On the evening of 17 December 2011, I saw Alberta
Ballet'sThe Nutcracker. This performance was the
first time that I had seen this ballet.
The Nutcracker is a well known ballet to most everyone, and
even if you have never seen this ballet, you have heard Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's
music. It's beautiful and unforgetable.
Having recently completed Jennifer Homans's book
Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet, I had a stronger
appreciation for the ballet. Of course, I enjoyed the wonderful dancing.
The dancers, including all the children dancers, were great. Everyone
seemed to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Even prior to the
performance, I saw some of the young dancers in the lobby area excited to
be performing that evening.
Knowing some of the ballet's history, I found myself traveling back in
time as I watched the ballet. I enjoyed how Alberta Ballet created scenes
from Russia near the 1900s. Even the wheelchair had an authentic look.
The Nutcracker has become a holiday staple. If you have
never seen it, I encourage you to see it next year.
On the evening of the 17th, the following artists were featured:
Klara: Asaka Homma
Drosselmeyer: Kelley McKinlay
Karl/Nutcracker: Anthony Pina
Father: Kelly McKinlay
Mother: Melissa Boniface
Nikolai: Yukichi Hattori
Babushka: Beverly Bagg
Grandfather: Blair Puente
Hussar Doll: Davidson Jaconello
Ballerina Doll: Alison Dubsky
Rat Doll: Garret Groat
Males Guests, Female Guests, Calvalry & Wolves:
Artists of the Alberta Ballet and Students of the Alberta Ballet
Rat Tsar: Garret Groat
Snow Tsarina: Alison Dubsky
Snowflakes: Artists of the Alberta Ballet and Students
of the Alberta Ballet
Spanish: Hayna Gutierrez
Arabian: Emily Collier, Davidson Jaconello &
Andrea Battaggia
Chinese: Nicole Caron & Peter Starr
Russian: Mark Wax & David Neal
Flowers & Flower Cavaliers: Artists of the Alberta
Ballet and Students of the Alberta Ballet
Sugar Plum Fairy: Tara Williamson
Her Cavalier: Jaciel Gomez
There were numerous children cast as Party Girls, Party Boys, Little
Mice, Cossack Rats, Soldiers, Palace Page Girls, and Palace Page Boys.
I hope everyone had a great holiday period. And I wish everyone a Happy,
Healthy, and Prosperous New Year 2012!
On Thursday, 27 October 2011, I attended the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's
Wonderland.
The ballet is basd on Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland, a
story that we're all familiar with.
I was curious as to how a ballet could capture our minds' imagination to
create a convincing story. When I saw the performance, I was impressed
with the multimedia and stage sets. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet
successfully recreated a story that was a joy to watch.
In looking around the audience, I noticed a larger proportion of children
than usual, which is always a good thing. However, even us older children
enjoy the ballet. If you watch and listen carefully, there are always
messages that are applicable to all us, regardless of our age or station
in life
"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" "That
depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. "I
don't much care where--" said Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which way
you go," said the Cat. "--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as
an explanation. "Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you
only walk long enough."
Although Wonderland is not a physically demanding ballet, I
enjoyed watching the dancers perform. Because of the storyline, the
attention was focused on Alice and the Queen of Hearts. Both were
exceptional. I also took notice of the Dormouse.
Although it is too late to recommend Wonderland to Calgary
audiences, I highly encourage those in Edmonton to enjoy the ballet this
week.
