Shattered Mirror
Modern interpretation of Lewis Carroll makes for entertaining ballet
by Maureen Needham
Nashville Ballet
Apr. 14 at Polk Theater, TPAC
Alice in Wonderland came to visit Nashville Ballet last weekend—or at least it was some semblance of Alice who cavorted about the TPAC stage in Trey McIntyre’s ballet ”Aliss in Wonderland.“ The deliberately misspelled title signaled that this character was going to be different from Walt Disney’s interpretation of Alice—that pretty, saccharin-sweet child who has lost her way amidst the buffoons. Nor did she materialize as some kind of solemn, awkward, stringy-haired child, as in Lewis Carroll’s original book. Instead, the choreographer portrayed her as a pert, smiling, raven-haired Lolita who traveled not through a looking-glass but through a television monitor. When she emerged out the other side, she found herself not in Wonderland, but in the midst of a media circus.
Christine Rennie played Aliss to the hilt. Without compunction, she elbowed aside the jealous older Queen of Hearts, hilariously played by Kathryn Beasley, and posed for the television cameras with professional aplomb. Rennie is new to the company this year, and she made her mark in this role. Totally immersed in her character, she convincingly developed from a gawky adolescent, all elbows and legs, to a white-hot blasting sexpot as the ballet progressed.
The rest of the company looked as if it were having a lark. Eddie Mikrut danced the role of the White Rabbit with a chilling, seductive polish—no wonder Aliss was fascinated by his mysterious beckoning gestures and scampered right after him through the TV monitor. Scott Brown has command of an unusually wide range of villain roles, but he outdid himself with the Mad Hatter. His head was shaved, except for a bizarre tuft sticking out at the top, his face sparkled with glitter, and he dressed in an elaborate, black feathered outfit. He looked totally mad, even without any hat and even before he’d performed a single dance step. Anna Djouloukhadze, Alexis Graber, Eric McMillen, Alisha Murray, and Danielle Quill were hilarious as they posed and preened as his ”birds.“ They each wore brilliant tail feathers and sported punkish wigs dyed electric pink or neon orange. They looked for all the world like Moulin Rouge chorus girls gone bonkers. It goes without saying that not much tea was consumed during this wild orgy.
Jeanne Button deserves high commendation for her ingenious and lavish costumes. More than anything else in this production, they conveyed the witty tone of Lewis Carroll’s original book. The lighting design by Michael Mazzola was also effective and made great use of exploding lights to indicate scene changes once Aliss had walked through the television monitor and into the mysterious media world hidden within.
The other two offerings on the program showed both the strengths and the weaknesses of the company. ”Equinoxe,“ by James Canfield, was a pretty piece, a kind of postmodern, minimalist ballet replete with soft synthesizer music and dancers streaming past the viewer like an insomniac’s sheep jumping over a fence. The piece was pleasant to the eye and soothing to the spirits, but the performances were somewhat flawed by the corps de ballet’s evident hesitation to run full-out as the choreography demanded. While Erin McMillen proved herself a hardworking and energetic lead, Alexei Khimenko did not give his all. He ably burst into great leaps or multiple turns but did not bother to close or finish his steps with precision.
In contrast, Paul Vasterling’s new piece, ”Goldener Käfig,“ was polished to perfection. In particular, Alisha Murray danced with great allure. It’s not just her impeccable line that makes her such an exciting dancer, but also the impression that she always has more held in reserve. She holds her leg high and then, just as it’s time to descend, stretches a little higher before she deigns to come down. Or she holds a pose a tiny bit longer than anyone else and only then condescends to continue.
At this point in his career, Nashville Ballet’s Vasterling seems to be moving counter to the George Balanchine aesthetic, with its diminished and mechanistic ballet vocabulary. In ”Goldener Käfig,“ he revives the classical French ballet steps, with an emphasis on petite allegro (especially the tiny beating steps and fleet footwork of the ballerina) and the airy look of French Romantic ballet. The ballerinas swoon in their partners’ arms, acting as passive puppets pushed, prodded, and propped up by the men. The male dancers lift them, manipulate them into place, and leap about with abandon. The women, on their pedestals of tiptoe points, appear to be protected from life’s exertions and admired for their helplessness. Don’t believe it for a second! The Romantic-era ballerina is kissing cousin to the contemporary Southern steel magnolia: Without necessity of a helping hand, she is perfectly capable of dancing rings around anybody else on the stage.
All in all, the program offered a suitable balance of different styles and talents, though it did run on far too long. Regardless, the Nashville Ballet once again showed that its strength lies in its diversity.
Comments (0)