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Dance festivals honoring iconic choreographers can be a boon for said choreographers’ legacy. Consider the retrospectives on such esteemed dancemakers as Kenneth McMillan, Fredrick Ashton, Katherine Dunham, John Cranko, Jerome Robbins, Alvin Ailey, and the inimitable George Balanchine.
The Arpino Dance Festival honored the choreographic genius of Gerald Arpino, the former artistic director of the Joffrey Ballet. Arpino was one of the founding members of the Joffrey Ballet, first as a lead dancer of the company in the late 1950s and later as one of the company’s resident choreographers, choreographing nearly 50 years for the Joffrey Ballet in his 50-year association with the company.
The Arpino Dance Festival took place at the Joyce Theater in New York City from September 30 to October 12. Fashion Reverie attended the program that included “Confetti,” “Valentine,” “Sea Shadow,” and “Light Rain.”
These four dance works at this festival demonstrated Gerald Arpino in all his innovative genius, a genius that combined humor with the avant garde, joyful frivolity, movement with a Japanese Noh quality, and pyrotechnical brilliance combined with unbridled sexiness. Of the four works, “Light Rain” was the best danced by Ballet West with Kaitlyn Addison bringing incredible stage craft and well-honed technique.
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“Confetti,” as with many works of its ilk, is a joyful romp to Giacchino Rossini music. Arpino takes a tarantella-like approach to Rossini’s music with ribboned tambourines and quick allegro. The Adventures in Dance (AVID) company for the most part handled the intricacies—especially the delicate and difficult pointe work—with technical aplomb. Yet, this work that is reminiscent of frilly, kitschy works for the 1960s doesn’t translate well to modern audiences. (It should be noted that “Confetti” was created at the height of the US dance boom in the1960s when audiences were hungry for these kinds works.) Unfortunately, this genre of ballet can no longer fill the seats. Today’s dance consumers want works that have something more to say.
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Coincidentally, the same can be said of Arpino’s “Valentine.” Created at time when modern dance and ballet were finding out that they could be compatible bedfellows, the kind of dance experimentation that Arpino employed in this work no longer makes audiences stand up and take notice. What can be said about “Valentine,” is that it is a purview into the evolution of ballet borrowing from other dance idioms. Though some of the humor of this iconic work still resonates, modern audiences have moved past this kind of dance work. That said, Emily Speed of (AVID) and Fabrice Calmels of the Joffrey Ballet brought their best to this work, and elevated “Valentine” from early 70s phenom to a work that still has a bit of humor and substance.
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Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Kamala Saara and Kouadio Davis brought a solemn reverence to Arpino’s “Sea Shadow” with a hint of sensuality. Created on Lisa Bradley, a Joffrey ballerina whose beauty and purity overshadowed her technical prowess, Arpino used “Sea Shadow” to highlight Lisa Bradley’s attributes. This work, though danced brilliantly by Davis and Saara, does not show Arpino at his best.
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“Light Rain” does show Gerald Arpino at his best. And that is why this ballet stands the test of time and is still in the repertoire of ballet companies globally. Ballet West, which is directed Adam Sklute, a former Joffrey ballet principal dancer, really got to the core of Arpino’s “Light Rain,” abandon, freedom, and hedonistic joy.
The central couple Angelo Grecco and Kaitlyn Addison uniquely understood how to submit to Douglas Adam and Russ Gauthier’s score and were not overtaken by the sensuality and pulsing beat of the music. Addison and Grecco made music all on their own by allowing the music to inform their movement. As they undulated and carved their movements, it almost felt like audiences were witnessing a sacred/sexual ritual.
“Light Rain” was a sure hit for Ballet West and the Arpino Dance Festival. As one of Arpino’s most enduring ballets, it was good to see there were no cobwebs and dust of this work. And Ballet West is the right ballet company to keep iconic Arpino’s ballets fresh and vibrant.
—William S. Gooch
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