The Washington Ballet never ceases to amaze audiences with its athleticism, grace and intricate performances. Its most recent show was yet another tremendous example of skill and more proof that the District now has a company on par with any other city in the world.
The opening performance was the company premiere of Christopher Wheeldon's "Morphoses," a powerful and seductive dance for four set to Gy?rgy Ligeti's haunting score. Wheeldon is the resident choreographer of the New York City Ballet, and he is widely acknowledged to be the golden boy of his era in the dance world.
The piece was an example of smart modernist ballet. It was clear that Wheeldon learned every rule of dance before he tried to break them. His neat attempts at experimentation mostly paid off, and he made tremendous use of the angles of the human body. A highlight of the performance was a section where the women made their bodies go just limp enough to allow the men to flop them around like puppets. "Morphoses" was the perfect appetizer to the main course of "Carmina Burana."
Carl Orff's majestic composition was the perfect music to dance to for the hour-long performance. Septime Weber, the artistic director of the Washington Ballet, should be applauded for the work he has done with the company. His decision to pair with the Cathedral Choral Society under conductor J. Reilly Lewis raised this performance to a much higher level. The Washington Ballet is fortunate to have an artistic director who is so willing to test the limits of his choreography, try new things visually and take calculated performance risks.
This brilliant performance of "Carmina Burana" was visually stunning. The moment the curtain rose, there was an audible gasp and spontaneous applause from the crowd at the sheer beauty of the stage. One dancer was suspended high in the air as the moon, the rest of the company was below, and the chorus watched from gigantic scaffolding wearing monks' robes. The scene was arresting and immediately told the audience that the performance would far surpass any expectations they might have had.
The chorus was fantastic. Its singing lent the perfect mood to the show. During the solos especially, it was difficult to decide whether to watch the singers or the dancers, because the soloists were so engaging. Weber brilliantly decided to have parts of the scaffolding be mobile, so the singers could play a greater role in the dancing.
The choreography was technical, crisp and precise, with tremendous attention to detail. The dancers obviously enjoyed being part of this performance and were absolutely committed to the frenetic and complicated group pieces.
The solo dances really shone as well. Their emotional movements perfectly captured the changing mood of the piece as it went from tribal and pagan to mischievous and playful to intimate and gentle and all the way back again.
A hilarious part of the show involved a difficult sequence where men courted giant women (a female dancer on the shoulders of a male, who was covered by her large skirt). The scene, complete with falling rose petals, showed that the ballet didn't take itself too seriously and was a welcome change from the rest of the more serious performance. It is not often that members of the audience at a ballet laugh out loud, and it seemed to work here.
However, the highlight of the performance was an all-male piece using chairs as props. Led by principle Jason Hartley, the energetic piece showcased the physical strength and prowess of the male dancers in the company. It was nice to see the men displaying their talents, because they are so often only on stage to help display those of the female ballerinas.
This really was ballet at its finest. The combination of dance, vocals, orchestra, color and costuming really showed how enthralling ballet can be when done right. It is only a shame that there weren't more shows, because anyone in the District would have enjoyed this great performance.
