On May 8 and 9, we conclude our 10th anniversary season with what we consider the crowning set of performances, 4x4 The Ballet Project. This is an unprecedented event because we have invited the West Coast’s four major ballet companies to appear on the same stage together. Each will perform an exciting Portland premiere of a contemporary ballet.
This is truly a landmark event for three reasons. First, the four companies have never appeared together on the same stage. Second, except for Portland-based Oregon Ballet Theatre (OBT), the three other companies have not appeared in Portland within recent memory. Third, since its inception in 1997, this the first time that White Bird is presenting Oregon Ballet Theatre, as well as the three other dance companies.
We are extremely honored that all four companies have agreed to appear with us. White Bird has always believed strongly in collaboration, and in this case we are creating a program that is a collaborative project not just with one of Portland’s fine arts organizations, OBT, but with four outstanding arts organizations on the West Coast.
But why are we, a presenter of contemporary dance, bringing an evening of four ballets to conclude our 10th anniversary season?
Our answer is that the term “ballet” no longer refers just to the so-called story ballets (Giselle, Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty). More and more, ballet companies in the United States—and certainly in Europe—are performing works by contemporary choreographers. The steps may be classically inspired—and certainly the dancers have strong classical training—but the themes of the works, along with the music and costumes, have a definite contemporary sensibility.
Let’s look at our short history. In the past 10 years White Bird has presented a large number of companies with “Ballet” in their name: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (those men in tutus), Lyon Opera Ballet, Ballet Biarritz, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet ,BalletLab. In this season, Scapino Ballet Rotterdam will make its West Coast debut with us on April 30.
The dancers in most of these companies have had classical training, and yet the Artistic Directors (Tory Dobrin, Yorgos Loukos, Thierry Malandain, Alonzo King, Tom Mossbrucker, Phillip Adams, Ed Wubbe,) themselves create work or invite choreographers who create ballets that feature innovative movement, often on a stripped-down stage, who use music (jazz, rock, and yes, classical) not to underscore a story but to complement the often abstract, non-narrative arc of the piece. The Trocks do classical ballet, but in their own inimitable, hilarious way, and they also work with contemporary choreographers (Sean Curran and Peter Anastos, for example).
This is a long way of saying that our selection of the companies performing in 4x4 The Ballet Project is a logical continuation of what we have been presenting for the past 10 years and what originally made us think of programming these four companies together. Christopher Stowell, the Artistic Director of Oregon Ballet Theatre for five years, is extremely interested in contemporary ballet, created by such strong, inventive choreographers as James Kudelka, Lar Lubovitch, and Trey McIntyre; choreographers whom White Bird has presented (Kudelka this season with Coleman Lemieux & Co.and Lar and Trey next season). OBT’s contribution to the Ballet Project is its own premiere of a major work Rush by Christopher Wheeldon, who is possibly the most in-demand ballet choreographer today.
Toni Pimble, of Eugene Ballet Company, is highly regarded for creating powerful contemporary work, and the piece that she is contributing to our 4x4 evening is Still Falls the Rain, focused on the theme of religious intolerance. However, this is not a literal treatise but a beautiful, abstract treatment of this subject, set to a contemporary score.
PNB Dancers Noelani Pantastico and Olivier Wevers (Shindig choreographer) in Quijada's 'Suspension of Disbelief" © Angela Sterling Photography
Peter Boal, Artistic Director of Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet since 2005, was one of the most celebrated dancers with New York City Ballet for 22 years—and while in New York, he invited contemporary choreographers (with and without ballet background) to set new work on a chamber group of dancers he led, that performed at The Joyce Theater and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. His choice for 4x4 is a brand new piece by PNB company member Olivier Wevers, Shindig, which will have just had its world premiere in Seattle at Boal’s first “Laugh Out Loud” Festival.
And then there is San Francisco Ballet, the oldest professional ballet company in America, founded in 1933. Helgi Tomasson, Artistic Director since 1985, was, like Peter Boal, one of New York City Ballet’s greatest dancers, and has put SFB on the world map for its stunning productions of full-length classical ballets like Don Quixote and Giselle. At the same time he loves contemporary work and for the 75th anniversary celebration now happening, has commissioned 10 choreographers to create work for the New Works Festival about to open; these choreographers include Paul Taylor, James Kudelka, Chistopher Wheeldon, and Tomasson himself. For 4x4 SFB will perform Tomasson’s thrillingly athletic Concerto Grosso for five of the company’s best male dancers.
We strongly believe that this will be an evening of wonderfully strong contemporary work that fits perfectly into White Bird’s mission.