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Isaac Akiba in "Fancy Free"
Boston Ballet
"Genius At Play"
Boston Opera House
Through September 16th
Photo by Rosalie O'Connor; Courtesy of Boston Ballet |
Boston Ballet kicked off its 2018-2019 season last evening in crowd-pleasing fashion with
"Genius At Play" - a tribute to the centennial of the birth of both composer
Leonard Bernstein and choreographer
Jerome Robbins.
The evening began with the Boston Ballet orchestra, under the baton of
Beatrice Jona Affron, offering up Bernstein's Overture to
"Candide." When the curtain rose, the spotlight fell on the choreography of Jerome Robbins.
"Interplay" featured eight dancers - four male and four female - at play with the music of
Morton Gould anchoring their movements and interactions. Gould's music had a jazzy, playful, and almost Gershwinesque feel. When the piece premiered in New York in 1945, it was unique in not being driven by a story or programme. Robbins wanted the piece to stand alone as a celebration of the joy that dancers feel in exploring with one another the limits of their art form.
Hannah Bettes, Ji Young Chae, Emily Entingh, Seo Hye Han, Derek Dunn, Patrick Palkens, Patrick Yocum, and
Jungxiong Zhao certainly embodied Robbins' vision for this piece. Their dancing was both playful and joyful. The playfulness extended to the staging, for during part of the piece, some dancers were spotlighted while others reposed in silhouette, and one dancer reclined downstage, perhaps suggesting that the vignette was a dream sequence.
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Boston Ballet
"Interplay"
Boston Opera House
Through September 16th
Photo by Rosalie O'Connor; Courtesy of Boston Ballet
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Costume Design was by
Santo Loquasto. Les Dickert recreated the original Lighting Design of
Jennifer Tipton, and Staging was by
Freda Locker.
Following Intermission, the program featured
"Fancy Free," the first collaboration between Robbins and Bernstein. The piece premiered at the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC in 1944, in the midst of WWII, and features three sailors enjoying shore leave. The three buddies are on the town looking for drink and women. This piece became the seed from which grew the musical
"On The Town," which recently enjoyed a successful Broadway revival. Each of the sailors,
Patric Palkens, Isaac Akiba, and
Paul Craig, have an opportunity to demonstrate their unique style and personality as they one-by-one dance solo to try to impress the audience of the two women who have happened by the bar. Coquettish
Kathleen Breen Combes, Maria Alvarez, and later
Dawn Atkins play hard to get, and jealousy among the three sailors breaks out briefly.
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"Fancy Free"
Boston Ballet
"Genius At Play"
Boston Opera House
Through September 16th
Photo by Rosalie O'Connor; Courtesy of Boston Ballet
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Scenic Design is by
Oliver Smith, Scenic Supervision by
Rosaria Sinisi, Costume Design by
Kermit Love, and
Les Dickert recreated the original Lighting Design of
Ronald Bates. Staging is by
Jean-Pierre Frohlich.
The final piece of the evening jumped ahead almost forty years in the career of Robbins, and featured his collaboration with
Philip Glass. "Glass Pieces" featured the full
corps de ballet and eight soloists.
Chyrstyn Fentroy, Rachel Buriassi, MariaBaranova, Roddy Doble, DrewNelson, and
Lawrence Rines were featured in
"Rubric." This piece had its World Premiere in 1983 by the New York City Ballet. This is the Boston Ballet Premiere for this number. The six soloists in
"Rubric" danced in ever-changing pairings of dancers in brief
pas de deux as the corps dancers processed on and off the stage as if they were commuters at rush hour. It was an arresting picture of intimacy amidst the sterile anonymity of the busy city.
In
"Facades," the effect of silhouette was used again as dancers lined the upstage wall while
Lia Cirio and
Paulo Arrais executed an extended
pas de deux to the pulsating rhythms of Glass's distinctive music. The ever-luminous Ciro and always impressive Arrais are two anchors of this dance company that have delighted Boston audiences since 2004 and 2010 respectively. Last evening they did not disappoint, engendering rousing applause from the audience for their stylized interpretations of Glass/Robbins.
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Lia Cirio and Paulo Arrais
"Glass Pieces - Facades"
Boston Ballet
"Genius At Play"
Boston Opera House
Through September 16th
Photo by Rosalie O'Connor; Courtesy of Boston Ballet
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The final installment of
"Glass Pieces" featured the entire corps energized by the increasingly up tempo strains of music from Glass's opera
"Akhnaten," It was an exhilarating ending to a memorable evening.
Original Scenic Design was by
Robbins and
Ronald Bates, Original Costume Design by
Ben Benson, Jennifer Tipton recreated the original Lighting Design of
Les Dickert, and Staging was by
Bart Cook.
"Genius At Play" will run at the Boston Opera House through September 16th. Don't miss out.
Enjoy!
Al
