`I worry,” Lily Tomlin used to joke, “that you’re only here tonight because a friend dragged you to prove once and for all that I really am funny.”
Some of the most enjoyable nights I’ve spent in my many visits to the ballet have been in the company of exactly that sort of skeptical initiate, a balletic virgin with a furrowed, worried brow and a ready set of questions:
How can you tell when it’s good? What do you look for? Will I really like it?
Expensive, hard to produce and challenging to master, ballet wouldn’t have survived if it weren’t highly entertaining, beautiful and speckled with magic. But most Americans, unless they took ballet as youngsters, think of it as off-putting, remote, high-brow and, well, weird.
Let’s assume you’ve never been–like the involuntary Tomlin attendee–but you’ve been roped into accompanying a friend to the Joffrey Ballet’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Wed. through Oct. 30 at Auditorium Theatre). The engagement launches the troupe’s two-year 50th-anniversary celebration. Should you choose not to doze or listen by earphone to a sports event, here are some tips to meeting the art form half way.
The programming of this performance happens to provide a perfect introduction to the medium. Ballet concerts fall into one of two categories: Full-length works, which tell a narrative story (“Cinderella,” “The Sleeping Beauty,” “Swan Lake”), or mixed repertory programs, which feature two to four separate one-act pieces.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is the umbrella title the Joffrey is using for this program, which is a mix of both. Frederick Ashton’s “The Dream” is a one-act ballet, but it also tells an edited version of the story from the classic Shakespearean comedy. Oberon, Titania and Puck are there, confounding, but ultimately helping, the hapless, mixed-up lovers.
That this story ballet is only one act allows for two other works: Jiri Kylian’s “Return to a Strange Land” and Joffrey artistic director Gerald Arpino’s “Celebration.” It’s like comparing three paintings side by side in a gallery. This particular room might be called “20th Century Masters.”
Though different in style and age (Ashton is now deceased), these three choreographers represent three differing modern takes on a very old art.
There are all sorts of obvious comparisons and contrasts: the lush, romantic scenery of “The Dream” compared with the abstract, modernist worlds of “Strange” and “Celebration.” Each choreographer responds differently to the music: Ashton to Felix Mendelssohn, Arpino to Dmitri Shostakovitch and Kylian to solo piano pieces by Leos Janacek.
Most ballet novices understand dance responds to music. They’re more puzzled by the moves themselves, by the perplexing, unnatural poses and daredevil stunts.
What in the world are all those steps and moves? What is the point of en pointe, the balletic term for standing on your toes?
The answer relates to the similar paradox found in painting. Why look at a Monet landscape when you can go outside and watch the real thing? Why bother to draw a sunset when we can see one? Because, of course, the painter’s technique combines with his insight for an experience distinct from nature watching. Vermeer used his meticulous mastery to create shimmering pseudo-photographs; Monet used his to create a dreamy world we would never imagine ourselves.
The basics of ballet are tools choreographers employ to reveal their own individual styles and purposes. To help, we enlisted Mark Goldweber, the Joffrey’s ballet master, who began dancing at age 9 and is as informed a guide as any.
Take the basic term, “arabesque.” Simply defined, it’s a position in which the dancer stands on one leg, with the other leg extended away from the body and the arms and head held in some sort of harmony.
Goldweber notes, “It’s not a step you can cheap out or fake. Every ballet dancer has to be able to do it.”
Ashton uses this classic pose in “The Dream” to his own original purpose. “He sort of devised his own look to the arabesques,” Goldweber says. “He gives the fairies an evolved arabesque that takes their arms just a little lower than usual, creating this almost regal move. The front arm sweeps down, as if the ballerina’s a queen putting her hand out to be kissed.” In a story about fairy royalty, the imagery is exquisitely suggestive: form following function.
Another familiar term is the pirouette, or turn. Sir Anthony Dowell, the former Royal Ballet dancer who originated the role of Oberon (he came to town to coach the Joffrey for this revival), was a spectacular turner. In a scene just before he upbraids Puck for mishandling the love potion, Oberon enacts a series of turns on an imaginary diagonal line, a dazzling bit of showmanship that Goldweber says is “one of the more difficult pirouettes in all of ballet” and underscores Oberon’s role as benevolent kingpin in the story.
