New Jersey Ballet’s New Season Opens To Applause

New Jersey Ballet began its 2005-2006 season at the Community Theatre in Morristown  on November 12.  Critics were enthusiastic about the first performance, an evening of contemporary ballets.

Robert Johnson, dance critic for the Newark Star-Ledger, wrote: “Themes of love, loss and death cycled through the emotionally stirring mixed bill that New Jersey Ballet presented Saturday…perhaps no art but dance can portray these themes so well. Despite their choreographic artifice, ballets recall the physical sensations associated with longing, joy and fear. They make psychological states seem exceptionally vivid.

“On Saturday's program, a new work by choreographer Alexandre Proia also displayed the conceptual side of dance. The premiere titled ‘Cancioneros and Discovery’defended ballet's ability to convey abstract ideas. It depicts a group caught in a nebulous state of self-examination, considering its relationship to the present and the past.

“The program opened on a traditional note, with two pas de deux in neo-Romantic style.  George Tomal’s ‘Poco Adagio’ employs Saint-Saëns' Third Symphony to create a feeling of dreamlike suspension. The dancers step back from each other, and lifts seem to float on the powerful breath of Saint-Saëns' music for organ. Here Mari Sugawa, partnered by Vitaly Verterich, was the picture of freshness.

“Another new ballet, ‘Rachmaninoff Pas de Deux,’ was choreographed and performed by Tuvshin Bold, offering a fleeting vision of inspiration and love in the mold of Balanchine's ‘Meditation.’

“Too many complicated lifts eroded the ballet's central idea, yet the artistry of Bold's partner, ballerina Saule Rachmedova, compensated for distractions. Maintaining an otherworldly composure, and still fully alive, Rachmedova danced with such delicacy that she seemed evanescent. Her movements appeared frictionless and dangerously volatile. At any moment, it seemed as if this creature might melt or fade away, leaving her lovesick companion in despair. What a performance!

“For sheer choreographic craft, nothing on the program could beat the trio from Robert North's ‘Death and the Maiden.’  This tautly constructed ballet takes viewers on a terrifying journey.

“Era Korotaeva-Jouravleva and Andrei Jouravlev have made the central roles their own. The maiden suffers patiently as the obdurate figure of Death delivers mighty blows whose impact cannot be gauged. Yet her mood also changes, and when Death is absent, she waits anxiously for his return. North understands that death is both a deeply personal and a social event, and Michelle DeFremery was physically expressive as the victim's empathetic friend.”

Writing in the Asbury Park Press, dance writer Karyn D. Collins, said: “For many, the finest examples of contemporary ballet are works that incorporate elements of modern dance such as the central trio shown Saturday from the superb ‘Death and the Maiden’…Movement here seems organic and purposeful.  And in the hands of superb actor-dancers like Era Korotaeva-Jouravleva, Andrei Jouravlev and Michelle DeFremery, one feels the weight of the movement and the emotion…”

Sheila Abrams, dance critic, Stirling Echoes-Sentinel, said:  “Highlighting two premieres, New Jersey Ballet opened its annual series at Morristown’s Community Theatre with an outstanding display of artistry in three contemporary dance styles…

“In the world premiere of Alexander Proia’s ‘Cancioneros and Discovery’…the eight young dancers were quite gorgeous as they took Proia’s concepts and brought them to fruition.  The choreographer, a former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, has pulled together here strands from his eclectic dance background and woven them into an intriguing creation.

“As actors know that it is risky to appear with children or animals as they tend to steal the show, a choreographer might hesitate to have his new modern ballet performed right after Robert North’s ‘Death and the Maiden’…Proia took that risk…and deserves further credit for doing it successfully.

“’Death and the Maiden’…is one of the most arresting pieces New Jersey Ballet has ever done…a selection from the larger piece…was beautifully presented by Andrei Jouravlev as Death, Era Korotaeva-Jouravleva as the Maiden and Michelle DeFremery as the Friend… Jouravlev and Korotaeva-Jouravleva are exquisitely assertive and dramatic dancers, and DeFremery is wonderfully fresh and lyrical, a breath of life in a very dark ballet.

“The program opened with two pas de deux, George Tomal’s ‘Poco Adagio,’ to music by  Saint-Saëns and Tuvshin Bold’s ‘Rachmaninoff Pas de Deux,’ also having its premiere.  ‘Poco Adagio’ is strongly evocative of love and romance, the dancers, Mari Sugawa and Vitaly Verterich, weightless and sylphlike as they move through a dream landscape.

