Luft: a new Firebird
On March 4th I attended the Turning Point Ensemble’s presentation of Firebird 2011, their take on the 1910 ballet of the same name. The first act was a new arrangement of Stravinsky’s Firebird by Michael Bushnell and the second was an interpretation of the original story, choreographed by Simone Orlando. Orlando's piece, called Luft, featured local choreographer Josh Beamish of MOVE: the company, as well as Alison Denham, Heather Dotto, Cai Glover, and Matjash Mrozewski. Luft (which means air, not red – in case you just started to hum “99 Red Balloons”) is the second time Simone has collaborated with the TPE, the first time being 2009’s Relache. I am told that Relache was built to frustrate and anger the audience, whereas Luft tries to make us react in a much more enjoyable way.
My first note has to be about the set design, because it was stunning. The orchestra was stacked on three levels at the rear of the stage. The centerpiece that joined these three levels was a steel spiral staircase surrounded by metal bars to give the appearance of a very tall birdcage. The occupant of this birdcage was non other than Josh Beamish. While the audience was returning to their seats after a half-hour intermission, he busied himself making origami birds (no less than 9). It was during this time that I snagged a much better seat (during the first act I was on the far side of the balcony) and noticed there were at least 5 empty seats in the orchestra level. This struck me as strange, because the show was supposed to be sold out, and it was disappointing because I wanted to see bodies in those chairs. That being said, I took full advantage and moved to the middle of the third row for Luft.
The original ballet tells the story of a prince whose lover is taken away by an evil man. The plot of Luft is very different. In this story, the prince has lost someone close to him and cannot accept the fact that she is gone. Her life is represented by a white feather and her death is represented by a black feather. The prince's demons torment him, while visions of his lost friend end up saving him. Though not all of this was immediately clear to me, it all fell into place when it was described to me afterward. I think that the risk with the use of so many props (feather, origami birds, a small white birdcage) is that the audience sometimes doesn’t understand what each of these represents. In this case the movement was generally strong enough to give us a close approximation.
Beamish takes the role of the prince in Luft. He is on stage for at least 33 of the shows 35 minutes and this is a tribute to his stamina and talent. Something that I think is interesting about Beamish is that while he undoubtedly has technical abilities equal to those of any professional ballet dancer, he is about half a foot short of having the stereotypically ideal male ballet dancer’s body. This is obviously no fault of his own and he doesn’t have to worry because Orlando takes advantage of these unique qualities in the early sequences. She treats him as an almost feminine presence: not only did he bourree, he was lifted and manipulated like a delicate female dancer by his three demons as well.
These early sequences were also dominated by avian imagery. This movement was much more effective the less literal it was. A single wrist fluttering or arm flapping was enough of a hint but both arms fully extended as wings seemed too obvious. Luckily he spent only a brief moment in that pose before the character of the lost friend was introduced.
Anyone who has seen Alison Denham in work by Alvin Tolentino knows what she looks like when she is the choreographers muse. Here it is clear that Beamish is the priority and her presence seems less important than it might have in the hands of another choreographer. It worked well in the sense that in Luft her character was more of a vision than an actual being and maybe it was a clear choice by Orlando to have Denham feel detached from the other performers somehow. After all, she was the only one not dressed in dark tones, and her nude-coloured dress was stunning.
The prince's demons emerged and swapped out Denham’s white feather for the black one. They took turns handling Beamish with varying degrees of success: here were moments during Cai Glover’s sequence that were lost because of too much anticipation on Beamish’s part. You could tell he was trying to lead even though he was supposed to be following and this robbed the moment of some of its significance. The following duet with Matjash Mrozewski suffered because of incompatibility between their bodies. Where Beamish was soft and supple through his torso and limbs when he moved, Mrozewski seemed rigid and presentational. His arms almost seemed unwilling to bend and there was a lot of tension in his hands. This awkwardness was soon forgotten though, because it was Heather Dotto’s turn to be in control. I can’t say enough about Heather Dotto. You know how when you talk about a really good singer you might say they could sing you the phone book and it would be worth listening to? I think Dotto could be on stage doing step touches and still be compelling. She manhandled Beamish and Denham with more confidence than either of the other men were able to handle Beamish on his own. Of course, his is a testament to the fact that she has been working with Josh for the better part of 6 years now, whereas this is Mrozewski’s first project with the company. It’s a shame that Dotto’s part here is so brief because it’s a rare gift to see her perform work by a choreographer other than Beamish but she makes the most of it.
Orlando’s choreography was wonderful. Her work was expressive, it showed off the strengths of the performers, and I never felt like she was throwing technical tricks in for no genuine reason – something I feel very often when I see ballet performances. That’s not to say the structure isn’t without its flaws. About 95% of the connections between the dancers during their duets were initiated with their hands. This began to feel a bit juvenile after a while. These dancers desperately grasping for each others hands as if they were afraid to give their body weight to someone else unless they knew exactly who was holding onto them. There are many other body parts that can be used to bring two bodies together – and I know Orlando knows this because there came a moment near the end of Luft where Beamish and Denham were joined at the neck and it was one of the most memorable images of the entire night. Many of the standout moments were Beamish’s, including one where a looped movement attempted to knock the wind out of him. It almost looked like his organs were failing - it was actually a bit disturbing. Another moment I can't forget is when Denham finally confronted him with the black feather. He took it in his hand and melted to the floor, seemingly unsure whether he wanted to be close to it or keep it somewhere far away.
The ending of the piece surprised me. I had expected Josh to run to the top of the staircase and drop his white feather from the ceiling and watch it fall, finally saying goodbye to Alison’s life. Instead, when the time came for him to ascend the stairs he immediately returned from the top with a silky blue feathery jacket. After putting the jacket on he tucked his black feather into his breast pocket and he danced joyously – an attitude he did not adopt until moments before. It seemed backward for him to put a piece of clothing on after his character had shed his grief, the smile on his face was more than enough to tell us that a shift had occurred. The real surprise, though, came when he rolled a section of the set out on wheels. On top of the small platform was a blanket of black feathers. He proceeded to spill these feathers across the stage before climbing on top of the platform. I was happy the piece hadn’t ended where I thought it would, because this was my favorite moment of the show. I was afraid for his life, but he handled the height as if he’d been up there the whole time. The ending lost me again though – when he finally dropped his feather, it seemed almost by accident. Then on the last note of the music he struck a very dramatic balletic pose. It seemed almost cheesy and unnecessary and out of place – the feather and his story are so intertwined, I felt like the resolution of the feather should have served as the end of his journey as well.
In the grand scheme of things these were small details. The second the lights went down the crowd was on its feet. One of those never ending bows ensued – you know the kind where every dancer comes out one by one, followed by every other person who somehow contributed to the performance and your hands are sore from clapping before half of them have made their way onto the stage. I know how good it feels to be receiving that applause though, so I couldn’t blame them for wanting to soak it in. They had worked hard, it was time to reap the rewards.
As a side note, here’s a tip: the next time you see a show at the Cultch, do yourself a favour and take your ticket to The Reef (fabulous Caribbean restaurant right around the corner.) They have a promotion on right now that gives you 10% off your bill for attending a performance at The Cultch. So have that pina colada, ask for it in a coconut cup, and be proud you supported the arts – you won’t regret it.