The cast for last Thursday's performance is as follows:
Alice: Amanda Green
Queen of Hearts: Tara Birtwhistle
White Rabbit: Yosuke Mino
Mad Hatter: Amar Dhaliwal
March Hare: Jo-Ann Sundermeier
Dormouse: Emily Grizzell
TweedleDee & TweedleDum: Tristan Dobrowney &
Thiago Dos Santos
Duchess: Eric Nipp
Cook: Yayoi Ezawa
Toony Loons: Alex Lantz, Thiago Dos Santos, Liam
Caines, Zhen Guo Chen, Sophia Lee, Alanna McAdie, and Catherine
Rutherford
Creatures: Thiago Dos Santos, Alex Lantz, Liam Caines,
Zhen Guo Chen
Birds: Jo-Ann Sundermeier, Dmitri Dovgoselets, Beth
Lamont, Sarah Davey, Harrison James, Tristan Dobrowney, Serena
Sandford, and Alexander Garmayunov
Tooney Cooks: Sophia Lee, Catherine Rutherford, Thiago
Dos Santos, and Liam Caines
Caterpillar: Carrie Broda, Alexander Gamayunov,
Tristan Dobrowney, and Alex Lantz
Flamingos: Carrie Broda, Yayoi Ezawa, Serena Sandford,
and Sarah Davey
Cards: Alanna McAdie, Catherine Rutherford, Sophia
Lee, Zhen Guo Chen, Alex Lantz, Liam Caines, Beth Lamont, and Harrison
James
Wall of Heads: Queen of Hearts, Alice, Duchess, Mad
Hatter, and Flamingos
Flowers: Sophia Lee, Sarah Davey, Yayoi Ezawa, Serena
Sandford, Carrie Broda, Catherine Rutherfod, Beth Lamont, and Emily
Grizzel
Gryphon & Mock Turtle: Wang Yun, Jiao Yang, and
Dmitri Dovgoselets
Last night I attended
Banff Summer Arts Festival: Dance at the Harvie Theatre in Banff
Centre. For those who enjoy live dance performances, I urge you to go.
There are additional performances tonight, Friday, and Saturday.
As an aside, after the performances are over, the prior link might be
broken.
The Professional Dance program was developed in 2008 with Alberta Ballet,
Ballet British Columbia, Ballet Jörgen, Boston Ballet, Les Grands Ballets
Canadiens de Montreal, the National Ballet of Canada, the Royal Winnipeg
Ballet and, as of 2011, Ballet Kelowna. I enjoyed watching the young
dancers who are all at the beginning of their careers with so much
promise. The dance event was well attended with over three quarters of
the seats taken.
For those planning to attend, I highly recommend going early at 5 p.m. so
that you can enjoy supper at the Three Ravens
Restaurant and Wine Bar. If you have tickets to the dance
performance, you will receive a 20% discount. Not only is the food fantastic,
but the views are gorgeous too. Then, after your meal, you should arrive
at the Harvie Theatre by 6:45 p.m. so that you attend the pre-performance
chat. On Wednesday, Lindsay Fischer, program director, gave an
entertaining, informative, and helpful discussion. The dance performances
start at 7:30 p.m. and finish at about 10:00 p.m. Please note that on
Saturday, the performances start in the afternoon, so you will have to
adjust the times.
I will quickly provide the titles of the five ballets along with the
dancers. The dancers on Wednesday will repeat again on Friday. And those
dancing tonight, Thursday, will repeat again on Saturday.
Cristina Graziano, Daniel Da Silva,
Maria Alvarez, Thiago dos Santos,
Emilia Cadorin, James Applewhite,
Helen Clare Kinney, Connor Gnam
Uprooted (2011)
Alexander Burton, Paul Calderone,
Esabelle Chen, Livona Ellis, Hannah Fischer,
Taylor Gill, Connor Gnam, Cristina Graziano,
Garrett Groat, Raelynn Heppell, Kate Houston,
Harrison James, Peter Starr
Intermission
Nocturne
Pas De Deux From The Dream Hannah Fischer, Nicolas Pelletier
Sonate No. 5 (1970)
Pas De Deux Larissa Khotchenkova, Harrison James
Intermission
Hold Me, Neighbor, In This Storm Alexander Burton, Livona Ellis
For those reading this article via RSS or email, you might not be able to
view the YouTube of Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy.
If that is the case, please view this blog article at my
blog where the YouTube is displayed.
On Thursday, 5 May 2011, I attended Alberta Ballet's production of
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. It was the best live artistic
event that I have ever attended.
For those of you in Edmonton who are considering attending, go. Beg,
borrow, or steal tickets to attend. And, if you've never attended a
ballet before, then you must see Fumbling Towards Ecstasy.
