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Reviews
'Dracula' a powerful portrayal of love, revenge
review by Jennifer Noyer for The Albuquerque Journal, February 13, 2011
The Festival Ballet Albuquerque brought back Artistic Director Patricia Dickinson-Wells' and Michel Barteau's "Dracula" to the National Hispanic Cultural Center on Friday evening. New set designs by John Malolepsy, brilliant dramatic lighting by Eric Kennedy, and new costume designs by Anna Costanz surrounded this narrative ballet in a creepy emotional statement of dance theatre that had many beautiful moments.
The dancing was technically outstanding throughout, and the sound design fused music by Philip Feeny, with its throbbing Dracula theme, with Frank Martin's "Requiem," Henryk Gorecki's frightening music for the underworld dances, and a love theme from Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings."
The ballet is based on Bram Stoker's "Dracula" novel, dominated by the Victorian, as well as recent, fascination with blood and sex in the nature of vampirism. Count Dracula is driven mad by the suicide of his wife and the withdrawal of last rites by the Church. It is a Romeo and Juliet theme twisted by hatred as Dracula attacks the church and mounts his revenge against the world for centuries. His victims, mostly women, are seduced in the act of a blood-sucking embrace.
Amanda Geilenfeldt danced the twin roles of Vladimir's princess and Mina Harker. She, with Jaime Chacon as Dracula, created an emotional relationship on stage with each gesture gently and fluidly becoming an embrace. Geilenfeldt's amazing leg extensions in deep arabesque led smoothly into the lifts with her partner. Both moved into Barber's musical phrasing with a clear physical understanding in the opening of Act 1. Kimberly White was a pleasant surprise in the role of the Princess's handmaid, who carried the theme of desperate mourning with deep low bows and whirling falls in the scene at the altar.
Chacon, costumed in a long, web-like tunic in the opening of Act 2, alternated fluid, slithering moves across the floor of his castle, gestures oozing evil intent, with sudden, sharp accents of head or hands. His manipulation of his victims was that of a master puppeteer.
In the final Pas de Deux with Mina in Act 2, Dracula's emotional connection with Mina reveals his resurrected humanity. When he bends her backward, she is totally vulnerable, but he bends his head over her in an agonizing gesture signaling the loss to come.
The role of Lucy Westenra, danced by Jennifer Boren, is characterized as a light, romantic young girl, easily swept away by the seductive Dracula. She dances with flirtatious hitch-kicks, leaps and turns to Strauss waltzes at her engagement ball. This is a particularly effective piece of theatre as two dramatic actions take place at the same time, one hidden from the other. While Lucy dances with her partners, Dracula and Mina hunt each other through the crowd, connecting and disappearing behind the group dances.
The cemetery scene of Lucy's funeral is choreographically the most exciting and visually interesting of the ballet. The four men, danced by Thax von Reither, Jackson Stewart, Joseph Gonzales and Kyle Linzer, lead the procession of women following Lucy's bier. Slow deep lunges, second position steps sideways, arms in angular thrusts, or reaching high with clasped hands, was intriguing with two against two figures moving in contrasting motifs. The women leaned forward and back as they walked in unison, hands fluttering in nervous agitation.
The underworld of slimy wriggly creatures, bats, and evil minions in the Crypt scenes was effective. Dracula's flight high above the stage was delightfully scary.
The lone figure of a maddened Renfield, danced by Joe Moncada, captured the fearsome jerks of body and mind.
CRITIC'S CORNER REVIEW
Vibrant 'Firebird' lights up Popejoy Hall
NMSO's fall season gets off to a spectacular start
review by Jennifer Noyer for The Albuquerque Journal, September 26, 2010
The New Mexico Symphony Orchestra opened its fall season Friday evening with a true spectacle.
The orchestra shone with sensitive modulations in tone and rhythm, beginning with Mozart's Prague Symphony 38 in D Major. The Prelude to Englebert Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel," had a charming vignette of Hansel, Gretel and the wicked witch. But it was the collaboration between conductor Guillermo Figueroa and choreographer Patricia Dickinson's new Festival Ballet that brought a delighted audience to its feet. Igor Stravinsky's "The Firebird" blossomed on stage as dancers moved in front of the orchestra on a narrow 16-footwide apron.
