Friday, July 12

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A review of Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève at Jacob's Pillow by Alex Bloomstein in The Berkshire Eagle.

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If one wanted to sample where ballet has come from, and where it is going, taking in the Jacob’s Pillow performances of The Royal Ballet last week and Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève this week would not be a bad starting place. Last week, The Royal Ballet featured ballets by Petipa, Fokine, Balanchine, Ashton, and MacMillan (among others) from ballet’s notable past, and works by Tanowitz, Wheeldon, and McGregor representing one branch of ballet’s present and future. This week, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève at the Pillow most definitely represents a categorically different offshoot of the present and future of ballet, and of dance in general. The company is now under the artistic direction of the pioneering and innovative Belgian and Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and the programming reflects it......

 

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Christopher Wheeldon and Wayne McGregor talk about adapting literature to ballet.

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When creating Woolf Works for The Royal Ballet in 2015, McGregor was clear that this ballet was not going to be a standard retelling of Woolf’s oeuvre, but something much more abstract. It includes elements of Woolf’s biography and distillations of her books’ themes, imagery, and literary devices. “The three-act ballet format provided us with a chance, with Woolf as the instigator, to upend and interrogate ballet’s often conventional structure—much in the same way Woolf challenged not only the conventions of writing, but also the process of reading,” says McGregor. “Woolf’s biography too, like all artists’ lives, is intrinsically woven into her works—art and life inseparable.”

 

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The Polish National Ballet presents "Pinocchio."

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Originally conceived by Carlo Collodi, the Pinocchio story has seen adaptations over the eras. Here Polish National Ballet presents a danced version to music by Mieczysław Weinberg, the Polish-born Soviet composer Mieczylaw Weinberg, a victim of both Nazism and Soviet anti-semitism. Weinberg’s operas such as Die Passagerin, are now increasingly seen in European theatres. Pinocchio is based on Buratino, a reworking of the original tale by Alexei Tolstoy, a distant cousin of the famous writer. Inspired by commedia dell’arte, burattino is Italian for ‘marionette’ and the name of a character of those improvised comedies. Written between 1954 and 1955, Weinberg’s piece was meant for children, despite including allusions to the oppressive Soviet realities that only grown-ups could infer. 

 

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Nicoletta Manni is named an etolie at La Scala Ballet.

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A year later, she became prima ballerina, or principal dancer. The fact that she was chosen as the first Etoile from La Scala’s company is meaningful to Manni, and sets her apart from La Scala’s other Etoile principal dancer, Roberto Bolle, who has held the title as a guest dancer for two decades. Etoile is a ballet honorific taken from the French word for star, and bestowed on dancers whose prowess is deemed superior.

 

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The Australian Ballet presents "Jewels" back home.

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The Australian Ballet brings their all to this production. It has arrived in Adelaide after a sell-out season in London and one can see why. This ballet is a fantastic showcase for the company artists, providing myriad solos and featured dances. Technically outstanding, the dancers all gave character and life to the work. The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra was superb, under the baton of Jonathan Lo. The sold-out audience on opening night ooed and aahed at every curtain-up. 

Related.

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Under the direction of Hallberg, the virtuosic ensemble of The Australian Ballet handles the choreography with such skill and grace they make it appear deceptively easy, their technique delivered with the artistic expression and emotional engagement they have amply and repeatedly demonstrated in the past. There are some standout performances, such as the mesmerising, steadily-paced romance of the pas de deux in Emeralds by second principal couple Dimity Azoury and Maxim Zenin, or the powerful and sassy performance by soloist Belle Urwin in Rubies.