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Oregon Ballet Theatre is turning 25, and it wants to celebrate. The company's season opener, OBT/25, acts as its party, and with it comes a reflective mix of past works paired alongside a world premiere. This, understandably, leads to a night of truly diverse dances, all connected by a common feeling of festivity. One thing is for sure: OBT knows how to throw a party.
Artistic director Kevin Irving opened the performance on Saturday, Oct. 11 with a speech, noting that in the evening's first half, audiences would be able to see "the DNA of OBT."
If this really is the DNA of OBT, it's got some good genes.
The company shines in its opening number, George Balanchine's famous ballet Agon, first performed by OBT in 1999. Set to a 12-tone score by Igor Stravinsky, the dance itself is broken into several parts that don't appear to follow a narrative. Things get interesting when the lively music becomes a little more dangerous, and Candace Bourchard weaves in between her two partners, Adam Hartley and Jordan Kandell. The two step back and begin clapping to the beat, leaving room for Bourchard to take the spotlight with alternately sharp and fluid movements, as she whips her legs back and forth like a tango dancer's seductive boleos. This is a moment sandwiched between group choreography heavy on lively brisés, mirrored movements, as well as hypnotically staggered collective jumps, and the performance is all the more fun for it.
The second act of OBT/25, a series called Love x 3, kicks off with an excerpt of choreographer Trey McIntyre's Robust American Love. The
pre-Civil War connotation might not be as readily realized in this pas de
deux—the full piece, which OBT premiered last year, explores antebellum America and the optimism and determination of its pioneers. But the hopefulness
present in the original piece still finds its way here, aided
by the soaring harmonies of Fleet Foxes song "He Doesn't Know Why," and the
dancers' assured movements to the driving rhythm. Principal dancer Xuan Chang
and partner Michael Linsmeier make for a playful couple, using their
costumes—blue tailcoats over nude leotards—to their advantage, as the wardrobe
almost takes on a life of its own. The two are constantly grabbing each other's
tailcoats, pulling the other back lovingly, or swiftly manipulating their
partner's movements as the fabric flows with them. By the end, as the two run
around the stage hand-in-hand, the openness and excitement on their faces—along
with the pace of the music—has become utterly infectious.
Christopher Stowell's Carmen is a departure from the sheer exhilaration of the previous piece. Based on the 1857 opera about an imprisoned gypsy and her affair with a prison guard, Carmen spins a classic tale of a femme fatale. Former OBT principal ballerina Alison Roper, who retired at the end of last season, returns to the stage here, handily portraying the flirtatiously manipulative titular character. At one moment suggestive in the way she winds her leg around that of her partner (Chauncey Parson) and the next heartfelt in how she tenderly tips his chin up to look at her, her intention—to be free—is always palpable. He doesn't want to let her go, and by the end of the dance the audience doesn't either.
When they do go, though, it's for a piece by OBT founding artistic director James Canfield. In this pas de deux set in Romeo and Juliet's bedroom, Ansa Deguchi and principal dancer Brian Simcoe explore giddy love and longing through a series of gorgeous lifts and poignant facial expressions.
The second half, dedicated entirely to Nicolo Fonte's Never Stop Falling (In Love) only builds on the strength of the previous pieces, sticking with the themes of romance, love and openness. Opening with a scene straight out of a '40s-era bar, the music plays immediately, full of the smooth horns and twinkling piano Pink Martini is known for. Much of the dance tends toward the fun and cheerful, with split leaps, humorous exaggerated bows to the floor and showy lifts. At one point, a disco ball drops down over the stage. The effect, while initially kind of cheesy, ends up completely fitting the atmosphere, as Pink Martini singer China Forbes sings about stars and cities and the group takes on the prim and proper movements of an old-time ball. Later, several of the dancers come out to play drums, and the smiles on their faces say it all—we might've already seen the evolution of OBT, but they're not done growing. And that is indeed something to celebrate.
SEE IT: Oregon Ballet Theatre is at the Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 222-5538. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 16-18. $27-$144. Tickets here.
WWeek 2015