Ballet Experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem

[extrapenguin]

My February Ballet Experience was watching the Dance Theater of Harlem when they came to Paris earlier this week. (For the first time in 40 years!) The black girls turned out in force, and thus I was slightly less overdressed than usual. Also the Parisians did actually dress up for the Saturday evening, though uh very elevated basics, heavy on teh basic.

General notes:
The dancers looked to have a bit more muscle definition than usual; I think this is because the American ballet style (Balanchine) is aggressively BOING BOING, meaning that the ideal dancer has more fast-twitch muscle fibers, and is thus more inclined to put on visible muscle definition.

Both shows were ~2:30 long. Neither was one ballet through, but more of a idk variety show, with three half-times, all of which contained a different set of choreographies. More "look what we can do" than telling a story, y'know? (Except for their Firebird; thoughts on which below.)

This was mostly less pure ballet and more of an old and new together thing, with there being some pure ballet stuff, but also a straight-up jazz dance number, and an extended modern-ballet blend set to Motown/Stevie Wonder afrobeats. This one was cool, with the blend including incredibly specific ballet #moments, like Giselle's transformation sequence, seamlessly blended in. There was also a pure ballet section, where the lead danseur performed the Bluebird variation.

The current artistic director and lead choreographer is I think incredibly talented in this blend of classical ballet and other styles, as well as choreographing for things done in canon (in the round). The formations (lines of overlapping dancers etc) were well executed, too.

The star of their show/grand finale was the Balanchine choreography of the Firebird. Which. Um. The dancing was great! The costumes were pretty! The problem was George Balanchine going "The Americans cannot sit still for 45 min; I will make this 20 min". And the Firebird is a ballet that has zero fluff!

So, what were the changes?

• Firebird variation #1: heavily abridged, in a way that takes away from her birdlike nature imo


• Firebird & prince pas de deux: heavily abridged and rearranged in a way that makes the narrative progression make zero sense


• Prince & princess: this one was mostly preserved, I think? The golden apples dance of princess and the other women (handmaidens, in this production) was very much shortened, tho


• Koschei confrontation: heavily altered so that instead of the prince struggling against this powerful evil sorcerer whom he has no hope of defeating, they wrestle a bit, I don't think he was even losing, and then he summoned the Firebird for idk shits and giggles


• Infernal Dance: COMPLETELY DELETED


• like seriously, the Firebird just poofs up and everyone falls over? no making people dance until they drop? no THE ENTIRE POINT OF THE BALLET?


• Firebird variation #2 (keeping Koschei's minions asleep): here she just waved her hands at them and made them roll away (so that the dancers could do a quick costume change), KOSCHEI INCLUDED, then she just danced in place a bit as FILLER


• Koschei's death: did not happen. He simply exited stage left, not even pursued by a bear. prince was AWOL and did not retrieve any glowy soul eggs


• Wedding tableau: This one was cool! The floaty afrofuturist Caribbean fish costumes of the women made the walking around of this bit look nice, and the Firebird appeared and was suspended in the air

So uh. The company is great, and you should definitely see them if you can, but the American Firebird sucks ass, regardless of performance. Really wish they'd do the original 45-min Firebird with those costumes tho.

Comments

[alatefeline]

Thanks! Now I know *which* Firebird ballet I want to watch someday.

[jennaria]

I probably shouldn't find your Firebird ranting so funny, but I was giggling on the couch to the point where my wife asked what on earth I was reading. "Not even pursued by a bear!"