swan lake

Swan Lake – Still Relevant Today

October 17, 2018 by 4dancers

Joffrey’s Victoria Jaiani and Dylan Gutierrez perform Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake. Photo by Cheryl Mann.

by Luis Eduardo Gonzalez

Swan Lake is one of the most loved and mesmerizing classical ballets of all time. The ballet was composed in 1875 and was Tchaikovsky’s first. It debuted in 1877 at the Bolshoi Theatre and was revamped in 1895, by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov in St Petersburg. Over 100 years later it remains a favorite with ballet companies regularly performing it throughout the world. So, what is it that makes a piece of art stand the test of time the way that this ballet has done? Why is it important for a company like Joffrey whose mission statement boasts “commitment to excellence and innovation” be presenting a ballet about rich guy falling in love with a girl trapped in a bird’s body? The truth is if you take the story literally it doesn’t make very much sense at all, but if one takes a moment to appreciate the underlying themes of this story, it’s easy to see just how relevant and maybe even necessary the message behind this story really is right now.

To start, the story has been considerably reimagined by Christopher Wheeldon. Set in the studios of the Paris Opera Ballet, a company dancer falls in love with his beautiful partner, a star ballerina who is being pursued by an arts patron with bad intentions. All of the swan acts may or may not happen in the lead dancer’s very capable imagination. I think what this approach does is highlight the fact that this story is not actually about a man falling for a bird, but actually about a woman trapped in unfavorable circumstances. Traditionally, Odette is trapped in a narrative where she either has to get this prince to to fall in love with her or be forced to live the rest of her life a slave to an evil sorcerer. She is in a situation that leaves her no agency over the trajectory of her life, because those choices are being made for her by men that don’t give a second thought to what she wants. At the end of the ballet Odette disappears between two diagonals of swans. What happens to her beyond that is left to the audience’s imagination, but what is certain is that she ended up away from the circumstances which once seemed to bind her fate.

The Joffrey Ballet performing Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake. Photo by Cheryl Mann.

We are living in a time where people all over the world are demanding change. Like Odette, people are beginning to realize that being deprived of choice in one way or another or being treated with less respect than any individual deserves is no longer acceptable. We see examples in the news every day, and several specifically in the ballet/dance world. We see women being treated like objects, dancers struggling with mental health because of abuse by those that think being in leadership positions gives them the power to treat them like punching bags on which to thrust their own insecurities. The message that Swan Lake can provide to today’s social, professional, and even political climate is that no matter how rigid and unchangeable a situation may seem, or how powerless one may feel there is always room for choice, and there is always agency over the trajectory of our own lives, over our own dancing, over our own decisions.

This ballet has beautiful music, beautiful sets, costumes, choreography, and dancing. Dancing by artists who, even in the confines of the choreography, can still find room to make nuanced choices within the steps. This allows us to use our voices to layer the work that much further by using the experiences we accumulate through the lives we lead and gives us agency over what each performance is going to say. It’s up to us as performers to use every performance to really speak, regardless of what role we’re performing. The responsibility to breathe life into these venerable classics, just like the responsibility to use our voices to better the world, lies completely on the artists and people of our generation.

It is often said that classics are losing their relevance because the character narratives in those ballets are antiquated and no longer reflect anything that our current world can relate to, but this view lacks perspective. It doesn’t take much effort to see that all over the world there are people whose voices are silenced, people who struggle and suffer because of circumstances out of their control, or people who have at one point experienced a broken heart. The ballets may have been created hundreds of years ago, but we that still perform them they are very much living in the present, living in the world, and experiencing all its current complexities. As for Siegfried, at the end of the ballet he wakes from his “dream,” and sees that this beautiful creature that was suffering through injustice, is a real woman and is in a very real way still being taken advantage of. The ballet ends with him having this new-found perspective that he didn’t have prior to his imaginative moment, and in a way is a call to action for him as well as the audience to go out and do something about it.

See Christopher Wheeldon’s version of Swan Lake for yourself! Joffrey’s performance run opens tonight. Tickets are available here – and it runs through October 28th.

Contributor Luis Eduardo Gonzalez joined The Joffrey Ballet in July 2015.

