Last week, twelve of the male dancers and I travelled to New York City to dance in the Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center. The piece we performed, Jiří Kylían’s Soldiers’ Mass, was well received by audience and critics alike.
New York Dance Critic Tobi Tobias wrote: “The most rewarding number in Wednesday’s opening night of New York City Center’s annual Fall for Dance marathon came last: a dozen of the National Ballet of Canada’s men magnificently performing Jiří Kylían’s Soldiers’ Mass. The dance was composed in 1980; its message, of the men’s fear, courage, patriotism, bonding and hope so certain to be defeated, couldn’t be more timely.”
Aside from rehearsals and performing this piece twice at the festival, we spent our time exploring all that New York City had to offer.
Day one: Travel day. The flight was a little shaky due to the lingering effects of Hurricane Ike, but we made it to the hotel safe and sound by 5:00 pm.
Day two: We took ballet class at Steps, a dance studio on the Upper West Side where lots of professional dancers in the city do class.
Days three and four: We had some extra time to explore the city. We took in the sights including the dinosaur bones at the American Museum of Natural History.
This week, twelve male dancers have set off to New York City to perform Jiří Kylián’s Soldiers’ Mass at the Fall for Dance Festival. The festival takes place at New York City Center with a sister festival taking place in Orange County, California where the men will travel in October.
Created as a tribute to the soldiers of all wars, the piece is a reminder of the presence that war still has in our lives today. The ballet explores the brotherhood that the men share, the losses they encounter and the hope they experience together.
Cast members share their thoughts on Soldiers’ Mass as they prepare for the September 17 performance:
Etienne Lavigne, First Soloist: Ernest Hemingway was quoted as saying “Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” War has always been a relevant subject. Soldiers’ Mass is another chapter in the history of great artists discussing the ugliness of it and it is a pleasure for us to be able to dance Kylían’s vision.
Kevin D. Bowles, Principal Character Artist: For those of us living in Canada and the United States, we are permitted to live our daily lives unaware of the effects war. It is important to bring these issues that are geographically far away into the awareness of North American audiences. Soldiers who have died for our freedom deserve to be remembered.
Jonathan Renna, Second Soloist: I believe that the relevance of a piece like Soldiers’ Mass holds firm today. I think this piece is a great reminder of the sacrifice all of those men have made. It’s wonderful for the men of the National Ballet to have the opportunity to work so closely as a unit. In ballet, the men have fewer chances to work as a corps just with each other. It is a great opportunity for the men of this company to represent the National Ballet in such a prestigious dance festival.
Richard Landry, First Soloist: As advanced as we might get as a society, we still have war and people still die. This piece will be relevant as long as casualties are a part of war. Personally, I dance this piece for the soldiers from World War I, when trench warfare was common practice regardless of its success or failure. Line after line of men dying and getting nowhere. There was no secret as for what faced them, yet their faith and courage allowed them to leave that trench. The bond with their fellow troops is the last thing they had before death. This ballet is about that, knowing death was immanent, but standing tall next to your mates as one.
[Photos: Artists of The National Ballet of Canada in Soldiers' Mass by Sian Richards]
Continuing with something completely different!
I named my November 13, 2007 blog ‘Kevin’s Unofficial Guide to Ballet, Part One’ and I figured labeling it “Part One” was pure optimism, but after so many comments, I’m back!
We left off at ‘arabesque’. Let’s finish barre and move into centre:
Frappé [f-rap-eh] – to strike. Traditionally, one puts the working leg in coup-de-pied position, with the foot flexed and strikes the floor decisively with the ball of the foot ending at the tondu degagé position. This can be done devant (front), a côté (to the side), or derrier (to the back). It can also be done with pointed foot (don’t touch the floor if foot is pointed). The function of frappé is to train the quick twitch muscles of the leg to go from rest (sur-le-coup-du-pied) to extended (tondue degagé). I have been told by many teachers that this barre exercise is to train for the ‘jeté’ and ‘batterie’ (a type of jump paired with a beat in the air). At the very least, it is to get the leg moving quickly while at the barre.
Fondue [f-on-dyou] – to melt. A double movement starting with plié on one leg with the working leg at coup-de-pied then straightening both legs at the same time. The working leg can extend front, side or back. The challenge of fondue is that both legs should arrive at their destinations at the same time. Think of the working leg as having to move further through space than the standing leg.
Grand Battement [gr-ah-d bat-m-ah] – big kick. Forward, side or back, this movement is meant to stretch and strengthen the hip, thigh and lower back. Without displacing the upper body or the hips, kick the working leg energetically up to its limit then guide it slowly back down to 5th position. The body can slightly lean away from the kicking leg to the back or front, but this is known as ‘en cloche’ (like a bell). Normally the dancer tries to keep the body straight. The body always moves to accommodate the leg but only as much as the leg pushes the body. Don’t dive the body then kick the leg!
Centre (without the barre)
Tendue, degagé, port-de-bras - basically everything that is done at the barre is repeated in the first couple of exercises in the centre. But let’s get to something fun like…
Pirouette [p-ear-oo-et] Turn, balanced on one leg. This is the quintessential ballet movement. Way back, when it was invented (we’re talking circa 1700), the pirouette was nothing more than a spin executed with both legs together, which is what we now call a ‘pencil turn’. Classical ballet today sets up traditionally for the pirouette from 4th and is most well known when the working leg is at retirée. But basically any movement that turns around on itself, on one leg is a ‘pirouette’.
It can be done in arabesque, in attitude (arabesque with a bent working leg) sur-la-coup-de-pied (Bournonville), en avant (leg in front) arms can be high, low, in front, behind, leg a-la-second but bent and flexed (golden idol) going from 2nd to passé, going from passé to somewhere else. Preparation can be from 2nd or from 1st, or from one foot. Judging from what I have been asked to do, if you can get into a position, be ready to turn from that position!
Complicating matters even more, a piouette can be done ‘en dedant’ (to the inside) or ‘en dehors’ (to the outside). Think clockwise and counter-clockwise, looking down at the dancer’s head from the ceiling. Be careful which leg you are on; if the turn is happening with your left leg as the supporting leg (touching the floor) clockwise will be en dehors and counter-clockwise will be en dedant. If the right leg is the leg that you are turning on, en dedant is clockwise and en dehors is counter-clockwise.
Crazy, I know. If you can wrap your head around that, you should know that most dancers have a ‘good’ side that they turn to and that usually means en dehors. The ‘good’ side for en dedant is usually the other leg!
Until next time!
[Photos: Elena Lobsanova by Kevin D. Bowels]
