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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 2003)
BY MARTHA ULLMAN WEST Eugene Ballet Works Out! Firebird leads the program. T he Eugene Ballet takes the stage of the Hult Center for the last time this season with three pieces that show- case the dancers and give them what princi- pal Jennifer Martin calls a “genuine work- out.” More important, new work by artistic director Toni Pimble and former company member Eloy Barragan, plus the Firebird in Pimble’s 1982 staging, exemplify the trans- formative power of art in good times and bad. Folk and fairy tales, onstage and off, give us hope. In most of them, in nearly every cul- ture, some magical being is able to wave a wand and make — choose one: war, plague, hunger, despots — go away, and all ends hap- pily, forever. In the Firebird, danced to Igor Stravinksy’s first, magnificent score for the ballet, a beautiful half-bird, half-woman pro- vides the somewhat clueless Prince Ivan with a magic feather in exchange for her freedom. He summons her with the feather to liberate princesses held hostage by the wicked Kastchei, including the object of his affec- tions, the lovely Princess Elena. All ends well, if abruptly, with a wedding tableau. This is a ballerina’s ballet, particularly the quicksilver leaps and fluttering port de bras of the title role, which will be danced by Brett Mills. Martin will be seen in a gentler, more lyrical role as Princess Elena, a very different role from the wicked Milady in Three Musketeers or the Odette/Odile in Swan Lake she has danced so brilliantly in the past. There are, nevertheless, some juicy roles for the increasingly strong men of the company. Prince Ivan is onstage at all times, quite differently partnering both women, with a bit of virtuoso dancing of his own. Hyoung Il Joung, in his second season with EBC, as- sumes the role with technique to spare and beautiful line. The dancer, a medal Some magical being is able to wave a wand and make — choose one: war, plague, hunger, despots — go away, and all ends happily, forever. winner in a number of competitions in his na- tive Korea, was last seen as the passionate Lord Buckingham in The Three Musketeers and is, according to Pimble, an increasingly fine partner. Long-time company member Matthew Hope (and arguably its most versatile dancer) performs the role of Kastchei. Like von Rothbart in that other bird ballet, this char- acter role offers tremen- dous scope for the dancer. Company managing di- rector Riley Grannan origi- nated the role with deliciously flamboyant evil when the work in- augurated EBC’s resi- dency at the Hult Center on the center’s opening week. Peter Dean Beck designed the handsome set, and costumes are by Molly Maginnis and Amy Panganiban. Pimble’s “Five Bagatelles,” set to Antonin Dvorak’s Op. 47 for two vio- lins, cello and harmonium, raises the curtain. The music holds meaning for Pimble, who was a long way from home and far from the accomplished chore- ographer she is today when she first got to know the beautifully structured score. She was an impoverished, young dancer living in Germany in a rented room with a tape player and four tapes, one of them the Dvorak. It was several decades before she created the ballet, which premiered last November for the UO’s Chamber Music Series in Beall Hall. Company principals Hyoung Il Joung, Jennifer Martin, Brett Mills and Kyung Man Moon will perform the neo-classical work, which is firmly rooted in the music. . Barragan describes “Encuentros” as deeply personal, a reflection on his own life that he hopes will strike the chord of univer- sality in its viewers. The former dancer — au- dience members will remember vividly his portrayal of Dracula several years ago — is now teaching ballet and choreography at the University of California at Irvine. Barragan has dedicated the work to his fiancée, Jennifer Martin. Set to Bach’s Orchestral Suite #5,” Encuentros” is in five sections with a cast of 11 dancers that includes several of the com- pany’s men. Barragan is particularly pleased with a trio he made for Juan Carlos Amy- Cordera, Jonathan Guise and Jared Hunt, whose dancing he characterizes as young and powerful. The work is performed in soft shoes and blends contemporary and classical movement as his previous choreography has done. In a departure, however, “Encuentros,” which means “encounters” in Spanish, has no Latin flavor save its title. ew Chao Pra Ya The Best Thai Cuisine • 26 Lunch Specials Only $5.95 • Huge Vegetarian Selections • Lunch & Dinner • Family Owned Dine In or & Operated. Take Out 580 Adams St., Eugene (across from Red Apple) • 344-1706 MON-FRI Lunch: 11am-3pm, Dinner: 4:30-9pm • SAT-SUN 12-9pm ﹐ ﹕﹒ ﹒ FOR INFORMATION CALL 346-4373 APRIL 3, 2003 27
