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Crossroads Ballet Ballet West's 'All-Balanchine' Program
April 9, 2010 -- Capitol Theatre, Salt Lake City Any all Balanchine program is compelling enough for me to travel just about anywhere to see it. Ballet West in Salt Lake City has had a long affiliation with his work, and it was a delight to be able to zip into town recently to enjoy their opening night. Artistic Director Adam Sklute chose a smart program that was perfect for his inter-mountain west constituents: the expressive “Serenade,” the chic “Agon,” and the rousing “Stars and Stripes.”
[As a side note, it was very endearing and I loved it – as Arnold more than once took the initiative to go running after people whom she knew in order to proudly show them the book and to point out that she was featured in it. ]
With a staging set jointly by Victoria Simon and one of Ballet West’s experienced Ballet Masters, Mark Goldweber, the entire company gave a reading that easily displayed why they are so noted – amplitude of movement, precision in unison passages, a platform of technique that’s on par nationally, and importantly, a great artistic sense. Principals for this performance were Annie Breneman, Kate Crews, Elizabeth McGrath, Michael Bearden, and Rex Tilton. It may have premiered in 1935, yet “Serenade” holds our attention today, and when the female dancer at the conclusion is carried up stage right by three men, we are moved for her – and the world – as she bends further and further back while reaching her arms up and out. A very moving visual feast.
“Stars and Stripes” is a rouser...and the section that I always find so exciting and fun is the Men’s. I mean who could object to 16 men making coupé jeté in a circle around the stage while the principal male – Christopher Sellars – does tours en l’air in the center? The choreography builds to this point, so when it does happen, the audience is primed. I was thrilled to have experienced another Ballet West outing, amid the thrall of Sklute’s keen direction and the company’s resurgence to national prominence...and beyond.
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by Dean Speer
Because Bené Arnold and I were positioned in the outer of two entry foyers at the historic Capitol Theatre, hawking my new book, “On Technique,” we were able to observe everyone who came in to enjoy the show. This is a crowd that dresses up for its ballet and has high expectations of what they’re going to see. The glitter included the Governor, a dance critic from New York, Roxanne Christensen Lazzara -- the daughter of founding artistic director Willam Christensen, and numerous former company dancers – many of whom were either students of Arnold or who had worked with her when she was Ballet Mistress for Ballet West.
With all of this heady excitement, it’s no wonder that when the Ballet West Orchestra fired up the opening strains of Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade,” a heavenly sigh settled over the auditorium as the curtain rose on 17 steel-blue lit dancers, each reaching their right wrist and hand diagonally up in this, now, iconic pose. Each of us was lost in our own thoughts and feelings, yet united in our focus on the action on stage.
“Agon” was the lean protein course of the evening’s artistic diet. This 1957 masterwork is inventive, fresh, and exciting – yet clearly built on and using the ballet vocabulary and in fact, follows baroque dance forms structurally, both musically and choreographically – such as a sarabande and galliard. Again, Simon’s staging was clear and authoritative. A premiere for Ballet West, this is a work that they will continue to grow into and become “seasoned” through subsequent showings.