As has been extensively covered in the media, Jean Grand-Maître, artistic
director, collaborated with Sarah McLachlan to create Fumbling
Towards Ecstasy, Alberta Ballet's third ballet based upon a
contemporary music artist. McLachlan's music is ideal for a ballet
because, as you become lost in your thoughts listening to her music and
reflecting upon your own personal life, she brings you back to a place of
innocence, compassion, and hope.
I attended the pre-ballet session at 6:45 pm where there were three
gentlemen provided commentary. Unfortunately, I have forgotten the name
of one of the individuals. He discussed how McLachlan and Grand-Maître
met and began collaborating on the ballet. Next, Pierre Lovoie, resident
lighting director, and Adam Larsen, video designer, ping ponged back and
forth discussing how they collaborated. While each took their lead from
discussions Grand-Maître held with McLachlan, they worked remotely from
different locations in North America as team using technology to tie
everything together. They used McLachlan's creative inputs in terms of
imagery, patterns, textures and colors. Larsen stated that he made the
projections deliberately slow so that the audience kept its focus on the
dancers and not on the projections. As an example, he contrasted
television with its rapidly changing scenes with his projections for this
ballet. Lovoie discussed how he and Larsen worked with colors often using
complimentary or similar colors. With my interest in photography, I
immediately understood their challenges.
After the pre-ballet session, I sat down and looked around the
auditorium. Every seat appeared to be occupied and the audience had a
special energy. Just prior to the ballet beginning, Grand-Maître and
McLachlan made their entrance to a thunderous applause.
Everyone is deeply appreciative of McLachlan's support. Of course, she
provided considerable artistic input; however, she also helped promote
and raise money for the ballet. She is an amazing and caring individual.
While waiting for the curtain to rise, I spoke to a grandmother sitting
next to me. She indicated that she has been attending ballets for about
forty years. She further indicated that, although some have criticized
Alberta Ballet for its contemporary music ballets, to her, dance was
dance. She further commented Grand-Maître has strengthened Alberta Ballet
and made it into an outstanding ballet company.
When the ballet began, I understood why McLachlan was so moved when she
saw the rehearsals—I was moved. The staging, costumes, lighting and
projections were magnificent. And the dancers were beautiful. By watching
their faces while they danced, I knew they were excited to be performing.
And, although new to ballet, I loved the dancing. For me, it was a fusion
of athleticism and art. I loved every minute of last night's
performance—beautiful, powerful and moving.
I suspect the ballet held special significance to the dancers because
they were dancing to Sarah McLachlan's music, music that is in their
iPods. Moreover, they knew of the extraordinary support McLachlan has
provided the ballet.
I wish I had the understanding and the technical vocabulary to express
how much I appreciated the dancers and their dancing. As I watched, I was
awed by their strength, stamina, and flexibility. Their movements
appeared effortless, graceful, and beautiful. Having felt viscerally
moved, I now understand why people enjoy watching ballet.
Since I am unable to provide a strong technical review, I will provide
links to three online newspaper reviews:
As a newcomer to ballet, I will provide my quick thoughts on their
reviews.
The Calgary Herald continues to be a strong supporter of Alberta Ballet.
For the most part, I agree with Clark's well written commentary. However,
I have a different interpretation on the repetitive dancing.
Only in some of the bigger ensembles, such as in Building a Mystery,
does the dance disappoint. The movement of the large groups seems
repetitive, almost decorative in effect. The dancers move back and
forth across the stage -- twirling, leaping or carrying the women in
frozen classical poses -- like figures in some ancient frieze.
Larsen spoke earlier of the need to make the projections slow, and the
dancers in a frozen classical poses reinforced that slow moving motion.
In fact, had the dancers been moving fast, I would not have appreciated
that part of the dance as much. Furthermore, through McLachlan's music,
the ballet was in part about reflecting and interpreting life. And in
life, there are many repeating patterns. Even though my interpretation is
different from Clark's, I want to emphasize that everyone who sees the
ballet will interpret it differently.
My last comment concerns Clark's overall strong rating of four of five
stars. My rating is even higher. As I wrote at the very outset,
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy is the best live artistic performance I
have ever attended.
Next, I enjoyed reading Citron's review. My only remark is to echo my
comment about the repetitive dancing. I interpreted the dancing
differently.
