joffrey – Page 2

Lessons Beyond The Barre

October 13, 2015 by 4dancers

by Cara Marie Gary

In prepping for the theater today, I was reminded of a beloved teacher and started thinking of the insight she’s given me over the years. My earliest memory of her advice was when I was fourteen years old, competing in the VI Serge Lifar International Ballet Competition. It was the first time I had left the United States and traveled without my parents. I was immersed into a new culture and language while being severely jet-lagged from a lengthy flight to Kiev, Ukraine. But most importantly, this was the first time I learned an important lesson from someone I cherish dearly in the dance world. [Read more…]

Joffrey Shows Range With “Unique Voices” Program

February 13, 2015 by 4dancers

The Joffrey Ballet in "Tulle". Photo by Cheryl Mann. — The Joffrey Ballet in “Tulle”. Photo by Cheryl Mann.

by Catherine L. Tully

The Joffrey Ballet displayed determination, range and energy as they tackled three disparate pieces on Wednesday night at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. “Unique Voices” offers the work of two choreographers who explore the various aspects of relationships, and one who delves into the very nature of ballet itself.

Maninyas by Stanton Welch — “Maninyas” – April Daly and Miguel Angel Blanco. Photo by Cheryl Mann.

Stanton Welch’s “Maninyas” examines the layers of vulnerability and openness in love relationships, and a range of related feelings are explored throughout. As a backdrop, panels of fabric hang from the ceiling and the dancers are dressed in vibrant hues, moving to Ross Edwards’ “Maninyas Concerto for Violin and Orchestra.”

Five couples whirl and leap through a series of movements so complex that it’s exhausting just to watch. The choreography is extremely challenging and the dancers attack it with strength and energy–although they fall a little short of perfection. That said, “Maninyas” is not an easy piece to dance flawlessly, and the company holds nothing back–women fling skirts around with abandon and men bravely tackle the most harrowing of lifts.

Specific movements are often repeated, reflecting various stages of self-protection—or abandon. At times dancers cover their eyes, while in other moments they wildly hurl their arms open to the heavens as if giving up—or giving in. Women arch backward and “trust fall” onto the backs of their partners, and in the final moments of the piece the women’s legs open widely in submission as men carry them off into the darkness.

The Man In Black ballet — “The Man in Black” – Edson Barbosa, Joanna Wozniak, Fernando Duarte amd Derrick Agnoletti. Photo by Cheryl Mann.

James Kudelka’s “The Man In Black” offers a totally different take on relationships. A decidedly non-showy piece, it meanders quietly through six different Johnny Cash covers—and what feels like many years of relationships between four people. Set for three men (Derrick Agnoletti, Edson Barbosa and Fernando Duarte) and one lady (Joanna Wozniak), it is a very emotional piece that examines the impact each person has on the group as a whole.

Although it takes some time to settle in and get invested after the wild intensity of “Maninyas,” the simplicity of this piece is as beautiful as it is pure. The dancers drift in and out of relationship with one another; sometimes fighting, sometimes desperate to help one who is troubled, and sometimes just going along on the “journey.” Cowboy boots are used both as costume and as a rhythm tool, and Cash’s voice couldn’t be more moving.

“The Man In Black” nearly comes across as an easy piece—until you begin to realize that many of the movements are like a Jenga puzzle, with one person completely reliant upon another for stability. Unlike the complexity of “Maninyas,” here almost everything is stripped down to the core—but paired with Cash’s tremendously powerful voice, it has everything needed to make a striking impact. And that it does.

And then there’s “Tulle.”

Hailed as a “ballet about ballet,” this program-ending piece by Alexander Ekman is more theater than dance at the outset. Large LED panels serve as the backdrop, flashing images of eyes, clowns, and close-ups of what appears to be actual tulle fabric in a blue hue. The marvelous soundtrack by Mikael Karlsson is varied, and includes counting, heavy breathing, stomping and more fun/funny sounds punctuating a variety of “scenes” throughout the piece. The five positions are called off, a dancer talks about why she loves ballet and the history of the art form is examined in narrative.

At one point a bevy of “swans” wanders over to the edge of the stage and stops—looking out at the audience in silence for an uncomfortable amount of time. In an unexpected move, they all nervously begin to whistle the music to “Swan Lake”. It’s silly bits like this that add breadth to “Tulle,” and Ekman manages to deliver just the right amount—without mocking the art form in too terrible a fashion.

