DANCE
Stepping Into Farrell's Shoes, And Filling Them Nicely
Erin Mahoney-Du (with Momchil Mladenov) in the Suzanne Farrell Ballet's "Clarinade."
(By Carol Pratt -- Kennedy Center)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Sunday, December 25, 2005
BLESSING
There is nothing quite like seeing a dancer completely redefine herself in a new role. That is what happened when Erin Mahoney-Du, one of the Washington Ballet's leading dancers, performed in George Balanchine's "Clarinade" as a member of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet in November.
Farrell relies on dancers such as Mahoney-Du, who moonlight in their time off from full-time jobs, for her company's brief run of performances. Although the rehearsal period for this latest appearance of Farrell's group at the Kennedy Center was just two weeks long, it was -- by some miracle, or blessing, or dint of skill and perseverance -- time enough to instill in Mahoney-Du some of the same qualities that made Farrell Balanchine's favorite ballerina 40 years ago. Under Farrell's tutelage, Mahoney-Du tossed her long ponytail and punched her hips forward with a mix of self-absorption, glamorous ease and insouciant independence.
"Clarinade" was dropped from the New York City Ballet repertory not long after Balanchine created it for Farrell in 1964, and Farrell revived only the central pas de deux, which essentially showcases the ballerina, who is accompanied by an unhurried, jazzy clarinet. Mahoney-Du made it clear that the excerpt was not about the showgirl choreography or the music. It was all about the dancer. One expects that Balanchine would agree.
BOMB
Mahoney-Du also figured in the year's biggest bomb, though she can't be blamed for it. No dancer could have saved Trey McIntyre's "The Rite of Spring," which the Washington Ballet performed in February, also at the Kennedy Center. The company has had some successes in the past year -- capably performing a ballet by the sought-after choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, for instance -- but even before the latest labor woes that led to canceling part of its recent "Nutcracker" run, there were missteps. "Rite of Spring" was the biggest. The concept, to update Stravinsky's recognizable score with a modern-day tale of a woman brutally forced into marriage, was strained from the start. By the time audiences were treated to a vile and graphic rape scene, this "Rite" had gone terribly wrong.