Mr. Gonzalez, is originally from Bogota, Colombia, where he grew up before moving to Atlanta, Georgia. His training came primarily from the continued direction of Maniya Barredo, former prima ballerina of Atlanta Ballet, and current director of Metropolitan Ballet Theatre. Mr. Gonzalez has received the Star Student award at Regional Dance America’s SERBA, been awarded 3^rd place at the Regional Youth American Grand Prix competition in 2008, given first place pas de deux at the American Ballet Competition in 2013, and selected to compete as the only representative of Colombia in the 2014 Jackson International Ballet Competition.

Mr. Gonzalez began his professional career with The Houston Ballet II, where he had the opportunity to dance works by Stanton Welch, among other renowned choreographers, as well as tour both nationally and internationally. At 18, he joined Orlando Ballet where he danced for three years and performed roles such as the Jester in Swan Lake, Peter in Peter and the Wolf, Ghoul’s trio in Vampire’s Ball, Franz’s friend in Coppelia, and Cavalier in the Sugar Plum Pas de deux in The Nutcracker.

“Mr. Fix It” – Meet PNB’s Director of Physical Therapy, Boyd Bender

April 30, 2018 by 4dancers

PNB Forsythe — Pacific Northwest Ballet dances Forsythe’s “One Flat Thing, reproduced”. Photo by Angela Sterling.

by Emma Love Suddarth

“My ankle is jammed.”

If you ask Boyd Bender, the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Director of Physical Therapy Services (and physical therapist), how many times over his years with the company he has heard that sentence, his answer would be in the thousands. He’s a wizard when it comes to mending those ankles that suddenly feel stuck, restricted, or “out of place” from a hard landing or a sudden torque. However, Bender didn’t acquire 30 years of thankful dancers based solely on ankle pulls.

If you walked into the PNB studios on an average Tuesday and felt the need to address that acute back pain that came on yesterday, or that chronic tendonitis that has intensified over a long rehearsal period, you would head straight for the sign-up sheet on the PT board. Bender and his fellow PTs’ hours vary depending on the day of the week, and any dancer can sign up for a 15-minute slot within that period.

The system at the theater during performance time is different; it consists of a dry erase board and markers (which festively turn red and green over Nutcracker season) and a first-come-first-serve type of sign up. The schedule fills up fast in both settings—and the battles over the pen or marker to get your name down first are frequent. While the session time allotment may seem brief, it is only a part of ongoing, continual care. While Bender’s treatment begins at the onset, sudden or not, of the problem, it is rarely a “one-visit” fix and requires regular visits to his table for repeated care. He even acts as frequent liaison between dancers and the sports medicine doctor, massage therapists, or outside PTs (to name a few). The time spent with the company PT is both extremely necessary and immeasurably valuable—one of the most essential elements in a dancer’s career.

Boyd Bender Director of Physical Therapy Services & Physical Therapist at Pacific Northwest Ballet — Director of Physical Therapy Services and Physical Therapist Boyd Bender at work at PNB. Photo by Emma Love Suddarth

In PNB’s case, there are numerous generations of dancers who swear by Boyd Bender’s care. His breadth of knowledge is not just incredibly vast, but also constantly expanding. Not only must his know-how encompass the entirety of the human body, but it also must address the variety of situations that a dance career might require that body to end up in. The physical issues that arise from Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake are very different than those from William Forsythe’s One Flat Thing, reproduced; and, when the transition time between the reps spans only two days, Bender must be immediately ready to address the new problems that the dancers bring in to him.

Bender, his fellow PTs, the company sports medicine doctor, the massage therapists, the company manager, and the artistic director—Peter Boal, who also offers a dancer’s perspective on each work— routinely meet in order to discuss the physical requirements of the specific reps, as well as to keep track of the overall health of the company. On top of that, Bender sometimes watches videos of the pieces prior to the rep as to get a feel for issues that might arise. He compares this practice to a similar one in football—where PTs will also study videos of upcoming competitors to see how and where they hit, in order to prepare as best they can to address the players’ physical needs. However, most of all he prefers to rely heavily on the information the dancers bring to him in the beginning of the process in order to gauge what to expect. While each dancer’s body is different, and predisposed to varying pains and problems, specific trends oftentimes surface over the course of a single rep.

