Pacific Northwest Ballet’s November valentine to the romance of dance lets the tutu story ballet lovers snuggle up to the “just the dance, please not mime again” folks.
Both should come away satisfied by the evening’s offerings and perhaps willing to share the other’s passion.
Both Balanchine's Divertimento from "Le Baiser de la Fée" and Jerome Robbins’ reworking of Afternoon of a Faun provide a very modern approach to the pull and push of love, yet both hint at a bigger story behind their respective pas de deuxes. The Robbins piece moves the faun out of the woods and into a ballet studio in a witty commentary on necessary narcissism of ballet. Like all dancers in a studio, neither the faun nor his nymph can resist checking how their romance is progressing in the mirror.
Jean-Christophe Maillot's balcony pas de deux from Roméo et Juliette practically swoons with teenage hormones, angst, and delight. In this delightful bonbon, you can forget the impeding tragedy of Shakespeare’s tale and concentrate on how very cute this Capulet and Montague look together.
The Black Swan pas de deux from Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake is all about the tutu and the famous fouettes of the spinning seductress. Yes it is an essential part of a story ballet, but standing alone, you can appreciate the sheer technical difficulty for the swan as she whips herself around and around in those spinning turns.
The fairytale happy ending concludes the evening: Aurora's Wedding from Ronald Hynd’s The Sleeping Beauty. Look for a number of silly pas de deux, including a delight Puss-In-Boots and White Cat, as well as a nifty Bad Wolf and darling Red Riding Hood.
Love Stories continues through Nov. 13 at McCaw Hall. For more information, check www.pnb.org.
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