded version was brought to the stage for this fall's season. The only piece on the evening set to recorded music, it features the works of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Billy Strayhorn, among others. It's a Beat Generation ballet, the costumes and choreography gender neutral and infused with the experimental ideas of that era. The set piece consisted of a single wall, flown in and out, reminiscent of Nacho Duato's Remanso, as were the dancers ducking in and out from behind it. It was a fitting end to a festive program.
Of the special Pride Night "discussions" I cannot tell. I didn't stay for it. I'm too busy living it.
ABT ought to be cutting edge, since they continue to call themselves America's company. Yet here we are in the twenty-first century, and they seem to have only just discovered the artistic possibilities of the non-hetero, not to mention the commercial possibilities of having a Pride Night.
This seems to be where the dancers have invested their energies. Everything absent from last week's Giselle turned up in the mixed program. (It seems someone needs to remind the youngsters that those creaky old warhorses are the stuff that pays the bills for the new works which spark their interests.)
Alexei Ratmansky is said to be a taskmaster. If so, he seems to be exactly what the dancers need to bring out their full potential. A new Ratmansky work is always a cause for joy, and Bernstein in a Bubble brought out the exuberance of ballet, both for those who dance and those who can only sit and watch. Dancers who seemed to barely make it through the technical demands of Giselle, in this piece appeared to have rediscovered their reason for living.
Christopher Rudd's Touche is hardly groundbreaking, but ABT treats it as such. Romantic pas between same sex couples are nothing new, especially those which explore the angst of working through "forbidden" desires. It's easy to act out that which you may already feel. The challenge of ballet theater is to figure out how to portray a character unlike yourself. Where his performance as Albrecht fell flat, Calvin Royal managed to wow the audience in Touche. Hopefully he'll soon learn to translate his experiences to unfamiliar roles.
A revival of Clark Tippet's whimsical Some Assembly Required reflected all the ups and downs of a courtship, in a completely different manner from the previous piece. One wonders what possibilities might be unleashed if this choreography were set on a same sex couple. Granted, some of the lifting might have to be adapted if set on two women – or even on two men – but such an exploration could serve to shake the cobwebs off the company's artistic direction.
Darrell Grand Moultrie's Indestructible Light finally saw the light of day, so to speak. While the original version received a digital premiere last fall, an expanded version was brought to the stage for this fall's season. The only piece on the evening set to recorded music, it features the works of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Billy Strayhorn, among others. It's a Beat Generation ballet, the costumes and choreography gender neutral and infused with the experimental ideas of that era. The set piece consisted of a single wall, flown in and out, reminiscent of Nacho Duato's Remanso, as were the dancers ducking in and out from behind it. It was a fitting end to a festive program.
Of the special Pride Night "discussions" I cannot tell. I didn't stay for it. I'm too busy living it.