Dance Treats

A friend at City Center helped me obtain a slew of tickets for the annual Fall for Dance festival this year. Since tickets are only $10 and I am unlikely to be able to indulge in tickets for any event for so little, I splurged and got tickets to four performances over two weeks.

It was such a pleasure to connect with different friends every few nights. I am fortunate to have this connection, and I enjoy sharing my fortune with friends. It was a treat to get out and to have an occasion to attend. It felt good to do something I did as an employed person who could afford to engage more in the world.

It is the centennial anniversary of the Ballets Russes, a company that has long intrigued me. To mark the celebration, many dances originally produced by the Ballet Russes were performed during the festival (Afternoon of a Faun, Noces, Petrushka Suite, Les Biches).

Ballet Russes has often emerged in readings about some of my favorite painters, film makers, and writers. Matisse, Picasso, Derain, Miro, Cocteau, Dali, and Chanel are among the luminaries who designed the company's sets and costumes. I vaguely recall seeing scratchy old film footage of Nijinsky performing Afternoon of a Faun and hearing about the riot sparked by the premier of Rite of Spring. Ballet Russes is one of my favorite documentary films.

I had often wished to see what their productions were like, so the program was a special pleasure for me.

Boston Ballet's "Afternoon of a Faun" was a faithful recreation of the original production. The expressionist set design was gorgeous. The dance style, inspired by Greek vase paintings, appears stilted and quaint now, but one can appreciate it in context.

Les Grand Ballets Canadiens de Montreal's "Noces" was a reinterpretation. The original piece highlighted traditional Russian folk dancing at a peasant wedding. Apparently, it was a wedding themed ballet without romance. It is difficult to comment on the new piece without having seen the original. The new piece also includes the wedding party and there is interaction among the sexes, but they are presented in zombie-like attire that drains them of sensuality. The piece emphasizes the roles of men and women attending a social event devoted to honoring the union of a man and woman.

Ballet West performed "Les Biches" with a set based on paintings by Matisse. The set and costumes were consistent with those that would be used when the ballet originally was produced. The male costumes included bathing briefs worn with socks, which made me laugh out loud. The flapper character wore long beads and held a long cigarette holder. I loved that her movements were accompanied by swinging and clanking jewelry. It was also funny to see an athlete perform complicated moves while holding a cigarette.

Of course their were many other performances, and among the best was Savion Glover and the Others. They were simply amazing. I love it when dancers perform to live music with the musicians on stage. It was exceptional to see the dancers and musicians perform in concert as the taps of the dancer were an integral part of the music.

Other notable performances were Batsheva's "B/olero," Tangueros Del Sur's "Romper el Piso" (such drama!), Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company's "Softly as I Leave You" (how could a plywood box look so beautiful?), Monica Bill Barnes & Company "I Feel Like," and Dancebrazil "Culture in Motion."