“Tuvshin Bold danced his own new ballet with ballerina Saule Rachmedova... Stylistically not unlike Tomal’s piece, it is however frequently punctuated by the kind of daring and unusual lifts that cause the audience to interrupt the work with applause…

“As if to take a turn away from the dazzling display of classical music,,,and the haunting Renaissance score of Proia’s ballet, the company ended the evening with music that dazzles in a very different way.  Timour Bourtasenkov’s ‘Rag House’ is set to Scott Joplin’s irresistible ragtime music.  Four couples, the women on point, brought the evening to a close with a rousing, entertaining performance of this old favorite.”

Critics Praise New Jersey Ballet’s Nutcracker at Paper Mill

New Jersey Ballet began its annual series of Nutcracker performances at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn on December 19.  Dance writers from several newspapers cheered.

Excerpts from their reviews follow:

Robert Johnson, dance critic for the Newark Star-Ledger, wrote about the opening night:  “New Jersey Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker,’offers a grand spectacle.  This season, New Jersey Ballet's opening-night cast featured former New York City Ballet dancer Alexandre Proia, making his local debut as Drosselmeyer, the wizard-like guest who sets in motion the evening's adventures. A dashing figure, this Drosselmeyer is evidently fond of parties, where he makes himself welcome by telling stories in clearly accented mime.

“In New Jersey Ballet's first-act party scene, the children are a pleasure to watch, executing simple ballet steps with grown-up clarity. Yet the party is also a dramatic milieu in which the tilt of a head can say so much. As Fritz, George Kavatsiuk drew attention by fully occupying his character, while Katie Pivarnik, as the Mother, lent genuine feeling to the moment when she paused and looked back before leaving the room, suffusing the scene with nostalgia.

“In the full-out classical dancing of the Snow Scene, and the classical and character variations in the second-act Kingdom of Sweets, several artists distinguished themselves. Snow Queen Saule Rachmedova established her stylish elegance immediately from her first, bowing ‘révérence.’   Era Korotaeva-Jouravleva made every sultry twitch of her hips count in the Arabian dance, and Kotoe Kojima was a limpid Mirliton. David Tamaki appeared innocently playful in the Chinese ribbon dance, while Vitaly Verterich bounded through the athletic, Russian Trepak with good-natured ease.

“As the Sugar Plum Fairy, Mari Sugawa combined soft arms with a spirited attack, and her partner, Albert Davydov, showed off his airy jump… The real star of the evening turned out to be the Dew Drop fairy, Gabriella Noa-Pierson. Exquisitely balanced on pointe, or passing from step to step with the fluid assurance of a dancer who has strength to spare, Noa-Pierson reminded everyone that at its best, ‘The Nutcracker’ is ballet, offering an intoxicating mix of fantasy and physical prowess.”

Jeff Cummias, associate editor of the East Orange Record, reviewed the next night.  “The New Jersey Ballet always lives up to its billing, and its presentation of ‘Nutcracker’ last Saturday… proved again why the ballet company is held in such high regard…the hours of preparation its performers endure pay dividends with spectacular performances like ‘Nutcracker.’

“One of the treasures of the New Jersey Ballet is the outstanding track record of developing talented dancers.  One of the latest is Catherine Whiting.  Whiting said she’s grown up with the ‘Nutcracker.’  ‘I’ve been doing ‘Nutcracker’ since I was about 6 years old…I started out as a clown and I progressed over the years to the point where I got Clara this year.’

“Whiting proved she was more than worthy of the promotion, dazzling the audience with her grace and balance…The audience clearly appreciated Whiting’s performance…Her finished product was tremendous, and she honed it through seemingly endless days of rehearsal.
“Yet as good as many other performances were, Vitaly Verterich virtually stole the show with his performance of Trepak, leaping, bounding and twisting his way across the stage, without even the slightest misstep.  Verterich was simply fluid in his performance, and his confidence and enthusiasm proved contagious…”

Thom Molyneaux said in The Montclair Times:  “That most special, wide-eyed, wonderful of holiday seasons is here and so again, for the 35th year in a row, is the New Jersey Ballet’s crowd-pleasing, child-delighting, production of Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Nutcracker’…a tasteful, pastel-colored spectacle that beautifully blends the skills and craft of seasoned professionals with the talents and energies of some of New Jersey’s best young dancers…

