PNB Produces the Show We’ll Still be Talking about Next Year
There is a perennial debate in the upper echelons of the PNB which also spreads beyond into the press core and the audience. They can bring us a flawless and safe Swan Lake and fill the hall. It makes sense economically and the dancers know their parts superbly. The alternative is to experiment, introduce new choreography and breathe new life into the company and indeed the art form.
Last night, the PNB did the latter and did it so well, that many were overheard saying they would return. Last night at 3 By Dove, the only frilly tutus visible were on sale in the shop. The sets were minimalist, though exciting, and the pace of the night was breathtaking. If this was PNB’s attempt to appeal to a newer younger demographic, they are going the right way about it. And lest I forget, it was very very sexy indeed.
Ulysses Dove was the choreographer for three of the four parts of the show and lends his name to the title. Dove is an interesting character. For one, when he wrote Vespers, Red Angels and Serious Players, he had no dance company of his own. So he didn’t write the parts for any specific dancer, which means he was neither constrained nor motivated by the particular strengths or weaknesses of any individuals in his mind. Secondly, there was no right or wrong in any of the parts, allowing each individual performer to fully express themselves. That, they did. 14 years after his death, his work is still winning new fans, especially among a noticeably younger than usual audience last night.
Many moons ago, well in January 2009, the PNB produced a show called Jewels. One of the pieces was named Rubies, and the piece has lived on in PNB folklore ever since. Every modern dance attempt in the last 14 months has been compared to Rubies, and in particular to the majestic performance of Ariana Lallone on the night.
Last night for the first time since, a piece reached the giddy heights of being compared favourably to Rubies. With a certain irony, the theme of the highly acclaimed piece, Red Angels, also had a scarlet hue. And the coincidences did not end there. Once more Ms Lallone was involved. The former PNB School student from Woodland Hills, CA, is fast becoming the modern dance fan’s pin up girl. Promoted to soloist in 1993 and principal in 1994, Ariana is fast gathering an audience and fan club of her own rivaling that of the departed and missed Louis Nadeau. And again, therein lies another irony. For the Jewels show threatened to be overshadowed by the announcement of the Louise’s retirement on the eve of its opening night. Then Ariana’s performance made the sadness of losing Louise a little easier. And looking back at my review for Prost Amerika at the time, I found these prophetic words written on the night:
“However to assuage our grief, last night a new star may have been born. Although a member of the PNB since 1987 and a Principal Ballerina since 1993, the Rozann-Zimmerman trained Ariana Lallone made such an impact last night for her performance in Rubies that one found it hard to stop talking about her for quite a while.”
Not that Ariana carried Red Angels alone. Olivier Wevers, who deserves to be that rarity – a famous Belgian, Lesley Rausch and Lucien Postlewaite made up the quartet and I don’t recall seeing them ever more agile, more expressive and more unconstrained. Mary Rowell accompanied them on her violin, with which she made a great contribution, and this merely served to reinforce the impression we were watching something edgy and daring.
Dove’s Vespers kicked off the evening. Six females clad in black danced, in a theme inspired by memories Dove had of his grandmother and her friends praying at a spartan hall. It was an energetic piece, and had I had time to write between it and the Red Angels piece that followed, I may have been able to gush. But what was to follow blew me, and many others, away.
The sole non Dove piece was Suspension of Disbelief, choreographed by Victor Quijada, whose career began in the hip hop clubs of Los Angeles. Once again, it was a highly energetic piece and the set drew a gasp and a round of applause, which is always a moment I appreciate at McCaw, whether it be at the PNB or the Seattle Opera. This was Quijada’s first collaboration with the PNB. Set to music by Mitchell Akiyama, it was very modern but proceeded at a time when there was a hunger for the last Dove piece to come. Nonetheless, Quijada’s next collaboration will be looked forward to with some anticipation.
I once asked the Press Officer of the PNB if it was okay to mention sex in a PNB review. His answer was 100% accurate, ‘if something on the stage provokes that reaction inside you, would you want your readers to know?’ Actually, it was simply ‘Yes’.
This brings me to Serious Pleasures, Dove’s third work of the night. And that famous photo of March 2009! In that month, PNB did a show called Broadway. One of the pieces was based on Dave Brubeck’s famous jazz classic Take 5. In Take 5, Kari Brunson produced perhaps the most sensual and sexual imagery I have seen on the PNB stage. But don’t take my word for it. For PNB Photographer Angela Sterling captured the moment superbly in probably the best PNB photo ever. A fellow reviewer introduced the photo into the conversation last night when we were discussing Red Angels, Serious Pleasures, and the general themes of sex and the ballet. And once again, just like in Red Angels, the general view was that we may have seen a high point surpassed.
(See Angela’s famous photo of Kari Brunson in Take 5)
Lindsi Dec, Karel Cruz, Seth Orza, Sarah Ricard Orza, Arian Lallone, Jordan Pacitti, Lesley Rausch and James Moore gave their all as they appeared and disappeared inside doors in the scenery that at first resembled the changing rooms in a clothing store. Then the original lighting design of William H Grant did something remarkable that drew the breath of all. The stage lights dimmed and lights inside the small booths illuminated to reveal the four ladies dancing sensually, as if in a cage in an adult bar. Don’t let anyone tell you the PNB is stuffy. This was the most daring thing I’ve seen them do and no wonder the mind flew back to the sheer sensuality of Take 5 and Kari Brunson. In Serious Pleasures, if I, as a hetero male, had to pick one pleasure, it would be Lesley Rausch who threw herself into the role as one of the “Demons of Light” as the ladies were called. I wish I could find you a more technical term than engaging, mesmerizing, sensual and erotic. But as all four of them more than accurately described Serious Pleasures, why look up a manual?
And to think I nearly didn’t go to this, and assigned it to another reviewer. I would have been the loser had I done that. You can be the person talking about 3 By Dove for the next year or you can be the person hearing about it. I recommend the former.
Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancers Ariana Lallone and Olivier Wevers in Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels. Photo © Angela Sterling
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