And last, I disagree with deMello's review.
For many seat-holders on opening night, though, it was McLachlan
herself and not Alberta Ballet's artistic risk-taking that brought them
here. Before the curtain rose, Grande-Maitre and McLachlan walked up
the theatre aisle to take their seats, prompting a standing ovation.
And not until the second act did a clear transition between McLachlan's
top 40 hits begin to emerge: love, tragedy, grieving, growing old and
celebrating life.
...
For the majority of seat-holders on opening night, it is McLachlan
herself and not Alberta Ballet's artistic risk-taking that brought them
here. She emerges from a long white limousine, arm-in-arm with
Grand-Maitre, and the crowd explodes into applause. People throng
forward to watch them walk a short red carpet, knocking over velvet
rope and snapping photos with their mobile phones. She is wearing a
dress by Calgary-based designer Paul Hardy, who created the 98 unique
and stunningly beautiful costumes for this ballet. Before the curtain
rises, Grande-Maitre and McLachlan walk up the theatre aisle to take
their seats, prompted a standing ovation before the show had even
begun.
Where she came up with that wild assertion that the majority of
seat-holders came to see McLachlan herself and not Alberta Ballet is
beyond comprehension. She says it not once, but twice for added emphasis,
I suppose. No one surveyed those near me as to why we came to the ballet.
How will she explain the near- or sold-out performances in Edmonton when
McLachlan might not be present?
Moreover, the National misspelled the title of the ballet in its title of
the review.
Switching away from the online reviews, I was surprised how fast the time
flew by. It seemed as though the curtain had just gone up when the
intermission hit. And the final curtain seemed to come much too soon. I
wish my experience that evening were like a CD where I could just hit
play and start all over again. I encourage everyone to see Fumbling
Towards Ecstasy. I loved every minute of it.
For my benefit, below are the artists who performed on Thursday evening.
Overture
Clara Stripe
Hold On #1
Clara Stripe
with Artists of Alberta Ballet
Ben's Song
Clara Stripe
with Artists of Alberta Ballet
Drawn to the Rythym
Noëllie Conjeaud
accompanied by ...
Melissa Boniface
Nicole Caron
Alison Dubsky
Asaka Homma
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Noëllie Conjeaud
with Artists of Alberta Ballet
Bring on the Wonder
Mariko Kondo & Mark Biocca
Vox
Mariko Kondo & Mark Biocca
with Artists of Alberta Ballet
Ice
Mariko Kondo & Mark Biocca
accompanied by ...
Emily Collier
Victoria Lane Green
Tara Williamson
Into the Fire
Hayna Gutierrez
accompanied by ...
Melissa Boniface
Nicole Caron
Alison Dubsky
Asaka Homma
Illusions of Bliss
Hayna Gutierrez
with Artists of Alberta Ballet
Illusions of Bliss (Piano)
Galien Johnston & Kelley McKinlay
with Artists of Alberta Ballet
Hold On #2
Galien Johnston & Kelley McKinlay
accompanied by ...
Patrick Doe
Davidson Jaconello
Blair Puente
Good Enough
Galien Johnston
with Artists of Alberta Ballet
Buiding a Mystery
Galien Johnston
with Artists of Alberta Ballet
Mary
Beverly Bagg & Blair Puente
with Artists of Alberta Ballet
Ice Cream
Ice Cream Cone
Melissa Boniface
with Artists of Alberta Ballet
Angel
Nicole Caron & Davidson Jaconello
accompanied by ...
Alexandra Gibson & Anthony Pina
Jennifer Gibson & Mark Wax
Alexandra Pera & Garret Groat
For those reading this article via RSS or email, you might not be able to
view Steve Jobs's 2005 Stanford Commencement Address. If that is the
case, please read view this blog article
at my blog where the YouTube is displayed.
On Thursday, 24 March 2011, I attended Alberta Ballet's production of
Serenade and Vigil of Angels. I thoroughly
enjoyed both ballets, the first that I have ever attended.
At 6:45 pm, Jean Grand-Maître, artistic director, along with two elegant
and attractive women Elyse Borne and Flavia Vallone began a half hour
introduction to the two ballets. By just observing how Borne and Vallone
carried themselves, I knew they were dancers and would have valuable
insights to share.