“As Clara…Catherine Whiting dances with grace and clarity and has an ease and confidence that is rare in such a young performer.  She is ably partnered by Andres Neira as the Nutcracker Prince.  Indeed, all the dancers in the company are lyrical, expressive, graceful and artistic…

“Mari Sugawa and Albert Davydov are a lively, spirited couple in the Spanish Dance. Andrei Jouravlev and his sultry harem are sinuously effective, performing the Arabian Dance.  And Vitaly Verterich is a high-voltage, athletic, spinning, leaping dynamic force in the Russian dance…As Dew Drop, Christina Theryoung gracefully solos and leads the melodic masterpiece of duets and ensembles of lyrical dancers that is ‘The Waltz of the Flowers’…As Sugar Plum, Miss Rachmedova is quite simply the living, three-dimensional definition of grace…”

How New Jersey Ballet Maintains Classical Masterpieces

For the opening concert of its 2006 season at the Community Theatre in Morristown, New Jersey Ballet presented a program of classical pas de deux, among them, the rarely performed work known as “Papillon” (The Butterfly) from 1860.  Robert Johnson, dance critic for the Newark Star-Ledger described the process that keeps this ballet alive on stage. Here are excerpts from his article of January 6.

“The life of a butterfly is not as easy as it seems -- especially when the butterfly in question is really a ballerina whose airy fluttering depends on a pair of sturdy legs.

“Heroic effort supports these butterfly gambols, tricking viewers with the illusion that she can fly just as surely as if she possessed broad wings to catch the faintest breeze.

“Such an illusion will be at the heart of New Jersey Ballet's program when the troupe returns to Morristown with an evening of classical pas de deux, including excerpts from ‘Giselle’ and ‘Le Corsaire,’ then ‘L'Air d'Esprit’ and ‘Papillon’.  Company principal Era Korotaeva-Jouravleva will perform the title role in ‘Papillon’ on Saturday, partnered by Vladimir Roje, in an exhibition of Romantic style and stamina.

“‘She has a very delicate and ethereal approach,’ says New Jersey Ballet's artistic director, Carolyn Clark, speaking of Korotaeva-Jouravleva.

“‘Papillon’ is, perhaps, the rarest specimen in New Jersey Ballet's repertoire. Thanks to the company's Russian dancers and coaches, the troupe has been able to perform several classics that American audiences typically do not see, including ‘Halte de Cavalerie’ and an excerpt from ‘The Little Hump-Backed Horse.’

“But New Jersey Ballet may be the only company in the U.S. ever to perform ‘Papillon,’ a pas de deux that French ballet master Pierre Lacotte recreated for the Kirov Ballet in 1979.

“Irina Kolpakova, the legendary Kirov star who danced the ballet then as part of a gala evening devoted to revivals of the Romantic repertoire, visited New Jersey Ballet's studios in Livingston to coach the dancers in their roles. ‘Papillon’ entered New Jersey Ballet's repertoire in 2004.

“‘The jumps are not like the ones in the 20th century, strong and athletic,’ Kolpakova says of the choreography. ‘The jumps are very light -- airy, like the wind.’ Speaking of the 19th century's ballet stars, she adds: ‘I don't think that they lifted themselves very high above the ground. They just swooped.’

“‘It is a very hard pas de deux. There are a lot of jumps, and everything goes in continuous succession,’ Kolpakova says, singling out a moment in the ballerina's solo variation where she must perform a string of airborne steps that criss-cross the stage, appearing to skim the ground. Instead of indulging in grand gestures, the choreography of the Romantic era focuses on small and intricate steps that must be executed with perfect clarity. In addition, Kolpakova says, the ballerina must hold her back differently, keeping it less arched and inclined slightly forward.

“The ballerina's partner does not lift her higher than his chest, but she cannot help him with a large jump into the air and his effort must be entirely concealed, adding to the impression that she can levitate. The most important thing, the ballet mistress says, is ‘You mustn't see the strain, the tension. If you see the strain, then all the joy is lost...’

“Korotaeva-Jouravleva, who had seen Kolpakova dance ‘Papillon’ on television, says that receiving her coaching has been ‘a dream come true.’ For her part, Kolpakova recalls that working with New Jersey Ballet was ‘a pleasant surprise,’ declaring that Korotaeva-Jouravleva had achieved what she was after, appearing ‘light, lyrical and profound.’”

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