James Hong Conjecture: Dance-a-thon

Saturday night, I attended the 9th International Competition for the Erik Bruhn Prize at the National Ballet of Canada. This is a competition that takes places approximately every 2 years where young dancers between 18-23 compete in pairs for the best male and best female. It is a good indication of somebody's future potential as all previous winners (and possibly other participants) have gone on to become Principal Dancer. At the last competition, a Best Choreographer category was introduced. And at tonight's competition, there will also be Audience Choice Awards for the 3 categories, too to be voted by text messages.

Each pair competed in a traditional pas de deux taken from a classical piece, then they will showcase their contemporary moves in a new contemporary piece commissioned for them. In the pre-Ballet talk, it was pointed out that what really gives these dancers, who are from the corps de ballet (i.e., that mass of dancers in the back of any scene), a career boost is the time accorded to them by their Ballet Director and dance choreographer in preparation for this competition.

I enjoyed the classical repertoire but ultimately found it a little hermetic. It reminded me of this older patron from this performance who found these classic pieces "old-fashioned". The problem is that there is nothing new in these pieces, the dance vocabulary is well-known and well-trodded. My opinion is that the classical pas de deux are best seen from a full ballet production where the music, the storyline, and the other dancers are integral to providing the frame that situates and informs the piece. Otherwise, it's like watching somebody practice scales or etudes on a piano.

The contemporary pieces were more interesting with each dance present new and different dance movements. However, outside of Little Monsters, it was obvious the other pieces derive most of their ideas from classical movements. I would have liked to have seen bolder choices such as those seen in Chroma.

Before the winners were announced, the audience got to vote on their favourite male dancer, female dancer, and choreographer. Then the National Ballet performed Balanchine's Theme and Variations. It was the main role debut for Elena Lobsanova (2nd Soloist of the National Ballet) who won the 8th competition in 2009. Similar to other Balachine's plotless ballet, I found the intricate movements intellectually interesting but emotionally cold.

The best male dancer went to Joseph Gorak of American Ballet Theatre, best female dancer went to Maria Baranova of Hamburg Ballet, and best choreographer was Demis Volpi of Stuttgart Ballet. The audience were obviously disappointed as they clapped much harder for the Audience Choices: Elisa Badenes and Daniel Camargo (Stuttgart Ballet), and Robert Stephen (National Ballet of Canada). I agree with Paula Citron that sometimes it's easier for an audience to cheer for flash. Daniel Camargo was very athletic in his jumps and spins. I can't say whether or not he failed to connect with his partner as Ms. Citron points out. But I did notice that he sometimes struggled to keep his lines. In any case, they were all strong dancers and will no doubt move up from the corps de ballet soon.

American Ballet Theatre: (Christine Shevchenko, Joseph Gorak)

Pas de Deux from Act II of La Sylphide (Choreography: August Bournonville)
Divergent Connectivity (Nicola Curry, Music: Daniel Bensi and Saunder Jurrians, Trails)

The Hamburg Ballet: (Maria Baranova, Kiran West)

Pas de Deux from Act II of Giselle (After Marius Petipa)
Chopin Dialogue (John Neumeier, Fredrico Mompou, Variations sur un theme de Chopin)

The National Ballet of Canada: (Shino Mori, Naoya Ebe)

Bluebird Pas de Deux from The Sleeping Beauty (After Marius Petipa)
Passacaglia (Robert Stephen, George Frideric Handel/Johan Halvorsen, Passacaglia)

The Royal Danish Ballet: (Shelby Elsbree, Jon Axel Fransson)