Flight of Fantasy
A masterful ballet ... written by John Lithgow?
; "GOING APE: Pianio-teacher-turned-baboon Alexander Iziliaev makes excellent use of his long arms in PA Ballet's <i>Carnival of the Animals</i>.")
GOING APE: Pianio-teacher-turned-baboon Alexander Iziliaev makes excellent use of his long arms in PA Ballet's Carnival of the Animals. (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION) |
There's one problem with Pennsylvania Ballet's utterly enchanting Carnival of the Animals: that it's not longer. With text written by actor John Lithgow, who served opening night as onstage narrator, Carnival is a pure, mischievous delight. The Saint-Saëns score, used as a guide to musical instruments for youngsters, was playfully transformed by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon into a 30-minute jeux d'esprit.
As the story goes, Oliver, well-performed by 11-year-old Peter Weil, finds himself unexpectedly locked in New York's Museum of Natural History overnight. Here he discovers that the animals not only come to life, but bear a close resemblance to people he knows.His teacher turns up as a ferocious lion performed by Francis Veyette. The school nurse is none other than Lithgow himself, padded into a massive elephant costume. The librarian is kangaroo Amy Aldridge.
The turtles are two elderly ladies (Alyson Pray and Gabriella Yudenich) sitting in folding chairs, occasionally sticking their heads from behind large umbrellas like concealing shells. Alexander Iziliaev is a wonderfully whacked-out piano teacher/baboon.
Riolama Lorenzo gives a star turn as Oliver's great-aunt who relives her past as a ballet dancer. Back turned to the audience, using only her beautiful fluid arms clad in long white gloves, Lorenzo's body weaves and twines, evoking a perfect image of a swan in flight.
At the end, just like Dorothy returning from Oz, Oliver returns to his parents (formerly cuckoos), Martha Chamberlain and Zachary Hench.
Canadian Peter Quantz, whose Jupiter Symphony opened the program, explored Mozart's four movements using ballet's most traditional tools: solos, pas de deux and ensemble pieces. It was a solid work, but not dazzling, and having the performance on a bare Academy stage didn't help. Still, Lorenzo and Sergio Torrado were terrific dancing in the second movement. Aldridge was crisp, sharp and on point(e) — figuratively and literally — throughout.
Resident choreographer Matthew Neenan put Mozart in perspective with two short pieces, Penumbra and Pampeana No. 2, using music from Argentinian music legend Alberto Ginastera. Neenan knows what it means to reinterpret music: His ladies hung by their knees from their partners' arms and the pas de deux took place as couples rolled on the floor.
Carnival of the Animals | Through June 14, Pennsylvania Ballet, Academy of Music, 1420 Locust St., 215-551-7000, paballet.org
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