The Joffrey Ballet @ Blossom Festival 08.22.09

The Joffrey Ballet’s splendid version of “Carousel A Dance” concluded an evening that could signal the start of something beautiful, a revitalized partnership between the Cleveland Orchestra and ballet. Things got off to a traditional start with “Kettentanz” (choreographed by Joffrey founder Gerald Arpino, premiered in 1971). Six couples danced to old Vienna waltzes, polkas, and so on.

It lasted quite a long time (32 minutes). After this (when guys were saying “Honey, why are we here?”), the program got better and better. “Mobile” (by Tomm Ruud) featured a trio moving so slowly and with such strength that they did evoke one of Calder’s mobiles (to music by Khachaturian). “Cloven Kingdom” merged grace and comic talent as an ensemble of elegantly clad sophisticates suddenly turned into animals and back. Humans, the Paul Taylor creation seemed to say, must not forget that they are also animals.

After intermission came Arpino’s lushly beautiful “Round of Angels” (with Mahler’s ‘Adagietto from his Fifth Symphony playing and a background of projected stars).

Five male dancers (angels) whirled and twisted with evocations of heaven and loss and swept up the female dancer while her male partner looked on. The topper came last with “Carousel” (as arranged by Christopher Wheeldon). The dancers turned the stage into a real carnival (with a carousel) using swirling movements and minimal props. Moving and touching, the performance brought out both the sweet and the bitter Julie and Billy’s ill-fated romance in Richard Rodgers’ classic musical.

The orchestra sounded great (of course), but conductor Tito Munoz had trouble in spots overcoming the difficulty of conducting a ballet from the pit. But really, few cared. Afterwards the sustained applause echoed off the hills and I think maybe even those reluctant guys mentioned above got more thrills than they bargained for. Imagine how great ballet would sound and look in Severance Hall!

From Cool Cleveland contributor Laura Kennelly lkennellyATgmail.com (:divend:)