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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.

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

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.

Filed Under: Performance Reviews Tagged With: alexander ekman, auditorium theatre, derrick agnoletti, edson barbosa, fernando duarte, james kudelka, joanna wozniak, joffrey, maninyas, stanton welch, swan lake, the joffrey ballet, the man in black, tulle, un, unique voices

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.

Brock Clawson and Herb Migdoll

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.

Herbert Migdoll

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.

Lurie Gardens

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!

Herb Migdoll artwork

Filed Under: Editorial Tagged With: art, artwork, brock clawson, Carolee Schneeman, Cathrine Litz, chicago dance, crossing ashland, dance, herb migdoll, herbert migdoll, joffrey, Laura Dean, lurie garden, Meredith Monk, rauchenberg, rothko, steve paxton, the joffrey ballet, twyla tharp

The Nutcracker – From Student To Professional

December 20, 2014 by 4dancers

Cara Marie Gary backstage before Nutcracker
Cara Marie Gary backstage before Nutcracker

by Cara Marie Gary

Over the past twenty-three years I have gathered many memories around Christmas time, but the one that stands out amongst the others starts with a magical event that has forever made an impact on my life and has left me with new found feelings of eagerness and desire.

The time had finally come, the chilly December air made the girls run quickly through the green backstage door of the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina. It was the night of The Nutcracker performance and I, along with other aspiring young dancers, were waiting for the curtain to go up.

After anxiously skipping up and down the long hallway filled with dressing rooms, the moment had finally arrived where the burgundy curtain was lifted and Tchaikovsky’s music filled the theater. I wore a red and black solider costume adorned with strings of gold and stood backstage between two tall curtains. The joy of the holidays filled the air and crept back to the small spot where I was standing. I experienced a feeling of awe as I observed the older girls dancing before me. The tall girl with a radiant smile and a blue dress, who had the role of Clara, stood out to me. She moved with elegance as she danced across the stage; I longed to dance just like her one day.

As I executed my role during the battle scene I attempted to keep the graceful vision of Clara in mind. Staring out at the anonymous silhouettes of the strangers in the audience, I felt as if everything was perfect. The feeling of wonder bubbled inside of me as I took that final bow. I knew from this December night that I wanted to pursue dance, and learn how to leap and twirl like the tall girl in the blue dress. For me this memory combines the joy of Christmas and the motivation I had discovered to pursue a new found passion. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Editorial Tagged With: cara marie gary, christmas, clara, professional dancer, snow queen, sugar plum fairy, the joffrey ballet, the nutcracker

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…]

Filed Under: Editorial Tagged With: choreography, christopher Wheeldon, jason fowler, joffrey, swan lake, swan lake rehearsals, the joffrey ballet

The Joffrey: Live Music For American Legends

February 6, 2013 by 4dancers

Scott Speck conducting
Scott Speck, Photo Courtesy of The Joffrey Ballet

The Joffrey Ballet’s American Legends series is coming up at The Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, and this mixed repertory program will feature live music with the Chicago Philharmonic. We wanted to learn more about the process of what goes on behind the scenes to bring this partnership between dance and music to life, so we reached out to Scott Speck, Music Director for the Joffrey. He shares some insights here about how the program has taken shape, as well as what life is like for him during the process…

How far in advance will you arrive prior to conducting for the Joffrey’s American Legends performance series at the Auditorium Theatre—and where will you stay while you are in town? 

Well, although I regularly conduct symphony orchestras around the country (including the Mobile Symphony and West Michigan Symphony, where I’m Music Director), I should tell you that I am a part-time Chicagoan. Chicago is one of my home bases, and I have a beautiful apartment overlooking Millennium Park. It’s a four block walk in one direction to the Joffrey Studios, and a four block walk in the other direction to the Auditorium Theatre, where the Joffrey Ballet performs.  Couldn’t be more convenient!

The Joffrey Ballet usually begins rehearsal for all the season’s programs during the previous summer, so I spend several weeks during the summer in the studios, learning to understand the dancers’ needs and the choreographers’ vision. For the upcoming American Legends, some of the ballets were also rehearsed throughout the fall. One of the ballets, Stanton Welch’s Son of Chamber Symphony  (set to the music of John Adams), was performed several times during the company’s most recent national tour — and most recently, I conducted it for them with the LA Opera Orchestra at the Los Angeles Music Center. So I am very familiar with all of these works by the time I show up to conduct for them in Chicago.

What type of advance preparation do you do before your arrival? 

First and foremost, I learn the music as music, rather than as accompaniment.  Since the vast majority of my experience is as a symphonic conductor, I have developed ways of analyzing and internalizing a score that work for me. Of course, some pieces are much more complicated than others. In some cases, preparation means starting to learn a score a year in advance. And in other cases — for example, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring — I’ve been studying the music on and off for 20 years!

Once I know the musical score inside and out, it’s time to learn what the choreographer has been inspired to do with it. It’s fun to see how a certain melody or sonority gets translated into movements of the bodies onstage.