Ultimately, this behind-the-scenes, humorous take on ballet dissolves into a tight display of technique and a powerful ensemble piece with music to match. And while Ekman may make light of this dance form in some ways, it is clear that there is also a reverence and respect for the beauty it unveils when all the elements come together on stage. That was on display for all to see on opening night.

And indeed—it was pretty fantastic.

Joffrey’s “Unique Voices” program runs through February 22nd at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.

Disclosure: Joffrey dancer Cara Marie Gary and conductor Scott Speck are contributing writers to the site.

Looking At Art & Inspiration With Herbert Migdoll

January 23, 2015 by 4dancers

It’s always interesting when one artist inspires another–especially when they operate in two different mediums.

Brock Clawson is a choreographer who has had work performed by both the Milwaukee Ballet and The Joffrey Ballet. Herbert Migdoll, artist, Director of Special Projects for Joffrey, and long-time company photographer, recently created a series of art pieces based on Clawson’s piece, “Crossing Ashland”.

We wanted to learn more about how the inspiration for this work came about, so we reached out to Mr. Migdoll to learn more about his process. (Please feel free to click on the photos below to bring up a larger view.)

What was it about Brock’s piece (Crossing Ashland) that you were drawn to specifically?

Initially, in the Joffrey dance studio, the work reminded me of the ballets performed at Judson in the Village in the olden days. That period included such artists as Carolee Schneeman, Laura Dean, Meredith Monk, Twyla Tharp, Cathrine Litz and many others. It always had a rawness and simplicity in the aesthetic, which allowed one to realize that all movement is a part of dance. The core came from rough ideas, and the motion of the dancers presenting those elements were indulged by an audience and relished by visual artists–like Rauchenberg who jumped into dance and even performed in a work with Steve Paxton there. A photo from that performance is on my list of paintings, TO DO.

The bodies of the dancers (in Brock’s piece) rolling to the left and then to the right is totally unique to how bodies are normally focused upon.

As a kid I loved to roll down low ravines or in the shallow waters of an ocean tide foaming onto the beach as the twilight of evening was approaching. All of this creates a visual plethora of ones past experience with rolling around. I knew fairly quickly that Brock had touched a nerve in my collective consciousness and that I would have to run with it. That electrical moment does not occur that often and when it does you are not able to not jump into the creative process.

God does good stuff too–like grass and human bodies seemed inevitable elements of collaboration. The grasses in Lurie Garden are often nifty, and also in Ping Tom Memorial Park.

Do you have a particular piece you gravitate toward?

The first grey panel I produced with colored bodies on top and flesh bodies below would be my first choice if I could afford to buy one. But I can’t.

Also the 5 bodies lost in the Lurie Garden autumn grasses is uniquely magical.

Bob Joffrey once remarked that wonderful art will always have a quality of being magical. It’s the magic that allows you to enter that other dimension.

What was your creative process like with this project?

It started by watching a rehearsal–and from that to know that I had to shoot a lot of rolling around stuff. And I did.

Then I edited down to nine iconic images and placed them mostly sequential order as they appeared on stage–but not strictly. Next I looked at them in Photoshop to eliminate the photographic aesthetic and coax the slickness out of the photo into an evolved
sort of drawing–and then to finally take shape into an acrylic reproduction–producing a digitally painted series of nine images in a row.

The monochromatic “drawing-like” figures were so on the mark, I stopped and simply continued to create an almost square of bodies which became a matrix for the possibility of endless modular combinations. And these compositions of modules will now continue on as long as I have funding to produce new canvasses.

The grey backgrounds on some of the works led to the beauty of colors against grey, and intermingled with the lush flesh colored bodies. All of which have nothing and everything to do with Brock’s ballet. Rothko, one of my heroes, inspired me to pursue the soft edge of one or two colors firmly blended and totally separate. It’s all kind of a “stream of consciousness” response–and finally a leaving of the source of inspiration. It is an acceptance that the inspiration is the golden source–not because it recreates the final images–but because it evolves art totally unique from the source.

Painting is not illustration. It’s something else!

