It’s been a few days since jumping to my feet to applaud Angel Corella and his company but when a ballet performance is that good, you are still talking about it days and days later. There are still moments in the mind’s eye where a physical movement conjures the same emotion in your soul as the moment that you saw it happen in real time.

The first offering for the night was Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 choreographed by Clark Tippet to, obviously, Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 Opus 26. Costumes by Dain Marcus. The costumes were of the traditional ballet fair and beautifully done. Tutus with miles of underskirts were driving me nuts as I am a tactile person and was dying to examine them up close! Gorgeous for both the soloists and the corps. This piece was created for ABT; it shows, it reflects a number of different attitudes and a substantial level of athleticism. One could imagine if they were a choreographer creating for a company with a number of great but very different stars, something similar would be the result.

The first two PDDs  were danced by Kazuko Omori and Yevgen Uzlenkov and Maria Jose Sales and Sergei Diyachkov were danced well, not spectacularly so, but technically well. The choreography for these two PDD’s was not exciting and it seemed a sort of odd way to start a performance. However, the final two PDD’s of the four PDDs offered were much more substantial. Natalia Tapia and Aaron Robison danced a beautifully sensual PDD, very sexy, very human. Cristina Casa and Fernando Bufala danced an exciting and youthful PDD, full of energy and life. On the whole, Bruch Violin Concerto was a nice piece and well received. Basically, it was an appetizer.

Following an intermission, the company presented Clear, a piece choreographed by Stanton Welch set to a work by Bach. Costumes were done by Michael Kors for Celine. Let me reiterate the appropriateness of the costuming for the entire presentation, the costumes were very simple, a pale nude pant for the boys and a pale nude pant and shorty tank top for Carmen. Let me also state for the record that I am an immense fan of Bach. Bach, for me, typifies intensely deep felt passion, not necessarily overt or obvious, but thick with feeling. Which is most appropriate to the fact that this piece is a reaction to the crisis following 9/11. Welch was looking to convey the notion that love and family are what bring you out of crisis and into healing.

Having read the synopsis, I began looking for some sort of correlation to 9/11 and just as I was thinking to myself that I didn’t see it at all, two male dancers began a segment where one dancer began his movement and other began the same movement in shadow. There was a lump in my throat as I watched them rise and fall, one then the other, one then the other. The dancers were solemn and beautiful, the movements sometimes painful, sometimes pure, sometimes in love, sometimes alone. I was glad to have attended this performance as it would be the only night in Los Angeles that Clear was being offered. Christopher Wheeldon’s For 4 was on the program for the other performances.

Now came to the moment that I and most of the Los Angeles audience were waiting for! Solea. Let the word roll off your tongue, let is linger there like something sweet, something savory, something rich and decadent. Solea. Solea was choreographed by Maria Pages for Angel and Carmen. The music is by Ruben Lebaniegos. Solea is a piece that was intended to be a collaboration between flamenco and classical ballet. A (professional) reviewer said that Solea lacked a true integration of flamenco and ballet. I agree and for this I am glad! To hold the integrity of each discipline is to respect each as equally strong and equally worthy of the stage.

I am Spanish by ancestry. Three of my four great-grandfathers came to the new world from Spain, and three of my four great-great-grandmothers came to the new world from Spain. After leaving Madrid, Segovia, Seville, and Pamplona, my family settled in Southern California, the place we now consider our “home.” I am proudly an American, but I am also proudly and in some ways inexplicable even to me, strongly Spaniard. There is something that is born in every Spaniard’s soul and it is released in the cante (song).

Solea is born slowly with brother and sister sitting in chairs next to each other but not facing each other, the adjust their seating and take turns placing their heads, one then the other, on each others shoulders as the music rises. And I tear up. It’s a Spaniards response. They snap their fingers, they roll their shoulders, they crack the heel to the floor, they clap their hands, and they dance like Spaniards who happen to be classical ballet dancers.

It is clear that Angel and Carmen love to dance. Let me correct myself, Angel and Carmen make it clear to the audience that they love to dance. They make it clear that they love each other. They make it clear they love being Spaniards. Angel dances with abandon, he doesn’t need to concentrate on the difficulty of his steps, he knows what needs to be done and that he can do it. Instead he dances with a pride and a joy that fills the theatre. He flies across the stage. Carmen too dances freely, openly, her long skirt flowing and swirling around her long legs in perfect timing to the music. The stage is too small for them, for their joy, for their energy, for Solea.

