Texas Ballet Theater to stream Henry VIII ballet this weekend

Since there are currently no dance performance going on around town due to COVID-19 I wanted to draw attention to the local dance organizations who are using online platforms such as Facebook and YouTube channels to connect with new and established audiences by offering free content within a specific time frame. To date I have viewed Bruce Wood Dance in Joy Bollinger’s Carved in Stone, Texas Ballet Theater’s (TBT) premiere of  Ma Cong’s Firebird, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance in Joshua L. Peugh’s Aladdin and an excerpt of Jennifer Mabus’s Citizens of Loss for Avant Chamber Ballet.

So, ahead of TBT’s streaming of Carl Coomer’s Henry VIII May 8 and 9 at 8pm on the company’s YouTube channel @tbttheater, I wanted to revisit my conversation with Coomer about the making of this balletic work. Below is a copy of my Q&A with Coomer, which was originally posted on TheaterJones.com in February 2018.

Please enjoy!

Dancing Scandal

Texas Ballet Theater brings all the glitz, glam and romantic intrigue of Carl Coomer’s new work Henry VIII to Bass Performance Hall this weekend.

Photo: Steven Visneau

Texas Ballet Theater presents Carl Coomer’s Henry VIII

 

Fort Worth — From the moment Carl Coomer stepped on stage in George Balanchine’s Apollo at Texas Ballet Theater’s (TBT) Portraits Ballet Festival in Dallas back in 2012, I was immediately drawn to his sculpted body lines and effortless classical technique as well as his chiseled good looks. But he also grabbed me emotionally in Evolving, in his first choreographic work, which was also being showcased that day. Since then I have watched Coomer grow in both artistry and stage leadership with prominent roles in Ben Stevenson’s Swan Lake (2014), Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort (2015), Jonathan Watkins’ Crash (2015) and Val Caniparoli’s Without Borders (2016), just to name a few. He premiered his second work the company entitled Clann back in 2014. On a more personal note Coomer is married to former TBT Leticia Oliveira and they have two children, the second of which arrived only two months ago.

For those unfamiliar with Coomer’s background, he hails from Liverpool, England, where he starting dancing at the age of 13. Soon after he was offered a scholarship to attend the Royal Ballet School under the direction of Dame Merle Park and Gailene Stock. After moving to the States, Coomer danced with Houston Ballet for six seasons before joining TBT in 2007. In addition to the works mentioned above Coomer has also performed in lead roles in Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker, Giselle, Dracula, Four Last Songs, Three Preludes, Five Poems, Mozart Requiem, Coppelia, Cleopatra, Peer Gynt, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

The last time I interviewed Coomer in 2015 for Petite Mort I asked him if we would be seeing more of his choreography in future and his response was “if Mr. Stevenson offered me another opportunity to choreography I would be more than willing to do it.” Well, here we are, three years later and Coomer is once again testing his choreographic methods in Henry VIII, a 55-minute ballet that focuses on the second Tudor Monarch’s relationships with his six wives as well his transformation from a viral young king to a sickly old man.

Set to Gustav Holst’s famous musical work The Planets, Henry VIII includes a custom-built, Tudor-esque set, dramatic period costumes and three-dimensional mapping and projections. Texas Ballet Theater will present Henry VIII along with Alexei Ratmansky’s Seven Sonatas, March 2-4, at Bass Performance in Fort Worth.

I caught up with Coomer in between rehearsals this week to ask him how he prepped for creating a ballet around such historical figures, his musical selection and choreographing sections for six very different female characters.

Photo: Texas Ballet Theater

Carl Coomer

TheaterJones: What types of research did you do leading up to rehearsals?

Carl Coomer: I knew a lot about Henry VIII anyway just from growing up in England and learning about him in school. But once a lot of the shows like The Tudors and Wolf Hall came out I just started watching everything I could to get a deeper understanding of his character. I also watched a lot of documentaries and a lot of books as well, with some being fictional and while others were just historical accounts on that time period. So yeah, I just gathered as much information as I possible could so I could build my own perspective on how to tell the story.

What were some of the highlights of this time period that you clearly wanted showcased in the ballet?

I really wanted to make it about how different each one of the wives is and how differently Henry VIII was with each one of them. Like he was together with Catherine of Aragon for so long (1509-1533) and they were in love, but it was definitely more of a political marriage. And then when Anne Boleyn (1533-1536) came along and that all happened their relationship was a lot more sensual and sexual and he was really seduced by her. And then with Jane Seymour (1536-1537) he was madly and deeply in love with her so, I just wanted to show how different each one of the wives is and how Henry VIII is with them.

