Helene

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December 29, 2007 A profile of Clifton Brown in The New York Times. Dancer of the Moment: A Man for the Ailey Season

I saw some ballet on TV. I don't know if it was Bell Telephone Hour -- like Jock Soto seeing Villella -- or Firestone Theater or the Ed Sullivan Show, which my grandparents, with whom I spent weekends, watched religiously. I fell in love, although my grandmother wasn't pleased: she wanted a tap-dancer in the family It took until Junior High School for me to actually get someone to take me see an entire ballet performance, and it was Makarova and Nagy at ABT in the Blair "Swan Lake."

I don't know whether it's because it's almost the end of the run -- there's a performance tonight plus tomorrow's matinee -- or because today's matinee may have been the "bring everyone you've ever known to the performance day" -- everyone around me seemed to know a kid or Professional Division student or apprentice in the cast,which meant a lot of people wanting to go backstage and NO delay getting out of the parking garage -- but the kids in Act I looked like they had hit the sugar big-time, and Act I didn't have its usual ease. This may have been the first time that it registered that Drosselmeier takes a huge sneeze into the handkerchief he later uses to fix the Nutcracker (ew), but I noticed how emphatically one of the boy guests kept pointing to the doll-with-handkerchief, and then mimed blowing his nose and laughing, exactly what would pique the interest of a scatalogically inclined young boy, but a little too much information for what is supposed to be a genteel setting. The cast list and the cast didn't always mesh: Maria Chapman was Frau Stahlbaum in place of Brittany Reid, and Reid danced Flora in her place in Waltz of the Flowers. It looked like Chapman's high calves and arches in Peacock, the role in which Reid is listed in the program, but I couldn't confirm from her face and profile, not with the Peacock's hooded costume. There are many things I love about this production. The first is the theme from the original story: the Nutcracker and Mouse King fight for Clara, and the Mouse King's bite renders Clara ugly and unhappy. It starts after the overture, as Drosselmeier leads three children dressed as the trio to a dance, in which they depict the story. Less literally, Drosselmeier gives Fritz a stuffed mouse, who with the other boys, egged on by Drosselmeier, uses it to pursue and torture his sister, who clearly favors the Nutcracker. Later in the first act, Stowell interpolated the Pastorale from Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades for a trio of dancers who hold a masks of their characters on sticks, and who depict the story again. (Jessika Anspach was a standout in it.) In Act II, the trio is the Prince, the adult/dream Clara, and Pasha. (His "bite" is as the end, when he reveals himself as Drosselmeier, and she is left bereft and weeping.) Without the backstory, the mice are just scary creatures without an antecedent. I will always love the little waltz that the Stahlbaums do at the end of the party scene. I also love all of the divertissement dances in Act II, up to Waltz of the Flowers, particularly the Moors' dance, because I've never seen a Spanish version that I've more than liked. (What I love in Balanchine's "Hot Chocolate" is the metallic underskirts of the women's costumes.) I think Moors is a great interpretation. I've also always loved Commedia ("Marzipan Shepherdesses"), and especially with the weighty but smooth performance by Kiyon Gaines, flanked by two leggy beauties, Dec and Brunson. (I was having trouble with faces today; I recognized Dec's smile, but not Brunson's.) As I mentioned before, I think Chapman danced Peacock; it was a wonderfully phrased dance. Waltz of the Flowers is okay -- nothing can compete with the Balanchine; I just wish that Flora wore a constrasting or more highlighted costume. (She blends in too much with the other flowers.) Reid was expansive as Flora; I love her in this role. Several times she ended the smooth, flowing fouette series with a perfect double pirouette, arms in high fifth. When Clara puts the Nutcracker doll in the toy box by the tree, the handkerchief is still around his neck. When she opens the box duirng her dream, the handkerchief is there, but the doll is gone. When the box expands in size, the handkerchief is replaced by a long piece of flowing white fabric. After the set clears, the Nutcracker-turned-Prince awakens and lifts the fabric, under which lies the adult Clara. They dance a pas de deux. Miranda Weese danced the adult Clara with Stanko Milov. In the Act I pas de deux, she looked so delicate dancing with Milov, and she seemed to float in the lifts. In the Act I Grand Pas de Deux, she was majestic. The change was almost a miracle, a transition between the pre-teen Clara and a princess. It was as if the Act I PdD was performed on a raked stage, with Milov upstage, and the Act II PdD was performed on the flat stage. Conductor Stewart Kershaw, whose last performance was this afternoon, looked almost too happy at the curtain call. He certainly took the "Mother Ginger" music at a quite a clip; those poor Toy Theatre kids had to pick it up a notch.

