Joffrey Ballet’s presentation of Othello

Saturday night I had the pleasure of attending Joffrey Ballet’s presentation of Othello, which is in fact not based on the Shakespeare play but adapted from the 1566 story by Giraldo Cintio. I say this because if you go into the ballet thinking you are seeing Shakespeare’s adaption you will be confused throughout the performance.

Othello is presented in three acts and is expertly accompanied by the Chicago Sinfonietta.

The first act comprises three scenes: Desdemona and Othello getting married in a cathedral in Venice; Cassio giving a tribute to the new couple in the Great Hall (and Othello giving Desdemona a magic handkerchief); and Iago venting his fury because Othello promoted Cassio and not him.

The show-stealer in the first act is Cassio played by Aaron Rogers. He is going to blow you away with his energy, precision and grace. Classical ballet is all about fighting gravity to appear weightless and airy. Rogers seemed to always be airborne, only grazing his toe shoes lightly against the stage before leaping into yet another joyful, fast-paced jump. His arms fluttered about him and he kept his back so straight that it seemed he was being suspended by string, like a puppet.

By scene three you are ready to experience the rage that Iago, played by Matthew Adamczyk, has bubbling inside of him. His synthesis of modern dance and ballet  is violent and angry, a perfect contrast to the nicey-nice dancing between Othello and Desdemona in earlier scenes. Adamczyk starts out with choppy, robotic moves that act as an aside. As the tempo picked up, it was clear Iago is at war with himself: He tossed his body to the ground; he pounded his fists; every limb was hyper-extended to the point where it looked disconnected from his body.

It was painful to watch.

When his wife Emilia, played by Valerie Robin, joins him, try not to blink. She unsuccessfully tries to console him and he responds with violent fury executed beautifully.

The second act opened with a desperate, haunting dance with the women of Cyprus waiting for their husbands to return home from war. The homecoming dance between Desdemona and Othello is pretty, but forgettable. In contrast to Iago and Cassio, Othello, played by Fabrice Calmels, is a head-and-shoulders taller, much brawnier and never seems to be able to shake the clumsiness that comes along with his size. He is apeish, always rounding his shoulders and slouching, as if the weight of Desdemona’s death was already bearing down on him, even before he killed her.

Something odd happened during Othello’s angry solo dance, however, that changed my mind about his performance. The Chicago Sinfonietta whipped out horns and blew jazzy tunes over the usual classic repertoire. All of a sudden, Othello’s clumsiness felt more like a man dancing the blues and it made sense.

Act three is by far the best. In Othello’s chamber Iago describes the details of Desdemona and Cassio’s affair to Othello. As Iago is recounting the stories you can see how Othello pictures the affair: behind the two men, upstage right, stand Cassio and Desdemona, acting out the infidelities. They look dream-like and are cast with thick, projected fog and soft lighting. Of course, as Othello thinks about his wife cheating, he becomes enraged.

In Desdemona’s bed chamber, Othello tosses out Emilia to be alone with Desdemona. Surprisingly, a very loving dance between the two follows, with only several moves alluding to Othello’s anger. When the music picked up pace and low notes floated through the auditorium, Othello threw Desdemona to the ground and chokes her with the handkercheif. Othello’s hands visibly tremble as he pulls the handkercheif tighter and tighter around her throat until at last her body shudders.

Othello offers something for everyone and keeps you on the edge of your seat. You will be so entertained, enraged, joyful and absorbed that each scene will go by quickly and leave you wanting more. And more. And more.

Dev xx