American Ballet Theatre at the Kennedy Center

Tuesday night I went to the opening night performance of the American Ballet Theatre's stop at the Kennedy Center. I always look forward to seeing ABT as part of my ballet subscription. Did you know that ABT has performed at the Kennedy Center for 50 years, every season that the Kennedy Center has existed? That's quite the partnership!

Not only does this year mark the 50th anniversary of this partnership, but it also marks the final season with Kevin McKenzie as the artistic director of ABT. He was a dancer himself, and he has been in his current role for 30 years. He helped choreograph the company's own versions of the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and "Don Kee-shoat" (as the KenCen's President Deborah Rutter pronounced it. Eek!). So this is the end of an era!

While the group is performing Don Quixote the rest of the week, I saw their "ABT Forward" performance, which included three parts:

Bernstein in a Bubble

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First of all, I loved the costumes for this piece. I want to wear those dresses! Where can I buy one?! The colors, the flowy short skirts, the large keyhole back... divine. And the men's outfits showed off those enormous leg muscles; here I thought I had thunder thighs! 

But in general I didn't love this piece. The music by Leonard Bernstein was just a little too carnival-brassy-parade for me. The whole thing actually felt quite childish, as if lyrics could have been set to the music for a children's show like Barney. The choreography felt the same way: the dancers hopped, marched, crawled, and even played peek-a-boo. When I go to the ballet, I want to see grace and beauty, and much of this piece was not that. And while many might disagree with me on this, my opinion is: just because you are performing some sort of movement on stage does not make it good art.

Kids build pyramids all the time, right? Image found here

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There was one jazzy piece called "Blues" (how original), featuring Chloe Misseldine and Andrii Ishchuk, which was a nice pas de deux. But it's unfortunate that out of eight mini-parts within this piece, there was only one that I mostly liked, and only one distinct lift in the whole thing.

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I was very surprised that there was an intermission after this piece, since it wasn't very long. The following piece was much longer; it should have been first!

Single Eye

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I honestly can barely remember anything about this piece, even as I was leaving the theater that night, so that's not a good sign. The music, composed by Jason Moran, was mostly jazz piano, which is not my cup-o-tea. There was one percussion-heavy part that I did enjoy, though, and at one point they played nature sounds, like birds chirping, so that was interesting.

Some of the moves were pretty cool. Many of the dancers crouched on point and then huddled across the stage; dancing on point is already hard enough, let alone doing it while you're practically sitting down in a narrow squat! There was also a pas de deux in which the male dancer lifted the ballerina as her feet were dragging or sliding along the ground, which you don't commonly see. 

Calvin Royal III had a solo piece. He is very talented! Image found here

In both this piece and the first Bernstein one, a lot of the movements made me think of toxic relationships. There was a lot of pushing, pulling, shoving, crouching... it was like watching a bad relationship happen on stage. That's just not very pleasant to watch. 

Another thing I noticed during this piece: dancer Michael de la Nuez has a hair lip. I do not think I have ever seen a ballet dancer with a cleft lip! I am pleased to see the inclusivity of the ballet world opening up in this way. (Although perhaps Rudolf Nureyev of the Mariinsky Ballet had one, too?) And speaking of inclusivity, there was so much homoeroticism throughout the evening. I don't think I've ever seen so many men do lifts with other men. At any moment I thought different pairs were going to start kissing on stage! ("Not that there's anything wrong with that!") Again, just the changing of the times, and I appreciate ABT's openness.

ZigZag

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This was BY FAR my favorite piece of the night! All of the music was from the crooners, with Tony Bennett singing most of the songs (not that he was there, although that would have been amazing!). They were songs like "What the World Needs Now," "Blue Moon," and "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing." As a blues dancer (who dabbles in swing dancing), I loved all of these songs! I also very much appreciated the Americana vibes of this performance. Even the zig-zag backdrop made me think of Charlie Brown's shirt, and later there was an image of the New York City skyline highlighted in the background. It made me want to visit the Big Apple!

Once again, the costumes were beautiful. I would have worn any and all of those dresses! And the men who were wearing all white made me wish their outfits would magically change color (à la Project Runway). And all of the dancing was so lively and fun! I didn't love some of the moves, like zombie-arms or "the worm," but most of it was gorgeous. I especially liked when some of the dancers created the NYC skyline with their own bodies, arms overhead to create the tops of buildings and the like. 

So reminiscent of SJP in Sex and the City! Image found here

This piece was so joyful! The program definitely ended on a high note. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Misty Copeland had been performing!

Here's a video of a previous curtain call for this piece, just to give you an idea of the vibe:

Speaking of the curtain call, this final one went on for MUCH too long. Not only did the dancers expect you to clap over and over again for them, one by one it seemed, BUT Kevin McKenzie came on stage for multiple curtain calls of his own. They even dropped pink rose petals from the ceiling! It was all a little much. Can you imagine if each of us, in our day-to-day jobs, demanded that everyone clap for us for nearly TEN MINUTES just for doing our jobs? Please.