PNB Swan Lake — Pacific Northwest Ballet dancing Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake. Photo by Angela Sterling

During Swan Lake, his table was occupied by a never-ending stream of swans with any number of lower leg problems—a common one being a bad calf. The audience might likely never think of it, but those swans encircling the stage, standing motionless on one leg for the entirety of the 2^nd and 4^th act pas de deux, are aching and sweating more than if they were dancing. By the end of the run almost every swan had a bad right or left calf, depending on which side of the stage she stood. However, three days later, one of those same swans is back on Bender’s table at the studios, attempting to put words to the intense neck pain she is experiencing due to a certain motion of One Flat Thing, which she then gingerly, very cautiously demonstrates. Boyd is ready for all of it.

Thirty seconds after a horrific ankle sprain, Bender is in the room ready to help. Ten years of on-and-off Achilles tendonitis, Bender is still finding new ways of caring for it. His arsenal of tools and skills is immeasurable; whether he is adjusting, lasering, ultra-sounding, taping, massaging, scraping, or even exercising (that’s right, it’s not all passive!) the problematic area, he’s thoroughly monitoring, addressing, and protecting the entirety of the dancer’s physical well-being. I, and numerous others, can easily name more than one instance that I likely wouldn’t have been back on stage that evening if it wasn’t for Bender’s care. You might never realize that one vertebra on your back being out of place is the reason for the shooting nerve pain in the back of your knee—but Bender knows.

And he’ll fix it too.

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s season resumes in June with their “Love & Ballet” program. Get more details by visiting the PNB website.

Contributor Emma Love Suddarth is from Wichita, Kansas. She studied with Sharon Rogers and on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and attended summer courses at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Ballet Academy East, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She was first recipient of the Flemming Halby Exchange with the Royal Danish Ballet School and was also a 2004 and 2005 recipient of a Kansas Cultural Trust Grant. She joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2008 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2009.

While at PNB, she has performed featured roles in works by George Balanchine, Peter Boal, David Dawson, Ulysses Dove, William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Mark Morris, Margaret Mullin, Crystal Pite, Alexei Ratmansky, Kent Stowell, Susan Stroman, and Price Suddarth. Some of her favorites include the Siren in Balanchine’s The Prodigal Son, Jiri Kylian’s Petit Mort, David Dawson’s A Million Kisses to My Skin, William Forsythe’s New Suite, and Price Suddarth’s Signature.

She is a contributor to Pacific Northwest Ballet’s blog. She is married to fellow PNB dancer Price Suddarth.

On The Other Side – Thoughts From A Recently Retired Ballerina

November 27, 2016 by 4dancers

Jessica Anspach — **Me, taking off in Europe after my retirement for the solo part of my trip!**

by Jessika Anspach McEliece

The early autumn light flooded through my window as if to smile “Hello”, warming my toes as I sat on the couch scrolling through my Facebook feed. And the babble of the river rushing underneath our flat (because that’s what they call them over here in England), at first sounding almost fake like one of those sleep machines, had a soothing, hypnotic effect.

How in the world did I get here?

Life couldn’t have looked more different than it did four months ago… [Read more…]

Hidden Gems: Ballet’s Mixed Rep Programs

March 18, 2016 by 4dancers

MCV1 — ***Atlanta Ballet dancers backstage at a performance of Yuri Possokhov’s Classical Symphony. Photo courtesy of Alessa Rogers.***

by Alessa Rogers

Mixed repertory programs can be a tough sell for ballet companies. Audiences are more willing to shell out money and time to see something familiar; like the story ballets Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, of which they already know what to expect and are thus more comfortable. Marquis productions are what bring in the money with their splashy titles, character-driven works, happy or not so happy endings. But there is a younger sibling to the more traditional full-length narrative ballet that deserves just as much audience respect–the mixed repertory program.

Mixed rep defined

A mixed rep show is a stylistically diverse program of multiple shorter works–generally 3 or 4 pieces, each around 15-30 minutes in length, and usually all by different choreographers. Some follow a narrative arc where others are movement for movement’s sake. Unless an artistic director has chosen a unifying theme for the program the pieces stand-alone and are unrelated which leads to a surprising, fresh and exciting program.

