Page 4
The Blue Banner
March 15, 2001
Features
Review
Not Your Typical Ballet Performance
^ ® wr.rlrl CThp Charlesroti sessed in the earlier two pieces.
Rachel Grumpier
StaffWriter
The Charleston Ballet Theatre per
formed in Asheville March 9 and
10. The company provided a daz
zling performance of four techni
cally challenging, upbeat pieces.
The first piece, “Nme Lives: The
Songs of Lyle Lovett,” was my fa
vorite, surprisingly, since I am not
a huge Lovett fan. In fact, when I
noticed the Lovett piece in my pro
gram, I tried to devise a way to
escape die dim auditorium before
the curtain went up.
However, 1 instantly changed my
mind as six men somersaulted onto
the stage dressed in black cowboy
outfits with huge grins on their
faces.
“Nine Lives” was definitely not a
classical “Swan Lake” kind of bal
let. Most of the ballet rules (shoul
ders down, hips square, stomach
lifted) were ignored to produce an
engaging and lively performance,
composed of eight Lovett songs,
including “I’ve Been to Memphis,”
“She’s Hot to Go” and “If You
Were to Wake Up.”
In “I’ve Been to Memphis,”
Kathryn Anderson strutted onto
the stage in black pointe shoes and
fishnet tights. The cowboys crawled
after her as her long red hair flew
out behind her, unrestrained by the
traditional ballerina bun.
I could not help but laugh at all
these dancers crawling, shrugging
their shoulders and wiggling their
hips on stage. Several times, the
entire auditorium filled with laugh
ter, an uncommon feat for a ballet
company.
The dancers performed the diffi
cult, non-traditional ballet lifts and
leaps with seemingly effortless agil
ity. With their eager smiles, they
obviously enjoyed dancing “Nine
Lives.” The piece allowed them to
use their extensive dance training
in a more relaxed way.
Jonathan Tabbert made use of his
phenomenal stage presence in “She’s
Hot to Go.” When Lovett’s lyrics
ring out, “but she was ugly from the
front,” Tabbert’s jaw dropped in
surprise as he did an enormous
double take.
The choreography also nicely
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CHARLESTON BALLET THEATRE
The Charleston Ballet Theatre performed both traditional and non-traditional ballets at Diana Wortham
Theater March 9 and 10. The company is a non-profit organization funded by the South Carolina Arts
Commission.
complimented the Lovett songs.
The dances acted as a visual repre
sentation for each song.
For instance, in “If You Were to
Wake Up,” Christy Whitesell dived
precariously into Frank Affrunti’s
arms. He held her in a straight
horizontal line and then rocked her
into a fetal position as Lovett sang,
“the way you lie sleeping, is it like
before?”
“Nine Lives^’ was full of Kodak
moments, memorable movements
or poses. Any mistakes the dancers
made they covered up with their
infectious charm.
After a long, interminably long
intermission, Whitesell and Tabbert
returned to the stage ready for a
more classical ballet. Whitesell
traded in her fishnet-wearing, sul
len seductress attitude for a fluffy,
white tutu and a sweet disposition,
which suited her better anyway.
Tabbert don ned some white tights
that made all the middle-school
girls sitting in front of me giggle
nervously. I heard one girl say, “I
can see his thing.”
Whitesell and Tabbert performed
a short duet from Tarantella, origi
nally choreographed by George
Balanchine, god of the New York
Seeger Performance in Highsmith
WALTER FYLER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
City ballet world. (The Charleston
Ballet Theatre is the only dance
company in South Carolina with
permission to use Balachine works.)
The two dancers executed the
exhaustive petite allegro (dance of
small, quick steps) with clarity and
unwavering enthusiasm.
Tarantella’s cheerful music, writ
ten by Gottschalk, kept the audi
ence in a lively mood. But the best
part was the tambourines, deco
rated with multicolored ribbon,
Whitesell and Tabbert brought out
during their dance.