Want to see this company perform Don Quixote at the Kennedy Center? Purchase your tickets now!

Riverdance at the Kennedy Center

 

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Last week I had the chance to see Riverdance at the Kennedy Center! I was able to get a discount code for last-minute tickets, so I bought a ticket for myself in the fourth row for Friday night. It was quite a different crowd from the one when I saw Yo-Yo Ma at the Kennedy Center earlier this month (read that blog post here). Lots of DC tourists!

It's the group's 25th anniversary, and I was excited to celebrate that milestone with them. It all started as the interval performance during the Eurovision Song Contest that Ireland hosted in 1994:

That performance not only led to the international sensation that is now Riverdance, but it also changed Irish dancing forever. Here's an interesting article about how Riverdance changed the way the dance was performed, the costumes that are worn, and more.

I can't remember if I saw Riverdance as a child, but certainly all I expected to see was Irish dancing. But it's so much more than that! And while the dancing was certainly impressive (and it wasn't just Irish dancing), I was equally enamored by the singing and the music. Such talent!

Such stoic faces! Image found here

The introduction of the show, "Reel Around the Sun," really gives you the full experience. The singing is incredible, the music is stunning, and the dancing is intense:

And everything went from there! I really liked their use of the virtual backgrounds to help tell the story. With today's technology, why don't all dance companies do that? It was cool to watch the sun set or the waves of the ocean move, and it's so much more modern than the traditional sets that ballet companies use.

William Bryant (above, starting at 1:04) was the male soloist of the show, and he is phenomenal! He was clearly born to be a performer. He dances with such confidence, and boy does he look good in those costumes! I couldn't keep my eyes off of him!

The troupe also includes Morgan Bullock (video above), an African-American woman from Richmond, Virginia. Her dance instructor actually works at the Pure Barre studio I go to! Such a small world. I don't think anyone expects a Black woman to be performing Irish dance, and I appreciate her poise in breaking down those barriers. She's the Irish dance version of Misty Copeland!

There was even some flamenco dancing at this show! The music gave it away with the Spanish guitar and castanets, and when Rocio Dusmet took the stage, she completely captivated your attention. Her sultry gaze was almost like that of a sorceress, luring you in. She had two separate parts in the show; it was almost like she had her own showcase!

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I thought that some of the dancers looked related, and sure enough I was right! You have Matthew and Michael Gardiner, and William Bryant is joined by his brother Kieran (they even make music together!).

Along with the dancers, the musicians were amazing, too. There were three women, which I thought was really cool, and then the percussionist was a man. Tara Howley plays the the Uilleann pipes (similar to Scottish bagpipes), the low whistle, the tin whistle, and the concertina (whew!). Emma Frampton plays the saxophone, and Haley Richardson plays the fiddle. And they are all led by Mark Alfred, the drummer and musical director. I was blown away by all of them! They are all incredible at what they do, and I loved their chemistry on stage, too.

Here's a video of Tara Howley several years ago playing the Uilleann pipes:

And this is Haley Richardson playing the fiddle along with two troupe members dancing:

I really enjoyed the segments that just featured the musicians without the dancers. It was a nice way to break up the show (and certainly to give the dancers a rst), and they themselves are quite riveting as performers. They are so good I could have watched them as a concert all on their own!

The second act was a lot more fun, since the dancers didn't seem to be as serious. It's more enjoyable to watch when they are smiling and look like they are having a good time. I've included a lot of videos below to give you a sense of that!

The second act opens with "American Wake," which feels like a folk festival of sorts:

While I was watching, I wondered how Irish dancing evolved compared to tap dancing. Irish dance came first, but tap dance certainly has strong roots here in the United States. And then the show actually included a tap dancing segment! Tyler Knowlin and Dharmesh Patel were the two tap dancers, and they were both great. It was fun watching them and the Irish dancers play a little Westside Story-esque dance battle.

Here's a video of that part (although with different dancers and musicians):

There were also four Russian dancers who did interesting tricks and the like. That part included Christine Lesnikova, Aleksandr Safonov, and Eugeniu and Ana Turcan (siblings? husband and wife?). Here's a full video of the "Russian dervish" segment:

Needless to say, this is one of the best shows I've seen, and I go to a lot of performances! I can't recommend it enough!

While the video below is not exactly the same performance I saw, it's a full hour-and-a-half if you just want to watch online:

And during the intermission they played a promotional video to visit Ireland, which I thought was funny. So maybe with COVID-19 as less of a problem, you could visit...?

I saw Yo-Yo Ma at the Kennedy Center!

