Festival Ballet Providence continued the celebration of its 30th anniversary with the first of two “Up CLOSE on HOPE” productions of the season. The November series featured the work of several choreographers, including FBP’s artistic director, Mihailo Djuric.
The first act contained five separate dances, each displaying the strengths and versatility of Providence’s pre-eminent company.
For Susan, choreographed by Djuric, was the evening’s most traditional performance. Second season dancer Henry Montilla and company apprentice Ashley Andries competently demonstrated the elegance and strength inherent in the pointe work and jumping passes of this classically Russian-styled dance pairing.
Järvi Raudsepp, the Fairy Doll of the second piece, combined strong pointe technique with the doll’s elusive, charming characterization. Davide Vittorino and Roger Fonnegra portrayed the Pierrots, one melancholy and one joyous, vying for the doll’s attention. Each man embodied the defining mood of his character while performing solos as well as pairs and trios with Raudsepp, balancing artistry with technical skill.
Queen Bees featured Erica Chipp and Lauren Menger. The production’s most modern work, Colleen Cavanaugh’s choreography focused on non-pointe balance and tension, holding blunted positions without sacrificing length of line. Chipp and Menger danced together and individually in a breathlessly athletic and artistic workout.
Montilla joined Lauren Kennedy for Le Corsaire, an intricate pas de deux which allowed for exceptional pointe work from Kennedy. Additionally, Montilla’s solo dance demonstrated skilled athletic leaps and footwork. In the final piece of the first act, Spring Waters, Leticia Guerrero and Eivar Martinez fused grace with power by performing several agile lifts worthy of pairs figure skating or ice dance.
Act two assumed a broader worldview in its tone, beginning with the exotic Vishnu. Joo-Hee Baek demonstrated gymnastic flexibility and grace in a series of lifts and footwork. Baek was partnered by Martinez and Vishnu’s choreographer, company dancer Mark Harootian.
In Je Ne T’Aime Pas, Guerrero and seventh season dancer Gleb Lyamenkoff captured the brooding, charged atmosphere of a troubled Parisian romance, while To Maestro Fellini maintained a lighter, though still French, flair. Andries, Christine Blanck, and Elizabeth Jesse set a now playful, now pensive mood, performing jazz-influenced and traditional balletic sequences. Male soloist Ilya Burov combined acrobatic grace with his lighthearted characterization.
The evening’s showpiece, however, was undoubtedly A Spektor of Things, which concluded the “Up CLOSE” program. Brilliantly choreographed by Harootian and set to the eclectic music of Regina Spektor, this FBP work-in-progress has the potential to be a signature piece for the company.
The first movement, “On the Radio,” allowed Blanck, Chipp, Vilia Putrius and Jennifer Ricci to express the song’s bubbly personality and infectious energy through beautifully stretched line, smart footwork and synchronous rhythm.
“Field Below” spotlighted principal FBP dancer Ricci in a performance nothing short of mesmerizing. Nathan Powell and Fan Shi steadied metals bars which Ricci alternately balanced against, climbed on and danced over. Ricci demonstrated superior technique and upper body strength while maintaining a magnetic intensity, transforming herself into a study in living sculpture.
In the third movement, Putrius established humorous character alongside solid pointe technique as she escaped life inside the “Music Box.” Putrius infused the comic element of the dance with an underlying desperation for freedom. “Fidelity,” the fourth and final piece, paired Chipp with Harootian in superb choreography combining traditional pointe, jumps and line with athletic lifts and the playful energy of Spektor’s music.
“Up CLOSE on HOPE” performances invite the public into Festival Ballet Providence’s Hope Street studios. The intimate venue (under 100 seats) allows patrons to see each step of every dance and to hear the squeak of a ballerina’s toe shoe from just a few feet away. Dancers, choreographers and other members of the artistic staff interact with the audience during intermission and after the show. Intermission drinks and hors d'ouvres are included in the ticket price. Call (401) 353-1129 or visit www.festivalballet.com for more on the “Up CLOSE” spring 2008 presentation or for information on any of Festival Ballet Providence’s other upcoming performances.
