NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA.

NBC'S NEWEST A LITTLE TOO OBSCURE NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA HUMMINGBIRD CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS TORONTO, CANADA FEBRUARY 14-18, 2001

One black-clad dancer strides onto the large stage, bare except for backdrops in various colors, which shift as the piece progresses. Then another enters, followed by others in pairs or groups, until thirty-one have entered in silence, then turned to face the audience. The Comforts of Solitude is a severe, shadowy, and anomalous world of dancers created by choreographer Jean-Pierre Perreault.

The anomaly is that the performers are never truly alone, unless inside themselves, and indeed appear too agitated for anything that might be considered comfort. Whether alone, in pairs, or groups of varying dimension, they move erratically and rapidly across stage. No significant personality emerges from the gloom, nor any story. Perreault's minimalist and indiosyncratic contemporary choreography is earthbound, gesturally limited, and repetitive. It builds tension with dark space, a characteristic of his work.

The heaviness and, ultimately, tedium of the piece are intensified by! the oversized street shoes the dancers wear, and by Bertrand Chenier's enveloping soundscape. The dance would have made a greater impact on the audience in the immediacy of a smaller venue, in a much shorter version. But in the cavernous Hummingbird Centre, it all seemed too long and pointless despite the undisputed skill of talented dancers.

At least the mixed program opened on a much brighter note with The Dream, Sir Frederick Ashton's 1964 homage to Shakespeare. Martine Lamy was a sparkling Titania opposite a strikingly noble Geon van der Wyst as Oberon. The magic of a midsummer night was sustained with considerable skill and lots of humor, yet with restraint, by the cast of fairies and rustics.

Conductor David Briskin was at ease with the Mendelssohn score, arranged by John Lanchbery. The contrast of light and dark between this opener and the work to follow after intermission could not have been greater.

Certainly classical companies should take risks by commissioning and performing modern works. Many are successful and enter the repertoire, if only for a time. Comforts of Solitude was hardly in that class.