This was the 1945 condensed version of the original score, but the power of Stravinsky's rich orchestration and driving rhythms brought the sound space to life. The ballet gave visual muscle to the music.
The horizontal space limited movement design. The dramatic action was mostly between two characters at a time, using a spatial back and forth to describe pursuit and capture. The Firebird, danced by Jennifer Boren, flew to elude Dominic Guerra as Prince Ivan, and the courtship between Ivan and Princess Vasilisa used the width of the space well to describe his ardent pursuit.
With the orchestra in darkness, and a pool of light on the conductor, ominous, rumbling bass tones stirred action on stage. Light came up on the musicians as the bright red bird flew on, her legs seeming to tremble with fast steps on toe. Darting glances right and left captured avian alarm. Stravinski's music suggested spurts of movement and fluttering wings.
Ivan captures the Firebird, who wins freedom by giving him one of her magic feathers, to summon her when he is in danger. A troupe of princesses enters to pluck apples from a tree, dancing in a long line with unison movement that breaks into two groups crossing through each other, then into playful quartets. They are under the spell of evil Katschei and cannot leave his garden. Here the fairy tale introduces the instant love between Ivan and Vasilisa.
Guerra revealed a strong, moving presence on stage, never deviating from his dramatic focus on Amanda Geilenfeldt as Vasilisa. Their partnering was smooth, and the lifts, turns and gentle falls both musically alert and emotionally honest.
The "Infernal Dance" of Katschei and his minions was a frenzied battle to capture Ivan. Virile, pounding musical rhythms exploded into high jumps and leaps by Katschei's followers in a demonic dance. The feather was waved, Firebird entered and directed Ivan to the giant egg that contained the soul of Katschei; the egg was destroyed, and the evil spell broken. The princesses entered through the audience to celebrate the wedding.
review by Jennifer Noyer for The Albuquerque Journal, February 13, 2011
The Festival Ballet Albuquerque brought back Artistic Director Patricia Dickinson-Wells' and Michel Barteau's "Dracula" to the National Hispanic Cultural Center on Friday evening. New set designs by John Malolepsy, brilliant dramatic lighting by Eric Kennedy, and new costume designs by Anna Costanz surrounded this narrative ballet in a creepy emotional statement of dance theatre that had many beautiful moments.
The dancing was technically outstanding throughout, and the sound design fused music by Philip Feeny, with its throbbing Dracula theme, with Frank Martin's "Requiem," Henryk Gorecki's frightening music for the underworld dances, and a love theme from Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings."
The ballet is based on Bram Stoker's "Dracula" novel, dominated by the Victorian, as well as recent, fascination with blood and sex in the nature of vampirism. Count Dracula is driven mad by the suicide of his wife and the withdrawal of last rites by the Church. It is a Romeo and Juliet theme twisted by hatred as Dracula attacks the church and mounts his revenge against the world for centuries. His victims, mostly women, are seduced in the act of a blood-sucking embrace.
Amanda Geilenfeldt danced the twin roles of Vladimir's princess and Mina Harker. She, with Jaime Chacon as Dracula, created an emotional relationship on stage with each gesture gently and fluidly becoming an embrace. Geilenfeldt's amazing leg extensions in deep arabesque led smoothly into the lifts with her partner. Both moved into Barber's musical phrasing with a clear physical understanding in the opening of Act 1. Kimberly White was a pleasant surprise in the role of the Princess's handmaid, who carried the theme of desperate mourning with deep low bows and whirling falls in the scene at the altar.
Chacon, costumed in a long, web-like tunic in the opening of Act 2, alternated fluid, slithering moves across the floor of his castle, gestures oozing evil intent, with sudden, sharp accents of head or hands. His manipulation of his victims was that of a master puppeteer.
