Alberta Ballet delivers with poise
On the evening of the state memorial for Peter Lougheed, one of our province’s greatest champions of the arts, Alberta Ballet danced a fitting tribute by delivering a mixed program with poise, confidence, and tremendous versatility.
The program began with George Balanchine’s classical tutu ballet, Divertimento No. 15. Balanchine’s classic is dynamic ballet, demanding precise changes in direction and focus of the headlines, fast pointe work and intricate ensemble formations. The company did a lovely job dancing together, with tremendous attention to detail, particularly the blue tutu ensemble.
Soloists executed the work inconsistently — some very well — but all certainly get a passing grade for delivering such difficult work competently. Nicole Caron stood out with her remarkably airy and breathy quality. There were many lovely moments: the couple exiting with backward bourrées, leading with their heads through the curtain, will not soon be forgotten.
My guest whispered to me that the piece left her wanting to see more Balanchine, which I suspect means mission accomplished as far as artistic director Jean Grand Maitre is concerned. Her wish was fulfilled with the next selection on the program being The Four Temperaments, a midcentury modern Balanchine and stunning study in dance composition with plenty of his signature shapes and geometric forms of the body: winding corkscrews, flexed wrists and feet and otherwise traditional ballet steps led by the pelvis or the head. It is truly remarkable how sexy and stylish the work feels, even today.
The Twyla Tharp piece, In The Upper Room, was worth the price of admission on its own. She’s a household dance name, but it wouldn’t be surprising to find that most Alberta dance fans have had few opportunities to see her choreography performed live. If Tharp’s rock ballet Movin’ Out, set to the music of Billy Joel, is your only exposure to her work, you might have left wondering what all the fuss is about. In The Upper Room is a far better sampling of the influential dancemaker’s genius, and Alberta Ballet did the piece justice.
Dressed in black and white stripped pyjama-like baggy jumpsuits, dancers emerged in and out of the foggy streams of light at a frenetic pace. The dance vocabulary was athletic, fast and loose, and covered the stage like a runner in a sprint. The guys had some trouble with turns on Friday night as some sections bordered on messy, but the spirit of abandon deserved to be applauded and the audience certainly showed their appreciation.