Encounters (Begegnungen): Vienna State Ballet, Volksoper, February 2nd, 2022 - Première

Feb 5

Feb 5 Encounters (Begegnungen): Vienna State Ballet, Volksoper, February 2nd, 2022 - Première

Let us start to analyze the above-mentioned piece, which premièred February 2nd at the Opera, just by reading the definition of the word „Encounter": A meeting, especially one that happens by chance.

It gives the Three-ballets' evening-Formula a certain seriousness to use an interesting name as a Headline, a catchy one to wrap it in the cellophane of „Artistry" and somehow „unite" the three works. At this moment of Mr Bogdan Roščić's direction period. it seems quite a necessity and mostly inevitable, for the board of directors to awake an apparent effect of intellectuality – which is good marketing for an Opera House - but unfortunately, a cliché that has been seen many times in the course of our lives and which gets more and more boring with the passing of the years: „Encounters"

But what is really meant with it? What is really behind it? Personal encounters? Intimate encounters? Or just chance and random encounters? Encounters at all? A name used to create the effect of defining the content of the three very different works, which were created at different times by three choreographers who were not committed to working on the same theme. Do all three short ballets shown last February 2nd really have something to do with Encounters?

Just a critical reflection on Marketing measures.

But apart from the intellectual approach and treatment of a „Headline" that is trying to unify and define a whole evening, there's, and I am glad about that, much more to say.

Copyright: Vienna State Ballet / Ashley Taylor

„24 préludes", which premièred at the Royal Opera House back in 2013 is not exactly what one would call a „new" ballet by ex-Bolshoi director Alexei Ratmansky. A charming, intelligent abstract piece set to orchestrations of Chopin by Jean-François Zygel – which are not on the list of my favourites.

A piece that, as danced yesterday by the Vienna State Ballet, seemed quite different from the one danced by the members of „The Royal Ballet". The same ballet, the same choreography, the same steps but differently approached, due to the homogeneity which they (The Royal Dancers) shared due to their upbringing as dancers. This background is of great importance and must be understood; Vienna's company is a melting pot of different techniques and upbringings... it gave us nearly another „reading" of what was originally written in this choreography.

On the contrary of Mr Ratmansky, I do not associate Chopin's music JUST with Jerome Robbins' work – that would be narrowing its place in Ballet/Dance history, its incomparable value and making the inexcusable mistake of forgetting to mention Fokine's „Les Sylphides", Neumeier's (fabulous) „La Dame aux Camelias", Ashton's „A Month in the country" among others.

Ratmansky was once described as an „unashamed classicist and not a dance revolutionary, eager to express a modern sensibility through a traditional dance medium" (a very precise comment which I strongly relate to) and said about himself: „I'm obsessed with classical technique, it's an extremely resilient technical language. What I'm trying to do is make it 'of today'". This is THE perfect description of his very musical work, which possesses its own rhythm, and a quality selden seen in a whole „new" generation of choreographers: unique phrasing! Clever, interesting, adventurous, daring phrasing – and that makes all the difference. Wonderful.

The Dancers would still have needed some Rehearsal time, nevertheless special praise to Maria Yakovleva's low profile giving herself completely as an instrument to this work, to a „reinvented" Arne Vandervelde who is displaying a new „maturity" on stage that appeals to the audience. to Denys Cherevychko's performance that gave us the feeling of someone who was feeling quite „at home" (and – always a chameleon, changing for every part - looking every inch like a Béjart dancer, with his longer hear and in a costume that suits him well) and to Alexey Popov's powerful, magnetic, technically precise execution. Surely a big winning to Vienna's Ensemble. I am looking very much forward to seeing him more often on stage.

My Summary: A performance, a display of dance that I could only describe as INVIGORATING.

„Lux Umbra": If this interesting piece would have been created in the 1960s, we would classify it nowadays as „dated". But as it was created now, it gets a touch of „vintage". Even admiring the creativity in which it was staged, the whole piece resembled more a consequence, the result of „Shuffling again the cards and distributing them newly".

I have always refused to accept Vincente's Minnelli quote (and even to accept that this great Movie Maker said that) that „There isn't anything new that you could do. Everything beautiful had been done before".

Yesterday I somehow felt like nearly having to accept this. But recovered from this state of lethargy I had been brought into, I found many very positive aspects in Mr Kaydanovsky's new venture.

The staging, the wonderful set, the inventive costumes, that are 100% part of the choreography (and make one wonder if they were not the decisive element, the paramount for the choreographic inspiration), the precise, careful lighting, and the fabulous music – composed exclusively for this piece by Christoph Dienz, are strong assets. Very strong.

Mr Kaydanovsky, like Deborah Colker (a choreographer and recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award) knows how to surround himself with talented costume and set designers, lighting professionals, gifted composers. That in itself is a big accomplishment.

