'SPRINGFEST' Humorous ballets will be on tap

One of the programs at Powers Auditorium will feature music by Chopin.
By L. CROW
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
If you never thought ballet could be fun and humorous, then check out "Springfest," Ohio Ballet's newest offering at Powers Auditorium. Join the troupe, as they present five different ballets by five choreographers in a program filled with variety and excitement.
The performance begins with "Peter and the Wolf" choreographed by Victoria Morgan, current director and choreographer for The Cincinnati Ballet, with music by Prokofiev.
Prokofiev wrote this piece shortly after he returned to finally settle back in Russia in the mid-1930s, after traveling abroad. It was originally written to teach children about instruments in the orchestra. Each character was represented by an instrument, or group of instruments, such as Bird by a flute, and Peter by the string section. A narrator tells the story of Peter's adventure as he captures the wolf.
A modern twist
Morgan has updated the story, setting it in a schoolyard. A basketball player is the wolf, a cheerleader, the bird, the school principal is the grandfather. Peter is represented by a computer nerd. This ballet uses 11 dancers, stereotyping each school character as a character in the story.
"Hi-Jinks" was choreographed by Tucson free-lancer Sam Watson, who is on the faculty of the University of Arizona, and choreographs ballets in America and Europe.
"It is a funny and clever ballet based on TV jingles from the '50s and '60s," says Jeffrey Graham Hughes, artistic director of Ohio Ballet. "Watson's titles typify what the ballet is about, and this one is great fun. It's not what people expect to see in ballet."
"Le Grand Pas Classique" was restaged by choreographer Cynthia Gregory from the original work by Gvosky. "It was created for the Paris Opera Ballet, the oldest ballet in the world, in the mid 20th century," says Hughes. "Cynthia went to Paris to learn it, and has performed it countless times with the American Ballet Theatre. It was a staple in her repertoire, which is why she was invited to restage it."
"It is a virtuoso piece for two dancers, created in the standard pas de deux format," Hughes explains. "There is an opening duet, a male solo, a female solo, then a coda, in which each dances separately, then together."
The costumes are classic 19th century, with a pink tutu for the lady.
For those unfamiliar with terminology, to "restage" a ballet means to teach another's original choreography, not change it. So this will be the original work as created by Gvosky.
The fourth ballet on the program was created by Jos & eacute; Limon, in 1958, founder and director of Jos & eacute; Limon Dance in New York. "He and Martha Graham created the two most famous modern dance companies in the mid-century," Hughes says. "This ballet has only been performed by a couple companies in the last 20 years."
The ballet will be danced to Chopin's "Mazurkas." "A whole genre of piano ballets was created with music of Chopin and other romantic composers," says Hughes. "This piece is classic modern ballet, not barefoot, but in flats. It is beautiful, subtle. Limon created his own dance idiom, the rise, fall, and recovery of movement. It is very organic, natural, not forced or artificial, but related to breath." Nina Watt has come from Limon Ballet to restage this piece.
Her work is seen all over
Christina Giannini, based in New York, designed the costumes for "Mazurka." Hughes calls her "totally unique." She designs and builds costumes for ballets all over the world, and works out of her two-bedroom apartment. "Her living room is all fabric," Hughes adds.
The last ballet is a creation by Hughes called "On Rays of Light." It was originally created for the Dayton Ballet in 1994, and uses the music of Ravi Shankar. "He composed a few pieces using sitar with western orchestra, a kind of east meets west," Hughes says. "The ballet is in two sections: first a female soloist, then the full company. The idea is that we are all princes and princesses of spirit, all divine beings coming down on rays of light. This is an athletic and virtuoso piece, fast and energetic, a challenge for the dancers. There are also calm and meditative moments. The music is intricate and exciting. When it was performed in Dayton, the audience liked it very much."