Mr. B Goes to Washington.

The Kennedy Center's Balanchine Celebration features six troupes In fourteen of the master's ballets

GEORGE BALANCHINE took a pessimistic view of longevity. Not his personal longevity, of course--as a Georgian, he often expressed the view that he would probably live forever. As a result, his death at the age of 79 in 1983 seemed as surprising to the world at large as it doubtless did to him personally. No, it was the works he expected to die, not himself. Balanchine was a firm proponent of the principle, as he expressed it, that "it's always nice to have something new," and I don't think he expected his works to survive very long after his death.

How wrong he has been proved! Now, nearly decades after their creator's comparatively early demise, Balanchine ballets are probably performed more frequently and certainly much more widely than they ever were in the great man's lifetime. And irony of ironies, nowadays they are even becoming a part of the standard repertoire in the Russia he deserted in 1924.

Great credit for preserving Balanchine's enduring legacy must go to the school he inaugurated, New York's School of American Ballet; to the company he founded with Lincoln Kirstein, New York City Ballet; and to the devoted husbandry of his well-picked successor, Peter Martins, whose Danish/Bournonville beginnings doubtless taught him something about custodianship. And then, perhaps equally significant, there is the ongoing work of the Balanchine Trust, supervised by the ever-vigilant Barbara Horgan, which ensures worldwide standards for Balanchine choreography and style.

Washington's Kennedy Center and its artistic directors for dance, Charles and Stephanie Reinhart, are paying a wonderful tribute to Balanchine and his ubiquity for two weeks, September 12-24. This "Balanchine Celebration" features fourteen of his ballets danced by six companies. The most usual suspect--New York City Ballet--has not been rounded up, as contractually, it could only appear with its own orchestra, making it nonviable for Kennedy.

However, this is Balanchine enough. Three former Balanchine proteges bring their own companies. In the first week, Edward Villella's Miami City Ballet dances Rubies, Stars and Stripes, Agon and The Four Temperaments, sharing its programs with the Suzanne Farrell Ballet in Divertimento No. 15, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago in Square Dance and Tarantella and, most intriguingly, from Tuesday through Thursday, Moscow's Bolshoi Ballet in Mozartiana. This will not, however, be the Bolshoi's American debut in Balanchine, for it has already danced Symphony in C during this summer's past Lincoln Center Festival. (See review, page 86.)

The second week features Helgi Tomasson's San Francisco Ballet in Bugaku, Symphony in C, Symphony in Three Movements and Prodigal Son, sharing each program with the Pennsylvania Ballet dancing Serenade and Western Symphony. This glittering Balanchinean fiesta [see page 27 of Calendar for details] is also part of the Kennedy Center's ongoing turn-of-the-century tribute to the four classic choreographers dominating twentieth-century ballet: Frederick Ashton, Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Antony Tudor. The next major event in this celebratory series comes in June, 2001 when Britain's Royal Ballet presents a whole week of Ashton's ballets.

Miami City Ballet

BY GUILLERMO PEREZ

Red-hot, White and Blue

IN 1991, when I first saw Miami City Ballet set off sparks in Rubies at the Gusman Center--a dowager of a theater in downtown Miami--it was evident that this troupe, then only in its fifth season, could turn red-hot with a Balanchine repertoire. Now, from a more secure place, they're ready to take that vigorous embodiment of Stravinsky's Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra all the way to Washington for the opening week of the Kennedy Center's Balanchine Celebration.

Showing off its domain, MCB will participate in two programs for seven performances. Starx and Stripes, set on the company by Susan Hendl just two years ago, shows alongside Rubies September 12-14. Agon, set by Suzanne Farrell in 1995, and The Four Temperaments, an artistic crest the dancers have ridden since Elyse Borne helped stage it in 1993, conclude the engagement on the next three days.

The company premieres of Four Temperaments and Agon let artistic director Edward Villella not only lead his organization toward maturity but also expose local audiences to the pleasures of the twentieth century's more demanding masterworks. Seasons passed--rounded out with contributions by resident choreographer Jimmy Gamonet De Los Heros and notables such as Paul Taylor--and MCB went on to make a splash in full-color spectacles like Stars and Stripes. Such spirited displays by an expanded roster (now totaling fifty dancers) add great fun to ever more distinctive statements.

