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Joffrey explores many sides of Ashton
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Celebrating England’s beloved choreographer
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By Sid Smith
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Tribune arts reporter
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Published February 6, 2004
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“Sir Frederick Ashton’s legacy lives on,” proclaims Gerald Arpino, artistic director of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago.
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Arpino’s troupe is certainly doing what it can to help that cause during this centennial year of Ashton’s birth: It’s offering a rare, all-Ashton program Wednesday through Feb. 22 at the Auditorium Theatre.
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The celebrated choreographer, who was born Sept. 17, 1904, and who died in 1988, was based in Great Britain, where he served for many years as artistic director of London’s Royal Ballet. But he made a great impact on U.S. ballet, too, in part because of his lengthy association with the Joffrey.
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The troupe was the first outside the Royal Ballet to be given permission to stage “Monotones I & II” in the mid-’70s. This year, the Joffrey enjoys exclusive rights in the U.S. to perform his highly original and provocative “A Wedding Bouquet” as part of its birthday festivities.
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Over the years, the Joffrey boasted a sizeable cache of Ashton offerings, including his charming full-length masterpiece, “La Fille Mal Gardee.” For its “Ashton Anniversary” lineup, however, the troupe settled on three popular classics: “Les Patineurs” (1937); “Monotones I” (1966) and “Monotones II” (1965); and “A Wedding Bouquet” (1937).
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They are wildly different works, so here’s a primer on the three Ashtons:
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“Les Patineurs”: Accompanied by a score by Giacomo Meyerbeer, this frothy treat, set in an outdoor ice rink, employs balletic technique to transform the dancers into recreational skaters. The Norman Rockwell charm, however, is a bit deceptive. “Les Patineurs” is a monstrous technical challenge. No less an acrobat than Mikhail Baryshnikov labeled the role of the Boy in Blue as the toughest of them all.
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However, “It’s a fun piece, a romp at the pond,” says Elaine Thomas, former Royal Ballet ballerina who came in to check out the Joffrey’s staging. “It’s challenging, but most of his ballets have some sort of challenge. And challenge is fun for dancers. I call this one a happy challenge.”
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“Monotones I & II”: This two-part trio, set to Erik Satie and created in reverse order, originally teamed three of Ashton’s most celebrated dancers: Anthony Dowell, Vyvyan Lorrayne and Robert Mead. Unlike so much of his work, steeped in storytelling, this one displays his facility with pure, abstract technique.
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“Almost everything else we dance by Ashton is classical with a demi-caractere flair,” says ballet master Mark Goldweber, referring to Ashton’s knack for characterization. “`Monotones’ is neoclassical. It’s also, in its way, the most still, a ballet all about good line. You have to be an excellent adagio dancer to do it.”
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He finds it “one of Ashton’s great works of abstraction. You have to be in a Zen place to survive it. You can’t huff and puff loudly when you land, for instance. You have to maintain silence. That’s hard for us because we’re really a troupe of speedy, allegro dancers.”
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Goldweber, who originated the role of the Boy in Blue in “Patineurs” for the Joffrey and who, as a speedy technician, never danced the moodier “Monotones” himself, says this engagement is a special showcase for two current athletes, Calvin Kitten and Masayoshi Onuki, who will be dancing in both works.
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“A Wedding Bouquet”: This unusual send-up of a provincial French wedding reteamed Ashton with writer Gertrude Stein, who penned the work’s narration after their earlier collaboration, “Four Saints in Three Acts.” (Veteran actor Nicholas Rudall will deliver the narration live throughout the engagement.)
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In it, “The groom has enjoyed a dalliance with just about every woman at the wedding party, unbeknownst to the bride,” explains Goldweber. “`A Wedding Bouquet’ is funny, in that cynical, Gertrude Stein way. The bride, a role originated by Margot Fonteyn, is jilted by the groom and left, in the end, forlorn.”
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