The Winger » Michael Kluger @ Jacob’s Pillow

Michael Kluger @ Jacob’s Pillow

August 29, 2006 at 2:53 pm · Filed under ballet, dance, dance event, dancers, pacific northwest ballet, guest, jacobs pillow, MICHAEL, kluger

©Michael Kluger

One of our happy readers, Mr. Michael Kluger, was recently at Jacob’s Pillow to see Carla, Peter Boal and the Pacific Northwest Ballet perform. He was nice enough to give The Winger readers a glimpse of his experience from the audience perspective! Below, his own words….
Thanks Michael!

My wife Laurie, our doggie Charlotte, and I (Telefundraising Manager for NYCB) concluded a wonderful vacation up the coast of Maine by making a side trip to Jacob’s Pillow in the Berkshires to catch Peter Boal and his merry band of dancers from the Pacific Northwest Ballet, who were to be in residence at the Ted Shawn Theatre from August 16th-20th. (We saw the August 19th Sat. Eve performance).
(the above photo shows the three of us enjoying the traditional afternoon ritual of popovers and tea at the lovely Jordan Pond House in the middle of Acadia National Park—Charlotte had a beignet…!!)

I had snagged dynamite seats (4th row,center aisle!!) back in April, after Peter had kindly let me know what the program was to be, and that he would indeed be there. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’d never seen a performance at JP, just a rehearsal a few years back.(Shame, shame!!!)
So, on this rainy night with a sold-out house, we(minus Charlotte, of course!) were eager to see PNB strut their stuff.

And strut they did!!

(Y’all might refer to the well-penned NY Times review of Monday, Aug. 21st for a good summation, but I’ll throw in my two cents anyway!).

Peter’s choices for the program were indeed a great mix, showing off the breadth of range of the Company as well as the obvious joy they feel as an ensemble.

“The Piano Dance” by Paul Gibson, one of two fairly new pieces, neatly showcased a bunch of the dancers. It was a multi-segmented piece, with piano solo offstage, that even had a bit of Ligetti music, familiar to NYCB audiences in one of Chris Wheeldon’s pieces, Polyphonia.

I was unfamiliar with the roster of dancers in PNB; I admired Kaori Nakamura, who, I believe, was not seen in the other works, and finally got to see, in a pas de deux, the wonderful Louise Nadeau with Christophe Maraval!!

“Ripple Mechanics” by Sonia Dawkins, a second fairly new piece, featured our gal Carla Korbes, involved in a tropical, angular, ménage a quatre, gyrating to sensuous vocal music by Jacqueline Fuentes and Nina Simone.
Along with Carla, one of the guys, principal dancer Batkhurel Bold (what fabulous names they all have!) stood out; his physique, presence, and partnering reminding me of Jock Soto.
I agree with the Times comment that the nature of the relationships and their push-pull romantic minglings were unclear.
But, Ms. Dawkins matched the music with the movement (very inventive) in a nifty way. And brava Carla!!!

The only bit of Balanchine, “Duo Concertant”, curiously enough, had the least impact of the evening.
Live music onstage for this one, of course. And seeing Ms. Nadeau again was a treat. But principal Olivier Wevers, fabulous in the concluding work, “Lamborena,” was “indicating” his appreciation of the music onstage, smiling for our benefit, rather than gleaning the inspiration for movement just by watching, as if it were for the first time. Thus the final sequence of the piece had no payoff.
(Peter himself was supposed to do it with Louise back at the PNB season opening Gala but only did the last part due to an injury—hey Peter, do it again!).

©Michael Kluger

“Lamborena,”, the final piece, was an invigorating ensemble work, done originally by S.F. Ballet in 1995, with a mix of Bach and African music that blended beautifully. The costumes were delicious, too.
And sexy and strong Principal Ariana Lallone led the way. (Howsabout NYCB doin’ this one, eh, Mr. Martins)?!