Bite-sized dance

In this day and age of instant gratification, a mixed rep show may just be what an entry-level balletomane needs. A 20 minute piece followed by a break to check in to the theater on Facebook and send a few selfies in your theatre-going finery followed by another 15 minute burst of culture a couple more times? Yes this is what 21^st century audiences can do at a mixed rep show! No need to buckle your seatbelt for a 3 and a half hour show of the same tortured heroine (though that is perfect for some people). The commitment is less but the pay off is still great. It’s like being served 3 of the most exquisite appetizers and not even needing to order an entrée because you are so satisfied from that.

But besides the practical logistics of maintaining your social life while gaining some culture cred, mixed reps offer something really special. I did a little bit of market research while writing this post, i.e., I asked my boyfriend what he thinks about mixed reps. He is a typical young American male engineer who likes watching basketball, playing chess and not going to ballets (until he met me that is–now he is horrified that he might have missed out on all those Nutcrackers!) Turns out, mixed rep programs are his favorite shows to go to. “They are good for people with short attention spans and there is more of a chance to see something you really like because there are three distinct pieces. Sometimes a piece might be weird and polarizing but in the end that makes it more exciting. And you are exposing yourself to the most density of dance experience in a short amount of time.” (Did I mention he has a Ph.D.? He is very smart and should be trusted.)

21st Century ballet

Mixed rep programs are fun because you never know quite what to expect. This is not stereotypical ballet. In a single show you might see classical ballet, neoclassical, contemporary, a blurring of all of these, or something completely different. There was one mixed rep at Atlanta Ballet that had not one single pointe shoe the entire evening. There were cowboy boots and jazz shoes and bare feet but nary a pointe shoe in sight. This is ballet? Yes, this is ballet in the 21^st century and it is glorious. Mixed reps are where ballet evolves and grows up and changes with the times. This is where performers and audiences stretch themselves to the limits, breathing new life into an old art form.

MCV2 — ***Atlanta Ballet dancers dressed for Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16 on tour in Toronto. Photo courtesy of Alessa Rogers.***

In a mixed rep program at Atlanta Ballet the audience is treated to some of the world’s greatest choreographers, like Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne McGregor and Jorma Elo. These in-demand dance makers from all over the world are heading South with their ballets. Atlantans don’t have to travel to places like New York and Europe to see these masters. They are coming here. At the same time, many companies use mixed reps to foster their budding in-house choreographers. In a 2014 mixed rep program, I was fortunate enough to be in pieces by internationally acclaimed choreographers Alexei Ratmansky and Ohad Naharin, but it ended up being Atlanta Ballet dancer Tara Lee’s premiere that was most special to me. There is a different dynamic in being choreographed on by a fellow dancer. She knows everything about me as a dancer, what I’m good at, what I’m bad at (and still cast me!), and it formed a kind of trust between her and her cast that was so strong.

In the program Atlanta Ballet is currently preparing for, all three works were world premieres on Atlanta Ballet at one point or another. When new pieces are being created, the studio is fecund with creativity, energy and excitement. Mixed rep shows are where we get to work with choreographers we have always dreamed of working with. I think at Atlanta Ballet this is really where we shine–in collaboration and in versatility. Working with these choreographers in such varied styles is how dancers become versatile artists. Young dancers often get their first chances to be featured and shine alongside virtuosic veterans. It can be hard on a body to go from Possokhov’s Classical Symphony to Gustavo Ramirez Sansano’s El Beso in the same night because the qualities are completely different but we crave the challenge. It fills us up. Mixed reps are where we find and push our edges. Even if there is one piece we don’t particularly like or isn’t suited to us we can work on growing in that one and really enjoy the next. There are extremes and there is balance and there is, always, beauty and joy.

When it comes to mixed rep programs, there are plenty of reasons to attend. Choreographer Gustavo Ramírez Sansano shares some thoughts on the value of experiencing a range of different contemporary dances:

Atlanta Ballet’s 20/20: Visionary program is a mixed rep offering that runs from March 18th through March 20th, 2016. Tickets are still available.