Ballet San Jose presents SWAN LAKE SWAN LAKE February 15-24, 2008 Choreography and Scenario: Dennis Nahat (based on the original Ballet of 1895 by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov) Music: Swan Lake Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchiakovsky Scenery and Costumes: David Guthrie Performed with Symphony Silicon Valley Dennis Nahat’s version of one of the greatest romantic ballets ever written features over 135 costumes and beautiful scenery from David Guthrie. Danced to a live performance by Symphony Silicon Valley, the romantic tale follows Prince Siegried as he rescues his beloved Princess Odette from the wicked Baron Von Rothbart who has cast a spell on the young beauty and turned her into the Swan Queen. Nahat’s prologue highlights the villainous nature of Rothbart by delving into the source of his evil. DATES/TIMES Friday, February 15 at 8:00pm (Note: Unusual start day...we normally open on Thursdays) Saturday, February 16 at 1:30pm (children’s 1-hour matinee) and 8:00pm Sunday, February 17 at 1:30pm (matinee) Thursday, February 21 at 8:00pm Friday, February 22 at 8:00pm Saturday, February 23 at 1:30pm (full-length matinee and 8:00pm Sunday, February 24 at 1:30pm (full-length matinee) LOCATION: San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, 255 Almaden Boulevard in downtown San Jose BOX OFFICE: 408.288.2800 40 North First Street in downtown San Jose Buy online at www.balletsanjose.org GROUP SALES: 408.288.2820 x 204 PRICES: $25-$82 (discounts for students, seniors, groups) NOTE: The pricing for the Children’s Matinee on Saturday, Feb 16th is reduced. Tickets: $16-$47

Ballet San Jose presents... JUST BALANCHINE (a program of three Balanchine ballets) JUST BALANCHINE, March 27-30, 2008 SERENADE Choreography: George Balanchine Music: Serenade in C Major Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky SERENADE was Balanchine’s first ballet created in the United States and was given its premiere in 1934. Set in four movements, and danced without interruption, the classical romantic ballet is set on 28 dancers performing on a bare stage in the moody ethereal light of the moon, and shows off the lyricism of the female corps. THEME AND VARIATIONS Choreography: George Balanchine Music: Final movement of Suite No. 3 for Orchestra in G minor. Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Classic ballet in a formal setting of a great ballroom with towering pillars, draperies, and crystal chandeliers. THEME AND VARIATIONS is Ballanchine at his neo-classic best. The dance steps are tightly tied to the music as illustrated by the opening work of the ballerina to the principal theme played by the violins. It requires boldness in the male variations with strong leaps and swift movements. The ensemble plays a very important part in the work with strong technique demanded in all the ensemble variations. In the imperial Russian style, THEME AND VARIATIONS concludes with a regal polonaise for the entire ensemble emphasizing rapid regroupings and shifting of partners. THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS Choreography: George Balanchine Music: Piano and a few Strings Composer: Paul Hindemith Subtitled, “Dance without a Plot”, THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS is an abstract work in five parts that explores the classic belief that human beings are made up of four distinct “humors”... melancholic, sanguinic, phlegmatic and choleric. The intricate and abstract piece is danced in a Neo-Classic style that showcases the complexity of this sentiment, and evokes meditation on the different types of human personalities. The dancers are simply clothed in black leotards and pink tights. DATES/TIMES Thursday, March 27 at 8:00pm Friday, March 28 at 8:00pm Saturday, March 29 at 8:00pm Sunday, March 30 at 1:30pm (matinee) LOCATION: San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, 255 Almaden Boulevard in downtown San Jose BOX OFFICE: 408.288.2800 40 North First Street in downtown San Jose Buy online at www.balletsanjose.org GROUP SALES: 408.288.2820 x 204 PRICES: $25-$82 (discounts for students, seniors, groups)