In this season of change from summer to autumn, the world, our country, and our communities stand poised on the brink. Disease, heart wrenching disaster and devastation, and global warming are looming around the world. Gun violence is on the rise. A political quagmire divides our nation. And yet we go to work, school and recreational activities, we buy groceries, go shopping, cook and clean, and gather with friends and family. And if we are very lucky, we go to the ballet!
As I found my seat on a balmy late summer night in Ravinia’s packed outdoor Pavilion in north suburban Highland Park this past Friday night, it occurred to me that we all bring a particular personal lens colored by our unique perspective of time, arts critics and performing artists no exception!
The Joffrey Ballet’s succinct program of four contrasting works brought its own group consciousness to the stage in choreography and performances that embodied a poignant sense of our unique moment in history.
The collection of works opened with Gerald Arpino’s frothy “Birthday Variations” (1986), a classically oriented frolic aimed to please traditionalists as well to showcase the technical and artistic brilliance of the company, and brilliant they are!
Five ballerinas in pastel-toned knee-length tutus flirted with Evan Boersma’s dashing cavalier prince, a veritable birthday cake in which he was the candle in the middle. The adagio first movement featured silken legs, many bourées and penché arabesques to Giuseppe Verde’s pastoral score. Each ballerina took her turn with a variation that highlighted technical virtuosity and charm.
"Tribute to Ramsey Lewis," with Joffrey Ballet/ Photo courtesy of Ravinia Festival/Kyle Dunleavy
They tossed off their variations, each brutally difficult, with seeming insouciance. Especially impressive was the ending coda in which principal ballerina Gayeon Jung won a round of applause as she executed her requisite 32 fouetté turns en menage, encircling the stage as she whipped one leg into her knee and then 90 degrees out to the side per rotation, the other leg pumping her onto the tip of her delicately arched point shoe in consecutive relevés.
Relying on a movement vocabulary and structural conventions firmly planted in 19th and early 20th-century classicism, Arpino’s inventive spatial design gave hints of innovations which he and Robert Joffrey had already introduced into the Joffrey repertoire. This was evident in his “Round of Angels” (1983), a truly heavenly contemporary ballet set to the Adagietto movement of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. While the music is somber, the dancing was uplifting, even transcendent, as a choreographic eulogy for Arpino’s artistic associate and Joffrey Ballet dancer, James R. Howell.
Jeraldine Mendoza and Dylan Gutierrez are the star couple, whose passion and tenderness for each other cannot be rescued even by a host of angels. Five men, clad in white, draped over one another on the floor (fallen angels?) referenced the influence of Martha Graham in the use of breath and “contraction and release” to initiate group animation, gradually bringing them to their feet as they became a kind of Greek chorus to the central drama of Mendoza and Gutierrez. Their partnership integrated every dip and dive both physically and emotionally, as Gutierrez brought a depth of tenderness and longing to the couple's brief union and ultimate separation. Mendoza's pliant body responded in understated sensitivity. Together, they provided a visualization of the marriage of passion and spiritual ascendance.
The five escort angels took their turns in a swell and ebb of enthralling bodies, their arms and fingers transforming before our eyes into wings and feathers. Was it the mood of the night, amidst a backdrop of global chaos and political malaise that welcomed their rescue of our spirits? Whatever disparate histories audience members brought with them to Ravinia, this ballet spoke to our collective need for heavenly breath, which the Joffrey dancers certainly delivered.
The world premiere of “For Mr. Ramsey Lewis” introduced us to Chicago-born choreographer Houston Thomas, and the polished young ensemble of the Studio Company and Ballet Trainees from the Joffrey Academy, the official school of the Joffrey Ballet. On-stage musicians, The Urban Knights, longtime collaborators with Ramsey Lewis, and pianist Richard D. Johnson, were integral artistic partners.
The classic jazz homage to Lewis, also a Chicago native, melded the classicism of ballet with the composer’s musical roots in classic form.
"Tribute to Ramsey Lewis," with Joffrey Ballet/ Photo courtesy of Ravinia Festival/Kyle Dunleavy
The 15 dancers, performing downstage of the musicians in gauzy unisex black tunics and color-coded tights, took turns as couples in the spotlight and came together in fluid transitions as quartet, full ensemble and one solo tour de force. Classical ballet dominated the movement vocabulary, relying on standard sequences of chassée-pas de bourée-glissade-assemblé; grands jetés, beats, balonées and ballottés, all smartly performed.
Saucy hips and a shoulder isolation here and there made an occasional nod to jazz dance; but for the first two sections, the ladies in point shoes and their male consorts rarely departed from the ballet études of their classical training. And while the dancing was pleasant to watch, the music took focus of the energy onstage for the first two slower segments.
A fast-paced third episode incorporated the musicians’ singing and livened things up. Flat footwork, flexed feet and a natural flair for the jazz music made Seehyun Kim’s solo a stand-out performance. Plenty of back lay-outs, sexy shoulders, arm allure and saucy torso squiggles mixed in with ballet tricks to redeem the choreography.
The final piece, “Yonder Blue” (2021), is part of The Joffrey Ballet’s “across the pond” program, which commissions choreographers from the British Isles. British choreographer Andrew McNichol’s piece is a flow of abstract non-stop moves, alternating linear and curved, lyrical and percussive gestures. Composer Peter Gregson’s music evokes water images with rippling flutes, lyrical violin melodies and sonorous cello undertones.
Geraldine Mendoza and Stefan Gonçalvez danced a sensual duet, contracting their torsos into each other’s embrace, their lips almost kissing. Gorgeous lifts, plummeting dives and breathtaking transitions from the floor into the air made this a refreshing culmination to a wonderful evening of dance under the stars.
For more information, click the company link below.
