Tiny Dancer

Saturday night, I went to see the National Ballet's contemporary mixed program. There were 4 pieces 2 of which were world premieres. The first was Skyward (Alysa Pires) inspired by starlings and her pregnancy during its creation. The piece's main throughline was spins of various kinds, executed with grace or explosive power. A sparse violin/piano duet sometimes devolved into a modernist noise. The final section had a regular percussive thump that increased in frequency into a driving beat. This force animated the dancers into leaps and jumps.

After the Rain (Christopher Wheeldon) was purchased by the company to honour Jillian Vanstone. This was an excerpt of the full piece comprising of 2 parts. For the first part, 3 couples moved through sequences that often resembled human clocks accompanied by corresponding chimes. In the second, Vanstone (with unbound hair) and her regular partner Harrison James danced delicately and emotionally through a tender pas-de-deux. This got her a deserved standing ovation.

The second premiere was On Solid Ground (Siphesihle November). Things are looking good for him as this was his first professional choreographed piece. He was also recently promoted to principal dancer. Most of the audience (and myself) were ambivalent about the performance. However, the couple next to me loved the synchronous movements set to various music by Black composers. They opined during the break that its more abstract themes were less accessible. But my own opinion is that outside of 30-second tiktoks and short music videos, uniform/formation dancing really palls after a few minutes.

The final piece Elite Syncopation (Kenneth MacMillan) didn't do much for me either. Both the ragtime Scott Joplin et al tunes (played by live musicians) and the various showcases based on social dances of that area were anemic. Once again, the highlights were the collaboration between Vanstone and James.

It was a special night for Jillian Vanstone. After 22 years with the company, Saturday was her last performance before retirement. So at curtain call, many flower bouquets were given to her from various bigwigs from the National Ballet. With loud cheers from the audience, an explosion of confetti fluttered down from the rafters as if she was a ballerina inside a snow-globe.

It was interesting to note that Vanstone is one of the smaller principal dancers/soloists and so is November. But whereas it was an advantage for her with partner work, it may be an impediment for him. In Syncopation, there was a deliberately comical pas-de-deux between him and a "giant" Kathryn Hosier (in reality his size when not en pointe) that drew huge laughs.

I was glad to be present for Ms. Vanstone final performance. In fact, I saw her at an intimate show just before she was chosen by Wheeldon for the title role in Alice In Wonderland in 2011. That selection propelled her from 1st soloist, after 11 years with the company, into principal dancer for the last 10.