"We're at a point where we're able to make an artistic comment in a unified way," asserted Eve Lawson, who danced with the company for six years before becoming ballet mistress in 1994. Fresh from the "legwork" of research and notation, she geared up for eight weeks of rehearsals and "having to teach a lot of new roles" starting in mid-July. She counted on her relationship with seasoned dancers--prominently, Iliana Lopez and Franklin Gamero (slated for the central duet in Agon), Sally Ann Isaacks (quite a force in Rubies) and Deanna Seay--to bring a confident glow to the upcoming shows.

"I know those dancers better," said Lawson. "I know their habits ... hopefully, what's going to make them look good."

Yet even the newest members of the company, she emphasized, bring interesting ingredients into the mix: "They're coming from different backgrounds. This has got to be one of the most diverse companies in the world, and that's a huge asset." As proof she pointed to Venezuelan Mary Carmen Catoya, whose poise and verve upon her arrival last season certainly jolted my attention. International principals, including the Cuban Luis Serrano, the Frenchman Arnold Quintane (who will dance Melancholic in The Four Temperaments) and the Dane Julien Ringdahl also give the ballets a very special charge.

"One of the great things about the Kennedy festival," added Lawson, "is we're going to be able to say that, yes, everyone's doing Balanchine--even the Bolshoi!--but how can we make it unique? What about it says Miami City Ballet?"

One hallmark, said Lawson, is "a unique approach--Edward's mark--the immediacy of it, the attack, the musicality, the awareness of the structure." This applies beyond works closely associated with the director, such as Rubies, in which "Mr. B used everything he knew about me," Villella wrote in his autobiography.

At one of MCB's "Dance Talks," Villella pointed out that as much as a positive critical response--and plaudits for his company have been plentiful from Berkeley to Edinburgh--invitations to respected venues are what measure growing stature. The Kennedy Center has invited the company back to perform Jewels next May, and the dancers will barely get a chance to unpack after Washington this fall before they're off to Italy to participate in Torino Danza 2000 (September 22-October 1), where Villella has been named co-director.

Guillermo Perez is Dance Magazine's Miami correspondent.

Joffrey Ballet of Chicago

By HEDY WEISS 

Balanchine Marks the Cameback Trail

IT WAS A performance of works from the Diaghilev era that drew Charles Reinhart, director of dance at the Kennedy Center, and Anna Kisselgoff, dance critic for the New York Timex, to the spring season of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago in March. But it was a rehearsal of George Balanchine's Square Dance that led to an invitation for the company to participate in the Balanchine Festival at the Kennedy Center in September.

"I hadn't seen the Joffrey in several years, and frankly, I didn't know what to expect," Reinhart admitted recently. "This time around they were in their full-blown glory, with all that terrific spirit and energy that had always been the hallmarks of the company."

Although Reinhart was unable to catch Square Dance, Kisselgoff sat in on a rehearsal. "Later, I asked her if it was as good as I thought it would be," Reinhart recalled. "And she said, `It's better.' And I thought: Praise be.

What is especially wonderful is not just that the Joffrey is in such great shape. It's that here is a company that was not, like the Pennsylvania Ballet, Miami City Ballet or Pacific Northwest, started by Balanchine proteges to carry on his work. Bob [Joffrey] struck out on his own and took a very different direction with his dancers. Yet the Balanchine influence was always there, and it can still be felt today."

Any history of the Joffrey would be incomplete without mentioning the importance to its repertoire of such works as Donizetti Variations, Square Dance, Scotch Symphony and Tarantella, or even the 1988 reconstruction of the very early Cotillon. And the important early links between Balanchine and Joffrey--who had studied briefly at Balanchine's School of American Ballet--should not be overlooked either. Balanchine permitted Joffrey's fledgling company to stage several of his ballets and even lent costumes and sets without charge.

What Joffrey observers often admire most now is the beauty and fineness of the women's pointe work, so essential for dancing Balanchine. Harriet Ross, the company's artistic administrator, credits company co-founder Gerald Arpino for putting together a team of ballet masters--Mark Goldweber, Cameron Basden, Charthel Arthur and assistant Adam Sklute--to focus the dancers on this kind of perfection.