With the tambourines. Taran
tella almost turned into a circus
act. Somehow, Whitesell and
Tabbert managed to keep the beat
to the music as they leapt, jumped
and spun.
' To end the piece, Tabbert
grabbed Whitesell, tambourine
and all, kissed her on the cheek,
and sent her skipping off into the
wings. It was a sweet ending to an
almost sickeningly sweet ballet.
Affrunti, Phyllis Rothwell Armes
and Stephen Gabriel performed the
third piece, “Souvenance.” I have
no idea what the word “souvenance”
means, but the subheading read
“the eternal love triangle.”
The darkened stage revealed
Armes’ slender frame in a stark white
unitard. Beside her stood Affrunti
in white tights (so you could see his
“thing”) and Gabriel in a full black
suit.
“Souvenance” was a somber piece
full of difficult partnering work.
Armes first began dancing with
Affrunti. He would lift her up high
above his head and let her slide
down his chest until she rested,
balanced on pointe with her right
leg curled above his shoulder.
Gabriel stole her away and
danced just behind her, mirror
ing her steps as she leapt into the
air, her legs split perfectly hori
zontal to the ground.
Then as Armes rejected both men
and left the stage, the men had a
rather intimate scene with
Affrunti on top of Gabriel. When
Armes returns, Gabriel and
Affrunti together lift her into a
series of back flips.
Both men accent Armes intense
grace and flexibility. Several times
the dancer’s faces painfully re
vealed the difficulty of the dan
gerous steps as they winced in
concentration.
Although the dancers sometimes
lost the effortless agility they pos
sessed in the earlier two pieces,
“Souvenance” was by far the most
beautiful and challenging for the
dancers.
The evening ended with
“Carmen Fantasy,” a rather dull
piece with all the dancers in black
bouncing around to Paolo
Sarasavle’s Carmen.
The familair music helped re
duce my boredom, but I still had
to fight from closing my eyes.
Because of the somber music,
the dancers refused to smile. And
without any emotion revealed on
the dancer’s faces, the choreogra
phy needs to be good.
However, Jill Eathorne Bahr's
choreography lacked any storyline,
and, while she concocted some
unique patterns on stage, Eathorne
Bahr’s work could not hold my
attention.
Having just completed
“Souvenance,” Armes and Affrunti
looked like the might pass out on
stage. Although they managed to
execute all the steps, their partnering
work looked strained and agonized.
All the men on stage wore blacl:
fuzzy tights pulled up right below
their chests, and the women wort
black, sparkly leotards. Altogether,
the esemble looked a little like
Madonna’s Vogue video.
The Charleston Ballet Theatre
gave a spectacular performance
overall.
Once the performance was over,
the row of girls sitting in front oi
me were all fast asleep. Before the
performance, they assured me they
were actually professional dancer:
They said they would be per
forming after the company from
Charleston was finshed. I guess they
changed their minds.
Beford the performance began,
Steve Steinert introduced the girls
as the recipients of dance scholar
ships. They all showed particulai
promise, he claimed.
Steinhert also spoke to the au
dience about the lack of funding
for the arts
North Carolina’s severe budgei
cuts greatly affected Dian
Wortham’s ability to bring dance
music and drama to Asheville
Steinert asked for donations
help fund performances.
I think its important to suppon
the arts. 01, for one, want to con
tinue to see great dancers on oui
stage instead of Fletcher School ol
Dance’s pathetic version of “Tht
Nutcracker.
Mo
Peggy Seeger, a folk singer,
gave a talk March 14 in the
Laurel Forum on women’s
influence in music.
Seeger, in honor of
Women’s History Month,
also performed a fall-length
concert later that evening in
the Highsmith Center
Lounge.
Seeger, born into a tal
ented family, is the daugher
of Ruth Crawford Seeger,
the first woman be awarded
the Guggenheim Fellowship
for Music. Her father,
Charles Louis Seeger, devel
oped an electronic means of
writing down music notes.
Her half-brother, Pete
Seeger, is also a folk musi
cian.
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