The Ballets Russes in Music and Dance
April 29, 2009
Michael J. Novak in Vaslav Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun, photo by Costas
Last Saturday, the Harriman Institute of Columbia University and Barnard College’s Dance Department and Music Program joined forces to present “Celebrating the Ballets Russes in Music and Dance” at Miller Theatre. This event marked the centenary of the first Paris performances of Serge Diaghilev’s legendary Ballets Russes. Upon introducing the performance, Catharine Theimer Nepomnyashchy, director of the Harriman Institute, admitted that this was “a rather complicated collaboration”, one that undoubtedly involved months of planning. Fortunately, the audience was treated to a sophisticated evening of music and dance – all performed by current students at Columbia, Barnard, and the Manhattan School of Music.
The program opened with Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane for Violin and Piano. Diaghilev never commissioned a work to this dramatic 1924 piece, but he commissioned Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe in 1912, choreographed by Michel Fokine. Pavel Gintov’s piano playing and Elissa Cassini’s violin performance were utterly captivating. They both infused each note with the passion and gusto that can be heard in the richly colored music.
Vaslav Nijinsky’s 1912 Afternoon of a Faun is one of the landmark works of the Ballets Russes. Set to music by Claude Debussy and staged by Tina Curran based on a reconstruction by Ann Hutchinson Guest and Claudia Jeschke, the short ballet is a work of adolescent sexual awakening. Moving mainly in profile, a faun carefully maneuvers his way around several fleeting nymphs. He briefly connects with one of them, and the piece ends with a masturbatory gesture that caused a scandal at its Paris premiere in 1912. Michael J. Novak breathed life into Nijinsky’s somewhat two-dimensional choreography. His performance conveyed the depth of the ballet’s nuances – a hand gesture or a tilt of the head – with intention and sensitivity to timing. The chief nymph, Marygrace Patterson, and six accompanying nymphs were delicate and precise in their ensemble work.
Dancers in Afternoon of a Faun, photo by Costas
In 1923, the Ballets Russes premiered Igor Stravinsky’s choral masterpiece Les Noces (The Wedding), with choreography by Bronislava Nijinska. The stage at Miller Theatre was just large enough to hold the four pianists, tympani, principal singers, and full chorus that this musical work requires. The ensemble was capably led by Gail Archer, director of the music program at Barnard and conductor of the Barnard-Columbia Chorus. Les Noces is a painful telling of a Russian peasant wedding that feels – and sounds – more like a funeral. The opening female soloist expresses the bride’s fear of departing from her mother at such a young age, while the chorus echoes her emotions and mourns for the bride and her family. The soloists’ voices were occasionally overwhelmed by the severity and intensity of the music – particularly the excellent percussion – and in spite of singing in English, the lyrics were not always clear. But the music alone was more than satisfying. Les Noces is infrequently performed because of its musical requirements, so listening to a powerful, well-rehearsed performance was a treat.
Catharine Theimer Nepomnyashchy and Lynn Garafola, a Barnard dance professor and historian who produced the program, should be proud of this successful evening, which certainly would not have been possible without the time and effort that the students, coaches, and coordinators devoted to the performance.
The celebration of the Ballets Russes continues this summer. Beginning in June, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts will present “Diaghilev’s Theater of Marvels: The Ballets Russes and its Aftermath”, an exhibit that celebrates and explores the ballet company’s impact on the dance world.
International Dance Day Message from Akram Khan
April 29, 2009
Akram Khan in "Zero Degrees", photo by Jean-Pierre Maurin
International Dance Day, held every year on April 29th, was founded in 1982 by the International Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute, in the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, where it is based. The date was chosen because it commemorates the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), the creator of ballet d’action.
Every year, a message from a well-known dance personality is circulated throughout the world, with the intention of uniting the field of dance by celebrating the art form and reveling in its universality, crossing all political, cultural, and ethnic barriers and bringing people together in peace and friendship with a common language.
The 2009 message is from Akram Khan. Born to a Bangladeshi family in London, Khan began studying folk dance at the age of three and Kathak at seven. He later studied at Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s school in Brussels. His first performance at London’s Dance Umbrella heralded a new talent, and Dance Magazine named him a “25 to Watch” in 2002. Now 34 years old, Khan is an associate artist at Sadler’s Wells Theatre and performs worldwide.
Below is Khan’s message:
This very special day is dedicated to the one language that everybody in this world can speak, the inherent language of our bodies and our souls, of our ancestors and of our children.
This day is dedicated to every god, guru and grandparent that ever taught and inspired us.
To every song and impulse and moment that’s ever moved us to move.
It is dedicated to the little child that wishes it could move like its star.
And to the mother who says “you already can”.
This day is dedicated to every body of every creed, colour and culture that carries the traditions of its past into stories of the present and dreams of the future.
This day is dedicated to Dance, to its myriad dialects and its immense power to express, transform, unite and delight.
-Akram Khan
A Marketing Lesson from Rice Krispies
April 28, 2009
1930s ad for Rice Krispies
An email update from The Field brought to my attention James Surowiecki’s recent column in The New Yorker. He discusses marketing decisions made by Kellogg and Post cereals during the Great Depression as a lesson for today’s companies, which are undoubtedly pondering how much to invest in advertising and where to make cuts. Of course, arts organizations are also facing the same tough decisions. Keep them in mind when reading the following excerpt from Surowiecki’s column:
“Post did the predictable thing: it reined in expenses and cut back on advertising. But Kellogg doubled its ad budget, moved aggressively into radio advertising, and heavily pushed its new cereal, Rice Krispies. (Snap, Crackle, and Pop first appeared in the thirties.) By 1933, even as the economy cratered, Kellogg’s profits had risen almost thirty per cent and it had become what it remains today: the industry’s dominant player.
You’d think that everyone would want to emulate Kellogg’s success, but, when hard times hit, most companies end up behaving more like Post. They hunker down, cut spending, and wait for good times to return. They make fewer acquisitions, even though prices are cheaper. They cut advertising budgets. And often they invest less in research and development. They do all this to preserve what they have. But there’s a trade-off: numerous studies have shown that companies that keep spending on acquisition, advertising, and R. & D. during recessions do significantly better than those which make big cuts.”
Assuming arts organizations want to end up like Rice Krispies rather than a forgotten Post cereal, cuts shouldn’t be made to marketing or programs during uncertain times. If anything, a recession provides an opportunity to invest in these areas in order to stand out from the crowd. There are definitely arts leaders who are aware of this, but still many others who fear taking risks when the future remains unclear. So it cannot be emphasized enough: without programming and marketing, arts organizations have no audience and therefore cannot exist.
The Field happens to offer a variety of upcoming career workshops that focus on marketing and publicity, which could be a worthwhile investment for individuals working in the arts.
NYCB’s MOVES and ABT’s 18/29 Club
April 27, 2009
New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre have both established special membership programs specifically for people in their 20s: MOVES and the 18/29 Club. It’s wonderful that the city’s major ballet companies recognize the need to cultivate younger audiences, but these memberships are far from perfect. In fact, they might be more off-putting than they are attractive.
ABT’s 18/29 Club requires that you purchase $30 orchestra seats to at least three performances. That’s already $90 plus a $15 handling fee. It’s understandable that ballet newcomers would be more than reluctant to drop $105 on ballet tickets, even with a “free” subscription to ABT’s news magazine. In fact, that’s more expensive than purchasing a single orchestra ticket, which can usually be bought last-minute since the Met rarely sells out, whereas the 18/29 Club requires you to place an order for all three performances in advance.
NYCB’s MOVES offers $32 tickets for seats in the third ring, with performance recommendations emailed to members based on a questionnaire filled out upon sign-up. However, the company also offers fifty $25 orchestra seats to every performance beginning on the Monday prior to each week’s performances. This is a cheaper and more impromptu option. Additionally, MOVES requires that you purchase two tickets for the spring season and two for the coming winter season in order “to remain a part of the MOVES network”. I doubt anybody in their 20s is thinking ahead to performances in winter 2010.
The only way to purchase tickets as a member of the 18/29 Club is by snail mail, fax, or in person. Why ABT hasn’t set up online ordering for this is more than a little perplexing, nor do I understand their reluctance to more fully utilize social media. To let others know about the club, the only option is to click the “tell a friend” feature on the website. At least MOVES already has a Facebook page to spread the word, and plans for MOVES meet-ups over drinks.
Both companies should be commended for targeting younger (and newer) audiences, but these initiatives are flawed. Nobody wants to commit to more than one performance, especially if they’re new to ballet and testing the waters. Plus, a membership should include more benefits besides newsletters and e-mail recommendations. Pre- or post-performance events and other community-building ideas should be considered (MOVES is on the right track with mingling over drinks). Otherwise, it’s just cheaper and easier to buy a single ticket at the regular price.
Stephen Petronio Company Celebrates 25 Years
April 24, 2009
Stephen Petronio Company, photo by Sarah Silver
Stephen Petronio didn’t start dancing until he took a contact improvisation class as a sophomore at Hampshire College. He fell in love with dance, studying with Steve Paxton and later joining Trisha Brown’s company as its first male dancer in 1979. He never thought that his own company – which he set up as a temporary outlet to explore his passion for choreography – would last. But next week, Stephen Petronio Company will celebrate its 25th anniversary with the world premiere of I Drink the Air Before Me at The Joyce Theater.
According to an article in this month’s issue of Dance Magazine, “extreme and unpredictable weather” served as Petronio’s inspiration for the full-length piece. Created for twelve dancers, I Drink the Air Before Me features a live commissioned score by contemporary classical composer Nico Muhly, along with choral elements by the Young People’s Chorus of New York City. Long-time collaborator Ken Tabachnick (who is also general manager of New York City Ballet) designed the lighting, and visual artist Cindy Sherman created the costumes. The company’s performances at The Joyce last spring demonstrated Petronio’s interest in conveying a range of emotions while also paying attention to formal composition and structure. His choreography is inventive and fluid, and a piece inspired by the weather will undoubtedly illustrate his ability to set dancers in motion at a kinetic, lightning-quick speed.
Performances run from April 28 through May 3 at The Joyce Theater, with a post-performance discussion on Wednesday, April 29th. Tickets can be ordered online or by calling 212.242.0800.
