DANCE
BY RACHAEL CARNES
IT’S NOT EASY
BEING QUEEN
Eugene Ballet premieres a fairy tale
extravaganza in The Snow Queen
A
fter years of dreaming and ideation, Eugene Ballet’s
The Snow Queen premiered this weekend, a daz-
zling spectacle of stagecraft that was most compel-
ling in its moments of pure, unadorned dance.
It’s the largest production in Eugene Ballet
Company’s 38 years, featuring the longest commissioned
score — by Portland composer Kenji Bunch — in Oregon’s
history. Every bit of the artistic effort, from sets to
costumes, props to animations, was labored over by more
than 150 artists and designers from the local community.
EBC clearly has poured its heart into this story about
a girl name Gerda whose friend Kay disappears one day,
inspiring her to go on a mission to find him.
Bunch’s score plays with the polarity between the frozen
fortress where the Snow Queen (an icy Danielle Tolmie)
dwells and an organic, romantic pastoral, representing
the love between Gerda (a wistful Yuki Beppu) and Kay
(danced devotedly by Hirofumi Kitazume).
Played enthusiastically by Brian McWhorter’s
Orchestra Next, Bunch’s score tests the audience. Often
atonal and percussive, like an ice cube cracking in a warm
glass of water, this isn’t emotionally driving 19th-century
romantic ballet music. The score is a new hybrid, something
cinematic at times — and this could be an issue with the
acoustically cavernous Hult space — but sometimes, too,
the music seems a bit quiet, a bit too pensive, to fully
support the choreography.
With such tremendous financial support, the artistic
team, under technical director Barry Rodgers, attempts
many visionary technical feats. A few ideas might need a
bit more working out: A gorgeous chrysalis-like gazebo in
the Conjurer Woman’s garden (the part played by a strong
Victoria Harvey) has Plexiglas windows that blindingly
reflect the theater’s lights.
Animated projections by Don Carson initially create
wonder, but when accompanied by dance that maintains
dynamic stasis, or with no dance at all — as during Bunch’s
moody overture — they might leave the audience more
restless than they would have been without.
And rather than relying on traditional painted backdrops,
THREE DANCERS PORTRAY FLOWERS IN THE SNOW QUEEN
the production uses projections to create changing scenes.
But these images — such as the bucolic rolling hills —
seem somehow out of focus. Is their blurriness an artistic
choice?
Hats off to costumer designer Jonna Hayden’s small army
of stitchers and makers whose confectionary compositions
lend lightness and shadow in equal measure. Snowflake
guards! Crows! Gypsies! There is no lack of variety.
At times, however, the costumes seem to be wearing the
dancers — such as the scene in the Conjurer’s garden —
where dancers in fancifully massive dresses and enormous
wigs seem quite encumbered.
Crowd-pleasing effects — like a terrific crow puppet by
Bill Burback and Shaunna Durham — against an animated
sky, take flight. One qualm: Perhaps the crow’s wings
should consistently beat in unison and oh, how one wishes
the bird’s head could articulate, swivel from side to side
to look at the audience, with that fiercely crow-like gaze.
It’s great to see Beth Maslinoff as the Princess, the
dancer recuperated from injuries, with Antonio Anacan
commanding as the Prince. Suzanne Haag as the Robber
Girl — an ad hoc queen of the gypsies — shines.
The second act is where The Snow Queen finds its
rhythm and narrative strength. It’s where we start to feel for
Gerda and Kay. As Gerda is tossed around, woebegotten
and afraid yet persevering, she becomes a compelling
protagonist.
The most contemporary moment comes near the end,
when Kay, unshackled from the Snow Queen’s spell,
rediscovers his humanness, healing safe in Gerda’s arms.
In this pas de deux, Pimble finds a subtle way to write the
future as Gerda supports Kay, helping him to balance,
turning him, holding him.
Sara Stockwell, as the enchanting Rose, adds magic as
the piece unwinds in an approachable trio that finds solace
in the fortitude of nature itself.
A modern telling of Hans Christian Andersen’s
classic tale, EBC’s The Snow Queen is an immeasurably
commendable effort, and, in this political moment, an
audacious act of hope.
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