"Since we started doing the Balanchine pieces again, our company classes have gotten just a little more Balanchine-like," said Goldweber. "There is more attention to crossed fifth positions, more stress on turnout, more speed and stamina-building. Balanchine made his women dancers work very hard."

Goldweber sees the Joffrey's invitation to the Balanchine Festival as "a wonderful sign--symbolic of our re-emergence as a company that can dance alongside the Bolshoi and San Francisco Ballet and Miami City Ballet. It really means we've done it. We've come back."

The company will perform Square Dance on Sept. 12, 13 and 14 and Tarantella on Sept. 15, 16 and 17.

Hedy Weiss is theater and dance critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.

San Francisco Ballet

BY ALLAN ULRICH

An Open Line to Balanchine

CONSIDERING ITS history, it is no surprise that the San Francisco Ballet has always maintained a dedicated line to the Balanchine tradition. It was opened by Lew Christensen, the choreographer's first (and some would insist only) genuine American danseur noble, who, at the conclusion of his performing days, served the San Francisco Ballet as artistic director for more than three decades until his death in 1984.

If Balanchine was generous in allowing other companies to dance his ballets, he was truly munificent with longtime friend Christensen. He, in turn, was always reticent in asking for dances; no man in the company, he once intimated to this writer, could ever live up to the standards of his own Apollo--and he was probably correct; the San Francisco Ballet has not performed that classic.

Although Balanchine works spiced the repertoire in the Christensen era, they flourished soon after Helgi Tomasson became artistic director in 1985. His fifteen years as a principal at New York City Ballet guaranteed the kind of authenticity that mollifies veteran Balanchine watchers. Tomasson could count on his own experience in these ballets and that of his ballet mistresses, Bonita Borne and Elyse Borne. Last season, another of the remarkable members of the City Ballet in that bygone era--Gloria Govrin, of the Amazonian proportions--assumed the associate directorship of the San Francisco Ballet School, and her input has been invaluable in the revival of Prodigal Son.

Tomasson's choices for the Kennedy Center season add up to a Balanchine primer, four works in four different styles: Prodigal Son represents the Diaghilev-era narrative; Symphony in C recalls the choreographer's fondness for French romanticism and his love of sheer numbers; Symphony in Three Movements is the most confrontational of his American urban-energy, black-and-white ballets; Bugaku reminds us of Balanchine's fascination with other cultures.

Both The Prodigal Son (in its first revival in sixteen years) and Symphony in Three Movements (in its company premiere) scored smashing successes at home last winter. Again, as in the past, Prodigal served as an unforgettable springboard for two dancers, Guennadi Nedviguine (an anti-heroic protagonist in the James Cagney manner) and Gonzalo Garcia, who came out of the corps to deliver the performance of a lifetime.

Tomasson believes that the secrets of Balanchine can be divined by recruits from any classical tradition. A highlight of Symphony in Three Movements will likely be the second movement's quasi-Oriental pas de deux, danced with exquisitely nonchalant wit by Yuri Possokhov (Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet) and Lucia Lacarra (Ballet de Marseille); the Spanish-born Lacarra also brought a special eroticism to the bride of Bugaku.

Dancing under Balanchine could be a challenge. According to Tomasson, the choreographer altered his bounding first movement solo five times during rehearsals for the 1972 Stravinsky Festival premiere. It apparently was changed again in San Francisco. Balanchine by the Bay remains a living tradition.

Allan Ulrich is the dance critic of the San Francisco Examiner.

Pennsylvania Ballet

BY BRENDA DIXON GOTTSCHILD

Where Balanchine Is a Keystone

THANKS TO THE good sense and stage smarts of the Pennsylvania Ballet, George Balanchine's ballets are alive and kickin' in Philly. Since it was founded in 1963 by Balanchine protegee Barbara Weisberger, this ensemble has accorded Balanchine's works the rank of first among equals, and garners praise for its fine interpretations. (From an active company repertoire of ninety-eight ballets, thirty-two are by Mr. B.)

To ensure Balanchine's up-front-and-center status, PB annually presents an all-Balanchine program that has included gems like Concerto Barocco, The Four Temperaments, Agon and Rubies, and lesser-known works such as Monumentum pro Gesualdo and Movements for Piano and Orchestra. Balanchine's Nutcracker is the company's annual breadwinner and a surefire crowd pleaser.

