The Sacramento Ballet swirled us playfully into spring with Nine Sinatra Songs. Those who missed it this year need to get into town to see it next time it’s performed. My eleven year old was as entranced as I. The Sacramento Ballet opened the evening with Balanchine’s Scotch Symphony. Nine Sinatra Songs was the featured centerpiece, which was followed by Choreographer Trey McIntyre’s Wild Sweet Love. The evening was a study in the sheer mastery of dance styles The Sacramento Ballet possesses.
Balanchine’s lines and energy always express the pinnacle of classical choreography and the Ballet ensemble were right on in Wild Sweet Love. Annali Rose Lulebas and Stefan Calka were featured and are both masters of their craft. Lulebas made Balanchine’s difficult style look easy and effortless. Calka has the strength and technique to capture the playful quality in this dance and did so.
The ensemble as a group –Nine Sinatra Songs featured the choreography of Twyla Tharp set to nine of Sinatra’s best loved tunes. Two sets of vignettes with couples meeting, loving and forming relationships were performed with Tharp’s unique style. The ensemble demonstrated their classical discipline while performing these theatrical and playful ballroom pieces. The set was simple and stylish. Oscar de la Renta costumes were elegant. Different colored spotlights defined the mood expressed by each couple and score.
Annali Lulebas and Timothy Coleman opened this portion of the evening with the gently elegant number "Softly as I Leave You". Stefan Calka expertly led Brik Middlekauf, new addition to the ensemble, as a very tipsy couple in "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" amid the titters of laughter from the more mature audience members. Alexandra Cunningham and Gabriel Williams were charming in "Somethin’ Stupid". "That’s Life" featured the impeccable Amanda Peet and Jack Hansen as tipsy years-long partners before ensemble members closed Nine Sinatra Songs with the classic "My Way". All dancers fully deserved the standing ovation they received before the second intermission.
Trey McIntyre’s choreography in Wild Sweet Love was an intriguing mix of theatrics, ballet and modern dance. He utilized all these techniques concurrently and set them to classic rock tunes to devise the story of a lonely soul desperately longing for love while witnessing the frivolous antics of young lovers all around her. This was accomplished by the juxtaposition of the hard angles found in modern dance with the lightness and flexibility of modern ballet.
Ilana Goldman’s demonstrated extensive training in modern dance and was perfect for this part. The part was difficult not only for its technical execution, which was very intense, but also because she couldn’t rely on any partners. Annali Lulebas and Jack Hansen delivered athletic and sweet performances as young lovers, followed by Amanda Peet and Stefan Calka. Peet, Calka and Gabriel Williams displayed youthful hi-jinx while dancing to mariachi music. Wild Sweet Love concluded with Goldman still hopelessly alone, but one couldn’t help but feel hope. It’s a great piece.
This was truly a memorable and stimulating evening. The progression of dance styles from classical to modern provided tremendous diversity, but the three pieces featured dovetailed nicely. I strongly urge dance lovers of all kinds see them next time they’re performed. The Sacramento Ballet wraps up the local portion of the season with Beer and Ballet on April 7. The Ballet will travel to China in May for their first-ever international tour, touring several cities there including Beijing and Shanghai. They open again next October.
Local theater and dance lovers should be pleased to know that the Broadway Series sponsored by Wells Fargo will present Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, May 16-27 followed by The Light in the Piazza, June 13-24. The Music Circus’s season opens with Les Miserable on July 10 and runs through July 22. Tickets for these shows can be purchased at Wells Fargo Pavilion box office at 916557-1999 or the Community Center box office at 916-264-5181.
Back to Top
