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| In the Night |
| Composer: Chopin Music: Nocturnes,Op. 27 No. 1 /Op. 55, no. 2/ Op. 9 No.2 Choeography: Jerome Robbins Stage by: Victor Castelli Costume Design: Anthony Dowell Lighting: Ronald Bates |
| Left: Katita Waldo and Vadim Solomakha danced to Chopin in Jerome Robbins' 1970 ``In the Night.'' Chronicle Photo by John O'Hara Right: Lorena Feijoo and Yuri Possokhov in Jerome Robbins' In The Night. Photo SF Ballet. |
| `In the Night'' is Chopin and nothing but Chopin, a vision of the composer's Nocturnes danced under a starry night. Three couples enter, one after the other, meeting only near the end. Through their dance they alternately suggest attraction and repulsion, passion, perhaps true love.
Joanna Berman and Stephen Legate were an ideal match, their relationship portrayed in sublime dance terms as an easy, natural affair. Katita Waldo and Vadim Solomakha seemed inseparable from the melodies as well as from each other. Both made the most of the exquisitely discrete rubato of Daniel Waite's solo piano. The feline Solomakha, in his debut, conveyed torrents of passion that his precocious musicality and youthful reserve could barely disguise./ 1998 Review |
| The San Francisco Ballet offered three repertory works at the Opera House on Thursday night, when the seventh program of the season opened. A romantic piece by Jerome Robbins explored Chopin nocturnes in "In the Night," two days after the Hasidic Sturm und Drang of his "Dybbuk" premiered on the same stage. It was a huge contrast, and a fascinating opportunity to see two aspects of the same brain expressed through the bodies of the superb San Francisco dancers.
Three couples took turns portraying love -- or at least relationships - - in the 1970 piece, first presented locally in 1985. The passions of the composer matched the talents of the choreographer best in the second pas de deux, featuring Muriel Maffre and Pierre-Francois Vilanoba. Less fiery than the third Opus, featuring a reliably dramatic Lorena Feijoo and the strong but subtler Yuri Possokhov, Maffre and Vilanoba's section had a kind of underplayed wisdom to it. There were exciting moments, like the fluttering bourrees performed upside down by Maffre, but the main satisfaction came from the union of melody, mood, characterization and movement. The third couple, Nutnaree Pipit-Suksun and Stephen Legate, needed more help from the pianist, Daniel Waite, whose playing seemed subdued. Their choreography featured drop-to-the-knees intensity without a hint of musical sforzando. Of the three couples, they seemed the least likely to succeed together in life./ 2005 Review |
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| Bogas returned to the pit for the four Chopin nocturnes that inspired In the Night (1970). It has been too easy for too long to consider these three duets and closing ensemble as leftovers from Robbins� Chopin-driven Dances at a Gathering, which premiered the previous year at NYC Ballet. Perhaps, instead, they are a sequel. Gathering now seems more about self-discovery and In the Night about discovering (or uncovering) the essence of your partner. Staged by the late Victor Castelli, and costumed luxuriantly by Anthony Dowell, the piece enveloped Saturday�s audience in his spell.
The contrasts in the duets are telling. The first couple, still in the throes of first love, can�t wait to tell the world of their mutual attraction in showstopping lifts; I wanted a bit more ardor from Viselli and Sergio Torrado. The second number, with the man�s turned-in entrance and toes underscoring rhythms, suggests traditional Central European dance (the mazurka, perhaps) and anticipates Robbins� last Chopin essay, Other Dances. The iconic upside down lift, which found Pierre-Fran�ois Vilanoba suspending Muriel Maffre from a great height elicited the customary gasps. The final duet simmers with personal conflict; Lorena Feijoo�s fiery temperament and Yuri Possokhov�s equally authoritative cavalier lit up the stage. The final assembling of the three couples, with its courtly bows, suggests public behavior cannot quite conceal private anguish. Despite the suggestions tendered above, In the Night demands experience, wordly and otherwise, from its dancers. The S.F. Ballet obliged Saturday afternoon./ 2005 Review |
| Lorena Feijoo and Damian Smith - 2008 |
| Jerome Robbins is world renowned for his work as a choreographer of ballets as well as his work as a director and choreographer in theater, film, and television. From 1949 to 1989, he was associated with New York City Ballet, ... repertories of the world's greatest dance companies. Peter Boal's plan |
| build a Robbins repertory at PNB began with In the Night, which premiered at New York City Ballet in 1970. Set to four Chopin nocturnes, solo piano pieces to to be played in the evening, In the Night explores three stages of the love relationship � tender young love, a mature and balanced love, and fiery passion � in three extended pas de deux.
"Robbins' In the Night opened the evening on a high note. It's an emotional and immensely moving ballet. ...the dance became a showcase for a dazzling performance by Louise Nadeau and Christophe Maraval as the tempestuous third couple." � Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times "I always enjoy seeing Louise Nadeau paired with Christophe Maraval � the way they dance together is simply divine." � PNB audience member |
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