Contributor Alessa Rogers began her dance training with Daphne Kendall and left home at fourteen to attend the North Carolina School of the Arts. Upon graduation she spent one season with North Carolina Dance Theatre II before joining Atlanta Ballet where she has been for the past eight years.

Favorite roles at Atlanta Ballet include Juliette in Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Romeo et Juliette, Margaret in the world premiere of Helen Pickett’s The Exiled, Lucy in Michael Pink’s Dracula, Ophelia in Stephen Mills’ Hamlet, Lover Girl in David Bintley’s Carmina Burana, and Princess Irene in the world premiere of Twyla Tharp’s The Princess and the Goblin.

She has performed works by Jorma Elo, Wayne McGregor, Ohad Naharin, Christopher Wheeldon, Christopher Hampson, Dwight Rhoden and Tara Lee. She has been a guest artist with the National Choreographers Initiative in California and Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance in Asheville, N.C.

In her spare time she likes to read, write, cook vegetables, meditate, travel and rock climb.

Spoiler Alert: The Original Endings Of Ballet’s Great Love Stories

February 14, 2016 by Rachel Hellwig

by Rachel Hellwig

So, you think you know how all of your favorite romantic ballets end? Think again! The original finales might surprise you…

Giselle

Spoiler alert: Albrecht gets back together with Bathilde—with the (post-mortem) blessing of Giselle! Though most modern versions conclude with Albrecht alone in the forest, Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 2011 staging by Peter Boal includes the original ending. As The New York Times described it, “Albrecht [is] tenderly consoled and reclaimed at dawn by Bathilde, whom Giselle, now a spirit returning to her grave, has urged him to marry with her last gestures.”

Created with "waiting backstage" by Deb. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic. [Changes to image: cropped; filters, background, and text added] Lyrics quoted on image from "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", artist Taylor Swift. — Created with “waiting backstage” by Deb. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic. [Changes to image: cropped; filters, background, and text added] Lyrics quoted on image from “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together“, artist Taylor Swift.

Swan Lake

Spoiler alert: Siegfried and Odette still die. However, they don’t drown themselves in the lake. And their original personalities were more flawed than those of the gallant Prince and Swan Queen of today. The Ballet Bag explains:

“[It] was very different from the Swan Lake we now know: Odette, daughter of a good fairy, is being pursued by her “wicked witch stepmother”. Her grandfather keeps her and companions safe at a lake by night, allowing them to fly about as swans by day. Odette wears a magical crown which protects her from the witch. Siegfried falls for her but betrays her at a ball. Odette refuses to forgive him, so he snatches her crown in desperation. The lovers are now at the mercy of the witch and the waters of the lake engulf them.”

Created with "CincinnatiBallet-SwanLake2009-Dancers-KristiCapps-AnthonyKrutzkamp-Photog-PeterMueller" by KCBalletMedia. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic. [Changes to image: cropped; filters, background, and text added] — Created with “CincinnatiBallet-SwanLake2009-Dancers-KristiCapps-AnthonyKrutzkamp-Photog-PeterMueller” by KCBalletMedia. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic. [Changes to image: cropped; filters, background, and text added]

Romeo and Juliet

And they lived happily ever after…

Spoiler alert: This was indeed the ending that composer Sergei Prokofiev intended! “Living people can dance, the dead cannot”, he argued. But officials in 1930s Soviet Russia weren’t keen on the idea of changing Shakespeare’s story (a.k.a. Prokofiev had to follow orders). It wasn’t until 2008 that choreographer Mark Morris staged a version with the original happy ending. It’s safe to say, of course, that Prokofiev’s revision has yet to upstage The Bard’s conclusion to this famous tale of woe.

Created with "swKCB0514_ 1685" by KCBalletMedia. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic. [Changes to image: cropped; filters, background, and text added] Lyrics quoted on image from "Love Story", artist Taylor Swift. — Created with “swKCB0514_ 1685” by KCBalletMedia. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic. [Changes to image: cropped; filters, background, and text added] Lyrics quoted on image from “Love Story“, artist Taylor Swift.