By Kathryn Olsen
On a mild summer night in September, Ballet West took to the stage at the Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre in Salt Lake City for its second-annual An Evening with Ballet West at the Red Butte Garden. The program incorporated both the principal company and Ballet West II, both enthusiastically introduced by Artistic Director Adam Sklute on stage. His role as emcee was particularly heart-warming as he not only gave context to the pieces being performed, but broadcast his immense love for the artists of the company.
The night began with a world premiere piece by a Brazilian choreographer. Ballet West is well-known for its choreographic festival and two of the three ballets emerged from that collaborative project. Orange by Juliano Nunes opened the program with “an expression of joy and peace” that featured a large ensemble consisting of artists ranging from the corps de ballet to the principal dancers. The first movement, set to Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 in C# Minor (popularly referred to as the “Moonlight Sonata”) seemed to be composed of a single entity rather than nineteen individual dancers as the choreography ebbed and flowed with movement that was both intense in its energy and unhurried in its expression. This cooperation was present in four of the five scenes so that each story being told by a number of people seemed to flow seamlessly between the dancers. In the third movement, four trios of performers were featured, but they all seemed to be extensions of the others. Jordan Veit, in the piece’s only solo movement, performed a solo that was emotionally stirring and thought-provoking with technical precision and a sense of real contemplation of the subject. All of it was set to music by Beethoven, Frederic Chopin, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
The middle act of the night featured the talents of Ballet West II. This company, as Sklute described it, comprises dancers who are beyond student levels and approaching professional work. While it draws performers from around the world, many of the current dancers in Ballet West began in this company and it was a joy to see talents in transition as they performed the pas de six from Arthur Saint-Léon’s 1844 one-act ballet, La Vivandière. This six-person work is a collection of dances from this lost ballet and technically demanding while set to lively music by Cesare Pugni and Jean-Baptist Nadaud. All aspects of this were enjoyable to watch and each of the contributors had individual moments of lovely artistic expression while also being an essential part of the whole. While La Vivandière has been around since the 19th century, it was first performed by Ballet West in April of this year and it is hoped that it will become a staple in their repertoire.
To round out the performance, Sklute again turned to a choreographer from this year’s festival. French choreographer Sophie Laplane paired music by Chopin and Ernst Reijseger as arranged by Lucy Allan in Galantheae. The piece is named for the snowdrop flower of the same name, which emerges from frozen earth to grow and survive. It is a fascinating work which brings to life every stage of the process, first personifying rain with a silver-clad Emily Adams, whose lovely, yet understated, performance brought to mind an ancient goddess acting in benevolence. The elements are the antagonists in this work and one of the most jarring moments is when triumph of the flower is marked with the sounds of shattering glass. As with Orange, there were movements that incorporated many dancers as well as a dynamic male duet by David Huffmire and Vinicius Lima and a somewhat tender duet between Nicole Fannéy and Beau Chesivoir and a duet of true companionship with Kazlyn Nielsen and Chelsea Keefer. Sklute mentioned that the piece’s depiction of the flower’s emergence from the hardened soil was also a metaphor for how the artists of Ballet West have weathered the pandemic and come out to increase their artistry. On all levels, Laplane’s work celebrates unity and resilience and the dancers could not have been better prepared to portray those things.
While the natural light of sunset gave a wonderful glow to the earlier parts of the show, Lighting Design by Joseph R. Walls took over and wonderfully complemented each piece’s tone. Jason Hadley was responsible for the costumes not described as “Traditional” and the wide variety of Galantheae’s nature-inspired garb was an interesting contrast to the flowing clothing used in Orange.
While this was a single performance, Ballet West will soon be opening its fifty-ninth season with Onegin. The repertoire for this year will see such classics as Sleeping Beauty and Rodeo as well as three Ballet West premiers in a single night. If you are looking to include more love, light, and artistry in your life, hurry to get tickets for one or all of the performances this year.
Ballet West Presents An Evening with Ballet West at the Red Butte Gardens.
Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre, 2188 Red Butte Canyon Rd, Salt Lake City, UT 84108
September 9, 2022, 7:30 PM
Tickets: $37-42
Contact: 801-869-6900
www.balletwest.org
Ballet West Facebook Page
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