In the final Pas de Deux with Mina in Act 2, Dracula's emotional connection with Mina reveals his resurrected humanity. When he bends her backward, she is totally vulnerable, but he bends his head over her in an agonizing gesture signaling the loss to come.
The role of Lucy Westenra, danced by Jennifer Boren, is characterized as a light, romantic young girl, easily swept away by the seductive Dracula. She dances with flirtatious hitch-kicks, leaps and turns to Strauss waltzes at her engagement ball. This is a particularly effective piece of theatre as two dramatic actions take place at the same time, one hidden from the other. While Lucy dances with her partners, Dracula and Mina hunt each other through the crowd, connecting and disappearing behind the group dances.
The cemetery scene of Lucy's funeral is choreographically the most exciting and visually interesting of the ballet. The four men, danced by Thax von Reither, Jackson Stewart, Joseph Gonzales and Kyle Linzer, lead the procession of women following Lucy's bier. Slow deep lunges, second position steps sideways, arms in angular thrusts, or reaching high with clasped hands, was intriguing with two against two figures moving in contrasting motifs. The women leaned forward and back as they walked in unison, hands fluttering in nervous agitation.
The underworld of slimy wriggly creatures, bats, and evil minions in the Crypt scenes was effective. Dracula's flight high above the stage was delightfully scary.
The lone figure of a maddened Renfield, danced by Joe Moncada, captured the fearsome jerks of body and mind.
CRITIC'S CORNER REVIEW
Vibrant 'Firebird' lights up Popejoy Hall
NMSO's fall season gets off to a spectacular start
review by Jennifer Noyer for The Albuquerque Journal, September 26, 2010
The New Mexico Symphony Orchestra opened its fall season Friday evening with a true spectacle.
The orchestra shone with sensitive modulations in tone and rhythm, beginning with Mozart's Prague Symphony 38 in D Major. The Prelude to Englebert Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel," had a charming vignette of Hansel, Gretel and the wicked witch. But it was the collaboration between conductor Guillermo Figueroa and choreographer Patricia Dickinson's new Festival Ballet that brought a delighted audience to its feet. Igor Stravinsky's "The Firebird" blossomed on stage as dancers moved in front of the orchestra on a narrow 16-footwide apron.
This was the 1945 condensed version of the original score, but the power of Stravinsky's rich orchestration and driving rhythms brought the sound space to life. The ballet gave visual muscle to the music.
The horizontal space limited movement design. The dramatic action was mostly between two characters at a time, using a spatial back and forth to describe pursuit and capture. The Firebird, danced by Jennifer Boren, flew to elude Dominic Guerra as Prince Ivan, and the courtship between Ivan and Princess Vasilisa used the width of the space well to describe his ardent pursuit.
With the orchestra in darkness, and a pool of light on the conductor, ominous, rumbling bass tones stirred action on stage. Light came up on the musicians as the bright red bird flew on, her legs seeming to tremble with fast steps on toe. Darting glances right and left captured avian alarm. Stravinski's music suggested spurts of movement and fluttering wings.
Ivan captures the Firebird, who wins freedom by giving him one of her magic feathers, to summon her when he is in danger. A troupe of princesses enters to pluck apples from a tree, dancing in a long line with unison movement that breaks into two groups crossing through each other, then into playful quartets. They are under the spell of evil Katschei and cannot leave his garden. Here the fairy tale introduces the instant love between Ivan and Vasilisa.
Guerra revealed a strong, moving presence on stage, never deviating from his dramatic focus on Amanda Geilenfeldt as Vasilisa. Their partnering was smooth, and the lifts, turns and gentle falls both musically alert and emotionally honest.
The "Infernal Dance" of Katschei and his minions was a frenzied battle to capture Ivan. Virile, pounding musical rhythms exploded into high jumps and leaps by Katschei's followers in a demonic dance. The feather was waved, Firebird entered and directed Ivan to the giant egg that contained the soul of Katschei; the egg was destroyed, and the evil spell broken. The princesses entered through the audience to celebrate the wedding.