I tinkered with the curtain call photos to emphasize and saturate the colors of the piece (I had to quickly snap these; they’re blurry).

Afterwards, “searching for Boal,” we were admitted to the cast party that he was to drop in on, in an adjacent studio.
Dancers from Choreftes, the Greek troupe that had wrapped up their stint at another theatre on campus, was there with their artistic director. Also, there were students that had just finished the PNB Jazz Workshop program.

©Michael Kluger

As I was talking to one of the jazz students, Angessa Lynn Hughmanick (pictured above) who is an aspiring musical theatre actress attending the Boston
Conservatory, The Man himself sauntered over to me….

©Michael Kluger

Is it possible he has gotten YOUNGER since his retirement! …
Or is it just that Zen calmness that radiates to all?!…
I introduced my wife, who had never met him, but had seen him dance often, and she, of course, was “Boaled” over…

He knew I was partially there to do a piece for “the winger,” so he brought Carla over and I snapped this photo. Pretty natty, the both of ‘em, huh?!

Peter seems relaxed and happy. We talked Diamond Project; he had seen a rehearsal of Ratmansky’s piece, and liked it. We compared notes on subscription and fundraising, referring to the new format of the Winter ’07 NYCB schedule, which PNB similarly employs. It seems though that PNB as well as NYCB (and many other companies!) have suffered a substantial loss in their subscriber base, even with our mutual glowing reviews, etc.

We talked about certain implementations to keep that public coming in…. Peter himself acknowledges actually having made multiple visits to the PNB telemarketing phone room to give suggestions—with hands on involvement like that, you can’t lose, baby!!

He mentioned that Giovanni Villalobos and another NYCB dancer had visited earlier on, and that Sean and Tyler(Suozzi and Angle, that is!), would come up on Sunday.

©Michael Kluger

And then , JP director Ella Baff addressed the crowd, giving kudos to PNB and Choreftes for their contribution to the summer season, and congratted the Jazz students on their showcase…
But Ella lingered ever so drippingly on her special thanks to P.Boal…..
(and, having recently dropped the first initial, I heard company members actually referring to him as “Diddy!!!”……..just kidding….).

Peter gave his thanks and then Ella urged the assembled to party on hard!!

Laurie and I made the rounds:

©Michael Kluger

This is pianist Dianne Chilgren who performed live; she played years ago under Balanchine at NYCB!

©Michael Kluger

This is Sonia Dawkins, choreo of “Ripple,” she has her own company, and has been teaching at the PNB school since 1997.

Company members(from left to right): Kiyon Gaines(corps), Josh Spell(corps), Ariana Lallone(principal), and Jordan Pacitti(corps).

(Ariana on Peter Boal: …”we love ‘im …we’re keepin’ ‘im!!!).
Ariana is a 20 year vet!!she has the trim physique of Miss Wendy Whelan, along with some serious shoulders…. hopefully the both of them will be able to dance on through the next millennium!!!

Company members (left to right): Kaori Nakamura(principal), Christophe Maraval(principal), Olivier Wevers(principal), and Chalnessa Eames(corps).

A crummy shot of a beautiful woman… Louise Nadeau, principal. I’m including it here for two reasons; her smile and radiance which is evident on stage, reflects on this Company, and, she is standing astride two portraits taken by JP resident photographer Mike Van Sleen.
On the left is Peter Boal, taken in 2004.
At a nearby farmhouse owned by Jacob’s Pillow. Peter was visiting with his own company then. He’s got some serious dirt smeared on his face for the shot……was he secretly rehearsing the part of Edgar for a Shakespeare and Company production of “King Lear?!!”
The portrait on the other side is of Martha Graham principal Katherine Crockett.
(Photos are viewable at mikevansleen.com).

Louise is an ol’ pal of Peter’s, having shared classes together back SAB!!! She’s thrilled he’s running the show!! She talked about the fun they had when he restaged the end of “Duo” with her at the PNB Gala…and………she’s from Long Island!