DANCE
B Y K E L LY K E N O Y E R
EUGENE BALLET’S ‘MOWGLI’ IS BASED ON ‘THE JUNGLE BOOK.’
WILD, WILD MOVEMENT
Mowgli is the perfect ballet for the inexperienced viewer
I
Baloo the bear makes wide, sweeping
movements, his great mask and bulky costume
giving him the breadth and height of a bear.
Bagheera the panther is lithe and elegant, at
times stretching luxuriously on the stage in her
Catwoman-like costume.
Hirofumi Kitazume, who danced Mowgli,
is a comedian on the stage. As he secretly
studies the nearby humans, he mocks their
movements. When he fights Shere Khan, he
dramatically kicks at the tiger, then turns to the
audience with a coy smirk.
Mowgli’s choreography — all by Toni
Pimble — is brilliant as well. When he finally
returns to the humans, the music and his
movements show that he is terrified by their
speech. His wild movements clash with the
smooth transitions of the villagers. But as the
music becomes more soothing, he grows more
restrained, his body language mirroring that
of his human mother. By the end, it was clear
he “spoke” the same body language and had
joined the community.
I’ll add that if you’re sensitive to cultural
appropriation, this ballet has the same sorts of
pitfalls as Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book,
written in 1894, but that shouldn’t come as a
surprise. If you can get past that, it’s a hell of
a fun show.
Mowgli is the perfect starter ballet for
youth and the uncultured — like me —
alike. Regardless of your understanding
of the technicalities of ballet, this one will
entertain you in its costuming and diversity of
movement. ■
f you’re like me, your experience with bal-
let is limited to The Nutcracker. As such,
I associate ballet with incredible athletics,
surreal costumes and incomprehensible
plotlines.
Halfway through The Nutcracker, I usually
get bored. That was not the case with Eugene
Ballet’s production of Mowgli, which may
have converted me from apathy toward ballet
to wonder.
Mowgli is the familiar story of The Jungle
Book, transformed by ballet. Title cards explain
plot points before scenes, allowing me to
focus on how the choreography told the story
rather than squinting to decipher. The music
was vaguely Indian, as were the costumes,
designed by Jonna Hayden.
The dancers moved like the animals they
portrayed: Koki Yamaguchi in particular, who
danced the Monkey King, was incredible to
watch. He jumps in the air, flittering his feet
and kicking his heels like an energetic rhesus
macaque.
An example of choreography telling the
story: After the monkey troop steals Mowgli,
Baloo (Mark Tucker) and Bagheera (Danielle
Tolmie) seek the help of the great snake Kaa
to help rescue him. Before Kaa’s arrival, the
monkeys move in circles, leaping and jumping
in joy around their captured foe.
Once Kaa arrives, they sway back and
forth, facing him, and eventually succumb and
walk into his gaping maw (symbolized now by
the set), some monkeys dragging the others to
their doom.
45 Seconds from
BROADWAY
by
Neil Simon Directed by Patrick Torelle
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October 12, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com