MORPHOSES: Saturday Matinee

 Saturday October 4, 2008 matinee - Wei cleared his teaching schedule to attend this MORPHOSES matinee with me. I knew the combined appeal of Wendy Whelan and Maria Kowroski would tempt him. He's been working so hard and this was a beautiful way to take a break. (Above: Gonzalo Garcia, Craig Hall and Wendy in FOOLS' PARADISE in a John Ross photo).

FOOLS' PARADISE was to have opened the programme today but a slight injury to one of the dancers caused some shuffling and the omission of the pas de deux from THE DREAM.

So COMMEDIA was the opener today. Christopher's lively look at the PULCINELLA tale seems to have delighted everyone and it gets more delightful on repeated viewing. The music gives the ballet a lilting charm, with the backdrop, lighting and costumes reminding us of certain illustrations from the Ballets Russes era which Christopher said inspired this ballet (next season is the Ballet Russes centenary). Fifteen-year-old Beatriz Stix-Brunell danced her way into the limelight this week at City Center; in both COMMEDIA and POLYPHONIA she showed the technical assurance and personal prettiness that put her at ease among her more experienced colleagues. The perfect pas de deux for Leanne Benjamin and Edward Watson, the mercurial solo for Rory Hohenstein, the grace of Celine Cassone and Edwaard Liang and the commanding presence of Drew Jacoby and Rubinald Pronk add up to pure joy. 

COMMEDIA was followed by a fantastic surprise addition to the rep: ONE, the signature piece of Drew Jacoby and Rubinald Pronk. ONE (above) was choreographed for these remarkable dancers by Anabelle Lopez Ochoa to music by Jacob Ter Vedhuis and premiered in Houston in March 2008. You can watch it in a sensational performance on YouTube - a video that's gained these two dancers a lot of fans - but the impact of seeing it live is a whole different sensation. Beautifully lit, the ballet shows off the strength, beauty and extension of both dancers - for Ruby too seems at times about to kick the ceiling. Their sense of spaciousness and the complete ease and confidence of their partnering is something to behold. 

MONOTONES II is the Sir Frederick Ashton pas de trois set to the hypnotic Satie GYMNOPEDIES. It was danced today with great tranquility by Wendy Whelan, Tyler Angle and Adrian Danchig Waring who had just the right unearthly quality that meshes with the score. (Photo of Ashton)

The Lightfoot/Leon SHUTTERS SHUT was the second dance piece I've seen this season which is set to spoken words.

In SHUTTERS SHUT, set to a poem by Gertrude Stein, we encounter Norwegian Ballet dancers Christine Thomassen (photo above) and Andreas Heise (photo below). I think there must be some law that says Nordic dancers have to be beautiful (think of Peter, Nikolaj, Helgi...and Saskia!) and certainly today's guests were no exception.

SHUTTERS SHUT is absolutely hysterical, the funniest thing I've seen since David Parsons' SLEEP STUDY. While the Parsons piece makes you chuckle quietly, the Lightfoot/Leon duet provokes active mirth. Part of this is the seeming absurdity of the Gertrude Stein poem to which it is set; but it's the two dancers who give it the punch line with their expert timing. Ms. Thomassen and Mr. Heise received a fervent burst of applause at the work's ironic close. I was wishing they'd have encored it!

FOOLS' PARADISE was for me the most striking work offered by MORPHOSES in their debut season - I liked it so much that I bought the CD of Joby Talbot's score. I experienced a real rush as the curtain rose today and Gonzalo Garcia and Craig Hall emerged from the shadows. This work is somehow both romantic and other-worldly - against the falling rose petal images the dancers move as if in a dream. (Above, Tess Reichlen with Tyler Angle & Adrian Danchig-Waring). Watch a portion of this ballet here.

Celine Cassone, Wendy Whelan, Tess, Gonzalo, Craig, Tyler and Adrian move so fantastically thru this dreamscape of dance; when the music darkens, Edwaard Liang and Maria Kowroski appear for a pas de deux of sustained lyricism. The music and the flow of movement sometimes had me holding my breath.

Below, some additional photos from Wheeldon's COMMEDIA and FOOLS' PARADISE.

Celine Cassone & Edwaard Liang in COMMEDIA (photo: John Ross)

Above, Erin Baiano's photo of the cast of COMMEDIA.

For me, FOOLS' PARADISE was the finest jewel in the MORPHOSES season and here are more John Ross photos from that ballet:

Celine Cassone and Gonzalo Garcia

Celine Cassone &  Wendy Whelan

Maria Kowroski and Edwaard Liang

FOOLS' PARADISE...I love it!!

The film sequences by Benjamin Pierce which are shown between ballets were an integral part of the afternoon. In one, Beatriz has breakfast and then puts her hair up and starts class - suddenly she is morphed into Leanne Benjamin who is finishing her day in the studio. The film of Celine Cassone sewing her toe shoes which is played as the audience settles in pre-curtain was now shown at a rapidly sped-up pace and set against an arrangement of FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE and makes the dancer's normally relaxing task suddenly seem frantic. Hopefully these films will end up on the MORPHOSES website.

Peter Martins and Darci Kistler were sitting in front of us and it was so good to see Susan, Laurel, Deborah and Gladys. The indomitable Freddie Franklin was there. And I finally met Lourdes Lopez!

Crowning glory: the final image of FOOlS' PARADISE, thanks to John Ross.