The very moment that Solea comes to a bright and brilliant end, the audience jumps to its feet, they cannot love Angel and Carmen enough. And just as the dance began, I find tears in my eyes as it ends. There are rare moments of perfection in life, for a Spaniard it is best summed up in a cante because a song is never without a dance and a dance is never without family and friends and family is never without a cante! Bravo, Viva!

Come back to Los Angeles soon, Angel!

It was opening night for Corella Ballet in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre last night. In addition to the distinction of being opening night, this is Corella Ballets first trip to the West Coast and only its second trip to perform in the U.S. The first trip was to City Center in New York in March of this year. Being the kind of Angel Corella fan that I am, we (that is, CarBoy & I) made the trip to NY to see him present his baby. It was really wonderful and I couldn’t wait to see them again, so when I heard that Angel and his company were coming to Los Angeles, I was overjoyed!

I’m going to have to cover the evening in parts, there is just so very much to talk about! First up is actually the last piece of the evening, DGV. DGV: Danse a Grand Vitesse is choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon to music by Michael Nyman. It was premiered originally by the Royal Ballet. The costumes and sets were designed by Jean-Marc Puissant.The music was originally commissioned by the French railway to commemorate the opening of a high-speed train line between Lille and Paris. Leave it to the French to commission music for such an event! Los Angeles would… well, it doesn’t apply because we can’t even get a high-speed train built; we still have problems with bus lines!!!  It was MGV: Musique a Grande Vitesse. Then Christopher Wheeldon adapted MGV to DGV for ballet. It was exclusively performed by the Royal Ballet of London until Angel Corella!

The dance speaks to travel, thus the set is industrial, grays and metal, very urban yet not stark. The costumes involve gray tights and piped tops in softly muted marled colors of blue, green, and purple, with black piping. I was reminded of the 1927 silent film Metropolis or the Disney classic Tron. The sets and costumes worked well to fit the mood and the dance. It’s not that poor sets and bad costuming takes away from great dance but it can detract from a great performance. In this case, the sets, the costumes, the lighting, the scrim at the opening were fantastic, everything working to strengthen everything else.

DGV features four couples and the corp. The first couple was Carmen and Dayron Vera. Carmen worked hard tonight dancing three of the four offerings! I love Carmen and never understood why she was so underused at ABT. She’s got beautiful long lines and a gorgeous face, she and Angel share that amazing smile. Dayron Vera is Cuban, looks young, and is new to the troupe. He dances better solo. He had a little trouble partnering Carmen but she took it in stride and helped him out. It was really cute that he looked shocked to receive big time applause. He’s tall and he has these great long, slender limbs that go on forever.  Plus he has a great head of curly hair, sorry but I’m a sucker for great hair.

The second couple was Kazuko Omori and Kirill Radev. I remember Kazuko from NY because she did some awesome things, but it was not her night. She wasn’t awful but she wasn’t memorable. She has the ability, I saw it in NY, maybe she just had a bad flight or something. She kept a smile on her pretty face and kept going for it though! Kirill was fantastic in NY & LA, he’s cute and blonde and can carry a girl around above his head forever and look completely at ease. He has a nice jump and a lovely gracefulness.

The third couple was Natalia Tapia and Aaron Robison. Natalia is kick a$$. She could stand to eat a few more cookies but she wowed the audience with every step. She has limbs that go on forever and insane flexibility, she does a extention that is crazy! Paired with Aaron, you can’t go wrong. Aaron moves cleanly and quickly. He bloodied a knee is an earlier piece, which just goes to show you, he definitely goes all out in a performance. Their pdd included a trust move where Aaron extends Natalia out by holding onto her ankle, which sort of leaves a lot of room for the girl to hit the ground face first if done poorly or looks fantastic and edgy when done well. It was fantastic and edgy. Angel danced this part in NY. There is a segment performed in silence danced in a sort of slo mo – it’s beautiful, perfect art.

The fourth couple were Cristina Casa and Fernando Bufala. I’m going to tell you that I am a Cristina and Fernando fan! Throughout Cristina just looked like she was having a ball! She is a spitfire! Cristina definitely has a Kitri inside her. She is tiny, fast as lightening, and fun to watch. Fernando is a young Angel, from the smile to the rapid fire turns. They had a great time dancing and we had a great time watching – that is really the essence of a great performance, don’t you think!

The corp was fantastic, DGV is an impressive piece, very, very full. It’s a piece that is contemporary without being aloof, new without needing to shock, infuses difficult dancing without having to resort to tricks, and shows off corp, pdd, and individual skills. Thumbs up all around.

Next up, Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1…