Dancing Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake

October 13, 2014 by 4dancers

Cara Marie Gary (far left) rehearsing Swan Lake with Christopher Wheeldon. Photo by Cheryl Mann. — Joffrey’s Cara Marie Gary (far left) rehearsing Swan Lake with Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. Photo by Cheryl Mann.

by Cara Marie Gary

July began my third season with The Joffrey Ballet.

There was no easing into rehearsals when we came back from our summer break. Role responsibility was posted and we started full force with learning Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake. Répétiteur Jason Fowler and our ballet masters spent several weeks teaching us the choreography for this four-act ballet. An average day consisted of me arriving at the Joffrey Tower around 9:00am and leaving around 6:45pm.

I like to arrive early to change, fix my hair, sign up for physical therapy and stretch. When preparing for a strenuous full-length ballet, it is important to take class in order to warm up properly before rehearsal. I take class from 9:45am to 11:15am to help improve my technique and build stamina. I then readjust my pointe shoes, grab a rehearsal tutu and head back into Studio A for a three-hour Swan Lake Act II and IV rehearsal. After an hour lunch break, I come back for three more hours of Swan Lake Act I and III rehearsal. My rehearsal day ends by 6:30pm.

My favorite moment during the rehearsal process was when Mr. Wheeldon came to Chicago to work with the company for two weeks. When a choreographer is in the room it changes the dynamic of a rehearsal. They have a unique ability to disclose their artistic vision for the piece they’ve created in a way that is different from a répétiteur or ballet master. Working with a choreographer is a special time that allows dancers to gain new insight about the intentions behind certain movements. When dancers have a better understanding of the choreographer’s vision, it challenges us to strive towards achieving this goal.

Christopher Wheeldon’s visit to a Degas exhibit at the Philadelphia Art Museum inspired this version of Swan Lake. It is differs from other versions in that it is a ballet-within-a-ballet. Act I is set in a ballet studio that appears similar to Degas’ paintings. It begins with dancers entering a studio before rehearsal. [Read more…]

Conducting Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake

October 3, 2014 by 4dancers

Joffrey swan lake — Dylan Gutierrez & Jeraldine Mendoza, Photo by Cheryl Mann

Conductor Scott Speck is with us to talk about the music of one of the most famous ballets of all time–Swan Lake. He has been in rehearsal with Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet, and they will open October 15th doing Christopher Wheeldon’s version of this ballet classic. We’re excited to share a deeper look at this wonderful Tchaikovsky piece with you here…

This is one of the big story ballets. Is there more preparation involved in conducting a piece like this than in doing a mixed rep program? Why or why not?

More preparation is involved, but not because it is big. This is one of the most specific ballets of all time, meaning that this ballet has an inordinate number of special moments, solos, pas de deux (and trois and quatre….) that require very specific attention to what the dancers are doing onstage. In addition, each dancer has a personal mode of expression within the choreography, and my goal is to create the musical backdrop to support that expression and allow it to shine. For that reason, each moment requires several different kinds of preparation–and that makes Swan Lake one of the trickiest pieces to conduct in the whole history of ballet.

Tchaikovsky’s music is well-known and well liked. Can you talk a bit about him as a composer?

Tchaikovsky was the essence of the Russian Romantic era. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and his unforgettable melodies are full of the most honest expression. It’s like listening to an old friend pour his heart out to you. I think that’s why people love Tchaikovsky so much.

It was with pieces like Swan Lake, his first work for the Bolshoi Ballet, that Tchaikovsky burst upon the musical scene. He was very influenced by Ludwig Minkus, his extremely talented and facile (yet much less deep) predecessor at the Bolshoi. Minkus’s clever and tuneful music to La Bayadere, which the Joffrey performed last fall, had recently premiered. Minkus was a master of miniatures–those wonderful short characteristic movements that create a mood and atmosphere in a very short period of time–and in Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky was able to try his hand at the form. Although his “foreign”-sounding characteristic dances–Spanish, Neopolitan, Hungarian. etc.–are probably not as idiomatic as those of Minkus, Tchaikovsky allowed his true character to show in the body of the ballet.

And so, in most of Swan Lake, you hear the same personality that you can hear in the 6 symphonies, multiple operas, concertos and tone poems that Tchaikovsky is famous for. In other words–when he wasn’t trying to imitate Minkus directly, he appeared clearly as the immortal composer that he was.