Tempo is a very important consideration. The choreographer usually has a particular tempo range in mind when he or she sets a work.  Sometimes, as in John Adams Son of Chamber Symphony, the music has a steady motor rhythm with very little leeway for tempo changes — so that no matter what the dancers are doing, the music has to go a certain way. But in other pieces, such as Gerald Arpino’s Sea Shadow (set to Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G), there is room for plenty of ebb and flow, give and take, going faster and slower. Especially in pieces like this, I try to understand exactly what the dancers need to do on each beat, and where they need time to breathe. My goal is to be true to the intent of the music while simultaneously supporting the dancers and allowing them to do their best.

joffrey ballet
Son of Chamber Symphony, Victoria Jaiani & Miguel Angle Blanco, Photo by Christopher Duggan

Once you are in town, what is does your schedule look like in terms of rehearsing/meeting with Joffrey, etc.? 

At the Joffrey studio, almost all rehearsals take place between 11:30 am and 5:30 pm. So when I’m in town, I plan to be in the studio for most of that time. That gives me the morning for exercise, Bikram yoga (my biggest hobby), writing emails, and taking care of other orchestra business, and the evening for studying scores and then unwinding, alone or with friends. We performers tend to be late-to-bed, late-to-rise types.  Breakfast? What breakfast?  But I’ve had some great dinners at 1 am.

Performance days are different — especially Saturdays, when we usually do two shows. Then the performance dominates the day, and I plan everything around it. I’ll usually get plenty of sleep, maybe exercise in the morning, do mindless stuff for a few hours, eat a big high-energy meal a few hours before the show, take a short power nap, and then spend a couple of hours getting into the right head space for performance. I once asked a Broadway performer, who had been in Les Miserables on Broadway for several years, what time each day he started thinking about the show and getting into character. His answer was, “When the curtain goes up.”  I couldn’t be more different — not at this point, anyway! I’m living the music for a couple of hours before I get on the podium to conduct.  But after the show, the rest of the night is mine. That’s one reason I like to stay up late!

What is it like to work with Ashley Wheater and the dancers? 

Ashley Wheater is a truly great Artistic Director, with a very clear creative vision for the company. He knows what he’s aiming for, and he knows how to make it happen. He has already brought the company to a new level, recognized throughout the world.  My primary role at the Joffrey is to support this vision and give it a brilliant soundtrack.

Ashley Wheater
Ashley Wheater, Photo by Jim Luning Photography

Ashley is extremely musical, more so than just about any other Artistic Director I have ever met in the field of ballet. I am gratified to be working with a leader who values the great musical tradition so highly. And having concentrated my conducting career on the great symphonic masterworks, I truly have a foot in each world — I feel that I can offer our company an enhanced perspective on the music that accompanies ballet. Ideally, the music is a full partner to the dance. In so many companies the music falls by the wayside. Here, I am doing everything I can to ensure that we eventually have live music for every performance. What a pleasure it is to know that this is Ashley’s vision as well.  Despite the extraordinary expense, Ashley has gone to the mat for live music, because it’s the right thing to do.   (More on working with the dancers below!)

How do you prepare the Chicago Philharmonic to work with Joffrey?

We concentrate on the music first, just as I do when I’m studying the scores. The Chicago Philharmonic is a finely-tuned instrument, truly a stunningly good orchestra. The musicians are already very well-versed in listening to each other and reacting in real time. So first we prepare the music as if we were going to perform it in an orchestral concert. This is extraordinarily gratifying to us, even when we perform underground in the orchestra pit.

What makes this work unique is that we know that while we’re playing, there are 42 virtuoso athletes dancing above our heads.  It’s a fine balance, and it works best when the musicians and I truly appreciate the intricacies of the dance, and the dancers appreciate the intricacies of the music. In orchestra rehearsals I often tell the musicians exactly what is happening onstage so that they can imagine the movement as they are accompanying it. And in the studio, I often help individual dancers to understand how they are embodying a musical phrase. In performance, of course, my job is to act as a conduit between the two. I’m the only person in the theater who can see all the musicians and all the dancers at once. When a dancer makes a leap, my baton follows the same arc as the dancer’s body, landing at the same instant so that the music can connect exactly.

But there’s something more. In an ideal performance, there is a marvelous creative spirit that infuses the dancers, the musicians and me simultaneously. We are not so much reacting to each other as sharing equally in this communal spirit. This is something I feel in the best symphonic performances as well. We’re not making music — the music is making us.

Do you have any places you especially enjoy going in Chicago when you are in town?

Since I live right by Millennium Park, I love hanging out there. I don’t know of a better park in the world.  During the summer there are free concerts nearly every night, and fireworks all year long. I also love getting to know the incredibly diverse neighborhoods in Chicago, and especially their restaurants. I’m currently in love with the Vietnamese food near the Argyle stop on the Red Line.

joffrey ballet
Joffrey Ballet Performing Le Sacre du Printemps with Stacy Joy Keller, Erica Lynette Edwards & Jennifer Goodman, Photo by Herbert Migdoll

Not all your work with Joffrey is in Chicago. What is it like to work with them on tour?

Intense! We just came back from a fantastic set of performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. The highlight of the program was Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, with a brilliant reconstruction of Nijinsky’s original choreography by Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer. We had three highly-charged, sold-out performances, and I’ve almost never seen such a rapturous response to ballet. The Joffrey Ballet is one of the world’s great companies, and it’s on tour that they find out how much they are appreciated around the world. What a pleasure to be a part of that.

American Legends runs from February 13th through February 24th at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre

scott speck
Scott Speck

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

Filed Under: Music & Dance Tagged With: ashley wheater, joffrey, music and dance, scott speck, the joffrey ballet

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