Boston Ballet Opens Its Season With A Dual Tribute To Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins - "Genius At Play"

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.

Boston Ballet
"Interplay"
Boston Opera House
Through September 16th
Photo by Rosalie O'Connor; Courtesy of Boston Ballet

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.

"Fancy Free"
Boston Ballet
"Genius At Play"
Boston Opera House
Through September 16th
Photo by Rosalie O'Connor; Courtesy of Boston Ballet

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.

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

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