Dance Reviews

Jul 28, 2005 - Sierra Nevada Ballet's Artown presentation provides an entertaining evening of dance

By Jack Neal

Thanks to a beautifully thought-out program by Sierra Nevada Ballet choreographer and artistic director Rosine Bena, Tuesday evening (7/19/05) in the park along side the rushing waters of the Truckee River was a grand night for everything, especially dance. Getting it right for the folks in Wingfield Park is what Artown is about and SNB more than did its part.

With original music by harpist Susan Mazer and master of the wind synthesizer Dallas Smith, who (along with percussionist Eric Middleton) accompanied much of the program, it was an exciting evening of both music and dance.

With the company's mix of fresh young dancers on the way up and mature dancers in peak form, meshing styles together and making it all work in a seamless fashion is no small feat. Rosine Bena knows how to make it work and make it entertaining for a large summer audience thrilled to be watching excellent dance under the stars.

The exceptional tap dancer Sam Weber was on board, and dazzled with the kind of vibrant tapping not experienced since the heyday of movie musicals. Mr. Weber sizzled his way through "Got Fascinating Rhythm," set to several Gershwin tunes as arranged and played by Mazer and Smith. For anyone who thrilled at the silver screen dancing of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, Mr. Weber's virtuosity and breezy delivery delivers nostalgia plus. For those seeing this exceptional dancer for the first time, welcome to the Sam Weber tap-dance fan club.

In an inspired joining of tap and ballet Sam Weber collaborated with Ananda Bena-Weber for a sensuous visualization of "Summertime." A glorious match, Ms. Bena-Weber is an exceptionally expressive dancer, and Mr. Weber is a virtuouso whose work is always high art, the two artists carried "Summertime" to a steamy high.

Domingo Rubio, who starred in last spring's SNB production of "A Painter's Love Story," a dance expression of the work of painter Maxfield Parrish, starred again in excerpts from the same ballet. Mr. Rubio, a highly lyric dancer, is at his best with lushly romantic material and Rosine Bena's choreography wears romanticism on its sleeve. Mr. Rubio's soliloquy surrounding Parrish's painting of and for his principal model, Sue Lewin, was simple, serene and touchingly brought off.

Simplicity is the cornerstone of Ms. Bena's designs for movement, which makes what she creates for young dancers just that much more affecting. Set to the music of Roy Orbison, Molly Story Arbogast was effective in "Mean as She Can Be." Ramona Cachinero was a standout in "Wampango" (music by Paquito de Rivera) and the "Black Swan Variation" (music by Tchaikovsky).

At 16, E. Cort Larson, one of the company's youngest dancers, was a handsome Snow King and an assured consort to Larissa Cassera's elegant and lovely Snow Queen. Mr. Larson's choreography for "Slave Dance" (he is the SNB's Young Choreographer award winner) was vividly presented, a major effort from a rising young talent. And so it went from one exceptional and entertaining dance experience to another.

The Sierra Nevada Ballet is rapidly becoming Northern Nevada's best hope for gaining a professional dance company.

The program was dedicated to the late Maggie Banks, most recently the artistic director of Nevada Festival Ballet. Whether dancing as a principal ballerina, or choreographing for her company, films and nightclubs, Maggie Banks was one of the most influential dance artists in the business and a dance icon in Nevada.

Rosine Bena and her emerging and excellent Sierra Nevada Ballet appear poised to fill the void created by the passing of Maggie Banks. It's reassuring to know that ballet and other forms of dance will continue to be in capable hands.