Envisioning a Night at the Ballet

March 9, 2007

by Natalie Polito

One of the benefits of attending a semi-urban university is the culture that the city affords its many students. True, Tufts is outside of the city, and even a little isolated from the suburbs it bridges, but we’re close enough to the city that it’s easy to be informed about cultural happenings in and around Boston. It just takes a little effort sometimes.

When I say culture, I’m not just talking about museums, festivals, or plays—I’m talking about things that college students stereotypically avoid, like classical music or dance. But at a school where the fine arts are increasingly flourishing, I know that there are students who are interested in more culture, and even craving it. I was looking to fill a void which had been extant since my arrival at Tufts—dance. For former dancers, current dancers, and those who simply enjoy watching performances, finding and attending a dance show can sometimes seem difficult. But last week I attended the Boston Ballet’s New Visions performance, and the experience was certainly worth whatever hassle is involved with attending such an event.

The Boston Ballet is one of the country’s premier ballet companies, and “New Visions” represents a slight shift in tone for the group. Other performances this season have included traditional ballets, like “Don Quixote” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, but “New Visions” focused on contemporary ballet. The show was composed of three ballets, with choreography by three different artists. Perhaps the most exciting of the three was a premier by Boston Ballet’s resident choreographer Jorma Elo, but all three were equally poignant and impressive. “Brake the Eyes” (the premier) was a like a dream, or more appropriately, a vision. Both ethereal and aggressive, this piece commanded the viewer’s attention from start to finish. It was as if I couldn’t take my eyes off the stage—the combination of abstract modern dance conventions and traditional ballet was completely captivating, and the dancers, of course, were amazing. “Brake the Eyes” combined spoken word with a soundtrack my Mozart, which at some points was mixed with more electronic sounds. And the amazing thing about this piece and contemporary ballet in general is that the viewer gets the best of both worlds: the emotion of modern dance and the elitism of ballet. Not once did I see an imperfect extension or relaxed foot, but I still felt a certain rawness in the expression of movement.

“Polyphonia”, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and “Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion”, choreographed by Val Caniparoli were the other two ballets in the show, and although they were not premiers, they were as brilliant as ever. “Polyphonia”, a piece very close to my heart, was performed by four couples in only leotards, and included lots of interaction among couples, including breathtaking lifts and jumps. The music to the piece was composed by Gyorgy Ligeti, who composed the music in several Stanley Kubrick films, including The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut. Thus, as you can probably imagine, the actual dance was a little dark. But just like “Brake the Eyes”, the performance was a visual masterpiece, reminiscent at once of Merce Cunningham and traditional ballets like “Sleeping Beauty.” “Sonata for Two Pianos” included a seemingly larger ensemble of dancers, but the precision and emotion was just as powerful.

At this point, for readers possessing only a rudimentary appreciation for ballet and modern dance, I will pause to explain myself. The point of all of this description and performance analysis is to show that this performance was something that I desperately needed to attend, and I didn’t even realize it until I went. Certainly there are other students who are in the same predicament I was in, and are eager to take advantage of the city. I admit that impediments can be justified—performances seem too expensive, you’re unfamiliar with the location of the venue, you don’t know what’s on—but all of these obstacles can be simultaneously refuted. The Boston Ballet, for example, sells student tickets for $20, when the full price can reach upwards of $78, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra has a similar rate. In terms of location, the show I saw from the Boston Ballet was performed in the Citi Wang Theatre, which is literally two blocks outside of the Boylston stop on the green line. Most performances in Boston are in that same Theater District, which is easy to find and navigate.

So, in conclusion, there are opportunities to experience culture in Boston, and although it takes planning and research, maybe an evening at the ballet in the city is what we’ve all been needing.