Dance Reviews

Jul 22, 2004 - The Artown Festival presents the brilliant Joffrey Ballet at the Reno Hilton Theatre

By Jack Neal

Wednesday night (7/21/2004) before a huge capacity audience in the luxurious Reno Hilton Theater the Joffrey Ballet proved once again why it is one of the world's paramount dance companies.

Nearly fifty years after the company was founded, Wednesday's varied program of dance and the luminous performances of the troupe individually and collectively radiated the youthful vitality and ravishing inventiveness for which the company has been so noted since its beginning.

Making this three performance engagement even more enticing was the return of prima ballerina Maia Wilkins who had her artistic beginnings here with Reno's Nevada Festival Ballet under the tutelage and guidance of the NFB's legendary Maggie Banks.

Most indelibly, the elegant Miss Wilkins danced "Ruth, Ricordi Per Due" with the noble Willy Shives. Danced serenely to Tomasso Albinoni's haunting Adagio in G Minor for Organ and Strings, "Ruth" was brought off with reverence and a romantic lyricism that was entirely captivating. The ballet is brand new and commissioned in honor of the commissioner's mother. Whatever the program might be for this lovely duet, the solitude and repose of the performances were inspired and inspiring. Both of the dancers treated the ballet as a gift, something they had waited their whole lives for. That gift was apparent on both sides of the footlights; as soul touching a gift for watchers as for the dancers themselves.

Other than "Pas Des Deeses" ("Dance of the Goddesses"), which opened the concert and which was choreographed by the late Robert Joffrey in 1956, the entire presentation was choreographed by the Joffrey's artistic director, Gerald Arpino. Mr. Arpino's work can be intimate, soulful, and geometrically intoxicating. His and the program's "Confetti," set to Rossini's Overture from "Semiramide," comes immediately to mind. What a dashing run for the money and thrill it is. All those beautiful bodies charging about the stage in perfect patterns and in subtle nuances of movement that fit Rossini's music to perfection.

"Light Rain," with exotic music by Douglas Adams and Russ Gauthier, is sheer unabashed dancing joy. There's an instinctive animal chemistry about the piece, a fabulously hypnotic splash of dance patterns mixed with the passionate desires of the young and virile, that makes it irresistible. "Light Rain" is not the speedy (although speedy it is), objective, fire-and-ice movement theatre associated with George Balanchine. In "Light Rain" the dancers are self-presentational, not a Balanchine trait, without ever upsetting the troupe's keen sense of ensemble, and that's no small feat. What is now Gerald Arpino's company (Joffrey died in 1988), the Joffrey dances with high style, impeccable technique and a devil-may-care posturing that is very exciting.

Contrasted with the supremely stylized and controlled "Pas Des Deeses" as choreographed by Joffrey, a study in control and exacting and sublime classical line, there's enormous soul in Mr. Arpino's choreography not to mention thrilling athleticism and an astonishing ability to display the beauty of the human form in splendid detail.

What is elicited from Mr. Arpino's superb collection of dancers is dance danced beautifully, with great skill, utter conviction and pride in knowing they're the best and given the best in dance to do with a company that stands tall with the world's finest.

Thanks to Artown executive director Beth Macmillan and her staff for bringing the Joffrey to Reno. The company provides wonderful experiences in dance. Artown provides wonderful experiences in the arts for thousands each July in Reno.

Bravo to all.

The Joffrey Ballet can be seen today, Thursday, July 22 (2004) at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Reno Hilton Theater, 2500 East 2nd Street, Reno. For information call 775-789-2285.