Dance Reviews

May 14, 2007 - Sierra Nevada Ballet's "The Unicorn, The Gorgon, The Manticore" is an achievement

By By Jack Neal

Rosine Bena, the choreographer and dance entrepreneur with big ideas, works slavishly to put her Sierra Nevada Ballet Company on the map. And everytime out she succeeds a bit more.

The company's recent presentation, Gian Carlo Menotti's "The Unicorn, The Gorgon and The Manticore" - produced in collaboration with Nevada Opera - came tremendously close to paying off big artistic dividends. Given today's economics, the Menotti is a ballet company's dream work. Live music at bargain prices (the nine-piece orchestra) fulfills the need for live music - a requirement of a first-rate dance concert, and when Menotti is doing the orchestrating the music is fresh and stunningly imaginative.

Scored for a chamber orchestra of nine and a chamber chorus of approximately 24, Menotti's music is the stuff of which enchantment is made. That's where Nevada Opera came in. The orchestra and chorus, conducted by NO's artistic director Michael Borowitz, were in solid form. The music is tricky. The choral portions of the program, while well done, showed signs of needing somewhat more time to settle in.

Borowitz was thoroughly on target as a ballet conductor, although there were some moments of extended pause when theatricality demanded more astute pacing. That was undoubtedly not the conductor's fault but a demand from dance quarters to wait on the music until dancers are comfortably in place. Take a hint from Broadway. Dancers get in place when they discover that music moves on ready or not.

"The Unicorn" costumes, commissioned by the Library of Congress over a half century ago, were created by the Helene Pons Studio of New York. No credit is given for the actual designs, but whoever designed created magical and elegant costumes worthy of this largely magical and elegant presentation.

Bena's choreography is not her most exciting, but it is solid storytelling through mime and dance. Principal dancers Eugene Petrov, the poet and the ballet's central figure, Ananda Bena-Weber, the countess, and Larissa Cassera, the Unicorn, do what principal dancers are engaged to do – bring skill and magnetism to the stage. The very young Ryan Vettel charms as the Poet Child. SNB's corp de ballet is snap, crackle, razor sharp. Clearly the company is well trained and exceptionally disciplined.

Funny, whimsical, marinated in wit, and attractively danced and staged, the Sierra Nevada Ballet's "The Unicorn, The Gorgon and The Manticore" is an achievement in dance.

The program opened with the classically inspired "Mozart Moods," an offering that showed the company to be precise and in fine fettle, if a bit flat. Tap dancer Sam Weber did his usual terrific turn as one of America's leading exponents of rapid-fire tap.

Next up, the innovative "Take Me to the River," set to the music of Annie Lennox, a contemporary work of captivating Americana, does well what this ballet should do well and that's capture the ear of Annie Lennox's fabulously evocative music.

"The Unicorn, The Gorgon and The Manticore" plus "Mozart Moods" and "Take Me to the River" played Carson City's Brewery Arts Center Friday evening (5/11/07) and Reno's Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. I saw and heard the Saturday performance in Reno. The audience was enthusiastic but far from capacity. The Sierra Nevada Ballet is an exciting dance troupe that deserves public support. Hopefully that support will emerge sooner rather than later.

For future Sierra Nevada Ballet events and performances call 775-783-3223.