May 4, 2007

I Love Contemporary Ballet - And the Rest of the World Should Too!

Update II: DC-based dance writer Lisa Traiger wrote a review of "7x7: Shakespeare" in Danceview Times.

Update: Reviews of The Washington Ballet's "7x7: Shakespeare" program in Washington Post and Washington Times.

No more modern, jazz, contact improvisation, tap, hip hop or anything else - I'm sticking with contemporary ballet!

Last night I saw The Washington Ballet's "7x7: Shakespeare" program at their Wisconsin Ave. location. And last Saturday I went to "Susan Shields Ballet Cocktail" at George Mason University Center for the Arts.

I enjoy contemporary ballet so much more than the traditional, story-telling ballet programs with their corny plot lines, elaborate sets and ornate costumes. I just want to watch captivating, engaging dance from a diverse range of choreographers with great music and with minimal or no sets. And I like visually appealing costumes - as long as they represent a more modern take on fashion.

I'm not really writing-off traditional ballet or their contemporary updates - I was wondering what the New York City Ballet's Romeo + Juliet would be like after watching Kristin Sloan's excellent behind-the-scenes video series about this Peter Martin's production. In her review of opening night and the performance, dance blogger Tonya Plank shares her initial impressions:

It was pretty and sweet and cute and overall a lovely little ballet. It didn’t take my breath away, it didn’t make me cry, it didn’t move me, it got long in parts, I got bored, with the exception of one scene I was nowhere near the edge of my seat, and with the exception of two dancers...my heart didn’t stutter.

I recommend reading Tonya's entire post about opening night - the dialogue she captured about the difference between ABT and NYCB fans is hysterical. Plus there are a huge number of comments.

Back to The Washington Ballet: Another reason I loved last night's program was that it took place in a small studio setting, the England Studio Theater. I was sitting in the front row just a few feet away from the dancers at times - nothing beats that. And I even liked that the piano sounds from nearby classes occasionally seeped into this performance space.

This annual program is called "7x7: Shakespeare" because seven different choreographers worked with the members of The Washington Ballet to create seven-minute pieces based on Shakespeare's plays. The choreographers included Stephen Petronio, Karole Armitage, Cathy Marston, Brian Reeder, Trey McIntyre, Matjash Mrozewski and Matt Neenan - as you can see, I didn't find good links for all of the choreographers. And here's a link to the dancers of The Washington Ballet.

I wish I could do a competent job of describing each work, the dancers and the choreography - but I really don't have the ability to do this - at least yet. More and more I'm appreciating the underappreciated talents of dance critics who can magically make sense of the most ephemeral of arts forms and produce a review while having just about no time for reflection. (Dance writer Lisa Traiger, who wrote about Susan Shields in the Washington Post, told me last night she'll probably have a review in next week's Danceview Times).

What I can say is that I was completely captivated during the entire performance and I encourage dance fans - or non-dance fans, for that matter - in the DC area to see this program. Tickets are $60 each, which seems on the high side for a studio performance, but there are relatively few seats, you get to see The Washington Ballet dancers up-close (very up-close), and the program features works by excellent choreographers.

The Washington Ballet was kind enough to give me press seats - great ones at that, which I appreciate. Actually most local companies/venues give me tickets at this point - I'm obviously not a traditional dance critic and I've only been dancing for a couple of years, but I get a lot of traffic for my blog and maybe since I'm trying to learn about dance and sharing my experiences, I might reach out to new dance fans.

Promoting Contemporary Ballet

On the topic of reaching new and larger audiences, something has to be done about promoting contemporary ballet online. I can imagine if excerpts from last night's performance or from "Susan Shields Ballet Cocktail," were posted on the web in full-screen, high-definition format. (For now, I'm putting aside copyright, licensing and a host of other issues). This dancing is compelling and if people can see high-quality clips online, I think that they will be blown away and turn off the NBA play-offs. More importantly, I think that more people will buy tickets for live performances.

In addition, this "7x7: Shakespeare" program is unintentionally very well suited for the web. A single piece is just 7 minutes in length - so not too long for Internet distribution. It's worth considering, with the soon-to-launch Joost video service, which is lining-up top advertisers, whether there are ways to monetize these videos for the benefit of The Washington Ballet. Or, how could major ballet companies work with their leading corporate sponsors to distribute hi-def videos online? In return corporate supporters would receive invaluable, classy video exposure while supporting the diffusion of the performing arts.

The Internet especially represents an important way to reach younger viewers who may know next to nothing about traditional or contemporary ballet. My hunch is that the young fans for traditional ballet programs are already going to performances. The real growth will be in more contemporary ballets. And to capture new, younger audiences, it's not enough just to get video clips out there for Internet users to watch; the websites and Internet marketing campaigns of choreographers and dance companies have to be upgraded. The bottom-line is that none of the choreographer websites I link to above is any good. Here you have these great choreographers and nobody outside a relatively small circle has a clue what they're doing - it doesn't have to be this way.

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