Review – American Repertory Ballet, Douglas Martin’s Inaugural Season

On Saturday 5th March I attended a performance by American Repertory Ballet to celebrate Douglas Martin’s Inaugural Season – Douglas took over as ARB Company Director last year and the company has gone from strength to strength under his leadership. With a core of around 16 dancers it performs a variety of works from traditional works to fresh new choreography.

So, who is Douglas Martin? Well he trained at San Jose Ballet School before being picked to study at the American Ballet Theatre School. He then was a Principal at the Joffrey Ballet where he danced a range of roles, including Nijinksy’s La Sacre du Printemps and danced on PBS Dance in America. He then moved to American Repertory Ballet where he danced as a lead before taking the Ballet Master position and later Company Director. More importantly, he’s my Ballet teacher! He has taught me from when I first started Ballet, and in fact my other teacher at Princeton Ballet School, Edward Urwin, is a dancer with the company. I’ve tried to be impartial with my review, but I definitely had extra excitement when seeing ARB perform – I couldn’t wait to see what Douglas had done with the Company after seeing the dancers around Princeton Ballet School and at the ARB On Pointe sessions.

Our Town (Ch. Phillip Jerry, Co. Aaron Copland)

First up was Our Town, a piece based on Thornton Wilder’s play of the same name. This was originally choreographed on Douglas Martin and Mary Barton (Douglas’ wife, and ARB’s Ballet Mistress), and they placed the piece on ARB dancers earlier this season. It follows a girl, Emily and the town she lives in. Emily (Barton’s original role) falls in love with George (Martin’s original role) and they have a child together, before Emily’s untimely death. Emily then wanders back through her town, seeing how she had touched the people in her life, before accepting her fate.

Wow, was this piece emotional! You know those first ten minutes of the film “Up”? And you know how heart wrenchingly sad they were? Well this was just like that but in Ballet form. I’m willing to bet at least half the theatre was in tears my the end (I had a few tears welling by the end myself) especially when George walked off carrying his son after Emily’s death.

Brittany Fridenstine danced the role of Emily and gave a glorious performance. She poured so much heart and emotion into it, you felt like you were taking the journey with her. Her partner was Marc St-Pierre dancing the role of George and they made a lovely pairing. They truly conveyed a feeling of young love and when they held hands for the first time they caught perfectly the sense of nerves and anticipation.

My favourite scene was a sequence done entirely to the sound of rain and thunder. The simplicity of this backing heightened the dance sequence although the music by Copland during the rest of the piece was great backing too. The depth of brass in the music gave a sense of suspension, and it included the magnificent Fanfare for the Common Man. All in all, a marvelous piece that I’m looking forward to seeing again in the future. And make sure you bring tissues!

Ephemeral Possessions (World Premiere, Ch. Douglas Martin, Co. Samuel Barber)

Douglas’ premiere piece was a complete triumph. Set to Barber’s Adagio For Strings, it was a piece for 5 couples, with the lead couple Michael Crawford and Michelle de Fremy. Starting as an intimate duet, the piece swelled and ebbed increasing to the full complement of ten dancers at the end of the first movement.

As the piece continued, the dancers worked both as a unit and in their individual pairings – blending seamlessly their movements. Throughout, there was a distinct feeling of grace and beauty. Douglas’ choreography seemed to truly inspire the dancers to a stunning performance, just as I am sure the dancers inspired Douglas during the choreographic process.

There was a fantastic movement between Crawford and de Fremery which took my eye: she turned in passé on pointe and as Crawford span her she pliéd and straightened her standing leg. I don’t know why, and I’m not entirely sure I’m describing the movement correctly, but it just looked awesome – especially with the pair flanked by the rest of the company.

The staging was simple – blue costumes on a blue background, and Barber’s music (the full 10-minute version) was a great accompaniment. At a recent “On Pointe” session with Martin at Princeton he spoke of how, when choreographing, he listens to the music repeatedly until it “tells him the movement”. I think he certainly captured the essence of the composition in his choreography.