Joffrey worked with choreographer Christopher Wheeldon on this version of the ballet. Is there anything different here musically?

Yes, We are still using the original Tchaikovsky, but Chris has created a more streamlined version of the ballet–it moves very excitingly from beginning to end. Some of the movements are in a different order than listeners may expect, but all the favorite melodies are intact, Most ballet companies do cut the music somewhat, as the full score would take about three hours to play.

Is there anything that the audience can listen for musically in terms of distinguishing Odette and Odile?

The character of Odette is presented as very elegant and poised, with great control; and Odile is very confident, with bravura technique. To a certain extent this is reflected in the music. For example, both the White Swan (Odette) and Black Swan (Odile) have a pas de deux with young Siegfried, and each pas de deux features a violin solo. In the White Swan Pas de Deux, the violin solo is extremely elegant and mingles beautifully with cello and harp. But in the Black Swan Pas de Deux, there are moments of astounding virtuosity for the violin. But other than that, I think that most of the distinguishing characteristics are visual.

What are the most challenging parts of this ballet in terms of the orchestra?

We are so lucky to have the Chicago Philharmonic, which has been called one of the nation’s finest symphonic orchestras, playing for us in the pit. These musicians can really do anything. My challenge will be the communicate the specific needs of the stage, with my baton, to musicians who cannot see the dancers. That communication will be most important in the pas de deux and solo movements, which can vary the most from show to show. These movements will require the most lightning-quick reflexes from all of us.

What do you enjoy most about conducting this ballet?

The opportunity to hear Tchaikovsky’s glorious music — ten times!

Joffrey’s Swan Lake runs from October 15th through October 26th at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre.

With recent performances in London, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, Contributor Scott Speck has inspired international acclaim as a conductor of passion, intelligence and winning personality.

Scott Speck’s recent concerts with the Moscow RTV Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky Hall garnered unanimous praise. His gala performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Midori, Evelyn Glennie and Olga Kern have highlighted his recent and current seasons as Music Director of the Mobile Symphony. This season he also collaborates intensively with Carnegie Hall for the seventh time as Music Director of the West Michigan Symphony. He was recently named Music Director of the Joffrey Ballet; and he was invited to the White House as Music Director of the Washington Ballet.

In recent seasons Scott Speck has conducted at London’s Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, Washington’s Kennedy Center, San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, and the Los Angeles Music Center. He has led numerous performances with the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Houston, Chicago (Sinfonietta), Paris, Moscow, Shanghai, Beijing, Vancouver, Romania, Slovakia, Buffalo, Columbus (OH), Honolulu, Louisville, New Orleans, Oregon, Rochester, Florida, and Virginia, among many others.

Previously he held positions as Conductor of the San Francisco Ballet; Music Advisor and Conductor of the Honolulu Symphony; and Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Opera. During a recent tour of Asia he was named Principal Guest Conductor of the China Film Philharmonic in Beijing.

In addition, Scott Speck is the co-author of two of the world’s best-selling books on classical music for a popular audience, Classical Music for Dummies and Opera for Dummies. These books have received stellar reviews in both the national and international press and have garnered enthusiastic endorsements from major American orchestras. They have been translated into twenty languages and are available around the world. His third book in the series, Ballet for Dummies, was released to great acclaim as well.

Scott Speck has been a regular commentator on National Public Radio, the BBC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Voice of Russia, broadcast throughout the world. His writing has been featured in numerous magazines and journals.

Born in Boston, Scott Speck graduated summa cum laude from Yale University. There he founded and directed the Berkeley Chamber Orchestra, which continues to perform to this day. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Berlin, where he founded Concerto Grosso Berlin, an orchestra dedicated to the performances of Baroque and Classical music in a historically informed style. He received his Master’s Degree with highest honors from the University of Southern California, served as a Conducting Fellow at the Aspen School of Music, and studied at the Tanglewood Music Center. He is fluent in English, German and French, has a diploma in Italian, speaks Spanish and has a reading knowledge of Russian.

Scott Speck can be reached at www.scottspeck.org and also at facebook.com/ConductorScottSpeck, and @ScottSpeck1 on Twitter.

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