© Dale Stokes 'Serenade' reviews 'Agon' reviews 'Divertimento' reviews recent City Ballet of San Diego reviews more Anjuli Bai reviews Discuss this review (Open for at least 6 months)

There is simplicity to perfection – cleanliness devoid of the need for ostentation. From the spontaneous gestures Balanchine noticed in his students, for whom this ballet was choreographed, to Karinska’s ghost of a skirt, lingering and elongating the flow of movement, “Serenade” has long ago taken its place among the classics of the ballet repertoire. Never knowing how many of his part time dancers would turn up for rehearsal, Balanchine couldn’t arrange them in straight lines and so the slightly off symmetry construction for seventeen women in the opening tableau was the serendipitous result.

When he saw the dancers shield their eyes from the light, he kept the gesture and it became as recognizable and iconic as the fluttering arms of Odette in “Swan Lake.” The dancer who ran in late and the girl who fell down are now immortalized in the choreography. How wise of Balanchine to incorporate the spontaneity of life at the moment, which keeps it alive for us today, seventy three years later. And last night it continued to live through City Ballet of San Diego’s performance.

This was a Serenade to melt the heart. One quickly became immersed in the magic realm of Balanchine and Tchaikovsky, the seemingly simple synchronism of the dancers belied the challenge that such symmetry demands. These dancers showed by ease and spirit, legato and attack, together and alone, they are worthy of the inheritance.

The difficult moment when the woman is turned on pointe in arabesque by the man rotating her leg from beneath was carried through with aplomb by her, though his hands were slightly fussy – or at least made his effort obvious. A small matter of but a moment.
 

Megan Coatney in George Balanchine's Serenade
© Dale Stokes / City Ballet

The swirling froth of dancers circling the stage in piqué turns was exciting. Attack never lost its shape, speed didn’t cheat technique. One could feel the old love between music and choreographer and through this group of dancers – the love affair twixt music and dance. Even in the allegro sections the dancers kept the legato quality which echoed back to the sweeping theme of the music. Ariana Samuelsson especially has this quality. She chooses her moments and fills them completely, only moving on when the music compels her. A company which can bring forth such a performance of this hallmark ballet is to be treasured.

Agon

Men are not second class citizens in this company and Agon gives them an opportunity to give us pleasure – and that they did. They caught the quick structure changes inherent in Balanchine’s choreography. Pulling back while in arabesque to full weight on the standing heel and flexing up the supporting foot – against all the classical “rules” of the ballet – they made it look intrinsic to the dance rather than outside the classic norm.

The women easily displayed the nuanced epaulement and saucy hips organic in Stravinsky’s music which Balanchine realized into movement. Of particular note in the pas de deux, time and again line and curve matched body to body. She beguiled him with glance and gesture, he met her challenge and the end result was a fine display of technical, musical and stylistic communication.

Divertimento No. 15

The opening scene of the women in white and yellow cream tutus, ornamented with sky blue bows led into another Balanchine kingdom: more classical, more into Balanchine’s Russian heritage. Marrying his athletic technical demands to the delicacy of Mozart’s composition is a test of any dancer and any company.

There was a slight disagreement among the women as to the hand distance placement in port de bras en haut. I was taught it was eye distance apart, but some think it should be head distance apart. Whatever one decides, that decision should be part of the discussion. For the men, the disagreement was in port de bras demi un bas. The women don’t have the demi un bas problem because width of tutu is the final arbitrator. Other than that, the corps de ballet and the principals, were truly attentive to detail without making it an observable issue, it’s now intrinsic to their ability.

The Company’s women have mastered the secret of almost silent pointe shoes. This detail, like most details, becomes part of the whole experience for the audience. And so, there came a time during this last ballet, when the dancers floated through the world of Mozart and Balanchine, the audience was completely silent, no coughings, no stirrings, and we were all part – all able – to move into the magic realm of a theatrical experience for which we hope time and again when attending a performance. It’s the reason we go.

To have chosen these three ballets, which need not only several artistically, stylistically, not to mention technically, capable dancers, but as important needs to have strength in the corps de ballet, shows the ever increasing depth in the Company’s roster.

There has been discussion in the dance community as to whether the Balanchine Trust is setting its imprimatur a tad too easily on companies wishing to incorporate the Balanchine repertoire. Whether that is true in the aggregate, I’m not sure, but it certainly isn’t true in this case. City Ballet of San Diego earned that stamp of approval.

H.L. Mencken said “People get the government they deserve.” In this case, San Diego needs to realize that it finally has a classical ballet company, and I hope it deserves it. Steven Wistrich, Artistic Director, and Elizabeth Rowe-Wistrich, Resident Choreographer, have given it birth; the city needs to feed it.

Program notes while generally complete, were not always clear as to which man partnered which woman. Rather than mistake one dancer for another I’ve chosen not to mention any. A pity – they deserved mention. The music was taped and once again I am grateful for its level of aural comfort.