Lest we forget, Jacob’s Pillow, in addition to being the home of perhaps the most well-known and prestigious dance festival in this country, also has a renowned conservatory-level school. And there is no better place for the dancers lucky enough to be carefully and thoughtfully chosen for the school to study dance than Jacob’s Pillow. At the Pillow, in addition to being exposed to the artists (and the performances) that come through each week, the dancers literally have the history of dance at their fingertips in the Pillow Archives. The Archives house countless documents, papers, photographs, films, and videos of dance, and of course also house the exceptionally knowledgeable individuals who caretake that priceless record.
Last Friday evening, the dancers in the Contemporary Ballet Performance Ensemble had the chance to show an audience what they had been learning, as all the dancers in the school’s programs get to do near the end of their time at the Pillow. The dancers seized the performance opportunity with all of their raw and wonderfully guileless and transparent youth. Note I am deliberately calling the performers dancers, and not students, because, even though they all have a way to go still, they are all—right now—beautiful, gifted dancers, each with their own clear individual voice. As noted in the performance program, many of them will be working in professional or pre-professional capacities with ballet and dance companies around the world following their Pillow experience.
The performance began with a choreographed lecture demonstration. The dancers “performed” the essential progression of a ballet class, from tendu, a stretching and pointing movement of the foot which happens at the barre near the beginning of class, through grand allegro, the large across-the-floor traveling, turning, and jumping steps which usually end a ballet class. It was very clear from this demonstration that one thing the dancers were specifically working on while at the Pillow was épaulement, which literally means shouldering in French, and which involves the subtle—and occasionally not-so-subtle—movement and placement of the head, neck, shoulders, and arms while dancing.
Three of the dancers, Natalia Burns, Mikaela Milic, and Alexandra Heath, were chosen to perform the Kitri variation from Act III of the ballet “Don Quixote.” The American modern-dance giant Martha Graham once famously said that it takes 10 years to make a dancer, and she meant 10 years of hard work every day, seven days a week, and not between the ages of three and 13! It was clear that these dancers, while they had superb technique and were able to navigate the most technically challenging parts of the variation with remarkable skill, didn’t quite have the confidence and gravitas to fully settle into the performance of the variation. But it was also completely clear that they very soon would. Indeed, it was clear that all of the performers soon would, and it would not take any of them even close to another 10 years! Of particular note in the three Kitris was Ms. Heath. Her technique had focus and clarity, and her leap was gorgeous; she just hovered in the air with ease.
In a loving nod to “Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo,” the company performing at the Pillow this week, one of the men, Shaiya Donohue, also did the Kitri variation, although not on pointe, like the Trocks would have. Mr. Donohue did an extremely admirable job, including with the visual jokes, just like the Trocks would have! This section of the performance also included six dancers doing a very interesting interpretation of the Basilio and Friends trio from Act I of “Don Q.”
The dancers then performed a piece that was choreographed in five separate sections by five different dancers in the program: Joseph Hetzer, Alex Marxer, Madeline Diehl, Alexandria Heath, and Jaegar Hilsabeck. The Ensemble’s Program Director Annabelle Lopez Ochoa assembled the sections into an integrated work. Of note in this piece was Mikaela Milic, who danced with nuance and grace.
Guest Choreographer Silas Farley choreographed “Spiral” for the Ensemble. In two parts, it was set to music of Respighi and a spiritual entitled “We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder,” which was extremely apropos for the setting! Perhaps one of the hardest things to do when choreographing for “students” is to offset one’s individual desire to be original, creative, and inventive with the pedagogical needs of the students. Farley accomplished this admirably. The piece showcased the entire ensemble, and the choreography contained the perfect balance between challenging the dancers technically and at the same time allowing them to relax and shine doing very familiar ballet steps.
Lopez Ochoa’s piece, entitled “Unicorn” and set to the music of Einaudi, was remarkable. Lopez Ochoa somehow managed to completely sidestep the pedagogical predicament noted above. To this viewer, the piece she choreographed, which both showcased the dancers and challenged them dynamically and dramatically, set forth a realized and complete artistic vision. What makes these choreographers’ work and, critically, the work of the dancers all the more amazing is that both Lopez Ochoa and Farley set their pieces on the Ensemble in a very short amount of time. Macy Richter and Mingus de Swaan caught this viewer’s eye in these pieces.
Following the performance, the audience got to ask questions of the dancers, and one question asked was “What was your favorite thing about your time in the program.” The microphone was randomly handed to dancer Alex Marxer, who, without hesitation, said the community and friendships that had developed between all the dancers while in the program. All the other dancers vigorously nodded their heads in agreement, as did some members of the Trocks, who were in the audience keenly watching the performance. Maybe—hopefully—the fierce competition for which the ballet dance profession has historically been known is becoming a thing of the past. It was heartwarming and promising.
During her remarks, Lopez Ochoa observed that perhaps interest in ballet as a dance form was dwindling a bit in today’s world. Looking at these committed and passionate dancers in the Contemporary Ballet Performance Ensemble, I truly hope she is wrong, for there is so much these artists, and all the others like them, can bring to all of us. My wish is that they will all keep the light burning bright into the future.
