SAN FRANCISCO BALLET 75TH ANNIVERSARY / Out-of-towners show off vital local premieres in tribute to Ballet

Ramon Gomes Reis and Bernice Coppieters in Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo's American premiere of "Altro Canto." Chronicle photo by Kim Komenich

United They Dance
An International Salute to the San Francisco Ballet
Dances by Mrozewski, Balanchine, Maillot
War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, CA
April 2, 2008

By
ALLAN ULRICH
allan@voiceofdance.com
© VoiceofDance.com 2008

However, choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot, who has directed Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo since 1993, is totally unknown in the Bay Area. That may change soon, if Tuesday’s hearty reception (it sounded like the entire Monégasque population out there) is indicative. The work, Altro Canto (Another Song), sounds grim: a 10-part, 40-minute work for 19 dancers, set to ravishing pre-baroque vocal and instrumental scores by Claudio Monteverdi, Biagio Marini and Giovanni Kapersberger, most of it unfamiliar even to early music buffs.

The piece’s ritual atmosphere, like incense filling the nostrils, can be daunting. The first time I saw the piece in Monaco shortly after the premiere in 2006, it left little impression; a severe case of jet lag didn’t help. Tuesday, Altro Canto held the attention, although the extreme length for such an episodic ballet still troubles. Maillot derives theatrical tension from the contrast between the spiritual nature and filigree texture of most of the music and the muscular, visceral quality of the choreography. One recalls that Martha Graham once described dancers as acrobats of God, and that’s the way Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo performed Tuesday. This is an alert versatile company. In his pre-SFB days, Pascal Molat was a member.

Ramon Gomes Reis and Bernice Coppieters in Jean-Christophe Maillot's Altro Canto. Photo by Erik Tomasson.

Altro Canto compels attention. In a décor limited to candles descending, rising and arranging themselves in different configurations, the dancers, clad in Karl Lagerfeld’s chic, shiny white costumes (which incline to skirts for the men) enact a stylized passion play. There are religious overtones as a woman is hoisted by the crowd and paraded through the stage space like an icon. But much of the rest of the piece inclines to earthy, sometimes unisex encounters. Maillot highlights gestural details throughout: a recurring image is of the arms on a supine dancer squiggling like overcooked spaghetti. The look of Altro Canto often resembles one of those kids’ books that show you the alphabet represented by curving bodies. Dancers are upturned and shaken a bit. Facsimiles of the Pietà emerge and recede into the murk. Performers swing from each other’s necks. Ensemble moments yield to more intimate passages and recur in fresh configurations.

Maillot gives us an arresting set piece, positioned three-quarters of the way through the piece. An extraordinary duet features Bernice Coppieters and Ramon Gomes Reis during which the pair barely touches. Instead, through a series of convoluted gestures, they seem to draw power and sustenance from each other’s soul. Talk about good and bad vibrations. The encounter is the thoughtful still point in a work that suggests the extent to which faith is acquired only after a struggle. Altro Canto is presented here in its American premiere. I suspect this country has not seen the last of this eccentric, powerful essay. The music, performed by Ensemble Akademia, conducted by Francois Lasserre, was heard via recording.

News: NiceMatin Monaco 22.04.2008

http://www.voiceofdance.com/v1/gallery.cfm

http://danceinsf.blogspot.com/2008/04/tribute-to-sf-ballet-program-6.html

More Links for you!

A Tribute to SF Ballet, Program 6

San Francisco Ballet

Program 6

Featuring:

The National Ballet of Canada, New York City Ballet, and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo

Tuesday, April 1

San Francisco Ballet’s Program 6, billed as an international salute to the company’s 75th anniversary, doesn’t even showcase SF Ballet. Or at least not directly. Three companies have traveled to San Francisco with the goal of honoring SF Ballet, presenting works reminiscent of its rich and varied history while also showcasing their own strengths. Probably unintentionally, the evening also focused on relationships.

Traveling the farthest yet almost making the greatest audience impact, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, hailing from the tiny yet regal country of Monaco, presented the U.S. debut of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s “Altro Canto,” a smorgasbord of shapes, pairings, and dramatic imagery set against a never ending backdrop of rising and falling candles. Haunting baroque music played on as the 20 dancers explored ideas of loneliness and tension of relationships. Gender didn’t appear to be much of an issue at first, but as half of the dancers (male and female) were wearing trendy bubble skirts and the other half are wearing corsets and pants (all designed by Karl Lagerfeld), the androgyny question took on the role of white elephant. Maillot likes a show, and there’s no middle ground here. The choreography focuses on relationships of friends and lovers. Chris Roelandt, Jérôme Marchand, and Ramon Gomes Reis crossed and linked hands, creating a fluid wave motion reminiscent of scenes from “Winged Migration” with their arms, producing a beautiful and tender moment on stage. Later several of the men propelled Bernice Coppieters into the air, and she soared, doing an aerial worm up and over the men below. Coppieters and Reis also had a touching yet anger-filled duet: he trying to figure out just how to let her be while still being with her. It’s something we all wrestle with every day. That idea of self, of who we are alone, and who we are with others. Is there compromise or can we continue on this path, never yielding to anyone but ourselves? There’s a downside, though. Maillot tends to rely on big ideas, repetition and canon, and “Altro Canto” feels recycled after the first few sections. Reduce, reuse, and recycle would have worked wonders here, potentially transforming a barely simmering ballet to boiling. The majority of the audience, though, seemed to enjoy it.

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