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| The Waltz Project |
| Music: Choreography: Peter Martin Scenic and costume design: Lighting: The Waltz Project, which entered the S.F. Ballet�s repertoire in 1996, exhibits much of the exploratory spirit Martins displayed in his even earlier Calcium Night Light. In this revival staged by Russell Kaiser, the four-couple work retains the freshness and unpretentiousness Martins has rarely exhibited in the many dances made for N.Y.C. Ballet in the past decade. One choreographer simplified as he matured; the second spread his gifts too widely and too ambitiously in a series of often disposable ballets. But Martins, to his credit, has always championed the scores of his own time and felt most comfortable with them. The Waltz Project was a series of 17 contemporary piano waltzes, assembled for a Nonesuch Records in 1980. Martins selected a dozen of these tart miniatures, curiously omitting some of the more winsome numbers by Lou Harrison, Virgil Thomson and Richard Felciano. The ambience of the ballet - with Mark Stanley�s moody lighting and Alain Vaes� T-shirts, sneakers and ballet shoes - suggests curdled Jerome Robbins. The curtain rises on John Cage�s urban sounds and a graffiti-laden backdrop. The essential friction between the sexes is established at the beginning, and although the men and women engage with each other in the succeeding 11 episodes, the tone of edgy lyricism never dissipates. Martins, rather daringly for the time, extends the duet format and invests the performers with attitudes rather than characterizations. Amanda Schull�s tough temptress in sneakers baits her partner David Arce in Ivan Tcherepnin�s "Valse Perpetuelle." Julie Diana yields more graciously to Benjamin Pierce in Philip Glass� "Modern Love Waltz." Zachary Hench manipulates Pauli Magierek�s body like a carpenter deploys a board of timber in Milton Babbitt�s "Minute Waltz." Steven Norman squires Nicole Starbuck in a duet that actually resembles a waltz (by Joseph Fennimore). You�re left seeking some kind of genuine resolution in The Waltz Project, but the open-ended aspect seems part of the piece�s raffish charm. Pianist Michael McGraw�s attentive performances topped a most appealing revival./ Source |
| Benjamin Pierce and Julie Diana in Peter Martins' The Waltz Project Photo by Andrea Flores |
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