A Welcome Reprieve: Finding Energy in Unexpected Dances
A trio of Balanchine works gives a surprising recharge at a necessary time. All Balanchine performs at Pacific Northwest Ballet through November 10.
For digital season subscribers, the streaming version is available November 14-18.
I surrounded myself with art this weekend. Saturday afternoon’s dose of dance, Pacific Northwest Ballet’s All Balanchine, shocked me into a state of joy that still reverberated into the rainy Monday morning before Election Day. The shocker? I’m not a big Balanchine fan.
Considered the father of American ballet, George Balanchine’s choreographic and aesthetic traditions make up what most of us recognize as ballet today: thin, leggy female dancers, complex and literal movements that mesmerize some balletomanes and bore others to tears. I have long appreciated Balanchine’s immense contributions to the art form but am also irritated by his oft-misogynistic cultural and artistic undertones. The three works of this rep — Square Dance, Prodigal Son, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto — are traditional staples of Balanchine repertoire. But on Saturday the matinee cast knocked me over with a powerfully emotional and individualistic performance in two of these works. I left the theatre so happy!
The first piece, the 1957 Square Dance, is set to the music of Vivaldi and Arcangelo Corelli. Jaunty, upbeat, and fun, Square Dance isn’t a deeply emotional piece but it is pretty and gives the dancers a chance to show off technical chops. Saturday’s leading roles were performed by corps de ballet member Mark Cuddihee and principal dancer Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan. Cuddihee’s solid partnering and corps member Zsilas Michael Hughes’ strong artistic presence and graceful leaps highlighted the piece. I’m excited to see them both in more featured roles in the future (in upcoming Nutcracker performances, perhaps?).
After the first intermission, I settled down to be irritated at Balanchine’s 1929 interpretation of the Prodigal Son, a sexist reimagining of the famed Biblical parable featuring two primary characters: a young man who leaves his father’s house to get drunk and objectify women, and the prostitute who tempts him into sin. However, soloist Kuu Sakuragi as The Son and corps member Audrey Malek as The Siren left me speechless.
Sakuragi is a jumper, astounding audiences since he entered the PNB stage in 2020 with quick, high leaps and fast turns. Now Sakuragi is maturing as an artist and a partner, slowing and keeping his trademark magnetic energy in between those fabulous jumps. His performance as The Son starts off with believable, carefree adolescent energy and descends quickly into deep and vulnerable grief, tugging at my own parental heartstrings. Prodigal Son is a short ballet, and carrying that emotional journey through such a short transition is not easy, especially with the intense physical demands of the role.
While Prodigal Son can get stuck in tired misogynistic tropes, Sakuragi and Malek created a whole new dynamic with their interpretations of The Son and The Siren. Malek’s Siren commanded respect instead of sexual attention. Her long, muscular legs wrapped around Sakuragi’s body as they moved in unison across the stage, holding each other up as a single unit. Their dancing breathed respect, compassion, and physical equality. There was nothing shameful about Malek’s Siren; and her technical abilities and artistic expression are made for turning tropes upside down. So good.
The last piece of the program, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, is the newest of the three works and has strong, groovy 1970s vibes. Groovy Stravinsky? Indeed.
Sometimes, if you listen carefully, you can hear Balanchine and his composers whispering dares to each other. In this piece, Stravinsky’s plays on timing are met with fun, neoclassical movements: flexed feet, little waves from the dancers, unexpected directional changes. Saturday afternoon’s performances from soloist Clara Ruf Maldonado and Jonathan Batista caught me off guard even though I’ve seen this piece many times over the years. Maldonado’s joy and creative control over the choreography is on full display in this work; she holds positions on pointe until the last possible second with stunning physical strength, teasing the audience’s sense of time and anticipation.
It’s good to test our old ideas of traditional work. It’s how we hang onto what works for our changing times and how we tweak what needs to change. It may seem frivolous to put this amount of thought into art right now. Yes, it is election week. There is a war on, quite a few actually. Sanity is hard to find; the energy to fight for our values is scarce. Yet we all have a job to do. Find ways to fill your cup. Change your perspective. Sometimes we can find fresh air in unexpected places.
View scheduled casting for upcoming performances here.
All Balanchine runs through 11/10 at Pacific Northwest Ballet (in McCaw Hall, Seattle Center/Mercer side). Tickets ($42-$222) here. Pay-what-you-choose same-day rush tickets are offered for the Thursday night performance (11/7); see info here. Accessibility notes: main restrooms are gendered and multi-stall, with gender-neutral, single-stall restrooms available by most of them. Theatre and common areas are wheelchair accessible.
Run time: 2 hours 15 minutes with two intermissions
Melody Datz Hansen is a freelance dance writer in Seattle. Her work is published in The Seattle Times, The Stranger, City Arts, and on her blog at melodydatz.com.