Dancers pass the Balanchine test

Watching Nevada Ballet Theatre’s “All-Balanchine” program on Saturday night, I suddenly had a thought about that hit song by the Killers — the one that asks, puzzlingly, “Are we human or are we dancer?”

The dances created by the great choreographer George Balanchine call for and conjure a human ideal, a sheerly aesthetic vision of people perfected, or as perfect as is humanly possible.

Because his dances cherish, even demand, beauty above all, Balanchine’s ballets are a heady pleasure even for audiences unfamiliar with classical dance. Unencumbered by stories, acting and, for the most part, abstraction and meaning, the dances are all about style and form, as the dancers strive to attain and represent perfection in grace, motion and sculptural repose.

Two hours of Balanchine poses a rigorous challenge for any troupe, and Nevada Ballet more than met the maker’s mark in a program of three works at UNLV’s Artemus Ham Hall on Friday and Saturday nights.

A worshipper of feminine beauty, Balanchine required strict adherence to style and technique, and imposed an almost uniform look on his female dancers. In the first piece, “Serenade,” set to Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48, Racheal Hummel-Nole, Cathy Colbert and Alissa Verbena Dale wore long, sheer white tulle skirts, and with their hair pulled back and up, the women were nearly identical, like the women in the video for Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” (which was most likely a play on Balanchine’ signature look). They were expertly partnered by Jared Hunt and Zeb Nole, whose slicked-back hair and rosy cheeks made them resemble 1930s matinee idols.

In the second part of “Serenade,” the three women let their hair down, literally, and the dancing became more passionate. You could easily read a tormented love triangle into the shifting configurations of the dancers, but Balanchine said there is no story concealed in the ballet, which was staged against a glowing backdrop of Tiffany blue that deepened into midnight moonlight by the end of this picture of austerely classical loveliness.

“Concerto Barocco,” on the other hand, was brisk, even sporty at times, with Alexandra Christian and Rebecca Brimhall in what looked like crisp white tennis dresses and Grigori Arakelyan in black tights and white T-shirt.

Balanchine set “Concerto” to the Double Violin Concerto in D minor by J.S. Bach, and created a visual analog for the intricate weaving and braiding of the violins in the rhythmic baroque piece. The dancers maintained connection, linking arms and threading in and out in knots and spirals; parts of the dance wittily suggested the most elegant calisthenics, a combination of ancient and modern, athleticism and eroticism.

The first two ballets were accompanied by a 23-person string section from the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and the performance benefitted immeasurably from the resulting immediacy, warmth and richness of texture.

Balanchine’s style is trademarked, and the staging and costuming of his ballets are monitored by the Balanchine Trust. Nevada Ballet used the original costume designs from the New York City Ballet’s productions, and “quality control” was ensured by Sandra Jennings, who worked with the master himself and drilled the dancers.

In “Serenade” and “Concerto,” the dancers maintained their facial expressions in a strict hauteur. For the closer, “Who Cares?,” the dancers were suddenly all smiles, and the frolicsome ballet was like a frothy dessert after a satisfying but serious main course.

“Who Cares?” is set to an orchestrated suite of the greatest hits of Balanchine’s friend George Gershwin, and the choreography offered the dazzling delicacy of classical dance while winking affectionately at the comparatively vulgar vernacular of Broadway and jazz.

With their syncopated rhythms and dramatic harmonic shifts, songs like “Fascinatin’ Rhythm” and “That Certain Feeling” were made for dancing. And removed from the familiar context imposed by their lyrics, and set to spare, piano-based orchestrations (recorded, in this case) immortal tunes like “The Man I Love” impressed all over again with their freshness and beauty.

Just about the entire Nevada Ballet company got to come out and play in “Who Cares?,” which provided sparkling showcases for everyone from principals to trainees. The five guys in “Bidin’ My Time” were amusing as swaggering, show-offy swells, and Maggie Hoy, Colbert and Jennifer Fesler got in touch with their inner showgirl in “That Certain Feeling” and “Lady Be Good.”

The ballet culminated in a series of splendid solos and pas de deux by Hummel-Nole and Nole, a married couple who brought an extra glow to “My One and Only,” and Nole ended “Embraceable You” with a little kiss, which, even if it was a spontaneous ad lib, likely would have made even Balanchine smile.

Joe Brown can be reached at 259-8801 or at [e-mail].