I think what pleased me most about the piece though, was that it was definitely Douglas’ work. Taking class with him every week I’ve got a feel for his sense of humour, outlook on life and personality – and the entire piece spoke of this. Great work Doug!

Folia (World Premiere, Ch. Patrick Corbin, Co. Francesco Geminiani)

The third piece was another premiere – this time by Patrick Corbin (who has his own company CorbinDances). Along with Douglas’ piece, this had been the subject of an ARB ‘On Pointe’ session, which talked of the structure of the piece: one set phrase that is repeated en terre, with turns, en l’air, in retrograde and combinations of the above.

This certainly appealed to the mathematical side of my brain, but moreover I was excited to see a piece choreographed just for the men of the company – a showcase of male dancing.

It would have been very easy for Corbin to produce a very straightforward and almost stereotypical piece with lots of acrobatics between the men. What he created, however, was something that managed to convey the strength and physicality of the performances, yet at the same time retained the artfulness. The curtain lifted to the men of the company stood with their backs to the audience, muscles tense and a sense of anticipation in the air.

Starting with the main phrase, we were transported with the music (which was surprisingly passionate) as the phrase built and receded. There was a stand-out solo by Alexander Dutko, starting unaccompanied in a single spotlight, whence we glimpsed the depth of the main phrase.

This led to a solo by Edward Urwin (another of my teachers at ARB) where he performed the whole phrase then it’s retrograde at lightning speed. Marc St-Pierre then joined him on stage for a fascinating Pas de Deux between them.

Again, it would have been easy for Corbin to make a ‘standard’ Pas de Deux, but instead what followed was a different and exciting interplay as both dancers corrected and placed each other – both taking on roles as the precise controller and the malleable mannequin. One particular move I found impressive involved St-Pierre standing on Urwin’s thighs in a second plié before launching over Urwin’s head – great stuff.

As the piece continued we saw how cleverly Corbin’s phrase had been constructed – the phrase fitted so well to it’s retrograde and variations that it became a testament to Corbin’s genius. And then it finished with the single phrase again, bringing us back to our initial moment and leaving us with a sense of continuity.

Glazunov Variations (Ch. Kirk Peterson after Petipa, Co. Alexander Glazunov [Raymonda])

To finish, the company performed a collection of variations from Glazunov’s Raymonda. These took the form of collective partnering, individual variations and single duets.

To begin, our five princes led their tutu clad ballerinas out for the initial variation. What followed was a tour de force in classical technique and form. With instantaneous changes between the different sections, it was a marvel that the dancers survived this piece, never mind with such flair.

Stand out performances include Audra Johnson performing a devilishly flirtatious variation that reminded me of the Siren in The Prodigal Son. She was partnered by Marc St-Pierre (who truly seems born to partner) who performed his own impressive variation. We saw fun variations from the women of the company, and a technical variation from the five men – in sync while performing turns, tours and more.

The pace was kept up unabated to it’s thrilling finale which led to a well-deserved standing ovation for the company, including a substantial cheer for Mr Martin’s arrival on stage.

Overall, this was triumphant night for American Repertory Ballet and Douglas Martin. Personally, I felt it was especially a showcase for the men of the company, both the dancers and Douglas – is showed Douglas’ depth and creativity and the dancers’ unquestionable stamina and skill. Not to detract from the women’s performances (all of whom were excellent) but to even think of  performing in four consecutive pieces tired me, and yet the men gave both an artful and precise delivery throughout the entire evening. Bravo!

ARB will be holding their gala this coming weekend; unfortunately I will be back in England and so am unable to attend. However, they will be performing again in May (at the Mason Gross School of Arts), when I will certainly be attending. I do urge you to make it if possible, if it is anything like the inaugural performance you will be treat to a fantastic night of dance!

Until next time, keep dancing!