In terms of the ballet’s structure is it set up like a story ballet or broken into specific vignettes?

I think it’s a bit of both because it is a story ballet so there is narrative happening throughout it. But at the same time having to tell somebody’s life story of 50 to 60 years in a about 50 minutes there is just no way you can include every little bit of information. So, I had to pick and choose what’s important and what to include so I decided to focus on the wives and each one of them has their own piece of music, which is the seven pieces of music from Gustav Holst’s The Planets. Each wife has her own piece of music and then the seventh piece is saved for the battle scene. So, the ballet does contain these little vignettes in a way because of each wife, but then the passing of time can’t really be explained to the audience without the entire cast carrying on with the larger narrative. So, it’s a little bit of both. It’s a story ballet, but spilt up into seven sections.

Having yourself performed in so many story ballets, what was it like to create your own?

For me, and I think I have probably told you this before, the music always comes first. What I had to do was to decide which piece of music would go with which wife and how does all of their personalities match with each piece of music. And once I had that figured out I literally sat down and scoured through every second of the music while thinking how I could tell the story minute by minute through this music. And then I used the music to kind of create a script if you like in order to break everything down to tell the story. I don’t know how others do it, but this was the best way for me to do it.

What led you to Gustav Holst’s The Planets for the ballet’s score?

It was one of the first pieces of classical music that I had ever heard when I was really young and it’s a pretty epic piece. I went to an all-boys school and they made us sit down in the assembly hall and made us listen to some classical music and when they put The Planets on I was just wowed by it, especially the war and Mars battle scene. It was a lot of drums, and horns and violins and I just loved it so much that even after I started dancing it has remained one of my favorite pieces of music as a whole. Each section has something different to offer and I think with this story it just blends so perfectly.

I noticed that a couple of the wives are being danced by new-to-mid-seasoned company members such as Samantha Pille (second season) and Alexandra Farber (sixth season), while others will be danced by more seasoned pros like Carolyn Judson (15th season), Katelyn Clenaghan (14th season) and Michelle Taylor (12th). How did you go about selecting the dancers to play each one of Henry VIII’s wives?

Well, the number of years the dancers have been with the company never really crossed my mind. I picked who was going to do what based on what I thought would suit all the dancers movement-wise and personality-wise. I mean I know all these dancers really well, but I have known Carrie and Katelyn and Michelle for a lot longer than the others so I know what they’re capable of and what suits them. I mean Michelle, is a really good actress and she likes to be dramatic so I picked her for Catherine of Aragon. Now with Carrie you know she has done so many romantic leads like Romeo and Juliet and so Jane Seymour suited her really well. And Katelyn just dances with a whole lot of abandon and with Anne Boleyn I wanted a lot of running and jumping on pointe and I knew she would be down for that.

 

 

Preview: Texas Ballet Theater’s Cleopatra

Dancing Queen

Carolyn Judson on her role as the Queen of the Nile in Texas Ballet Theater’s production of Cleopatra in Fort Worth this weekend.

Carolyn Judson as Cleopatra. Photo: Steven Visneau

Fort Worth — With her girl-next-door looks and sweet disposition, Carolyn Judson is the obvious choice to play the female lead in story ballets such as Giselle, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet and The Nutcracker. In addition to her physical attributes, Judson’s penchant for softer, more pliable body positions, delicate foot work and beautifully drawn out leg extensions also make for easy casting decisions. But this weekend she will be trading in these sweet roles for something more seductive in Texas Ballet Theater’s (TBT) Cleopatra at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth.

Transforming into this powerful temptress has been a fun challenge for Judson who also played the part in TBT’s 2009 production of Cleopatra. But because back then she only got the role last minute, Judson says she was more focused on learning the steps than working on the characterization, something she hopes to rectify this time around.

“This time around I really wanted to try and capture that strong woman human quality that I think is Cleopatra,” Judson says.

As to how she accomplished this task Judson says timing both in the literal sense and where she is artistically speaking played a pivotal role in the rehearsal process. “Well, for one thing I have had more time to devote to the character. I also have more experience to pull from and richer character development than I did years ago, which has really helped because this role is so emotionally draining.”

Judson is the type of dancer who learns by doing the movement as it materializes from the choreographer. So, when rehearsing for Cleopatra she says she retains movement best when she is copying what TBT Artistic Director Ben Stevenson is doing alongside her. But when it comes to understanding a certain feeling or emotion, Judson says she will usually watch Stevenson from the front so she doesn’t miss any of his nuances.

