Originally commissioned in 1913, "Rite of Spring" was booed offstage midway through its Paris premiere.
Since then, adaptations of the sexual and violent ballet have both shocked and titillated audiences worldwide. One performance featured dancers that were completely nude, except for designs painted on their bodies.
However, the Washington Ballet's adaptation of the ballet was not so graphic. Despite the program warning that the show "may not be suitable for children," artistic director Septime Webre assured the audience that Trey McIntyre choreographed a "PG-13" ballet. The first on the triple bill, George Balanchine's "Stravinsky Violin Concerto," was a fluffy piece of weak choreography from an otherwise genius man, made more disappointing by the expectations that accompany his name.
"Concerto" included more waving arms than leg movement, few jumps and zero lifts. The dancers dressed in basic leotards and the stage was well lit. It was boring. In other words, it was typical ballet.
Fortunately, the next act was not typical ballet. Titled "There Where She Loved" and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon of the New York City Ballet, the suite of seven dances explored different aspects of love.
Instead of recorded music, "Loved" featured pianist Margarita Gramaticova, soprano Dorothy Kingston and mezzo-soprano Shelly Waite. Gone were the drab white and black costumes, replaced with silky purple and green creations by designer Holly Hynes.
The dancing was much more athletic, with several creative and difficult lifts, but most impressive was their emotion. Wheeldon is known for expecting his dancers to pay attention to details - the look on their face, or the arch of their back - and it really adds to their performances.
Also, Wheeldon incorporated touches of modern dance into the ballet, adding flat feet during lifts, sharply bent elbows and turned-in knees to the dancing to make it more visually interesting.
The only problem was the unclear transitions between the pieces. Several times the audience seemed uncertain when to applaud. But on the whole, "Loved" was spectacular, particularly "Surabaya-Johnny" and "Nana's Lied," and was received with standing ovations and multiple curtain calls.
The same cannot be said for "Rite of Spring." This was not due to the dancing, which was fabulous, but because the older crowd was probably too busy being taken aback by the performance to clap.
McIntyre, the proclaimed "bad boy of ballet," interpreted this piece, usually about a pagan ritual, to be about an arranged marriage. Vandal costumed his dancers in suits for the men and big skirts with the front cut away for the women, which accentuate the height of lifts but occasionally obscure the dancers' legs.
He draped the hostess, Laura Urgell?s, in red, the only color on the stage. Her mother, Erin Mahoney, was introduced by the music as imperious and sinister, and her proposed fianc?, Brian Corman, seemed barbaric and primitive.
In the first act, the engagement party, there was a flirtation between the mother and fianc?, causing the hostess to refuse him and run off.
The most remarkable bit of choreography was when the male party guests lifted the women on their shoulders and danced. And most shocking of all was when the men disrobed and writhed about wearing nothing but skin-colored thong underwear.
In the second act, the hostess met her assistant, Brianne Bland for a lesbian tryst. Caught by the mother, they were separated. Then her fianc? appeared from beneath the mother's skirt clad in only a skin-colored thong and raped the hostess under the mother's supervision. The hostess then attacked the mother, eventually strangling her to death.
The most impressive piece of choreography in this act was the violence of the fight between the hostess and her mother. However, the decision to use blindfolded company members for the lifts to show that they weren't actually present was also fantastic.
The most shocking parts were either the drawn out kiss between Urgell?s and Bland, or how comfortable Corman is with his body during his nearly nude dance sequence.
For those who have never seen ballet, this is a great one to start with because the dances are short enough to hold the attention of even the most ADHD audience members. Plus, the guys get a lesbian kiss and the girls get Corman's booty. In fact, without the first act, this show would have been nearly perfect.
