Joffrey dancers mingle well, even if pieces don't
REVIEW | Not all the Joffrey works connect at Ravinia
At their best, mixed bill programs should do far more than simply showcase a ballet company's stylistic versatility. They should reveal something intriguing and interesting about each of the pieces on the program -- illuminating aspects of the choreography that might not have been noticed in another context.
Unfortunately, though generally expertly danced, the program presented by the Joffrey Ballet at the Ravinia Festival on Saturday night felt more like a cereal (and serial) "variety pack" than a thoughtful mix-and-match lineup. Seemingly designed to trigger ticket sales for the coming downtown seasons at the Auditorium Theatre, it seemed like a case of preaching to the choir. After all, the sophisticated Ravinia audience (which was at near capacity on a truly glorious evening) has long been a major component of the Joffrey's fan base.
The evening did get off to a terrific start with Paul Taylor's "Cloven Kingdom," a true mid-career masterpiece by that modern dance genius possessed of a mischievous imagination. A work that plays with the notion of man as part animal, part highly refined beast, "Cloven Kingdom" keeps the audience continually off balance with the way it "samples" the most courtly moves and then seamlessly sends everyone into a wilder, earthier, undecorous mode. The score shifts just as seamlessly -- from the harmonious Corelli, to the dissonant Henry Cowell and Malloy Miller.
Liberated from pointe shoes, the Joffrey dancers flew through this devilishly difficult work with enormous verve. Patrick Simoniello, Derrick Agnoletti, John Gluckman and Mark Giragosian garnered cheers for their performance of the near-demonic and acrobatic central quartet. The eight women -- Elizabeth Hansen and Allison Walsh (keep an eye on those two), Emily Patterson, Jennifer Goodman, Kathleen Thielhelm, Victoria Jaiani, Erica Lynette Edwards and Stacy Joy Keller -- also were thrilling.
In part because Taylor's work is so brilliant and cohesive, the three short "excerpts" that followed were more problematical. Excising a duet from Robert Joffrey's "Postcards" (a work that is set to songs by the French modernist Erik Satie, and is to be revived in its entirety this season) did not serve the piece well. The lovely Megan Quiroz and elegant Thomas Nicholas were well matched, but Nicholas seemed to flag a bit near the end, and some of his partnering was a bit unsteady.
A solo lifted from "Lacrymosa," a work by the late Joffrey dancer Edward Stierle (he was considered a promising choreographer when he died of AIDS in 1990 at the age of 23), felt dated and a bit bombastic. Nevertheless, the piece, set to a section of Mozart's "Requiem," was danced with formidable control and intensity by Matthew Adamczyk.
Ashley Wheater, the Joffrey's new artistic director, does have a flair for devising felicitous partnerships. This was certainly evident in the pas de deux from Victor Gsovsky's "Grand Pas Classique," in which he paired two of the company's most statuesque dancers -- Fabrice Calmels (who easily could have traversed a stage twice as large as Ravinia's) and Valerie Robin. Calmels has blossomed technically in the past year, and he also has evolved into the most doting and dependable of "premier danseur" partners. He and Robin made an imposing duo, with Robin displaying a winning confidence as she dealt with hugely demanding pointe work and tricky balances in this showpiece that is clearly designed to be eye candy.
The program closed with "...smile with my heart," Lar Lubovitch's easy-to-like suite for three couples, set to the romantic standards of Broadway's Richard Rodgers. Again, the pairings were first-rate, with John Gluckman (who has a touch of Gene Kelly about him) partnering tiny, ebullient Anastacia Holden in a look at young love; Adamczyk (in fine form here) teamed with the deftly dramatic Suzanne Lopez in a love-hate duet that features a strong surprise ending, and Calmels dancing with the willowy, exceedingly watchable April Daly -- a dancer with exquisite legs and the air of a young Audrey Hepburn. The onstage band, led by Paul James Lewis at the piano, was another big plus.