Winter Program

Last Friday I attended the ballet. This was a first. The fact that this was a first could be attributed to several factors. One is price. Not that ballet is extravagant compared to other entertainment; you can spend $75 for a Billy Joel concert. The reality, however, is that I wouldn't spend that kind of money for a concert. Secondly, I never have known anyone who wanted to go to the ballet; no one has ever presented the opportunity to me. Lastly is that I tend to be a bit underwhelmed by all kinds of organized dance.

The dissatisfaction has always been a primary motivation (or perhaps unmotivation in this case). I simply think that most choreography is either bad or irrelevant. Music is sacred to me; so is dance. There is a vital spiritual energy which threads both, but when linked in performance, the link doesn't hold. I am left with the impression that here's the music and over there is the dance and I don't have any feeling that the two were meant to be together.

What I mean by this disconnect is that the dance performance and the music have structures which don't mesh. I have seen dances where the music changes and the dance continues forward with the same movements, ignorant of the musical direction. A dramatic moment in the musical score should be a dramatic moment in the dance. If not, there should be a good reason for the contrast. Laziness or lack of inspiration are not good reasons.

Yet, having heard a lot of music and have been to many clubs in the past, I have seen good dancing. I have watched people pour their energy into movements which not only link to the music but grow past the melodies and rhythms. If amateurs can do this, why can't professionals?

This was my point of reference when I saw the opening dance of the Joffrey Ballet's Winter Program. The dancing was fluid. In fact, the professional dancers are quite graceful and able to control their bodies in ways most people don't. Yet, only in a few instances did the music and movements join together to create a unified artistic adventure.

The next two pieces were only five minutes, compared to the opener's half-hour, and much tighter. The first of the shorter pieces seemed a bit intellectualized, in the sense that Ah! the point makes the brain happy with the cleverness of profundity of the message. The latter had an interesting story line and the costuming had tremendous visual appeal, though I can't say that it reached any artistic heights. This might not be fair to the second short piece, because it is part of a longer ballet performance. Its larger context might lend power to the shorter segment, and that context was missing.

Then, the finale arrived. The night's focus was Le Sacre du Printemps, which means "The Rite of Spring". This is Dance. The music was no longer background, but integral to the movements. The dancers swirled and stomped with the beats. The vitality of the Stravinsky's score was not dissipated; the stage accented the playing of the orchestra by using the notes as a canvas and a palette to deliver a compelling scene. No intellectual games--instead, driving life force filled the performance, leading it to be what dance can be.

For that moment, I'd like to give thanks to the dancers, the orchestra, conductor, composer, and yes, even the choreographers.