last time, when i was writing about coppelia, i felt like i didn't have much to say about the performance in particular. it kind of came up as a last minute thing for my birthday and i'd never been before so on some level i didn't know what was going on. i think one of the reasons i compared it to sumo last time is because neither one is something i was exposed to at a young age, or personally tried to do ever, so a lot of what's going on with the bodies and lifestyle is far away from my understanding of myself and the world. anyway, this afternoon we went again for the last program of the season.
of course, as some might guess from reading that, i still don't really know what's going on on the stage. but at least now i have some frames of reference and comparison. this was a very different experience than coppelia, which wasn't exactly story heavy but implemented a lot of comedic acting along with fun, super active choreography that evokes things like wind-up/clockwork toys and the like. "ballet masterworks" is, of course, not the name of a suite, but (to my understanding) the company's designation of each year's final performance, which takes on more of an anthology format rather than a singular multi-act work, and had much more of an abstract and contemporary flavor. so i didn't know really what it would be like, but i was pretty excited.
the first act was "rubies", from a famous larger performance titled jewels, choreographed by a co-founder of the new york ballet and one of the most famous choreographers of the last century, george ballanchine, and set to a piano-focused piece by igor stravinski. it's pretty easy to say this was my third favorite of the three, but as an opening act i felt it was still really satisfying, especially since it was the one which felt the most "traditional" overall. there was bright lighting showing off sparkling costumes and an abstract background set with more shining red, and as a result of the high visibility and more deliberate pace (compared to coppelia) it felt relatively easy to see how things worked more clearly, the ways they would shift weight to perform movements and support each other. that really peaked at a certain point i think was a little more than halfway through where the soloist was surrounded by four men who held her limbs up through a cycle of poses standing at different angles on only one of them that would've clearly just been impossible unaided.
for the second act was a brand new commissioned dance by lauren lovette, who was a principal at the new york city ballet, and based on a piece of music titled three views of a mountain, written by kip jones, who also played violin with the orchestra for this performance. musically, i was totally digging it, and it's in that video above so i'm not gonna say too much about it beyond that. it's got some really cool harmonies and stylistic switches and i felt really lent itself to pairing with dance in this way. this act itself had three clear divisions based on the movements of the piece. the intro had plenty of sweeping moves and some cool ideas, including one part where the female soloist kind of walked up a slope made of other dancers for a few seconds. she and the male lead walked offstage briefly a few times and re-emerged soon after, as if crossing each others' paths repeatedly, the rest of the ensemble kind of suggesting a changing backdrop on their journey. at the end, they took poses on the center of the stage, and the lights dimmed, as new leads stepped out into the same pose to take point on the next movement, a quiet and intimate dance between the two of them. a new lead was introduced for the third section, where the energy slowly picks up again into wild dancing not totally unlike the last act of coppelia
it was pretty different, though. i couldn't go super deep into the specifics since i still don't know enough, but one thing i can definitely point to is that this was playing a bit more with gender dynamics than i have to think more classical ballets have, and at one point there was a stretch of male dancers carrying other men. and part of the reason this sticks out is because one of the guys had a GIANT FUCKING SMILE getting picked up that was super visible from our seats. really pretty much that whole section, once it got going, had such a strong energy, with joy and fun just pouring off the stage in such a strong way. i mean, i think there was a show last night, too? but this was the second time people have ever gotten to just go and watch this. i have to imagine it feels so cool to share something like this with people. something you know they've never seen
the final act was yoshihisa arai's choreography for ravel's bolero, which debuted in chicago a few years ago and apparently hasn't been performed anywhere else since. this time i feel less limited by my lack of knowledge and more like...i don't know if the words exist that can convey this experience. there is a short clip that gives a little taste of it, but
well, bolero is almost infamously repetitive, and i say "almost" because...it's proven to be a tremendously popular piece of music in the near century since it was written, and despite the composer's own feelings something in it speaks to people. the nature of what that is is probably varied and ambiguous (you really should read the wikipedia page if you haven't, it's one of the funniest there is i think) but it's certainly appropriate for a truly entrancing dance performance, i gotta say. the costumes and some of the early choreography definitely show some influence that i understand as coming from japanese theater, and there's some very surreal effects as a result of the unnatural lighting and unusual costumes, especially highlighted at a point where several performers pass through the back curtains (which are basically the same shade of black as the pants). later on, as the additions to the musical ensemble become less and less obvious, i've often had this feeling almost like time has stopped listening to the piece, and here, for some amount of time (i really have no idea how much) i felt completely lost and absorbed in the world of the stage, so much so that i was stunned when it all actually stopped and i slowly felt myself returning to reality.
it is, surely, ballet, but if the first two acts felt slowly more experimental, i really felt this was something else entirely. it felt far more weighty and intense, the cheerful and light flourishes replaced with what felt like more elemental dance movements and deep internal, even existential drama. as much as i felt that coppelia's comedy was perfectly suited to a broad, wordless performance, i wondered what something more dramatic would feel like, and i came away from this no less impressed with the skill and rich expression on display by the performers.
also probably one of the sexiest things i've seen in my life
performance art is so fucking cool. i'm going to keep saying we should all go see it more