Dublin Wind Symphony
DUBLIN SCIOTO HIGH SCHOOL, 4000 HARD ROAD, DUBLIN www.dublin bands.com The group will perform a program of marches. 3 p.m. Sunday free
The young student at the School of American Ballet caught the attention of Jerome Robbins.
In the late 1980s, Robbins — then the co-ballet master-in-chief of New York City Ballet, with which the school is associated — sat in on a class and spotted a 13-year-old Edwaard Liang.
“He picked me to join the company and dance a company role,” said Liang, now the artistic director of BalletMet.
Robbins ( 1918- 98) considered casting Liang in “Watermill,” a 1972 ballet featuring company dancer Edward Villella.
“It’s a very obscure sort of ballet, but my part was about mirroring Eddie Villella, the main protagonist,” Liang said. “I got to work with (Robbins) one-on-one for six months straight. It was very challenging — he’s so demanding — but it changed my life.”
In the end, Liang didn’t appear in “Watermill” at 13, but, three decades later, he will honor the memory of his mentor.
In acknowledgment of the 100th anniversary of Robbins’ birth, BalletMet will perform the choreographer’s 1945 ballet “Interplay” as part of “Tour de Force: A Collection of Short Ballets.” The program, also featuring George Balanchine’s “Rubies” and Liang’s own “The Art of War,” will open Friday and continue through March 24.
In addition to his position at New York City Ballet, Robbins was responsible for contributing choreography to the popular musicals “On the Town” (a spinoff from his 1944 ballet “Fancy Free”), “The King and I” and “West Side Story.”
“Jerry had more theater background than ballet background to begin with,” said Kipling Houston, a former New York City Ballet dancer — and Robbins collaborator — assigned by the Robbins Rights Trust to stage “Interplay” for BalletMet.
"Interplay” features four men and four women dancing to the music of Morton Gould in a playground type of environment.
“It’s a very playful ballet,” Houston said. “It should be like just a group of kids in a schoolyard playing around — just goofing around.”
The dancers in the cast appreciate the high- spirited atmosphere.
“Anyone can relate to it — like being on a playground, playing with your friends, seeing who can shoot the most hoops or do the most challenging hopscotch,” said Kristie Latham, 27.
Even so, the ballet makes demands of the dancers.
“It flows so easily, but yet, at the same time, the patterns and the musicality are so intricate,” Liang said. “These certain small nuances, whether people realize them or not, is what creates a masterpiece.”
The ballet, Latham said, serves as a solid representation of Robbins’ style.
“It’s so genuine to his choreographic inspiration ... but it does feel so different than ‘ Fancy Free,’ of course, because we’re on pointe shoes,” Latham said.
Yet the dancers’ movements are naturalistic.
“We do a lot of snapping and stylized walks,” said Martin Roosaare, 25.
Houston — who, in his career, danced each of the four male parts in “Interplay” — arrived in Columbus Feb. 26 and will stay through opening night to assure the production honors Robbins’ intentions.
“If the movement isn’t done the way Jerry’s vision was, the ballet lands flat,” said Houston, 62. “The trust also requires that a trust lighting person comes in and lights it, and the costumes are all approved.”
For his part, Liang is proud for BalletMet to partake in the Robbins centennial — and grateful for his own brush with the choreographer.
“He was scary to work with, especially if you’re young,” Liang said, “but at the same time ... he had this special glimmer in his eyes that was able to bring out your artistry.”