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GEORGE BALANCHINE'S APOLLO RETURNS TO THE RICHMOND BALLET;
JESSICA LANG CREATES FIFTH RICHMOND BALLET COMMISSION
RICHMOND - Richmond Ballet will revive George Balanchine’s Apollo for
its Studio 1 performances November 3-8 in the company’s Studio Theatre
on Canal Street. Known for its choreographic innovation that led to a
new classicism in ballet, Apollo will share the stage with the world premiere of a new work by choreographer Jessica Lang that takes its inspiration from an icon in the world of modern art.
Apollo is
the oldest surviving Balanchine ballet and was his first great public
success. The ballet, which premiered in 1928, gained him international
recognition and marked the beginning of a life-long collaboration with
composer Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky, who conceived the score as a
ballet and also provided the libretto, had a lifelong interest in Greek
mythology. In the ballet, the young god Apollo is visited and
instructed by three muses: Calliope, Muse of poetry and rhythm;
Polyhymnia, Muse of mime; and Terpsichore, Muse of dance and song. The
ballet has undergone a number changes over the years, but remains as
one of Balanchine’s signature works.
“I consider Apollo a
turning point of my life,” Balanchine is quoted as saying in Bernard
Taper’s biography of the New York City Ballet co-founder and
choreographer. Balanchine credits Stravinsky with teaching him, through
his “restrained, disciplined, yet uncommonly lyrical” score, that he
could “dare to not use all my ideas, that I too, could eliminate…to the
one possibility that is inevitable.” Many of the steps Balanchine used
in the work were not typical of classical ballet and looked strange to
ballet-goers of the time; Apollo thus marked the beginning of
a new, or “neo-classical,” style of ballet. Decades later, NYCB
co-founder Lincoln Kirstein said of these choreographic inventions,
“Today this extension of vocabulary has been so long and so deeply
absorbed that there is no fraction which does not appear logical,
gracious, and flowing.”
The
work of modern artist Piet Mondrian inspired the newest commission for
Richmond Ballet from choreographer Jessica Lang. Mondrian is a modern
artist who is probably best known for his grid-like paintings featuring
bold color blocks between black vertical and horizontal lines.
Mondrian’s influence extended to the fields of design and architecture,
and Lang knew that Mondrian could also serve as the inspiration for an
interesting dance. Her new work, entitled Lines Squared, had
its beginnings during Lang’s student days at The Juilliard School when
she “danced” a report on Mondrian for an art survey class. Later, she
participated in an American Ballet Theatre outreach project that
focused on a number of visual artists, for which she choreographed a
three-minute section on Mondrian.
Lang
chose the music of Thomas Metcalfe and John Metcalf for the new ballet,
which has five sections, each representing a different color and mood.
While the piece initially appears very physically structured, “it
arrives at an emotional place,” says Lang. Richmond Ballet Production
Director MK Stewart has designed sets for Lines Squared that
reference Mondrian’s linear style, and Richmond Ballet Costume Director
Tamara Cobus has created costumes for the work that reflect the
artist’s dramatic color sense.
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