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Joffrey Ballet's Eclectica
By Laura Molzahn:
No one expects ballet to stand still, but the Joffrey’s "Eclectica" program made me wonder what now defines the form. Clearly it's not pointe work or the standard steps. Not that I mourned their occasional loss on this refreshing program, which renews the Joffrey's founding promise to rethink classical dance.
The evening's three works, two of them premieres, are arranged in a kind of sandwich. (You can take a bite through May 9 at the Auditorium Theatre.) At least superficially, the opening and closing works are as light and fluffy as Wonder Bread. The meat is stuck in the middle: Jessica Lang's "Crossed," though it's not as heavy as it first seems.
Gerald Arpino's "Reflections," now nearly 40 years old, reveals that departures from the classical are a lot more radical these days. All-American skipping, sometimes with a cheesy smile, pops up often, and it's perfect for most of Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme, the sole score played live. Only the minor-key andante sixth variation seems to have inspired something uncommon. Arpino’s duet opens with the man alone, executing a turning leap ending on one knee --- and looking down. His somber finish establishes the duet's tone, sustained through legato moves. As the apparently doomed lovers, Victoria Jaiani and Fabrice Calmels were one of the evening's highlights.
Lang's "Crossed," performed in soft shoes, crosses a line between ballet and modern dance. With its religious music, varied moods, and pared motions, it reminded me of Alvin Ailey's "Revelations." But where he used spirituals and gospel songs, Lang relies on European composers from the 15th to 18th centuries, among them Mozart at his cheeriest and Josquin des Prez at his most lachrymose.
Lang’s design for "Crossed" --- four moving steel panels that often take cruciform shapes --- creates worlds within worlds. Because the panels can be shifted around the stage or removed entirely, they drastically change the look of each of the six sections, from threatening to sunny to a moody mix (with expert help from lighting designer Nicole Pearce). But they can also distract. When a horizontal one being lowered to the floor shuddered and seemed about to fall, the audience gasped. And dancers hopping or being hoisted over a lowered panel often looked clumsy.
"Crossed" can shift emotional gears abruptly. Its heart seems to be the mournful second section, danced by five bare-chested men whose camaraderie, partnering each other and holding hands, would be unthinkable in a classic ballet. Canon movement creates a cascade of feeling gestures, and the section ends movingly, as its key figure (Calmels, whose impressive physique is put to good use) turns away from the others, now in priestly frocks. But the next section looks like a cross between Mark Morris in his folk-dance mode and musical comedy, as one man (a sprightly Aaron Rogers) flirts with a trio of women.
James Kudelka's brand-new "Pretty BALLET" often looks frothy but has a serious intent: to update and caricature romantic ballets. Unlike the other two works, it both explicitly addresses ballet's history and takes it in a new direction informed by humor and tenderness.
With its wispy mists and clouds and wispy girls in long tulle tutus, "Pretty BALLET" screams romanticism. Yet Kudelka makes his first little joke quickly, riffing on the primacy of the romantic ballerina: the men are literally eclipsed by the women, springing up from behind their skirts. Bohuslav Martinu’s second symphony, like the sea of fluff the women sometimes resemble, can seem lightweight, even like musical theater. In fact the choreography to the third movement, for five jester/heroes, is as buoyant as any in Agnes de Mille's "Rodeo" (first performed in 1942, one year before Martinu's symphony).
Kudelka’s occasional angular, metronomic clockwork moves are foreign to the soft fluidity of romantic ballet. But they become poignant in the most distinctive section, a duet set to Martinu’s brooding second movement. When the man lifts the woman by her stiffened arms and swings her from side to side, she looks like a pealing bell, perhaps referring to “Giselle” --- or Martinu’s birth in a Czech church tower. And when he lifts her overhead, rigid and supine, her slowly pumping forearms and paddling feet make her as vulnerable as a sleepwalker.
Kudelka’s bold “Pretty BALLET” deflates classical dance to give it new meaning. In a motif from the duet, the man swiftly lifts the woman, drops her, and holds her in a swan dive. But at one point this grand, sweeping motion ends in the woman simply standing, erect and flat-footed, her back to the man, who seems at a loss. Suddenly standing alone, plain and small, proves more moving than the magnificent gesture.
Crossed Over
I agree with much of the review regarding Crossed, but I'd like to add that the bare chested men in frocks added a very interesting homo-erotic element that reminded me of the tensions and controversies faced by Catholics. That was really the only exciting part for me. I'm wondering also why this subject matter for a ballet? In a time of decreasing interest in religion (and sorry to say ballet) I don't think the content speaks much to contemporary culture or will interest new audiences.
