I saw two performances; unfortunately I had to go away for an unexpected business trip and already had plans and tickets to the Kudelka
Swan Lake in Vancouver during the last weekend of the run, and I wasn't able to see any of the other casts.
In
In the Night the first couple was danced by Mara Vinson and Lucien Postlewaite and the third by Louise Nadeau and Christophe Maraval. In the first performance, Ariana Lallone and Stanko Milov danced the second couple, and in the second performance, Patricia Barker and Jeffrey Stanton did. I find Vinson's dancing lush and radiant, which makes her a more interesting choice than a more innocent dancer or one who dances "pretty." Postlewaite added a nice touch of chivalry to his portrayal of her youthful partner. In the central "mature love" section, Lallone and Barker gave very different performances. Lallone's arms and shoulders in particular were lovely, and it was nice to see her in a romantic, if somewhat stately, role. Like in most performances I've seen, the energy of the second is very different than the energy of the first and third couples, a contrast of style and temperament. Barker's was the first performance I've seen in which the second couple portrayed a more mature relationship, but built on the energy of the first couple, so that by the time the third couple appeared onstage, the explosion was a natural progression.
Nadeau and Maraval were stupendous as the third couple, from the moment of Nadeau's entrance, her jaw set, to the soft, reconciled exit. In over a dozen viewings, I had never seen this ballet when I didn't think the third couple's relationship was either silly or campy until this performance. Somehow Nadeau and Maraval conveyed an underlying connection that wasn't just about great make-up sex, despite the melodramatic turns of their relationship. One of the great moments, repeated, and just as powerful the second time I saw them perform, when it wasn't such a surprise, was during a set of lifts. I had always seen them performed very quickly, appearing to be gravity defying as somehow the women goes up and over and around the man's shoulders in a split second. (Did that really just happen?) When Maraval lifted Nadeau, instead of whipping her over his shoulders -- almost like the "cheat" that a high jumper uses to shift the center of gravity mid-way through the jump -- he slowed the lift down as he raised her up, and time slowed down as Nadeau appeared for a second to hang in the air. And then, a moment later, he did it again, and it was just as magical the second time.
In one of Robbins' brilliant stage conventions, one that is effective each time I see the ballet, even if it not a surprise, is the moment when all of the couples, who appear in the fourth piece, suddenly recognize that they're not alone, and formally acknowledge the others.
I very much liked Maria Chapman and Karel Cruz as the first couple in
Artifact II, mostly because I really like both of them as dancers. I still felt they were a bit genteel in the roles -- I don't think I should have been casting them in
Emeralds while watching them dance Forsythe. They were, however, from a different world than Carla Korbes and Batkhurel Bold, who were already part of the collective. It was as if the dynamic in that performance was the the second couple was trying to convince the first couple that "resistance is futile," a little like Odette and von Rothbart to Chapman and Cruz' Odette and Siegfried. Chalnessa Eames and Christophe Maraval seemed to be bred of the same substance as Ariana Lallone and Olivier Wevers in the second performance. I was struck by how much more vivid the women's roles are than the Men's, especially since Wevers and Maraval, in particular, are usually such strong presences on stage and Bold often is. (Cruz' presence is more elegant.)
In the first performance of
Duo Concertante, Noelani Pantastico and Olivier Wevers danced, and they gave the most satisfying performance of the three (including the gala) that I saw, because they were so well matched, physically and energy-wise. Wevers interpretation of the role is very sunny, bouyant, and playful -- without the usual twist he brings to roles -- (until the sober last movement), and he and Pantastico played off each other's joyfulness, and, as a result, the performance soared. Before the second performance, Peter Boal announced that Le Yin had injured his knee -- and we just got him back, too
-- and that Wevers would replace him. Normally, Wevers' presence can stand up to anyone's, but Wevers' approach to this role was a bit too light when paired with Nadeau. I would have loved to have seen her partnered by Bold in this ballet.
In the first
Symphony in Three Movements, Porretta and Imler once again burst on stage as the first couple, and their energy didn't wane throughout the ballet. They set the bar for everyone else on stage, which was matched by the demi couples, who were superb, Patricia Barker and Casey Herd, and Jodie Thomas and Jordan Pacitti. Thomas and Pacitti are a fascinating contrast: he is so pliant and grounded, and she is light, clear, and direct. Barker was a revelation in the second movement. I've never seen her head so loose on her neck or her gaze so embracing. It's almost as if she shed a burden.
Because in the second performance Wevers replaced Yin in
Duo Concertante and was replaced in
In the Night instead of
Artifact II, the intermission was moved to before
Duo Concertante, to give him a rest and time for a costume change. Unfortunately, I'd just flown in from Europe, and despite my best efforts to modulate my caffeine intake, the timing was knocked off by the change in intermission, and I crashed right at the beginning of
Symphony in Three Movements, just after Kiyon Gaines and Carrie Imler made their first jumping entrances. That meant being in and out of conscious during Carla Korbes' and Jordan Pacitti's performance of the second movement pas de deux, and no matter how much I pinched myself and tried to will myself awake, it didn't work.
This was such an amazing program to start Boal's tenure at PNB. This upcoming season is very exciting, and I can't wait until the next program. In an interview in
encore magazine for Seattle Opera's performances of Jake Heggie's
The End of the Affair, there was an interview with Boal and David Esbjornson, the new artistic director of Seattle Repertory Theatre. In it, there are two quotes by Boal that are very encouraging:
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I wouldn't have been interested in coming here if I hadn't known that there's the right audience here for dance. An educated audience, a sophisticated audience.
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The programming for my first season is risky. If they'd said, "We'd love to have you. We want really safe things that are going to sell well," I would have said, "Well, there's got to be somebody else that can do that for you."
The program is a collector's item, including Doug Fullington's "Revisiting Balanchine's 1972 Stravinsky Festival", "The Many Worlds of Jerome Robbins" written by Deborah Jowitt, "Peter Boal's Road to Pacific Northwest Ballet", written by danceviewtimes' Susan Reiter, accompanied by excellent photos of Boal by Rosalie O'Connor (
Waiting for Rain), Steven Caras (Boal as 17-year old corps member of NYCB), Paul Kolnik (at the height of the famous leap in
Prodigal Son, in
Red Angels, and in the final solo from
Apollo), and Delia Peters (of 11-year-old Boal as the Prince in
The Nutcracker, mid-mime), and in the ballet notes section, a photo by Kay Mazzo of Boal and Yvonne Borree in
Duo Concertante.
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We were pleasantly surprised to find parking for a $5 flat rate right behind the official parkade, which we could pay by credit card. Last year this parking lot didn’t have this machine or we would have parked there. Seattle has an interesting system of paying for parking by putting your money or cheque into a mailbox type system. We were warned last year that if we didn’t have cheques, it was best if we found parking which was either pre-paid or with a visa machine, in order to avoid disputes. When we found this lot, we felt we were in for a good afternoon…and that proved to be very accurate.
. I am a lucky woman on many fronts.