Borne, who is responsible for staging Serenade for the
George
Balanchine Trust, provided her background and discussed her time
working with George Balanchine. Through her
discussions, I got a sense of the history of Serenade and
her excitement and joy of working with Balanchine. She spoke of how
Serenade evolved from Balachine's lessons and from some of
the student's mistakes.
For those of you, like me, who know absolutely nothing about ballet,
George Balanchine (1904-1983) is regarded as the foremost contemporary
choreographer of ballet. Please see my earlier Wikipedia link for more
information.
Vallone is from La Scala in Milan where she is a first soloist.
Grand-Maître discussed that of the many dancers he has had pleasure of
working with, only a select few were true muses, and Flavia Vallone is
one. He instinctively knew when he first saw her that she would dance the
lead role in Vigil of Angels when it opened in La Scala in
1995.
This ballet is more somber, more thoughtful as it concerns itself with
how we learn to accept the inevitably of death. Grand-Maître mentioned
that he created this ballet during the mid 1990s when many of his friends
and colleagues were dying from AIDS. Vallone recounted her experiences
with the ballet.
As I watched the two dancers reflect back on their careers, I enjoyed
watching their reactions to each other. Through their sympathetic
gestures, it was obvious that each understood the other's experiences.
They share a common bond, an understanding and appreciation, that
transcends what is able to be communicated to and understood by those of
us who are non-dancers.
Through the discussions of Grand-Maître, Borne and Vallone, my most
important learning was just to enjoy the beauty of the ballet.
Grand-Maître encouraged the audience to superimpose our own life
experiences onto the ballets because there was no definitive or correct
interpretations. He further commented that these ballets are meant to
soothe the soul, especially in these turbulent and troubling times. And
Grand-Maître made one last remark where he quoted Balanchine's comment,
"See the music, hear the dance."
I loved Serenade. There is so much to appreciate with the
dance patterns and technical pointe work. The cool blues dresses together
with the dancers' light movement created stunning imagery. I was amazed
at watching how effortless the dancers moved through their dance. Of
course, the easier it looks likely implies that it is extraordinarily
difficult to achieve.
For those wanting or looking for a technical review of how the dancers
performed Serenade, I am unable to provide such commentary.
I can only comment that I enjoyed the whole visual imagery. While I
enjoyed absorbing the beautiful movements, I am sure that I missed many
of the finer points—pun intended. In fact, I would love to see this
ballet several more times, for I am sure I would appreciate each new
viewing more than the last.
Vigil of Angels was a more cerebral or thoughtful ballet.
Having heard Grand-Maître's earlier description of his ballet and why it was
created, I was able to understand the ballet. And as he mentioned, we
could use our own life stories and imagination to shape our
interpretation.
The interesting and beautiful backdrops and staging complemented the
dancers graceful and effortless movements. I am still amazed by their
dancing.
In addition to Joe McNally's photographs, I have begun reading Jennifer
Homans's
Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet. If you have any
interest at all in ballet, I recommend New York Times Book Review:
10 Best Books Apollo's Angels. I had expected a
historical book on ballet to be rather dry with factual details. Instead,
Homans wrote a wonderfully crafted book that drips with rich detail about
the fascinating history of ballet. Rather than try to provide an adequate
book review here, I urge to read some of the more eloquent and informed
reviews by other readers on Amazon.
A friend who is a female adult ballet student shares her knowledge,
enthusiasm, and passion with me. Whenever I have a question, she provides
her thoughts and usually directs me to other resources as well, including
two online forums: Ballet Talk for Dancers and Ballet
Talk.The former forum is directed to those who participate in ballet
as dancers or students while the latter is directed to those of us with
an interest in ballet.
To enjoy ballet, you don't need to be schooled or proficient in the
technical aspects of ballet, just as you don't need to read music to
listen to your favorite songs. If you have knowledge of ballet, however,
I expect you are able to gain a deeper appreciation of the art form. As
mentioned, I would love to see Serenade several times
because with each viewing, I am sure that I would learn and appreciate
the ballet more. As with anything new, I need to seek several sources to
deepen my understanding and appreciation.
