Where Were You Sitting?

Billie Who?

"Blueprint of a Lady: The Once and Future Life of Billie Holiday"
Nnenna Freelon and Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE
Eisenhower Theater
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
December 7, 2006

by Alexandra Tomalonis
copyright 2006 by Alexandra Tomalonis

It sounded like a good idea: a collaborative peformance between a singer (Nnenna Freelon) and a choreographer (Ronald K. Brown) to celebrate the world of Billie Holiday, using Holiday's music as the unifying device. At least this promised lots of good music. Many of Holiday's signature songs were included: "God Bless the Child," "What is a Lady?", "Now Baby or Never," "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and about a half-dozen others. Freelon moved throughout the piece (approximately one hour, plus intermission), interacting with the dancers, sometimes seeming to be a part of Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, sometimes commenting on what the the dancers were doing, sometimes making the dancers seem imaginary, dancing out Holiday's struggles and dreams. It really was a nice idea.

Breaking News!

The Royal Opera announced Friday that Sir Elton John will be named Resident Composer immediately, if not sooner. Spokesman Reginald Foggybrane broke the news, which stunned the opera world and caused other Rocker Knights to spit nails.

"When the Ballet appointed Wayne McGregor as Resident Choreographer, well, that was a real wake up call for us," Foggybrane explained. "We could not be left behind. We don't want to lose out on the youth movement that's desperate to see the lyric arts, if only they could relate to them.”

Pleasures and Questions

“La Valse," "Enigma Variations," "Tanglewood," "Gloria"
The Royal Ballet
Opera House, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC, USA
June 20 and 21, 2006

by Alexandra Tomalonis
copyright ©2006, Alexandra Tomalonis

This year, Britain’s Royal Ballet celebrates its 75th anniversary. During much of those 75 years, the company set the standard for classical ballet in the West, preserving the 19th century Petipa ballets as well as classics from the Diaghilev era and presenting brilliant new ballets by its own choreographers that have since become classics. Ballet companies’ fortunes are as variable as those of corporations or football teams, and the Royal has had a rough go of it for some time now. Changes at the School and an influx of foreign-trained dancers that eroded the company’s style and identity, several seasons without its home stage when Covent Garden was under renovation, an unfortunate change in directorship — all took their toll. If the company isn’t quite back to its full former glory, its brief appearance in Washington this past week showed that the current director, Monica Mason, a former RB ballerina, is steering the ship with a sure hand.

Style Points

"Giselle"
The Kirov Ballet of the Maryinsky Theatre
Opera House, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC, USA
June 13 & 15, 2006

by Alexandra Tomalonis
copyright ©2006, Alexandra Tomalonis

There were moments this weekend when the Kirov’s corps de ballet danced with such sweet, sonorous uniformity — arms joined in a heartless meandering line to point Hans (Hilarion to the rest of the world) to his doom, bodies as alike as sisters and as individual as only beautifully trained dancers can be — that all seemed right with the world. It wasn't perfect. The company’s production of “Giselle” looks musty and under directed; mime speeches we don’t need are there in full while those we do need are cut or muffled, some of the costumes are gorgeous while others are way past their prime, and, most important, the second act is danced like an abstract ballet, totally devoid of drama. But at its best the corps breathes life into this old, Romantic ballet. During the curtain calls Thursday night, Daria Pavlenko and Igor Kolb, who had danced Giselle and Albrecht, each went to a corner of the stage, turned, and bowed to the corps, and the tribute was indeed well-deserved.

A Cacophony of Notions

"Swan Lake"
The National Ballet of Canada
Opera House
John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts
Washington, DC,
January 19, 2006

by Alexandra Tomalonis
copyright ©2006 by Alexandra Tomalonis

Occasionally in these troubled times, friends will read the news, sigh and say, “Maybe it’s time to move to Canada.” A tempting thought. But, then, they haven’t seen the National Ballet of Canada's “Swan Lake.”

The production, by former Artistic Director James Kudelka, was the sole ballet in repertory for a week's worth of performances by NBoC last week. It was billed as a traditional version and the photographs the company provided do catch the odd minute or two when the production recalls "Swan Lake," but aside from the music, of course, the characters' names and the general scheme of the acts, the production has been rechoreographed (Kudelka even messes with the usually sacrosanct Ivanov second act) and the story is obscured by a proliferation of notions. The result is a "Swan Lake" that is sadly unmagical.