Up Close and Personal: Columbia Classical Ballet's first "Studio Series"

by Dance Editor Susan Lenz

Yesterday was the first time I've been inside Columbia Classical Ballet's rehearsal space near the corner of Trenholm and Forest. I came for the first of three "Studio Series" events. Two rows of folding chairs lined the mirrored wall and were filled to capacity.  Everyone was personally welcomed. Wine and light hors d'oevres were served in an adjoining area, with the Ballet collecting monetary donations and distributing information about season memberships, program advertisement opportunities, and company sponsorship levels. The event began with several brief pleas for financial assistance.  I didn't really mind the dollar-and-cent focus.  Arts funding in Columbia really is at an all time low.  More people need to both attend and contribute to performing arts…and, well...to ALL OF THE ARTS.

The dancing started nearly on time. Testosterone spun, leapt, and was barely contained by the six bare-chested young men who began the program with new choreography meant to feature their athleticism. The energy and applause grew, however, with classical variations, especially the pas de deux from Le Corsaire. The entire company filled the space for the final number.  As impressive as the talent was, the nearness to the performers was the highlight of the experience. The audience could see muscles flexing, sweat beads forming, and truly feel the strength and passion that goes into the lives of these dancers.

Afterward, I asked Hayden Slaff, a new recruit fresh from two seasons with National Ballet in DC, what he enjoyed most about the afternoon. His answer in a nutshell:  Seeing the faces in the audience. What he liked best was a two-way street. Columbia Classical Ballet's "Studio Series" is an up-close and personal opportunity to witness dance and dancers. I highly recommend this series.

"Studio Series" continues on Sunday, November 5, 2017 and Sunday, February 11, 2017.  Both begin at 5:00. To attend, visit http://columbiaclassicalballet.com and fill out the online reservation or dial (803) 252-9112.  I hope to see you there!

Misty Copeland Heading to Columbia to Benefit Columbia City and Classical Ballets - A Jasper Exclusive

When the 75 plus attendees at Columbia City Ballet's Uncorked Ballet Preview on Saturday night first arrived at the CCB Studios at Taylor and Main we knew we were in for a dance treat. Much of the choreography for the company's upcoming performance of Aladdin comes from challenging classical ballets with time-tested variations such as La Bayadere. Seeing the dancers perform the difficult movements on stage comes complete with a required finesse suggesting a certain ease of performance. But witnessing the dancers in the glaring lights of the studio gives no such illusion. The difficulty, and sometimes danger, of the choreography is plain to see as the dancers pant and grunt and sweat and almost fall then regain their footing, before collapsing at the sides of the studio, exhausted and exhilarated.

No make up, no costumes, no nets.

But before the backstage preview even got underway CCB executive director William Starrett shared an exciting announcement. In conjunction with Columbia Classical Ballet, who suffered tremendous studio losses last fall during the October floods, Columbia City Ballet will be bringing American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Misty Copeland,  to Columbia on March 15th for a luncheon to benefit both Columbia City and Classical Ballets.

"We are thrilled to make this announcement and looking forward to sharing more details as they become available," Starrett said.

Misty Copeland is known throughout the dance world for her athletic dance style as well as for being the first African American principal dancer in American Ballet Theatre's 75 year history.  She performed the lead role in Washington Ballet's Swan Lake last spring with Columbia native Brooklyn Mack who is in his fifth year as principal dancer with Washington Ballet.

Following the announcement, the dancers of Columbia City Ballet continued to take our collective breath away.

Cabaret Night at Columbia Classical Ballet

Last Sunday night, the dance contingency of Jasper Magazine was delighted to be hosted by Columbia Classical Ballet at their annual Cabaret Night at 701 Whaley. It was an evening of food, drink, a live auction, and art -- a great way to spend a Sunday night. (We also popped in for the end of Jasper's Wet Ink Poetry Series, hosted by Kendal Turner at the Jasper Studios at the Arcade, and then moved down the block to The Whig for a free concert by the (fabulous) Mobros -- a young band with pretty spectacular talent.) But by far, the best part of the night at the ballet was getting a sneak peek of the ballet company assembled this year by Radenko Pavlovich, artistic director of Columbia Classical Ballet. The company performed a half-dozen or so numbers with dances that ranged from the appropriate opening cabaret number -- a happy performance that included what looked to be a massive full company -- to a classy little tango number in black featuring principal dancer Lauren Frere. Frere's tango, which alternated between being flirtatious, sexy, and classy -- as any good tango should do -- was an excellent way of demonstrating this beautiful dancer's port de bras and extension.

The company, as-a-whole, performed admirably given the newness of the season, the atypical performance space (a marley-covered concrete floor), and obvious difficulties with the sound system.

Jasper looks forward to their coming season: La Bayadere on October 13th, featuring Brooklyn Mack; the Nutcracker , Lifechance in January, and then a reprisal of last season's Swan Lake.

