Peter Martins

[fendrock]

I'll be attending the Boston Ballet soon and will see new work choreographed by Martins.

What are your views on Martins as a choreographer? How does his work differ from other modern choreographers whose works are performed frequently (Forsythe, Morris, Wheeldon, etc.)?

[Leigh Witchel]

Broad, sweeping generalizations follow.

Like Wheeldon, Martins is unquestionably a ballet choreographer. That's his vocabulary. So in that way he differs from Morris. His general vocabulary is also more orthodox than Forysthe's - whose works distort traditional placement farther.

He's strongly influenced by Balanchine's work - in my opinion, most by the work being done when he was dancing in the company (especially at the Stravinsky Festival).

He tends to be more inventive in allegro movement than adagio.

He is not a choreographer who wears his heart on his sleeve.

The works of his I like the most are Fearful Symmetries, The Waltz Project and Ash.

So I hope you'll let us know what YOU thought!

[Michael]

Gosh it's a difficult topic to address. Shooting from the Hip, which is the only way I can reply to this:

Some of Wheeldon's recent work, particulary Shambards, resembles Martins' work a good deal.

Re Martins himself there are several points. In no particular order --

1. At times it looks like he has more than a little contempt or ambivilance for the classical tradition. At best, you might call it a love/hate relationship with both the Classical style of the Danish Academy and with the Balanchine Cannon he was force fed in NY and which he has been forced to do obeisance to thereafter. Examples of this would be his "Eight Easy Pieces" and "Eight More," which rather cruelly lampoon classicism and undermine the very thing they portray. It is possible to poke fun at things without cruelty, but that's not in his palette.

2. He is often also facile and trite. An examples would be the recent work, "Hallelujah Junction," two backlit pianos on stage, dancers doing his signature stepless step in front, all just a little bit too easy, a glittery surface with nothing much underneath.

3. Much of his work looks like it's been dashed off too quickly, often as a piece d'occasion. There are sometimes wonderful passages but it all needs a good edit -- but he's quite incapable of editing himself. An example is "Harmonielehre." There are what seem to be hours of tripe, then the blond girls come out barefoot in a luminous moment under a star spangled sky and it's suddenly to die for. Then just as aimlessly it ends and we are back to make work stuff to occupy the musical space.

4. Ultimately, the problem is often a lack of taste. See "Thou Swell," his Richard Rogers ballet which sets out to evoke the Art Deco era and ends up evoking a bad Bar Mitzvah at a catering hall circa 1975. Or "Chichester Pslams", so extremely ambitious yet resembling a bad day at the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Makes you think he could choreograph the Miss America Contest.

But he's very complex. It's a huge body of work and this barely scratches the surface.

[oberon]

I like several of Peter's ballets: FEARFUL SYMMETRIES, BURLESKE, HALLELUJAH JUNCTION, CHICHESTER PSALMS, MORGEN, CONCERTI ARMONICI, ASH, RELIQUARY, GUIDE TO STRANGE PLACES, RIVER OF LIGHT...this does not mean I think they are masterpieces, but I enjoy seeing them. I agree with Leigh that Peter is better at "fast" than "slow"...but he has made some nice slower pieces also. To my mind, he makes better steps for men than for women. He tends to repeat sections of choreography within a piece, without the slight alterations or flourishes that make repeats interesting. Certain dancers (Darci - of course - Janie Taylor and Benjamin Millepied for example) seem to inspire him.

He is worlds apart from Morris, who I think is vastly over-rated...I just sat thru his staging of the Rameau opera PLATEE at NYCO and the endless cuteness of the steps and gestures became tedious. I saw his Company several times and cannot really say that I remember any of the pieces beyond a few clever moments.

I like Wheeldon's abstract ballets quite a bit and as he tends to use my favorite dancer, Wendy Whelan alot, I am usually satisfied. His "story" ballets seem less interesting...fun to see once. To date I would rate POLYPHONIA as his best work, with the somewhat similar MORPHOSES close behind. I was surprised I liked CAROUSEL, since I am not a "Broadway" devotee. Chris has already created some really memorable "moments" like the 2 duets for Wendy & Jock in POLYPHONIA, Wendy's long & floating traversal of the stage in backward bourees as well as her crab-walk in MORPHOSES. These are things I look forward to, every time I see these pieces. To me they are as exciting as the 32 fouettes, or the ballerina touching her forehead to knee in SYMPHONY IN C, or the balances of the Rose Adagio. I look forward to lots more Wheeldon...

What piece of Peter's will you see in Boston? Be sure to report on it here after you've seen it!

[fendrock]

Thanks for all the great information.

Thursday's links point to a Boston Phoenix article on the new work, "Distant Light." The music is Tālā gaisma ("Distant Light"), Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks’s 1997 concerto for violin and string orchestra.

Apparently Martins spent three weeks in Boston to complete the approx. 30 minutes of choreography.

I'll let you know how it looked to this far from ballet-savvy viewer....

[Helene]

At times it looks like he has more than a little contempt or ambivilance for the  classical tradition.  At best, you might call it a love/hate relationship with both the Classical style of the Danish Academy and with the Balanchine Cannon he was force fed in NY and which he has been forced to do obeisance to thereafter. 

Ironically, the two strongest ballets by Martins that I've seen are A Shubertiad (1984) and Beethoven Romance (1989), both of which are squarely in the classical tradition.

[fendrock]

I've provided my review of the new Peter Martins piece under the Boston Ballet thread.

This piece was slow, rather than fast.

Not much full out dancing in it, and the woman tended to be carried around by the man more than actually dance with him.

Interesting that the critics' reviews are mixed:

Boston critic finds it a flop

New York Times mentions standing ovation

(A side note in regards to the NY Times review -- how can one "pungently" conduct an orchestra?)

[Leigh Witchel]

Interesting how the new Boston Ballet piece ends, with the woman alone after dancing with three men (have I got that correct)?

That's very Martins - in several of his ballets the central figure starts alone, has multiple encounters with the intimation of a choice, but ends up again alone.

[fendrock]

Yes, she dances with each man separately as well as with them together. The piece ends with her on the floor in the same position in which she started.

[Leigh Witchel]

That echoes his recent Eros Piano for NYCB, with the sexes switched and one extra person. There are other works like this as well; I'd say it's a recurring theme.