"Divertimento 15" was the first ballet I have seen during which I wanted to be tossing and catching popcorn in my mouth. Cultural faux pas aside, "Divertimento 15" was the first of three pieces showcased, and presented a lightly buttered variety of ballet. It was energetic, poppy and just a little bit fluffy.
To be clear, there is no way that the dancers actually resemble the movie popcorn (they were dripping with neither butter nor salt), but I am certain that based on the style of his choreography, George Balanchine was definitely enjoying Orville's best while listening to Mozart.
Opening its 2004-2005 season this past weekend with "Balanchine Martins Balanchine," The Boston Ballet sandwiched the world premier of a new piece by Peter Martins with Balanchine's two established masterpieces. Martins, successor to Balanchine as ballet master-in-chief of the New York City Ballet (NYCB), has choreographed more than 75 new works, primarily for the NYCB.
Set to Mozart's divertimento of the same name, "Divertimento 15" has a presentational style, focusing on technique and movement as opposed to story and plot, defining characteristics of a story ballet. A story ballet is the type that features dancers as characters, charming princes or personifications such as Arabian coffee or Chinese tea.
Rather, this piece allowed the principals, soloists and corps de ballet members to showcase their abilities, as well as share with the audience their pure love of dancing. The dancers obviously had fun with the work, despite their lack of technical polish - and I found myself laughing in delight, ready to throw back a handful of fluffy white kernels.
The principal dancers and soloists wore golden yellow costumes which made my cravings more intense. The ultimate popcorn moment however, typical of the entire piece, was when the three men jumped, turned and landed in a repetitious and very quick canon. For each beat of the music, one of the men was straight in the air, another was pirouetting and the third was landing the jump, ready to turn again. George Balanchine is known for choreographing the music - not simply to the music.
The second billing for the evening was the world premiere of "Distant Light," choreographed for the Boston Ballet by Danish-born Martins. This ballet was brilliant, particularly for those looking for contemporary choreography strongly rooted in the classical ballet canon. And, it did not resemble any modern snack food.
While the cast of "Divertimento 15" occasionally stumbled over Balanchine's choreography (as anyone who is not accustomed to it would), Martins clearly utilized the individual strengths of the "Distant Light" cast, including principals Lorna Feij??o, Nelson Madrigal, Roman Rykine and Yury Yanowsky. The provocative music of Peteris Vasks, with its use of minor chords, kept the audience on edge and immediately alerted them to the differing tone of "Distant."
From Feij??o's first phrase, the audience recognized that the movements they were about to see would be abstract, as well as technically demanding. Feij??o began center stage, lying on her back, writhing erratically. Three men entered and a series of intense partnering began.
Feij??o would wrap herself around one of the men, and he would manipulate her as a puppeteer would a marionette. Martins did not take this relationship too far, however, and only loosely suggested connections between the dancers. Tension among the four dancers grew and subsided over the course of the piece.
Feij??o showed her remarkable versatility by sharply executing her mechanical, more abstract movements, while effortlessly relaxing her movements with only a turn of the music, her body softening as she danced from the more classical canon.
The importance of "Distant Light" to the repertoire to the Boston Ballet is clear: as his successor, Peter Martins allows the company the opportunity to take an active role in the Balanchine legacy.
Balanchine's "Rubies" served as the final piece of the evening, a difficult transition back to a classical piece after the dramatic Martins work. "Rubies" employed a soloist, a pas de deux and a large corps, filling the stage with glittering, scarlet costumes. A giant star of rubies provided the backdrop for the dancers who personified the jewel to Igor Stravinsky's "Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra."
Unfortunately, Balanchine's original choreography and overall design were more interesting than the dancers themselves, except for Romi Beppu, who danced the pas de deux with Yury Yanowsky. She was playful and engaging, but also had strong lines, jumps and the commanding stage presence that "Rubies" demands. The pair mocked jumping rope, during which Yanowsky looked uncomfortable, but Beppu executed the move while maintaining her dignity and purpose.
Her 180 degree pench?© convinced me that she was indeed the Queen of the Rubies instead of soloist Melanie Atkins, who seemed too delicate and submissive in her role, although technically fitting.
Overall, the evening demonstrated the versatility of the Boston Ballet in its principal and corps de ballet, as well as the company's desire to place itself among the masters of the Balanchine technique and heritage. While the rest of the season includes four story ballets, the "Balanchine Martins Balanchine" program provided a provocative start to the 2004-05 season.