No stranger to the Kennedy Center, PB first performed there in 1979 as a last-minute replacement for American Ballet Theatre. In 1994, the company was part of the Kennedy Center's Ballet Commission project, performing Serenade to rave reviews (as well as Balanchine's Agon and Swan Lake, Act II). For September's Balanchine Celebration, PB will again perform Serenade, along with Western Symphony, two frequent fliers in the company repertory. In home seasons, PB last performed Western Symphony in February 1999, and Serenade in October 1997, with the beautiful and competent Leslie Carothers, Dede Barfield and Jodie Gates leading the Serenade cast. (Carothers retired last spring--a big loss.) With contracts yet to be signed at presstime, artistic director Roy Kaiser couldn't reveal the Kennedy Center roster. However, we can safely wager that Barfield and Gates will be joined in featured roles by maverick Martha Chamberlain, now entering her first full season as a principal. Still, with a sense of ensemble that is characteristically Balanchinean, soloists and corps members often join principals in rotating major roles: it's likely that a Christine Cox, Heidi Cruz or James Ady--wonderful, talented corps dancers--will also be featured.

Building on the momentum of the Kennedy Center performances, the company will open its home season with its annual Balanchine program, presenting Serenade, Monumentum pro Gesualdo, Movements for Piano and Orchestra and Who Cares? October 12-15 at the Merriam Theater. Catch them if you can, at either venue. For Balanchine lovers, they're more than worth the price of the ticket.

Dance Magazine contributor Brenda Dixon Gottschild's latest book is Waltzing in the Dark: African American Vaudeville and Race Politics in the Swing Era (St. Martin's Press).

Suzanne Farrell Ballet

BY ROBERT GRESKOVIC

A Captivating Diversion, Staged by a Balanchine Muse

WITH SUZANNE Farrell's legendary performing career as a guide, dancegoers both do and don't know what to expect from her staging of George Balanchine's sublime, playful and delicate rendering of Mozart's Divertimento No. 15 for the Kennedy Center's Balanchine Celebration.

In her performing heyday, the virtuoso ballerina and primary Balanchine muse could be counted on for dazzling displays of classical dancing. But her public never quite knew what fresh twist or dimension she'd reveal from one performance to another, given the freedoms of Balanchine's choreography and the spontaneous colorations Farrell would unleash, spurred on by live musical performance.

Last fall, Farrell staged and toured a suite from Divertimento, performed by dancers of her own choosing. Those performances revealed her sure grasp of the intricate workings of this especially pretty creation, inspired by what Balanchine called the composer's finest divertimento (or musical amusement). But as those showings also proved, Farrell-the-stager could engender the kinds of spontaneity and immediacy that marked the career of Farrell-the-ballerina.

Now, Farrell plans to work with several members of the ensemble of dancers who previously brought all due honor to the excerpted Divertimento. (Part of her reason for choosing the complete Divertimento No. 15 for the festival was to let the dancers who tasted the ballet in its shortened form experience it in its exquisite fullness.)

Christina Fagundes and Veronica Lynn, both with previous performing experience in American Ballet Theatre, as well as New York City Ballet's Philip Neal and Boston Ballet's Kyra Strasberg, will be among the dancers involved. As the ballerina's previous stagings have consistently shown, whether of Balanchine, Bejart, or Robbins, Farrell possesses an unerring gift as ballet mistress. She inspires her dancers with a palpable and stirring confidence that leads them to illuminate the choreography by enlivening their approach to dancing it. This special aura springs partly from Farrell's scrupulous setting of the steps that make up Balanchine's choreographic designs, but part likely comes from somewhere else, from the ineffable qualities that made Suzanne Farrell the incomparable ballerina she was on stage.

Watching Farrell's five solo women and three attendant men dance Balanchine's Mozart was akin to watching a proud, royal family on an outing in a foreign land. Even in those instances when an individual might not have been the ideal exemplar of the role undertaken, all acted as if they had been brought up to believe in themselves and in their most personal accomplishments. Farrell's perceptive, personal attention to every one of her dancers empowered them to let Balanchine's Mozartean choreography sparkle with crown-jewel luster.

Robert Greskovic, the author of Ballet 101, reviews dance for the Wall Street Journal.