For this weekend’s performance Judson will be reunited with her former Cleopatra partner Andre Silva, whom she says she used to partner with all the time before he left the company only to return a couple of years ago. “Other than doing the sugar plum fairy variation in The Nutcracker last season this is our first full-length ballet together since he has come back, and we’re just really excited to be working together again. That we have been building on things that we’ve experienced in the past 16 years here has made our bond even stronger and we’re really enjoying our work together.”

Another beautiful bonus of TBT’s Cleopatra performance is the live accompaniment provided by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Judson points out that the majority of rehearsals have been to recorded music and it wasn’t until two weeks prior to the show that the conductor came to the studio to lay the music out on the piano.

“This way he can get used to our tempos and we can get used to doing something that’s not going to be always the same.” She adds, “This is important because it does takes quite a bit of rearranging your brain when dancing to live music since our minds kind of go on autopilot with a recording a lot of the time. So, it’s really helpful for us to have those two weeks before to get used to the music for both the dancers and the conductor.” She also notes that the company will not get to perform with the full orchestra until the Wednesday before the show.

A fun fact I learned about Judson is that during performances with live music she likes to find moments in the show to make eye contact with the conductor. “I think there are times when it’s appropriate to look at the conductor during a performance. For example, whenever I’m taking a bow I end up looking at him as sort of a thank you because this is such a nice collaboration between musicians and artists and so it’s much more enjoyable for us to feel like we are all working on the same project and not just two separate entities.” She adds, “I don’t look at the conductor all the way through the ballet, but I think there are times when you can really bring him in to the action on stage.”

It’s hard to talk to any professional ballet dancer nowadays without bringing up the lawsuit against New York City Ballet and Principal Chase Finlay and other scandals involving the company over the last year. With this in mind I wanted to know what steps, if any, has TBT taken to ensure that its dancers and staff feel safe and supported. “Actually at the end of last season we did have a company come in and work with us on just being mindful of how we talk to each other and how we treat each other. We also have our school here in the same building and just being aware of treatment of the children as well especially since some of the company dancers are also teachers at the school.”

She adds, “So yes we did go through a program with tests and educational information just to make sure that everyone is on the same page. And we are so lucky that we have a really great working environment here and we all consider each other family and in fact most of us are married to other people in the company.”

You can see Judson in Texas Ballet Theater’s production of Cleopatra Sept. 28-30 at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth.

This preview was originally posted on TheaterJones.com.

 

Timeless Tale

Carolyn Judson in TBT’s Swan Lake. Photo: Steven Visneau

Fort Worth — Many critics would say they have a love/hate relationship with the ballet Swan Lake. Hate because we have seen it re-done and over-done so many times. Love because when executed correctly we can find ourselves at a loss for words. These conflicting views might have something to do with the ballet’s own fractured history. The Swan Lake we know today derives from the production choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s composition and premiered in St. Petersburg in 1895.

What many might not know is that Tchaikovsky actually composed the score in the mid-1870s and that the first production of Swan Lake was performed on stage in Moscow under the title The Lake of the Swans. It also may come as a surprise to some that the original version was a product of the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre before it was revived in St. Petersburg. Petipa and Ivanov also had different ideas when it came the ballet’s choreography due to their dissimilar dance backgrounds; Petipa with his Italian and Parisian influences and Ivanov with his Imperial Russian influences. Their contrasting styles helped create one of the most challenging and coveted roles in ballet: Odette/Odile.

Swan Lake tells the story of the beautiful Odette who is turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer and only love can break the spell. The sorcerer plays a trick on the prince so that he falls in love with the imposter black swan thus dooming Odette. Instead of spending an eternity as a swan Odette chooses to kill herself and once the prince realizes what he has done he decides to die with her. Not exactly the happily-ever-after audiences might expect.

It’s definitely a risk for Texas Ballet Theater to close its season with such an infamous ballet, but if dress rehearsal on Thursday was any indication audiences are in for a well-balanced performance. The opening party scene in the woods started off a little rocky, but quickly gained momentum. At first, the dancers’ pantomiming felt a bit forced and Principal Dancer Lucas Priolo’s stage entrance lacked energy. But as the scene progressed the dancers began to lose themselves in the movement and story thanks in part to the live accompaniment provided by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra—the first time TBT has has live orchestra accompaniment since 2008.

The two female soloists in the party scene displayed beautiful control and amazing fortitude as they seamlessly executed multiple entrechat trois and echappe jumps into a slow arabesque hold. Simon Wexler upped the ante with his mind-blowing jumps and technical dexterity. He attacks all his movement with such vigor that viewers are just waiting for him to fall out of a turn or fumble a landing. He does neither of these things.