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I'm not a classical music expert by any means, but I can certainly appreciate it. And I know who Yo-Yo Ma is! So months ago when I recived an email from the Washington Performing Arts selling tickets for his performance at the Kennedy Center, I immediately emailed my friend Jen (my go-to classical music friend, since she plays the piano) to invite her to come with me.

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I hadn't been in the Kennedy Center's concert hall probably since before the pandemic. It's such a beautiful space! While the show was sold out, there were many empty seats (including three next to me), so I wish I had looked on Craigslist to see if anyone was selling their tickets so I could have invited other friends. But perhaps people simply forgot! I never received a reminder email about the performance; good thing I wrote it down in my planner! 

Ma was performing in a trio alongside Emanuel Ax on the piano and Leonidas Kavakos on violin. The performance was in memory of Isaac Stern, a famous violinist (which I did not know until Jen told me). They started the show by playing the national anthem of Ukraine in honor of the violence happening there now, which I thought was very respectful and meaningful; people on the other side of the world are at war right now, and we had the privilege to be safe and sound watching a concert. 

Here's an actual video of their performance of the anthem:

The first full piece they played was Beethoven's "Pastorale" symphony, which is one of my favorites. It's the music in the unicorn scene in Disney's Fantasia! While the piece certainly sounds different when you only have three instruments instead of a full orchestra, it still was familiar and made me smile. How can you not when you're listening to music that makes you think of cherubs, baby unicorns, and sexy centaurs?

I couldn't find a full clip of the Disney piece, so here is the full symphony separated out into its five movements:

Movement 1

Movement 2

Movement 3

Movement 4

Movement 5

The trio also played Beethoven's "Gassenhauer" piano trio piece:

And the last piece they played was Beethoven's "Ghost" piano trio piece:

They played the third movement of Beethoven's piano trio in E-flat Major, Op. 70 No. 2 as the encore:

It wasn't that those other two pieces weren't good, it's just more fun to listen to music you know. Kind of like when you go to a rock concert and can sing along with the songs: it's just more fun when you know the music! They did play an encore piece that I wasn't familiar with. A little girl sitting behind us said, "Wait, they're going to play again?" and let out a very tired sigh. I was tired, too, I will admit, but I did not fall asleep! And the metro gods were on my side, and I made good time traveling home. I am so thankful that we can enjoy things like this again after two years of staying at home!

Read the full program notes here.

Concert: Chris Lane at the Fillmore Silver Spring

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A few weeks ago I saw Lauren Alaina and Spencer Crandall in concert at the Fillmore Silver Spring (read that blog post here). And then last Friday I saw Chris Lane at the same venue for his "Fill Them Boots" tour!

I had not heard of either of his openers before. Lily Rose certainly doesn't fit your idea of what a "female country star" looks like, but I love that country music is becoming more welcome and inclusive of all people (She recently got engaged to her girlfriend, Daira Eamon.). I couldn't understand a lot of what she sang, but I did like her vibe. Some of her songs were okay!

Villain (This song reminded me of Carly Pearce's "What He Didn't Do," just about how each person has their own side of the story and how someone always seems to come out to be the "bad guy.")

Stronger Than I Am

Remind Me of You

The second opener, ERNEST, wasn't much better in terms of enunciation. I thought his show was kinda boring. The only good songs he performed were ones that he helped write with Morgan Wallen (I was surprised that both he and Lily Rose gave shout-outs to Morgan after he's gotten bad press from using racial slurs and breaking COVID-19 restrictions; probably NOT a name you want to drop when trying to make a name for yourself.). 

Cheers (He's patriotic, which I think is a good thing...?)

More Than My Hometown (one of Morgan's songs)

Sugar

Somebody's Problem (another one of Morgan's songs)

Photo taken by Mike Davis

And while Chris Lane's energy was better, and I knew a couple of his songs, I wasn't even impressed with him as a headliner. He worked the crowd, which is fun, but I'm paying HIM to sing, not listen to my fellow concert-goers belt it out. He also sang some songs from the 90's to engage the crowd (like Alan Jackson's "Chattahoochee" and Montell Jordan's "This is How We Do It," but again, I wanted to hear his music. He did sing one song with his brother, who is also his drummer, and his brother sounds JUST like him! Here are some of the songs Chris sang that I recognized:

I Don't Know About You

Ain't Even Met You Yet (Kind of sappy...)

Big, Big Plans

Take Back Home Girl

Here's a bonus video of Chris singing with his brother, Cory:

Chris Lane sang to a little girl who was a big fan! Photo by Mike Davis

Unfortunately this is one of the worst concerts I've been to. I really didn't have that much fun, and I wasn't interested in buying merch or learning more about any of these singers. Needless to say, if any of them come back to town, I won't be rushing to buy tickets.