Two questions but remain:

First, wasn't the „gist of the matter", the main theme again a repetition of a long line of similar questioning? In the 1960s this kind of interrogation lived a „revival" in every different art form and became quite fashionable. Even though at those times Jean-Paul Sartre's „Huis Clos" was already more than 20 years old.

And what if I went even much further back than „Huis Clos" and landed on the Story of Tartarus and its „connections" with the Underworld (Hell?), the „light above" and caves, grottos?

Remember that in Greek Mythology „Tartarus" is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's Gogyas (around 400 BC), souls are judged after death and where the wicked receive divine punishment. As you see quite an old idea that has been tormenting people throughout the ages.

(Note from Saturday Morning just before publishing this critique: I wrote this before reading the program. Its relation to what is described in it is a happy one – Bravo to Mr Kaydanovsky, who made me think – and feel – exactly where part of his inspiration came from)

The second question is much simpler: Even if many people claim that this ballet is an “abstract one” (an assertion I cannot agree with), why does a young choreographer, a newcomer, internationally speaking, get back to such formal, trivial ways of story-telling? This could be a much more efficient story line for a play than to Dance. It is more of a theatrical way of expressing one's thoughts than the way of expression through Dance which is an own language in itself. Unfortunately, a fact often forgotten.

But even so, this is a piece of work to be watched carefully. There are very good, interesting elements in it and one can feel a certain development in Mr Kaydanovsky's work. Some choreographers get tremendous success already with their first piece of work. Others don't and go step by step up the ladder. This second possibility is definitely more stable and natural although harder and sometimes disappointing. It won't make one a „Star" immediately or perhaps ever but they will give one something that is also being forgotten: Consistency. And good work reflects that.

Some dancers gave stiff performances that resemble a certain cliché, a very superficial created image of what is „being a modern and/or contemporary dancer" is all about. Lourenço Ferreira, on the other hand, stole the show and gave us a very pleasant, well-founded, and effectively competent display of „Pouvoir" with his interpretation.

„In Sonne verwandelt" (Something like „Transformed into Sun") Mr Schläpfer used the wonderful, musically rich Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.4, Op.58 as the base. One can definitely feel Mr Schläpfer's signature in it, as we did in his Mahler piece one and a half years ago.

Sunny, bright music transformed and transported to a gloomy, badly illuminated dark stage.

No Story is told and the general impression is of neither feelings nor moods. Not morose but extremely taciturn.

There is obviously no intentional continuity of physical presence on stage, instead a coming and going of dancers, who just very irregularly „come back" for a second or a third time. I suppose that this reveals a bit of his process of choreographing. Pieces that are individually choreographed and then „glued" together. For the final scene, the whole company is brought together on stage for a very formal „Finale". As far as I remember this same sort of principle was used in his Mahler-Programme. But I can understand that. The number of „assigned" choreographies which he as a chief-Choreographer at the Opera House has to finish during one season is enormous. It is quite understandable that there is no room left for „natural, spontaneous inspiration" as the obligations resemble more an assembly or production line. Creativity on command is definitely not a pleasant thing.

The process of “putting it together” (to quote Sondheim) leads us also to a very unusual, nearly peculiar musical phrasing. As if the movements duration would be either too long or too short for the music. I had sensed this before in his work but in this „Beethoven", it was more than clear.

Lovely music, of course, played correctly (but not brilliantly) by Pianist Johannes Piirto, lacked in many parts „Tempo" and seemed to continuously „slow down". As if adapting it to the Dancers – I still believe that it should be the other way around.

Sadly, the costumes by Hélène Vergnes, definitely the worse and ugliest ones I have seen in quite many years, did not help the general impression: One thing is to design costumes in which dancers can move freely; ballet costumes, another is to distort their bodies with the most unfortunate disguises. Dancers like Igor Milos (who has a sculptural broad-shouldered figure) looked like shapeless "pensionnés" for the costumes resembled more of a mixture between pajamas, beachwear, and jogging suits, with the exception of a dancer wearing a transparent pajama that looked more like saucy lingerie!

I will not mention any of the Dancers individually as there was again a certain dominance of anonymity on stage. As in other of his pieces, the choreography itself is the center of all attention. Not individuality.

Naturally, Corona times are very difficult for a Ballet Troupe, especially when „recasting" is in the order of the day. Everything is more difficult when the technical level is not at its very best. Also to mention is the total absence on stage from any members of the Volksoper Ballet - which officially is “part” of the Vienna State Ballet.

Even so, the evening had a very good reception. Of course, there were many invited guests and many Friends (the „Bravo shouting" revealed that) as it is normal during a Première. Let us hope for better occupancy rates in the Future!

But, to come to an end, I must say that this is anyway an evening to recommend. With or without the Tai-Chi “sun greeting” that is the only moment that reminds us of the sun that is so clearly mentioned in the ballet’s title.

Ricardo Leitner

February 4th, 2022

Hashtags: