"Artistic Director's Choice" program presented by Texas Ballet Theater

TEXAS BALLET THEATER
program

The Travelling Toe and a dear friend attended the last performance of the 2014-2015 season of the Texas Ballet Theater at Bass Hall.

Bass Hall

This program was titled "Artistic Director's Choice" and consisted of 3 separate ballets.  

Jiri Kylian 

The first ballet presented was "Petite Mort" choreographed by Jiri Kylian.  On stage were six men and six women.  The men started the ballet by brandishing foils.  It was quite interesting to see how they could dance and in a sense juggle the foils.  The ballet is set to 2 Mozart piano concertos.  The first was Piano Concerto A major and the second was Piano Concert C major - which you might recognize from a Swedish film called "Elvira Madigan".  The movie may be in the distant past but the music plays on.

Mozart

After a 20 minute intermission, the dancers returned to the stage for the world premier of "Crash".   This ballet was choreographed by Jonathan Watkins who had been in residence in Fort Worth for a month in order to ensure the dancers had the movements correct to achieve his vision.   It was danced to an original score by Ryan Cockerham.  "Crash" could represent a break-up, technology crash or any other type of critical mass.   The dancers were all in nude costumes so all movement could be seen as the dancers break apart and then come back together.

Jonathan Watkins

Ryan Cockerham

After another short intermission,the last ballet of the program was "Rubies" by George Balanchine.  "Rubies" is one part of Balanchine's ballet "Jewels" along with Emeralds and Diamonds.   It is set to music by Igor Stravinsky.  As the curtain rose the dancers were on stage, with the ladies up on pointe and the men holding their hands to steady them.  The bright red costumes and jewels, caused the audience to response with warm applause at the beautiful site center stage.   Then the dance began.  If you have ever seen a Balanchine ballet, then you know how he often repeats patterned moves.   The dancers were all up to the task of this demanding piece of work.  It was a lovely and exciting end to a diverse program.

George Balanchine

Igor Stravinsky

The Travelling Toe must admit that she tends to favor story line ballets but this program was well received.   The only thing that could have made it better would have been live music.  Hopefully that wish will come true for the 2015-2016 season.

Texas Ballet Theater