Classical Ballet's Presentation of Le Corsaire Coming up Friday Night

It's the end of Columbia Classical Ballet's 20th season and artistic director Radenko Pavlovich is celebrating with the ambitious staging of one of classical ballet's greatest productions, Le Corsaire.

Based loosely on the poem The Corsaire by Lord Byron, we cannot assure the reader that the story you see told through dance by the Columbia Classical Ballet company will be completely true to its origins, particularly given the license artistic directors in these parts take with some of western cultures greatest works of art. However, Jasper has had a gander at the press release being circulated and, while there are certainly some differences in the interpretation, the story still reads in a similar vein as that written by Jules Perrot who premiered the ballet in 1858 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, and improved upon by Marius Petipa in 1863, who had incidentally danced the role of Conrad at the premiere five years before.

For the sake of maintaining the integrity of the original story it should be noted that Le Corsaire, the ballet, is the story of Medora, a young Greek girl, who is sold to a rich Pasha by a slave dealer. An oddly good pirate -- or Corsaire -- by the name of Conrad comes to Medora’s rescue – as good rather than bad pirates are wont to do, and falls in love with her. Through a series of jealous manipulations, Medora ends up back with her original owner who once again sells the young woman to the same Pasha. When Conrad once again tries to save her, he is caught and sentenced to death. Now it is Medora’s turn to save Conrad and she does so by conspiring with another slave woman named Gulnare. The plan is that Medora agrees to marry the Pasha but, during the ceremony, Gulnare sneaks in and takes Medora's place, with Gulnare ending up marrying the Pasha. After the jig is up, Medora and Conrad escape from the Pasha's compound, but their ship goes down in a terrible storm. Luckily, the lovers are washed ashore and they live happily ever after.

What is most important, when addressing the integrity of the story, is that in all likelihood, Pavlovich will be keeping true to the choreography as it was revised in 1931 for the Kirov Ballet by Agrippina Vagonova, the noted pedagogical genius who gave us the truest form of classical ballet technique of all time. Certainly, sometimes ADs and ballet masters or mistresses have to make concessions in choreography, based upon the abilities of the dancers with which they have to work. But knowing that Columbia native Brooklyn Mack will be dancing the slave variation that has won him silver medals all over the world, we feel certain the audience will get the real deal. And if you'd like a preview, take a look at this.

In the meantime, here's a copy of the previously mentioned press release with all the info you might need to know before attending the performance Friday night. Jasper will be in the audience and we hope you will, too.

Swashbuckling ‘Corsaire’ wraps up Columbia Classical Ballet’s 20^th season The Columbia Classical Ballet sets sail March 2 with “Le Corsaire,” a swashbuckling ballet masterwork filled with handsome pirates and beautiful women that takes many thrilling twists and turns through exotic places. Join the crew for this fanciful final offering of the Classical Ballet’s 20^th anniversary season.

“This great work of the classical repertoire will be special in many ways,” said Radenko Pavlovich, artistic director of the Columbia Classical Ballet. “Columbia has never seen anything like it.”

The rousing story and dynamic dancing are only part of what makes “Le Corsaire” (also called “The Pirate”) a must-see show at the Koger Center for the Arts.

While the ballerinas are usually at center stage, “Le Corsaire” showcases the power of the men. Featured will be guest artist Brooklyn Mack, a member of the Washington Ballet who received his initial training from Pavlovich. Company members Christopher Miro, Oleksandr Vykhrest and Ivan Popov take leading roles.

“This ballet is about the guys and they really shine in it,” said Pavlovich.

Visually this will be a stunning production with sets and costumes used by the Washington Ballet and other companies around the globe.

Mack, named one of “25 to watch in 2012” by Dance magazine in January, will dance the role of Ali. A Washington Post review of his performance as Ali with the Washington Ballet called him “a human missile.”

“It is like the role was made for him,” Pavlovich said.

Miro, a native of Cuba and former member of The National Ballet of Cuba, dances the role of pirate leader Conrad. Vykhrest fills the role of Birbanto, Conrad’s friend and betrayer. Vykhrest has been a member of the Classical Ballet of Kiev, Donetsk Ballet Company and the Sarasota Ballet. Popov, as the slave trader Lankedem, has been soloist at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, the Vienna State Opera and principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet and the Hungarian National Ballet. The role of Medora is being danced by Tamako Miyazaki, a native of Japan completing a stellar first year with the company, and Lauren Frere, who joined the company in 2008 and has been principal dancer since 2010, will dance the role of Gulnara.

Sets are by Simon Pastukh who has designed over 200 opera, ballet and theatrical productions for the Bolshoi, Mariinsky and Sovremennik theaters in Russia, NHK in Japan, the National Theatre of Norway and others. From 1980 to 1991 he was a resident designer at Michailovsky Opera and Ballet Theatre in St. Petersburg. Galina Solovyeva, designer for the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg for 15 years, created the costumes. Her career includes over 100 designs for ballet, opera, and theatre among them “Othello,” “Eugene Onegin,” “The Sleeping Beauty,” “Firebird,” and “Swan Lake” for groups including the New York City Ballet and the Japan Ballet.

