The Pacific Northwest Ballet kicked off its 2010 season with a sure fine winner, but a winner of a most curious type.
There is often dichotomy between the demands of their more traditional clientele who wish to see classical ballets performed with technical excellence and a younger clientele, who are prepared and indeed encourage a culture of innovation and even risk taking in choreography.
It is rare to see a program that appeared to delight and enthrall both equally. In Directors Choice, I believe
I saw that in the faces of an exhilarated audience for the very first time.
Not that it was all plain sailing. The night opened with Petite Mort, Jiri Kylian's choreography set to the works of Mozart. Six male dancers held foils, fencing swords to the uninitiated. They danced with them, under the vague insinuation that they were more dancing partners than weapons. Perhaps aware of the greater glories to follow, the cast especially the men seemed less than full hearted about it; none more so than Karel Cruz whose swordsmanship was repeatedly a split second behind the other five. This was a little distracting but there was redemption. The females rolled onto stage holding enormous 18th century bouffoned dresses mounted on wheels in front of their bodies, as if they were wearing them.
The pictorial humour was abetted by some good acting by the ladies and although we weren't to know it at the
time, the costumes were to be used for even greater comic effect throughout the night.
This was PNB's second attempt at Petite Mort and despite the glitches in the actual timing, was a reasonable selection to begin the show. However well it was done though, would have been irrelevant given the glories to follow.
Jiri Kylian borrowed from Mozart again for Sechs Tänze, however this time with spectacular results.
With the male performers, Barry Kerollis, Andrew Bartee, William Lin-Yee, James Moore, Josh Spell, Sean Rollofson and Ezra Thomson some clad in Mozart-style white wigs heavily doused in make-up powder, the cast of seven men and six women enchanted the audience with some of the best comedic and free-form dancing I have ever witnessed at this venue.
Those dresses returned and were used to magnificent comic effect by Chalnessa Eames, Rachel Foster, Carrie Imler, Kylkee Kitchens, Abby Relic and Brittany Reid.
You could feel something happening throughout the auditorium. There is a suppressed murmur that goes about a hall when audiences just want to scream with joy but respect for the performance and the etiquette of the art-form means they have to hold it in. Yet you can see heads tilt, as people lean into their partners to silently share that emotion.
But there is one monumental exception to the dignified silence rule at the Pacific Northwest Ballet. You're allowed to laugh. And we did, as some fine dancers showed they had grasped the concept of comedic timing like a clown to the proverbial custard pie. Not only did we love it, but the dancers own elation was self-evident. They fed off the crowd and the crowd off them. Most undignified and most magnificent.
First performed in 1986 at the Nederlands Dans Theater, it has taken 24 years for this piece to debut at the PNB. Many of those watching on opening night will be seeing it for a second time within the next two weeks.
Sechs Tänze was always going to be a hard act to follow and in the past PNB has failed to follow something exceptional appropriately, leaving us to question the running order.
This time, they managed to find the perfect successor.
Jardi Tancat is not based on Mozart. Traditional Catalonian folk songs make up the musical accompaniment for Nacho Duato's choreography. It was a burst of colour as Nacho Duato's own costumes brought the feel of a Catalonian village to the stage. It has to be said what whereas the men, shrill in the femininity of those white wigs, stole the show slightly in Sechs Tänze, Jardi Tancat belonged to the women, perhaps as would be the case in a Catalonian village around the time the songs were written.
In Cançó De Na Ruixa Mantells, the act comes to a crescendo almost as if the village were reaching the day of a fete for which they had been lustily preparing. Rachel Foster stood out in this piece. Featured on the cover of Dance Magazine's January 2009 issue as one of 2009's 25 to watch, this performance was for me the most memorable I have ever seen her give. Solid back up came from the expressive Ariana Lallone and Carrie Imler who added to both the joy (ours) and the enjoyment (theirs) of a piece I would happily watch again.
The night finished with Glass Pieces, consisting of three separate pieces. Rubric was a splendidly danced creation as six primary dancers weaved their way through the corps de ballet walking diagonally across the stage like pedestrians, among whom art was being woven.
Carla Korbes and Batkhurel Bold excelled in Facades which followed it. By then, the verdict was in. The 2010 version of Directors Choice was a resounding success and a triumph for Peter Boal.
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