Throughout all my learning, perhaps what impresses me most are the
dancers themselves. They dance for the pure enjoyment and love of
dancing. They don't dance for fame or fortune, because most will never
know either. And, although ballet is not a sport, dancers are supreme
athletes. Their training is difficult, challenging, and, at times,
painful. So when I watched the dancers perform, I appreciated them for
their dedication and passion of pursuing a their art form. I admire those
who can put aside the usual monetary rewards to pursue a career they
love.
Now, you are probably wondering why I have Steve Jobs's 2005 Stanford
Commencement Address at the top of this blog article. There are two
reasons: first, as much as I wish I had, I do not have any photographs of
dancers to share with you; and second, there are parallels with Jobs's
address and ballet.
By discussing his rise from humble beginnings to his present role of
chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Jobs mentioned three key themes: first,
Connecting the Dots; second, Love and Loss; and
third, Death. His life has been and continues to be an
unimaginable journey. Ballets often reflect unimaginable and complicated
journeys. In Connecting the Dots Jobs talked about
following your heart and doing what you believe. Ballet dancers embody
that very attribute. Love and Loss is something that we can
all identify with in our lives. And, it is often a main theme in ballets.
Similarly, Death is another common and shared experience. As
discussed, a main theme in Vigil of Angels is death.
I want to elaborate further where Jobs, in his Connecting the
Dots discussion, talked about his interest in and passion for
calligraphy. He spoke how, at the time, there was no apparent purpose for
his interest. Yet, as we saw, his interest in and passion for calligraphy
provided Apple and the rest of personal computing universe with beautiful
typography, something we take for granted. Similarly, while some might
think that watching ballet has no purpose, I argue that it does. First,
ballet allows us to reflect on our lives. Through their movements,
dancers are able to portray events and emotions that help us question and
understand our own lives on our own terms. Second, watching ballet
dancers perform is good for the soul. There is something magical about
their movements. And third, it is good to help, support, and appreciate
those have chosen to pursue their creative passions. Jobs's comments
about calligraphy resonated with me because my reasons for interest in
ballet are similar to his interests in calligraphy—they are both
beautiful and graceful.
Now you know why I am interested in learning more about ballet. Because
it is a beautiful art form, I wish I had been more curious about and open
to ballet when I was younger.
By the time my article is posted on my blog, it will be too late to
encourage those of you in Calgary to see the ballets. However, those of
you in Edmonton, I encourage you. And as new person to ballet, I believe
these two ballets are wonderful starting places because you are able to
use your own life experiences to create your own impressions. So, if you
have the opportunity to attend, I urge you to see the ballets.
Stay hungry, Stay foolish.
For my benefit, below are the artists who performed on Thursday evening.
Alberta Ballet: Serenade
Waltz Girl
Victoria Lane Green
Waltz Boy
Patrick Doe
Russian Girl
Nicole Caron
Dark Angel
Galien Johnston
Elegie Boy
Kelley McKinlay
Four Russian Girls
Noëllie Conjeaud
Alison Dubsky
Mariko Kondo
Tara Williamson
Corps de Ballet
Skye Balfour-Ducharme
Reilley Bell
Melissa Boniface
Natalie Chui*
Emily Collier
Alexandra Gibson
Gillian Hogg*
Asaka Homma
Kanae Muta*
Miyuki Ohta*
Alexandra Pera
Sarah de Vries
Anthony Pina
Blair Puente
Sébastien Riou
Peter Starr
The asterisks represent those artists who are students of the School of
Alberta Ballet.
and 
.
While I cannot put
into words what I enjoyed about his ballet photographs, I know that I
enjoy them. And that began my interest in learning more about ballet.
. If you have any
interest at all in ballet, I recommend New York Times Book Review:
10 Best Books Apollo's Angels. I had expected a
historical book on ballet to be rather dry with factual details. Instead,
Homans wrote a wonderfully crafted book that drips with rich detail about
the fascinating history of ballet. Rather than try to provide an adequate
book review here, I urge to read some of the more eloquent and informed
reviews by other readers on Amazon.