“Le Corsaire” was created in the late 19^th century by choreographer Marius Petipa (the man behind “The Sleeping Beauty,” “The Nutcracker,” “Swan Lake”) for the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg. The original score is by Adolphe Adam (composer of “Giselle” too) with additions by Cesare Pugni, history’s most prolific ballet music composer, and several other composers.

The ballet has enough twists and turns to be a tale told by Shakespeare. A pirate ship manned by Conrad, his friend Birbanto and Ali sails into a harbor town where they visit a bazaar where slaves are being sold by Lankedem. When Conrad sees the slave girl Medora it is love at first sight. He and his crew steal her and the other girls, including Medora’s friend Gulnara. Medora asks Conrad to free all the girls and he agrees, but Birbanto incites a mutiny. The mutiny fails, but Birbanto convinces Conrad he is blameless - then steals Medora and sells her to a Pasha. Disguised as pilgrims, Conrad leads the pirates on a raid to free Medora. The reunited lovers sail away, but are overtaken by a raging storm. The ship sinks. The ballet ends as the rising moon reveals Conrad and Medora safely reaching shore.

“We’re happy to finish our 20^th season with this amazing production,” Pavlovich said. “It’s a fitting end to this important year.”

“Le Corsaire” 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 2 at the Koger Center, Assembly and Greene streets, Columbia. For evening performance tickets, $6 - $32, go to capitoltickets.com or call (803) 251-2222. For morning tickets contact the Classical Ballet at (803) 252-9112.

 For more of Jasper, please visit our website at www.Jaspercolumbia.com where you can subscribe to the magazine, read back issues of Jasper, and keep up with what's going on in the world of Columbia arts.

Brooklyn Mack -- Dancing Saturday Night at Lifechance

I'm sure my kids hate it when I reference their younger days in blog posts and lectures and the like, and every time I do, I'm aware that they may be uncomfortable. But then I remember how much we spoiled them when they were small and I decide, screw it, they can take one for the team. This is one of those times.

When Annie and Bonnie were little girls and they temporarily left Columbia City Ballet's junior company to dance for and learn from Radenko Pavlovich's Columbia Classical Ballet, (I say temporarily because Bonnie is back at City now and Annie stopped dancing in high school), there was this amazingly sweet boy who had also just come to dance there who we all immediately fell in love with.

His name was Brooklyn Mack.

Brooklyn was tall and shy and, to be honest, less than graceful, and his feet seemed to get in the way of his dancing. He had a smile that was almost too big for his face and he sometimes seemed to try to hide it when he was tickled by something someone said or did.

All the kids there were young and raw,  and despite their parents opinions -- mine included -- there didn't appear to be any world-class dancers chasing one another around the studios at Pavlovich's, or popping down the walkway to buy and share cheesy bread from Little Caesar's Pizza.

But there was Brooklyn. At 12, not yet well-trained or even very talented, but with a degree of determination that made all the other kids pale. Over and over he would endure Pavlovich's not-always-gentle corrections. "Point your bah-nah-nahs! Point your bah-nah-nahs!" Pavlovich would scream at the boy in his Serbian accent to point his quite large toes and feet.

Brooklyn would internalize his corrections without letting them beat him down. Like most ballet instructors who frequently question the self-worth of the individuals in their tutelage, Pavlovich showed no mercy to Brooklyn -- which was fine, because Brooklyn didn't want it. Though sensitive and kind, he was tough. And even as a boy, he demonstrated the kind of integrity that made me feel that it was an honor to call him a friend of our family.

Brooklyn didn't stay long at Pavlovich's. Radenko has a reputation for wisely sending his talented students on to study elsewhere and he did so with Brooklyn, as well. After just a few years he felt Brooklyn was ready to move on so he made arrangements for the still young boy to move to Washington, DC and attend the Kirov Ballet Academy. On full scholarship. When Brooklyn graduated from the Kirov, he got a choice position dancing with the American Ballet Theatre's second company. And he traveled. He traveled literally all over the world dancing in Asia and Europe and South America, and competing in competitions where he rarely left without a medal around his neck. (He made the cover of Dance Europe in 2009 and was just named by Dance Magazine as one of 25 young dancers to watch in 2012.) He finally landed at Washington Ballet three years ago where he dances in a troupe of extraordinarily gifted dancers.

And this weekend, Brooklyn is traveling back to Columbia where he will dance once again for his mentor and with the company that gave him his start. I cannot recommend enough that you go see the Lifechance Ballet Gala this Saturday night at the Koger Center. I wrote a little ditty on it for Free Times here, where you'll find most of the info you need to know to go.

What you'll see will be an exciting night of some of the best, most athletic, most inspiring ballet you will have seen in quite some time, both from Brooklyn and his colleagues. But look closely when the young man finishes his dances -- he doesn't try to hide his smile as much any more -- and I think he learned a long time ago that his integrity shines through no matter what.