The National Ballet of Canada/Winter Mixed Program, choreography by Wheeldon, MacMillan, Pires and November, Four Seasons Centre, Mar. 9 to 13.
It’s a well-known truth in the ballet world that mixed programs do not sell as well as the full-length works. On the other hand, true ballet cognoscenti tend to prefer the mixed programs because of the variety they present.
The National Ballet’s Winter Mixed Program is a case in point. The four short works were a judicious potpourri of two world premieres, a Canadian premiere, and a beloved English classic. In other words, there was something for everyone. It should also be noted that the company’s winter season as a whole is dedicated to the people of Ukraine, the announcement of which received appreciative applause from the audience.
The main event was saying goodbye to principal dancer Jillian Vanstone, who got to perform in two of the pieces. The National always gives a ballet of choice to a retiring dancer and in Vanstone’s case, it was After the Rain (2005), by Christopher Wheeldon, the British choreographer who had been so instrumental in Vanstone’s career.
After the Rain is in two parts. It’s an abstract ballet, so you can read anything into it, and that’s what a great choreographer like Wheeldon allows you to do. The piece is set to two famous compositions by beloved Estonian composer Arvo Part.
The score for the first part is the faster Ludus from Tabula Rasa which features three couples in greenish bodysuits performing energetic partnering and foot work. The fast rhythmic music has the beat of falling raindrops, and is the perfect prelude for the calm pas de deux that follows. More often than not, the first movement is not performed, which is a shame because it really does set up the second movement perfectly.
Along with Vanstone and Harrison James, the first part featured Calley Skalnik (first soloist) and Naoya Ebe, and Genevieve Penn Nabity (second soloist) and Ben Rudisin. Both men are accomplished principal dancers, so one expects the top drawer from them, but Skalnik and Nabity are really starting to get noticed, and rightly so. Both young women have lovely classical technique and wonderful musicality.
The After the Rain pas de deux is achingly beautiful, and the centrepiece of the dancing was the perfect partnership of Vanstone and James. Part’s slowly unfolding Spiegel im Spiegel haunts the soul, and the dance both captures the serenity after the rain, but with a strong tinge of melancholy – perhaps alluding to the fact that this sense of quiet is ephemeral and finite, with more rain to come.
The dancers’ vulnerability is front and centre. The ballerina is clothed in a flimsy bodysuit, off point ballet slippers, with her hair down. The man is shirtless, wearing only a pair of pants. The choreography has their bodies meld together in fluid phrases. The partnering also features the ballerina seemingly floating through the air. Nothing jars. The movement is seamless, and what we have is breathtaking dance that fills the eye with lyrical grace. What a gorgeous farewell for Vanstone, and what a showcase for the excellent James. I sincerely hope that the National will keep the two movements together in future programs.
Principal dancer Siphesihle November’s On Solid Ground for nine dancers received its world premiere, and I’m announcing here and now that he is definitely a choreographer to watch. The program note stated that the piece is about “the joy, self-awareness and self-exploration of the body in movement” which is not a new topic. What is new, is how November chose to portray that theme.
The music by four alt composers (Choolwe Muntanga, Benjamin Gordon, Steve Mazzaro and Msaki) is slow and easy which was a surprise, because you’d think that the joy of movement music would be fast and furious. November elected for strong, downward arms in perfect sync — thrusting and punching — always assured and sleek, and never frantic, accompanied by rhythmic feet.
Occasionally the seven corps dancers would create very arresting patterns, formations and combinations, before reverting to the basic group. Two soloists — Svetlana Lunkina and Ben Rudisin — would break away to perform calm and commanding movement, also before returning to the group. The impact of the piece was watching a wall of strength, with everything under control. On Solid Ground certainly did rivet the eye.
The other world premiere was Alysa Pires’ Skyward, performed to the commissioned crash and burn score by the Eighth Blackbird ensemble. By that I mean, the six musicians performed heavy drumbeats, discordant woodwinds, thundering piano riffs and scratchy strings, all to capture the upward movement of a flight of starlings which inspired the piece. Pires also input a feeling of hope stemming from her pregnancy while she created the piece.
Three soloists, Heather Ogden and Brendan Saye as partners, and fleet of foot Spencer Hack, along with a corps of four couples, executed a physicality that through jumps, turns, spins and high partnering lifts, attempted to defy gravity. Pires can certainly handle large numbers (including exits and entrances) which is a very valuable choreographic tool to possess.
Skyward is an attractive if conventional ballet, but there is always room for the Pires-types in the ballet world. Companies need works that are easily recognizable to the audience and easy to absorb, making the piece the perfect opener for the program.
The closer was Kenneth MacMillan’s much loved Elite Syncopations (1974) performed to an onstage band playing a series of ragtime favourites by Scott Joplin and his contemporaries. The piece is filled with sly humour that is reflected in the hand painted whimsical bodysuits and cheeky hats. While the soloists perform, the rest of the cast sits on chairs running down the sides of the stage.
While the dancing was excellent, the piece was missing pizzazz. The company just needed to get more into their roles to find the fun. It was almost too cleanly done. Former artistic director Karen Kain set the work, but maybe she did too good a job in paying homage to the choreography.
But still, one can’t fault the dancing. Vanstone was the lead siren to James’ swain. Tanya Howard was the flirt, Naoya Ebe was the show-off, Brenna Flaherty and Isaac Wright were the awkward couple, while Jaclyn Oakley and Noah Parets were the tall woman and the breast-high short man. The four-man quartet featured Parets, Wright, Ebe and Donald Thom.
The next time around with Elite Syncopations, I want the National to lighten up.
#LUDWIGVAN
Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.
Sign up for the Ludwig van Daily — classical music and opera in five minutes or less HERE.
- INTERVIEW | Actor Diego Matamoros Takes On Icon Walt Disney In Soulpepper Production Of Hnath Play - April 16, 2024
- SCRUTINY | Opera In Concert Shine A Light On Verdi’s Seldom Heard La Battaglia Di Legnano - April 9, 2024
- SCRUTINY | Lepage & Côté’s Hamlet Dazzles With Dance And Stagecraft Without Saying Anything New - April 5, 2024