Overall, Ashton evokes humor and romance. Kylian’s “Strange” evokes grief, a tribute to his mentor, John Cranko. (Kylian and the rest of the Stuttgart Ballet troupe were on a plane home with Cranko in 1975 when he suddenly died; thus the title, “Return to a Strange Land.”)
Goldweber labels Kylian’s style “romantic geometry,” abstract but never harsh. The moves are also worlds apart from “The Dream” in that they include modern imagery right alongside the pirouettes and arabesques.
And while it can be discussed in terms of seemingly frozen pictures, dance is almost never frozen, almost never static. Here the painting comparison falls apart: dance is more like the motion picture. Watch how the moves flow and lead into each other.
Few modern choreographers take your breath away with motion like Gerald Arpino and “Celebration,” created in 1980 to toast the company’s 25th anniversary and tinged with a Russian folk patina, is no exception. Dance can be an exhilarating magic carpet ride, one made tense by the uncertainty that it could all far apart, its passengers hurtling to earth, any moment.
Choreographer Agnes de Mille compared Arpino’s work to standing in a meteor shower. And you don’t have to be an expert to be swept away by that kind of color, speed and light.
– CHICAGO TRIBUNE MAGAZINE: In the Oct. 23 issue, Sid Smith traces the upward trajectory of the Joffrey Ballet, which first arrived in Chicago homeless and broke a decade ago.
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A scorecard for the players
Balletomanes, as dance enthusiasts are called, not only go to concerts to see their favorite works. They also go to watch their favorite dancers. With the cautionary reminder that casting is always subject to last-minute changes, here’s a trio of people to watch during the Joffrey’s upcoming engagement:
Maia Wilkins: Any mention of Joffrey dancers almost has to begin with this silky, hypnotic stylist, a ballerina with gorgeous technique, but, maybe more importantly, an ineffable gift for poetry and lyricism. On alternate nights, she’ll be Titania in “The Dream” or one of the leads in “Return to a Strange Land.”
Julianne Kepley: A rising star, in comparison with Wilkins, she is an assertive, strong, forceful ballerina with seductive charm and beautiful, precise execution. Her seemingly effortless control will convince you it’s all very easy, which it isn’t. She and Wilkins alternate roles, but both dance at all performances.
Calvin Kitten: A diminutive but arresting acrobat, he delivers dazzling tricks, but with a sublime self-confidence. To heck with the danger, he seems to say, as he leaps and lands as if he could fly. Through it all, he’ll be clean, precise and charismatic, an ideal choice for that mischievous, magical Puck.
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Upcoming events
Some notable upcoming dance performances in Chicago, ballet and otherwise:
Joffrey Ballet’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: A version of the Shakespeare comedy and two other pieces. Wed. through Oct. 30 at Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Pkwy.; 312-902-1500 or www.joffrey.com.
Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago: The fall engagement of the popular troupe includes the premiere of former Joffrey dancer Davis Robertson’s “Being One.” Fri. and Sat. at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph in Millennium Park; 312-334-7777 or www.harris theaterchicago.org.
Pilobolus Dance Theatre: In what’s turning out to be an annual outing, the legendary touring group returns with a lineup including its dazzling 1980 masterpiece (and Cirque du Soleil forerunner) “Day Two.” Fri. and Sat. at the Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St. Contact Ticketmaster or www.thechicagotheatre.com.
Merce Cunningham Dance Company: Perplexing, hypnotic and still groundbreaking. Oct. 28-29 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph in Millennium Park; 312-334-7777 or www.harristheaterchicago.org.
Dance Chicago 2005: The off-Loop bonanza, with nine programs and more than 100 companies. Nov. 5 to Dec. 4 at Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave.; 773-935-6860 www.dancechicago.com.
Chicago Human Rhythm Project: The tap organization takes a big step with “Global Rhythms,” featuring international tap repertory troupes. Nov. 18-26 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.; 312-397-4010.
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sismith@tribune.com
