Houston Ballet, June 4, 2005, Wortham Center's Brown Theater

Some dances I can watch again and again and never get bored; for others, once is more than enough. Saturday's program included an example of each. Let's get the bad news out of the way first. Houston Ballet's production of The Firebird is something of a snoozer. I saw it when it premiered a few years ago (before my blogging days) and didn't like it then, so I didn't expect to get much out of it this time. The ballet is hampered partly by Stravinsky's subtle music, and partly by the wooden choreography of James Kudelka, who among other roles has served as Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada. I was pleasantly surprised to find Leticia Oliveira playing the Firebird as she's one of my favorite dancers in the company. I believe last time I saw Lauren Anderson. The role favors Ms. Oliveira's size (she's quite short) and movement, so I enjoyed that character much more this time around. The costumes are extravagant, but with the exception of the Firebird's tutu are unflattering to the dancers and hide their lines. Sets and costumes were designed by Santo Loquasto. By the way, it's worth it to sit through the entire score just to hear the finale played live. We played a suite from Firebird in orchestra in high school, so it means more to me to hear it than some other pieces. The main thing that I remember is that the time signature changes roughly every two measures in the finale. In stark contrast with Firebird's elaborate costumes and sets, dark lighting (is that an oxymoron?), and serious subject was Mark Morris's Sandpaper Ballet. This gem is being presented for the first time outside of San Francisco Ballet, for whom the piece was choreographed. It was disconcerting hear the orchestra start playing "Sleigh Ride" in June, more so because I'd gotten it into my head that Firebird would be first, but as I sat listening I realized how well that piece shows off the orchestra. The music for Sandpaper Ballet consists of 10 works of Leroy Anderson; in addition to "Sleigh Ride," there's also "Jazz Pizzicato," "Jazz Legato," "The Syncopated Clock," "Fiddle-Faddle," "A Trumpeter's Lullaby," "Song of the Bells," and "The Typewriter." There's also "Sandpaper Ballet" - the title refers back to old Vaudeville days when dancers would spread sand on the stage for their soft-shoe dances. (Ok, that's only 9. Those are the ones I could identify from the Leroy Anderson website. The tenth is quite possibly "The First Day of Spring.") Anderson's music is happy, whimsical, and energetic, and all of this is reflected in the choreography. The costumes, which have the dancers in bright spring green from the chest down (including hands and feet) and clouds and sky from chest to neck, were designed by Isaac Mizrahi. (Yeah, the Target guy. I don't really like most of his clothes, but these costumes are ingenious.) The ballet starts with all 25 dancers on stage in a 5 by 5 grid. Morris returns to this grid at the end of each section, usually with the dancers getting there at the last second through some convoluted means. It's a striking image, especially from the Grand Tier, and demonstrates how effectively Morris has used the strengths of a ballet company. There was a nice pas de deux between Erin Patak and Nicholas Leschke, the only slow (tempo-wise) section of the ballet. Throughout the ballet Morris integrates quirky, playful movement with the classical ballet vocabulary. This piece is a delight, and I hope to see it again in the near future.

I think this post sets a record for number of links!