You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘ballet’ tag.
It’s Friday and that means you are ready for the weekend and ready for the absolutely BS Hallmark-made holiday, “Sweetest Day”. Have you heard of this holiday? I hadn’t until yesterday when a co-worker stressed how important it is for your guy to treat you to something special. If it gets me a free chocolate then I am in! :o)
But Sweetest Day or not, the Joffrey has something incredibly special going on: It’s called their 2010-2011 Season and it is starting with All Stars. From tonight (October 15) until October 24, you can laugh, cry and be entertained by Joffrey ballerinas performing what is arguably, their most diverse and moving collection of performances. Seriously, guys, this one is not to be missed.
"After the Rain" ft. Victoria Jaiani and Fabrice Calmels - Photo by Herbert Migdoll
Of course since I rave about the ballet every time I attend, I feel it necessary for me to elaborate as to why this particular set of performances it not to be missed.
It’s the event I have been waiting for! The Joffrey Ballet’s presentation of Cinderella starts tomorrow, Wednesday 17 February, and I could not be more excited. (You can watch a video on the Joffrey site, here!)
Cinderella featuring Megan Quiroz, photo by Herbert Migdoll
If you have never been to the ballet before, or if you have never seen the Joffrey, then this is the perfect introduction to both. You all know the fairytale but you may have never seen it come to life right before your eyes with truly hideous stepsisters, handcrafted outfits, a ethereal score performed by the Chicago Sinfonietta and graceful dancing. Perfect for out-of-town visitors looking to make their trip to Chicago extra magical, a sweet date or family event, Cinderella will not disappoint!
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
My selection of events to attend so far has been really classy. Attending a Cat circus, a lecture on the glow-in-the-dark bunny (no worries, I will fill you in later!) and a Spaghetti Wrestling Tournament…just to name a few. So I can imagine your shock to hear that last week, I attended the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Symphony Center downtown.
I have been dying to go to the Symphony and a ballet, so when I saw an add in Time Out that the CSO offers discount tickets to students at just $10 a pop, I had to jump on that boat! Tim and I looked over the event schedule (I was hoping for something Beethoven as he is my favourite composer, but it looks like I will have to wait until June 2 for that!) and decided that it would be really interesting to hear Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, a ballet that would be performed in its original version!
Student tickets are general admission, which means you will be sitting in the main hall (no nose bleeds here!). The seats. are. fantastic. Actually, there is not a bad seat in the house as far as I could tell.
Pierre Boulez took the stage to conduct the first piece, the 22-minute Sinfonietta by Janácek. The piece features 25 brass players and the score itself comprises two flutes, a piccolo, two oboes, a cor anglais, two clarinets, an E-flat clarinet, a bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, nine trumpets in C, three trumpets in F, two bass trumpets, four trombones, two tenor tubas a bass tuba, a timpani, cymbals, bells, a harp, strings and a partridge in a pair tree!
Whew!
An amazingly eery violin and clarinet display crowns the beginning, as you can hear here on this video (which is not the Chicago Symphony):
As the piece picks up it becomes more urgent and dark, incorporating every instrument and giving them time to shine. It really was quite powerful and I felt like I was in a Harry Potter movie.
A triumphant brass and timpani display makes its appearance toward the end, building the piece up like a tidal wave just to have the trumpets end on one powerful note, much like a national anthem. It was brilliant.
But the bread and butter of the night was, hands down, Frank Peter Zimmermann, the violinist who stole my heart and was awarded a roaring standing ovation after his performance in Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1.
Zimmermann swaggered onto the stage with his pet violin, cheekily biting his lower lip and lifting his eyebrows to the audience, daring us to look away. It was like he already knew he was going to steal the show but like a good flirt he teased us until we eventually yielded to him.
During the moments when he was not playing, Zimmermann was the picture of cool, calm and fatherly: Instead of fidgeting or looking awkward, he lovingly watched his orchestra counterparts, swaying along with their every note. His passion for the music was unrivaled and I found myself bobbing my head along with him.
His opening note came off sweet and sad and he swayed like a sapling in the buildup of a storm. This carried on for nearly four minutes until the piece picked up and he violently sawed at his violin making it scream. His violin was not the only thing on fire. Zimmermann himself seemed epileptic as he jerked from side to side as if the music coming out of him was being exorcised.
Just as quickly as the piece picked up, it calmed back down and the Jekyll of Zimmermann was again restored. He did not turn into Hyde until later in the piece, but like in the novella, the Hyde became stronger and Zimmermann was again a man possessed.
As a matter of fact he became so passionate and excited while playing, I half-expected him to Chuck Berry his way across the floor!
I only wish we were allowed to video tape but since I could not, here is a clip of Zimmermann playing at the BBC Proms:
