There are few moments as bittersweet as when you stumble upon a treasure — a book, a designer, a recipe — only to find that you are late to the scene and that your newfound infatuation is actually something already widely known to be remarkable ("You never had tiramisu before? It's only the best dessert ever"). The experience can be humbling, but the challenge of catching up on years of ignorance can, if approached correctly, be a joy.
Fortunately, for a newcomer to Jorma Elo's choreography, Boston Ballet's latest program delivered a window into what the Boston−based choreographer has been working on over the past decade with the company. In case his star−studded résumé didn't harbor any clue, Elo has been up to quite a lot — including being named Boston Ballet's resident choreographer in 2005 — and deserves every bit of the international praise he's received.
"Elo Experience," billed in the program as a "theatrical journey," offered up a minute−by−minute succession of at once thrilling, tender and clever moments from Elo's career thus far.
Through a complementary combination of versatile lighting, mobile set pieces and, intriguingly vocal dialogue, these moments were strung together into a complex but seamlessly constructed show. Excerpts from Elo's past works, "Slice to Sharp," "Lost on Slow," "Plan to B," "Double Evil," "In on Blue," "Lost by Last" and "Brake the Eyes," comprised the stops on a whirlwind tour through Elo's past and a glimpse into a much−anticipated future.
Jeffrey Cirio and Larissa Ponomarkeno served as our charming tour guides. At times reminiscent of a shy teenage couple, and later taking on the nonsensically argumentative tone of two aging pastry−shop owners, they intermittently conducted bewildering conversations comprising non−sequitur phrases.
"Does she like sunshine or does she like moonlight?" Cirio wondered aloud, echoed by the corps.
"How fast was I going, officer?," Ponomarkeno replied, later losing herself in a stream of rapid−fire Russian.
The dialogue became tedious at times and felt a bit too much like a ploy to convince the audience that this was, in case anyone missed it, modern ballet.
The choreography and the company's world−class dancing could have often stood on its own, without the boyish Cirio and the regal Ponomarkeno stepping in to chatter and bicker as if part of some surreal sideshow. Elo's excerpts did need something to tie them together, however, and the pairing was certainly an inventive and entertaining way to do so.
The choreography and dancing confirmed, beyond a shadow of doubt, Elo's status as a world−renowned artist and Boston Ballet's reputation as a bright spot in the dance world. Each excerpt left the audience members new to Elo not only wondering what would come next, but also wistfully imagining what each ballet excerpt would have been like in its full form.
That may have been the only other downside of the program's structure: Each small taste only left a wispy indication of what the truly innovative choreographer accomplished. His work leaves no trace of a formula, bouncing throughout the night from sheer athleticism to understated melancholy.