Uniquely AmericanVerb Ballets in Cleveland and Akron
Verb Ballet’s theme for their 2010 – 2011 season is, “Imagination. Strength. Uniquely American,” so our inevitable question was, which America? With wide-open formulations like “of the people, for the people, and by the people,” (the United States of) America is always going to be a question in the process of being answered.
Dance audiences in Northeast Ohio will have 4 opportunities to see all or parts of this summer’s installment of Verb’s answer to the American question, which includes an amazing amount of new material, 5 new dance works.
Dust Bowl Ballads, choreographed by Sophie Maslow to the songs of Woody Guthrie, looks back on the ecological and economic catastrophes of the 1930’s. Oklahoma-born Guthrie lived through the Dust Bowl and migrated with thousands of other “Okies” to California. Later, while living in New York City in the 40’s, Guthrie made his first commercially distributed recording, Dust Bowl Ballads on Victor, and met his 2nd wife, Marjorie Mazia, who was an instructor and dancer for Martha Graham and choreographic assistant to Maslow.
The collaboration between Maslow and Guthrie did not begin well — the dancers had to teach Guthrie to play his songs the same way twice instead of inserting bridges and extra verses whenever he felt like it – but the idea of modern dance treatments of American materials was apparently in the air. Dust Bowl Ballads premiered in 1941, just before Agnes De Mille’s Rodeo (1942) and Oklahoma (1943) and Graham’s Appalachian Spring (1944).
Maslow’s oeuvres are also represented in this concert by The Fiddler (1950), an early modern dance treatment of the stories of Sholem Aleichem, which (stories) later became the basis for the musical Fiddler on the Roof (1964).
Also new in Verb’s repertory is To Have and to Hold (1991). Over the years, Cleveland dance audiences have had at least 2 opportunities to see this dance, one set on Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theater and one performed by the choreographers’ company, Shapiro & Smith Dance Company presented by Dance Cleveland. What at first appears to be a wholly abstract dance built around 3 rows of benches becomes a tender evocation of the bonds between the living and the dead.
Also new to Verb is Tarantella, set on Verb by Pamela Probisco to the music of American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Coincidentally, George Balanchine choreographed another Tarantella, also a pas de deux, to this same piece of music and Probisco’s version for Verb will inevitably provoke comparisons. Balanchine’s Tarantella, which he described as “a dazzling display piece full of speed and high spirits” sets a high standard, but we can think of several Verb dancers who we’d like to see meet the challenge.
Completely new and unknown to us is Verb’s world premiere of Ambiguous Drives by Tommie-Waheed Evans, a dancer with Philadanco, a Philadelphia-based dance company. Evans recently branched out into choreography and you can see video of his work on his website, http://www.Tommie-Waheed.com New work and new collaborations may or may not work out but we commend Verb for taking this chance on what seems like a promising emerging choreographer.
Also on the program at both Cain Park and Goodyear Park, a revival of Heinz Poll’s Wings and Aires.
Where and when can you see what for how much?
At 7PM Wed 8/4, long on context but short on actual dancing is a lecture and demonstration tribute to Jewish-American choreographers. Excerpts from the work of Maslow and Shapiro & Smith will be performed at the Maltz Museum, 2929 Richmond Road, Beachwood, OH 44122. Tickets $10 general, $8 members 216 593 0575. http://www.MaltzMuseum.org.
At 8PM Fri 8/6 Verb performs all the works described above at Cain Park, 14591 Superior Rd, Cleveland Hts., 44118. Tickets $20 & $18 advance, $23 & $21 day of show. Phone Cain Park box office 216 371 3000, Ticketmaster 1 800 745 3000 or go to http://www.cainpark.com, http://www.ticketmaster.com, or all area Ticketmaster outlets.
At 7:45PM Sun 8/8 Verb performs most of the works described above plus a performance by members of Verb’s C.L.I.C.Ks. Summer Trainee Program choreographed by Annalee Traylor. At Goodyear Park. Drive to the park’s main entrance at 2077 Newton Street, Akron OH 44305. FREE as part of Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival. Bring a blanket or lawn chair. This is a rain date and may not show up on the festival website. http://www.verbballets.org
8:30 PM Fri & Sat 8/20 & 8/21 Verb performs selections from its summer programming and a revival of The Gathering choreographed by Terence Greene. At Tremont’s Lincoln Park, Cleveland 44113. FREE. Bring a blanket or lawn chair.
From Cool Cleveland contributors Elsa Johnson and Victor Lucas. Elsa and Vic are both longtime Clevelanders. Elsa is a landscape designer. She studied ballet as an avocation for 2 decades. Vic has been a dancer and dance teacher for most of his working life, performing in a number of dance companies in NYC and Cleveland. They write about dance as a way to learn more and keep in touch with the dance community. E-mail them at vicnelsaATearthlink.net.