Las Vegas Weekly : - Ballet season-opener leaves room for improvement

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Ballet season-opener leaves room for improvement

Wed, Oct 21, 2009 (2:53 p.m.)

Jungle choreographed by Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Artistic Director James Canfield.

Photo: Jeff Speer

It’s always exciting to attend the first performance of a new ballet season—especially one that showcases the efforts of a new artistic director. If only the results had equaled the anticipation.

Last weekend, Nevada Ballet Theatre began its 38th season with one familiar work, Balanchine’s Rubies, and two NBT premieres choreographed by Artistic Director James Canfield,Coco and Jungle.

Rubies, set to Stravinsky’s “Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra,” is a ballet the company has performed before. Alissa Dale and Alexandra Christian repeated their assignments, layering new levels of sparkle and wit to their technically secure performances. Jeremy Bannon-Neches gave an impressively earnest performance as the male lead, but his serious demeanor did not mesh with either the choreographic or musical intent of the work.

Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Timeless Innovation: October 17; UNLV’s Artemus Ham Hall

Balanchine’s dances are known for their difficult ensemble work, and companies that rise to the challenge often schedule them in successive seasons, understanding that the dancers need to grow and develop in the roles. Because half the company’s dancers are new, the corps reverted to square one. Although the dancers managed to hit their positions, their arms, head-angles and body positions were all over the place, lacking the precision needed to realize the ballet’s cheeky tone. For the short term, until this group’s members become more comfortable with one another, it might be best to put Balanchine ballets on the back-burner.

Coco uses recordings by Edith Piaf as a framework, firmly grounding the piece in an expression of angst and unrequited love, which Canfield unconvincingly puts forth as Chanel’s great tragedy. Considering she became a successful businesswoman and the 20th century’s greatest arbiter of fashion, Chanel appears to have gotten over it.

The closing ballet, Jungle, is an appealing, if dated, work set to electronic music by The Future Sound of London. Canfield’s Joffrey Ballet origins were on display here in the Arpino-esque choreography featuring much floor writhing and an overuse of hyperextensions. Nevertheless, dancers attacked the work with energy and would have captured the audience had the ballet had a definitive finish rather than just a fizzling ending.

Coco and Jungle highlighted both the strengths and weaknesses of Canfield’s choreography. The solos are competent within their limited step vocabulary; however, Canfield shines when crafting duets. In Jungle, the edgy, modern duet for an increasingly strong and precise Cameron Findley and Sarah Fuhrman used angular poses and aggressive movements to powerful effect.

Canfield’s ensemble choreography is less successful. Unlike the interlocking diverse elements seen in Balanchine, Canfield’s ensemble dancers either perform a succession of solos or execute the same movements all together in a balletic version of a Rockette kick-line.

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4 Comments So Far

Now, I know why I didn't go see this 1st performance. Maybe, in the future, we will participate again, backing the Nevada Ballet
Theatre.... In order for our kids to grow, they need
story ballets that they can relate to!

Posted by: patriozeb on 10/22/09 at 3:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)

In order for our COMMUNITY to grow they need to understand there is more to ballet than tutus and story ballets. Story ballets would be nice to see every once in a while but they also require larger casts and more sets and scenery. If people are not contributing to our arts how can we expect to see this happening. The show was very kid friendly, fun costumes, fun music and talented dancers. It's too bad and surprising some of our community is so close minded to what dance can be. I think its exciting and about time we have a new era of ballet in this town.

Posted by: lvarts on 10/23/09 at 4:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Was the journalist at the same performance I was!? This was a remarkable performance that really showcased the depth and breadth of an exciting company that continues to thrive and grow. I loved every second and so did both the RJ and Sun who had glowing reviews. Jeter's obviously seething, negative portrayal was surprising--reading this made me question whether we had been at the same performance and the writer's objectivity.

I concur with lvarts. Story ballets with their sets and rental fees are a huge investment. With decreasing corporate and community support due to the recession, to survive and thrive, a new lean, fiscally responsible company is a requirement. We've lost the LVAM, Guggenheim, CineVegas and others. I'd hate to lose another cultural arts organization. I was thoroughly enthralled by the production that was just as enjoyable as Don Quixote, Giselle or other story ballets... And I loved the before and after performance programs giving us all a unique perspective on what we saw on the stage. I can't wait to see their new Nutcracker at the Paris Theatre!

Posted by: emalerman on 10/29/09 at 11:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)

It's a shame that so many people in this town, including the RJ and Sun reviewers, are so easily taken in by the watered-down Arpino-esque stylings of hack company director James Canfield. This wasn't the first time I had seen his tritely repetitive Jungle piece; I saw it years before while he was busily driving Oregon Ballet Theatre into the ground, and it hasn't improved with age or relocation to Las Vegas. The man simply has no capacity for moving more than two dancers around on the stage at a time, a failing which was cruelly highlighted by the same program's opener of Balanchine's masterpiece of interlocking movement. Not that the newly Canfield-ized troupe could pull that off, either: the corps was ragged and uncoordinated to the point of confusion. That's probably the real reason that Canfield isn't doing any story ballets: he doesn't have the choreographic chops for it. Kudos to the Weekly's reviewer for pointing out that this particular emperor doesn't exactly have his tights on.

Posted by: Culturatum on 11/1/09 at 12:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)