Priolo’s movement becomes more fluid and texturized when he dances with Carolyn Judson (Odette/Odile) during the lake scene. His quiet charm, stoic lines and breezy partnering skills are only a few of the qualities audiences are going to miss when he retires after this performance season. With her long lines, winged feet and angelic face, Judson is the quintessential swan princess. But don’t let her willowy frame and divine adagio work fool you. As soon as the tempo picks up she begins fluttering her arms frantically as she aggressively bourrees across the floor.

The corps of swans also has the difficult task of executing every head tilt, wrist flick and body angle in complete unison and at a quick-moving pace. If one dancer’s leg is a little higher than the others the whole illusion of the dance is scattered. This part of the ballet is so well-known because of its uniformity. The corps accomplishes this by breathing together as a group, giving off a tranquil vibe even as they are moving quickly in and out of formations while performing tricky foot work.

The return to live music will be talked about just as much as the dancing. The orchestra had to be cut because of financial difficulties at the start of the recession, but appears to slowly be making a comeback. In the 2014-15 season, TBT will have two productions with the FWSO: The Sleeping Beauty and The Merry Widow.

Texas Ballet Theater’s production of Swan Lake runs May 30-June 1, 2014 at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth.

This preview was originally posted on TheaterJones.com.

Review: The Nutcracker, Texas Ballet Theater

Courtesy of Texas Ballet Theater

High-Flying Wows in Holiday Classic!

Texas Ballet Theater’s annual production of The Nutcracker is filled with theatrical comedy, classical ballet, and entertaining special effects not often seen in most renditions of this holiday favorite.

The company goes all out with gorgeous backdrops, large moving props, smoke machines, and a flying sleigh at their Dallas home, the state-of-the-art Winspear Opera House (their Fort Worth home is Bass Performance Hall).

The opening party scene started promising at the Dec. 1 show. Two staircases flanking on the stage brought dimension and provided performers with a larger space to dance. Though it lacked any challenging dance technique –– there was a lot of walking and gesturing –– the slapstick comedy, injected by choreographer (and the company’s artistic director) Ben Stevenson, was a hit as it is each season. A clumsy grandfather, for example, a hard of hearing grandmother, and prankster brother got the biggest roars.

As an angelic-looking Clara, dancer Aoi Takahashi, dressed in a white flowing nightgown, had a lovely youthful air about her and competent pointe work.  Drake Humphreys looked a bit too old to play the annoying younger brother, but his enthusiasm and strong technique was undeniable.

The most commanding presence at party scene was Carl Coomer as Dr. Drosselmeyer. Only a consummate pro like Coomer can draw in the audience with the slightest flick of his wrist as he hands Clara her Nutcracker.

Courtesy of Texas Ballet Theater

The story and dancing gain momentum in the raucous battle scene where the men displayed strength and stamina as the Nutcracker’s soldiers. And there’s plenty of action. The sword fighting, between the Nutcracker (Adam Boreland) and the Rat King (Paul Adams), was enhanced by the dim lighting and menacing black and red figures in shapes of rats and nutcrackers on the front stage scrim.

After the height of the action, where Clara killed the Rat King with her shoe, the scrim rose revealing a calm and serene background of silvery blue and a snow-encrusted slope hidden underneath a thin layer of mist. The atmosphere perfectly ushered in the magical snow scene where the Snow Queen (Carolyn Judson) and Snow King (Lucas Priolo) appear through the misty slope.

Judson, a spritely technician, attacked every pique turn and arabesquehold with grace and vigor. Priolo, a true gentleman, offered Judson his arm with poise and easily lifted her over his head during the romantic grande pas de deux. It was a pleasure seeing Priolo perform one of his signature roles with the company one last time before he retires at the end of this season in 2014. The light and airy movement of the snowflakes (advanced students with the company’s ballet school) was lovely as well.

The second act had more of the fabulous technique and artistry viewers have come to expect from the company. Betsy McBride and Alexander Kotelenets were a dynamic duo as the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. McBride’s willowy frame made her lines appear unending. She accomplished the fast footwork and difficult turning section in the grande pas de deuxwith swan-like style. Kotelenets’ Apollo-like features matched his prowess as he ate up the stage in his turning grande jete section.

The acrobatic partnering of Simon Wexler and Philip Slocki in the Chinese section and their drop in from the ceiling on two swings won loud cheers. Boreland as the Gopak received a round of applause for his otherworldly grande jetes. High energy in both of these sections, unfortunately, outshined the slower, yet still beautifully executed Arabian section.

The Waltz of the Flowers contained some visually pleasing formation changes and picture perfect moments as the flowers took turns leaping across the stage in wispy pink tutus. The romantic grandepas de deux by Judson and Priolo was a memorable way to end the show.

This review is also posted on WorldArtsToday.com.