Boston Ballet Review: ReSTART
October 28, 2021 | Digital
Get out a pen and paper and write this down: FoCo Technique™.
According to the YYDC (YY Dance Company) website, FoCo Technique™ is “an original contemporary dance technique developed by Yin Yue inspired by traditional Chinese dance, folk forms and contemporary movement. The technique draws inspiration from and incorporates into movement the five elements of the iChing — Root, Wood, Water, Iron and Fire.”
Fresh and cool, Boston Ballet kicks off their reSTART program with Yin Yue’s A Common Movement and a crash course in her distinct movement style.
Opening on the entirety of Boston Ballet’s company against a cloud-dotted blue sky and a fluffy field of grass, the scene is quite literally a breath of fresh air. Heightened by the costume stylings in a collaboration between Yin Yue and the Boston Ballet Costume Department, the dancers are decked in breezy blue and grey pants sets.
In unison, the group moves like a sophisticated flash mob. The steps are a dreamy combination of contemporary, ballet, and what must be the elusive FoCo Technique™. The music, a mix of tunes from Quincy Jones and Alice Coltrane, is persistent and bouncy, fueling overall good vibes.
Glimmering with effective extras, Yue adds unexpected flourishes to simple ballet steps. And not just a random arm here or there, the additions look deliberate and thoughtful.
A développé front with a flat palm against the belly, a pas de bourrée with outward and downward carving hand motions, a dégagé pique front accompanied by a single shoulder roll; Yue places all with care.
As Yue’s first made-for-film dance piece, she is successful in many aspects particularly noticeable when the dancers are placed in a line casting dancing shadow duplicates. Two couples dance a single pas de deux, the camera passing back and forth between the pairs, only showing one couple at a time.
Culminating with horizontal choreography on a grassy hill, Yue makes the simple things beautiful and adds a textured thoughtfulness to every second she is given.
Following is the Balcony Pas de Deux excerpt from Romeo and Juliet. The program credits the choreographer as “traditional” meaning not after more recent versions like Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s (if you have seen Center Stage, you’ve seen some of it). Instead, it more closely resembles the Mikhail Levrovsky rendition created in 1940.
Performed by Soo-Bin Lee and Seokjoo Kim, the dance was well-executed but missing the fervent rush that accompanies a secret rendezvous with your crush in the middle of a party. All the steps were there but the theatrics were lacking.
A regular in Boston Ballet’s programming, the company also presented an excerpt from Resident Choreographer Jorma Elo’s Ruth’s Dance.
A more classical approach than most of his work, the choreography still lends itself to the Elo aesthetic of continuous movement. The steps breeze from one to the other, the dancers smoothing themselves across the stage like butter.
Missing his usual angular slicing and contact improv, the pas de deux becomes very sweet against J. S. Bach’s pleasurable Widerstehe doch der Sünde. Addie Tapp and Lasha Khozashvili dance harmoniously, complementing each other whether in partnering or solo work. Soft, low lighting designed by Jon Gonda completed the look: fluid, peaceful, polished.
Marked as George Balanchine’s first international success, Apollo is an iconic ballet proven over and over to stand the test of time. Choreographed in 1928, when Balanchine was just twenty-four, Apollo depicts the story of the Greek God of Music when he is visited by three muses, Calliope, muse of poetry; Polyhymnia, muse of mime; and Terpsichore, muse of dance and song.
Paulo Arrais, Lia Cirio, Viktorina Kapitonova, and Chyrstyn Fentroy give a luxurious interpretation of the neo-classical piece.
Opening on Arrais in an epochal pose as the title character: one foot pointed front, a hand stretched outward on the head of a long-necked lute (a Greek baglamas?), the base of the instrument resting against his hip so that it extends parallel to the floor. His right arm is high above his head; it is not until he swings this arm in a circle that we realize the musician is mid strum.
Arrais dances with strength but he is most effective in how he absorbs the role of Apollo. He looks as if he sees something beyond the curtain, beyond the walls of the theater, perhaps Mount Olympus in the distance.
Apollo gives each muse a symbol to match their art: a tablet for Calliope, a mask for Polyhymnia, and a lyre for Terpsichore.
Kapitonova, as Calliope, has an impressive wingspan appropriately utilized in expansive reaches in her solo.
Giving us beautiful lines and a sequence of solid double turns all without the help of one arm (her hand is at her mouth in a “hush” sign) is Fentroy as Polyhymnia.
And Cirio, as Terpsichore, delivers an enchanting stage presence and advanced physical awareness to the role.
Balanchine’s balance of simplicity and intricacy brings dimension to the work. At one moment, the four dancers stand in a line, one directly in front of the other, and simply lay their left cheek on the dancer behind them. Like a Greek statue, the pose is both brilliant and uncomplicated.
At other times, he amps up the complexity but knows how to drive the imagery home. He creates a pleasing sequence and just repeats it – almost like he knew we would need to see it more than once.
In another step for all four dancers, they link hands in a labyrinthine knot while one dancer twists and maneuvers in a circle around the group. It looks as if they would need to disconnect to be able to do what they are doing. Balanchine repeats the mobius knot four times. And you will watch it, amazed, every time.
The piece ends in another iconic pose: Apollo in a lunge and the muses extending their legs in arabesques of varying degrees, fanning out like sun rays as Apollo ascends to Mount Olympus.
Closing the program, Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen displays the company in a Grand Défilé. Translating to “big parade”, this is precisely what happens.
The dancers, dressed in whites and creams are presented to the audience and segmented by rank with their costuming (plain white versus ordained with gold or a tutu versus a long skirt).
Mostly walking, the défilé is incredibly proper and baroque. Dancers enter in groups, or solo if they are a principal, and walk downstage with open arms toward the audience readying for appreciative bows. It is a lovely nod to a somewhat forgotten tradition while also acting as an efficient way to present the company at the start of a season.
Rather than ending the show with a crescendo, Boston Ballet simply says, “there’s more to come”.
Featured Photo for this Boston Ballet review of Chyrstyn Fentroy in George Balanchine’s Apollo ©The George Balanchine Trust, photo by Brooke Trisolini; courtesy of Boston Ballet.
Beautiful!!