BY MARTHA ULLMAN WEST
Autumn Dreaming
Dancers, Shakespeare and Mendelssohn
A
s midsummer fades into memory,
and the realities of the political
season bombard us every hour on
the hour, Toni Pimble, artistic director of
the Eugene Ballet Company, reminds us
that art makes fools of the powerful, and in
the theater all can still end happily.
The company reprises Pimble’s 1985
Midsummer Night’s Dream at 8 pm Oct. 23
and 2 pm Oct. 24 in the Hult Center Silva
Hall. Audiences will also be treated to the
high-energy dancing of Pimble’s 1999
“Slipstream” and the premiere of “Incidents
and Accidents,” created by EBC dancer
Melissa Nolen.
Like Pimble’s Romeo and Juliet,
Midsummer is as true to Shakespeare’s lan-
guage as it is to the classical dance lexicon.
As the dancers perform the roles of fairies,
“mechanicals” and mortal lovers with the
nonverbal language of mime and dance,
they communicate visually both the poetry
and the rough-hewn peasant vocabulary of
Shakespeare’s play. Pimble knows precise-
ly what she’s doing and has given it consid-
erable thought.
Shakespeare’s “ability to bring to the
stage the crude behavior of the rustics and
place them side by side with the exquisite
delicacy of the fairies is both a challenge
and a delight to the choreographer,” Pimble
commented in the company newsletter.
Pimble meets Shakespeare’s challenge
lovers Helena and Demetrius.
Managing Director Riley Grannan,
whose performance as Bottom in the 1985
premiere was memorable to say the least,
said he’s “ecstatic” about the quality of the
company’s new principals. Jon Drake
not only with the skill of an experienced
dance maker but also with
Felix Mendelssohn’s famil-
Eugene Ballet Company dancer in Midsummer Night’s Dream.
iar music. (The wedding
march comes from the inci-
dental music created for a
mid-19th century produc-
tion of the play, when the
composer was only 16.)
Pimble has added music by
Rossini as well as a seg-
ment by Renaissance com-
poser Bottesini to expand
the action. Peter Dean
Beck designed the set, and
deservedly well-known
designer David Heuvel the
charming costumes.
Midsummer is a fine
showcase for the compa-
ny’s principal dancers,
calling as it does for fine-
tuned technique as well as
comic timing. Jennifer
Martin dances Titiana, the
queen of the fairies, on
Saturday night, partnered
by the phenomenal Korean
dancer Hyuk Ku Kwon as
the jealous Oberon, the
fairy king. On Sunday,
they dance the roles of
confused and quarreling
5
dances the role of Demetrius Saturday night
and Oberon Sunday afternoon, while Aline
Schurger will be Helena on Saturday and
Titania at the matinee.
According to Grannan, Drake’s technical
facility is huge. Drake trained at the École de
Danse in Hattiesburg, Miss., the John
Cranko School in Stuttgart, Germany,
and the Vienna State Opera Ballet
School in Austria. He has danced in
Midsummer before, as well as
Cinderella, Coppelia and Swan Lake,
which are all in EBC’s repertoire.
Grannan said Schürger has a formi-
dable ability, a “steel-trap technique”
as well as a lyrical quality. Born in
Germany, Schürger received her train-
ing at the opera in Nuremberg, Munich
and Prague. Winner of three gold
medals at international ballet competi-
tions, she has danced as a principal
with Opus M Company in Munich and
also the Atlantic Southeast Ballet. She
has toured China.
The program begins with the two
contemporary works. Nolen’s brand
new “Incidents and Accidents” is
set to the music of Johannes
Brahms. Nolen has choreographed
for Ballet Idaho’s school, where she
impressed Pimble with her thought-
ful use of the talents and experience
of the dancers. “Slipstream,”
Pimble’s sleek, nonstop ballet to the
music of contemporary composer
Michael Lyman, completes a truly
mixed bill that shows what this
company is all about.
ew
th Annual
Art Glass Auction
and Benefit Dinner
Friday & Saturday, October 22 & 23, 2004
Friday, October 22 • 6-8:30pm
Valley River Inn
Slide lecture by Dante Marioni, glass artist
Auction preview and mingling with artists
Saturday, October 23 • 10am-12pm
Eugene Glass School
575 Wilson St. • 342-2959
Saturday, October 23 • 5:30-9:30pm
Valley River Inn
Art Glass Auction
View catalog at
www.eugeneglassschool.org
Eugene’s Mayor has proclaimed this week Glass Art Week and
encourages all businesses and citizens to join in cherishing and
celebrating The Eugene Glass School and glass art.
Traditional
Greek & Indian
Food
992 Willamette
Eugene, OR 97401
343-9661
56 OCTOBER 21, 2004
Eugene Glass School
575 Wilson St. Eugene • 541-342-2959
www.eugeneglassschool.org •info@eugeneglassschool.org