NBT’s playful ‘Peter Pan’ sets hearts aflutter at the Smith Center

★★★★★ - Irresistible

“Second to the right, and then straight on till morning.” Every child knows (though most grown-ups have forgotten) that Neverland is a wondrous place that resides in the the heart and mind. Nevada Ballet Theatre’s charming storybook presentation of choreographer Jorden Morris’ adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s classic tale “Peter Pan” proved the perfect family treat on Mother’s Day weekend. For Barrie’s story isn’t just about feisty fairies, crusty pirates, and a little boy who refuses to grow up, but is also about the yearning for a mother’s love.

Growing up can feel like exuberance sprinkled with melancholy for children and parents alike. It’s a fleeting quality integral to Barrie’s work that Morris admirably captures, choreographed mostly to the music of Barrie’s contemporary Sir Edward Elgar, among others. He stays with the story (with a few variations) and takes the time to develop the loving relationship of the Darling family in the first act nursery scenes with funny horseplay and pretty duets, though this section feels a bit long. But once Peter and Tinkerbell arrive and Wendy, Michael, and John fly off with them to Neverland (literally and fantastically, courtesy of Flying By Foy), the show really gets its wings.

Morris, who worked with the company on the production with the help of rehearsal assistants Caitlin Peabody and Tara Foy, uses grand gestures and pantomime to propel the narrative forward that are more fresh and natural in style than in classic story ballets. The language is animated without being cartoonish, and the dancers really get to show off their acting chops. We can see Barrie’s familiar words in their movements.

Elgar’s beautiful work “Dream Children” sets a wistful tone for the nursery scene where Peter, danced by Jun Tanabe, and Wendy, danced by Betsy Lucas, meet. After Peter’s rollicking chase with his life-sized Shadow (David Hochberg), Wendy sews it back on his feet and an attraction ignites between the two during a shy duet of discovery. Peter and Wendy seem a bit more grown-up than usual here and Tanabe and Lucas share a palpable chemistry in what feels like a blossoming romance.

Tanabe’s Peter is a powerful leader, and he wows with his athletic multiple tours a la second, high leaps and beats, and acrobatics in the air, yet also has a gentle gracefulness. And he makes it all look easy while wearing a flying harness, as does Lucas who conveys Wendy’s dual qualities of daintiness mixed with strong-willed strength, giving the feel of a spirited young girl awakening into adolescence with her flowing arabesques and cheerful jetés.

The charismatic Emma McGirr brings to life the spunky Tinkerbell with her expressive features and dramatic emotions. She humorously pumps her fists in fits of fury, pas de chats and fouettés crisply like a jubilant fairy would, and collapses into side splits with arms crossed and feet flexed like the petulant creature she is. After Tinkerbell drinks poison to save Peter they perform a beautiful dying pas de deux, but the colorful Neverland Fairies as a corps de ballet dance and sprinkle pixie dust to magically revive her (though there’s an awkward transition when McGirr leaves the stage to have her harness put on).

Benjamin Tucker and Alissa Dale as Mr. and Mrs. Darling exude fond feeling in their soft duets together in the nursery, with Tucker stuffy yet silly and Dale full of motherly love. The elegant Dale is particularly moving in a scene where she waits mournfully for her vanished children to return. And in the Neverland Forest she holds court as Princess Tiger Lily, sharing a sensuous, stylized pas de deux with an anthropomorphized Crocodile, danced by Steven Goforth wearing an avant-garde costume that gives an earthy Art-Deco look.

Tucker does double duty with a very funny and cowardly portrayal of the dastardly Captain Hook, often sword fighting with Tanabe as Peter, who always outwits him by leaping out of his reach. There’s also an intricate chase/duet between Tucker and Goforth as nemesis Croc that simulates a scuffle in the watery lagoon, and amusing antics with his bumbling sidekick Smee, danced by a goofy Enrico DeMarco.

The choreography is rooted in classical ballet, with traditional-style group numbers involving the Lost Boys and Pirate Clans that include acrobatic, dueling duets and what looks like improvised battles. The entire cast crafts a wonderful ensemble. Standouts include Stephan Azulay, Sergio Alvarez, David Hochberg, Krista Baker, and Caroline MacDonald. Kudos to Isabella Kowalski as Michael, Emmie Strickland as John, Christina Ghiardi as maid Liza, and Charis Dexter as fluffy dog-nursemaid Nana.

The gorgeous sets of the Edwardian nursery with picture window and starry skies, the Maxfield Parrish inspired Neverland forest/waterfall, and the Jolly Rancher were designed by Don Rutledge and Andrew Beck; Anne Armit created the striking costumes with an Art Nouveau flair; and Robert Hand assisted by Peter Jakubowski designed the evocative, dreamy lights.

NBT’s “Peter Pan” is an enchanting flight for kids and grown-ups alike.

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EMAV Review: NBT's ethereal 'Swan Lake' flies high at the Smith Center ★★★★★

★★★★★ - Irresistible

In the clearing of a misty forest somewhere far away there's an enchanted lake filled with the sorrow of a mother's tears. Nevada Ballet Theatre took us to that magical place recently at The Smith Center with the premiere of their extraordinarily pretty "Swan Lake," staged by Cynthia Gregory after the choreography of Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa to the music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Gregory's version of the tragic tale, about an innocent maiden transformed into a swan by an evil sorcerer and the handsome prince who loves her, streamlines the saga by trimming superfluous details, especially in the garden party of the first act. The result is a prologue and three scenes which focus on the core story by telling it through naturalistic performances and clear miming, and particularly through the eyes of the melancholy prince.

After all, the story's the thing and the emphasis on character enhances the quality of classical movement given by the company, supported by the refined, 51 piece orchestra led by Conductor Leif Bjaland.

Notes of a celestial harp and weeping violin fill the air as moonlight streams through leaves into the lakeside clearing of a forest (lighting by Peter Jakubowski, costumes and scenery by Peter Farmer). The Swan Queen Odette, danced by Alissa Dale, and Prince

Siegfried, danced by Steven Goforth, fall deeply in love during the White Adagio, and this is where the show truly takes flight. A sensuous chemistry ignites between the pair, with Goforth full of yearning and Dale fluttering and glancing shyly as she gently guides his arms to encircle her in a momentary embrace. The image of the Prince holding the Swan as she performs gorgeous pirouettes, supple backbends, and airy split lifts against an inky, moonlit night creates a serene and haunting stage picture that is beguiling to the eye.

The corps as the enchanted Swan Maidens with their willowy port de bras waltz in unison or bourrée in formation to resemble a bevy of birds. Kaori Fukui, Betsy Lucas, Caroline MacDonald, and Emma McGirr effortlessly portray the endearing Little Swans as they look left, then right, and pas de chat while moving quickly with arms interlaced, and Krista Baker and Christina Ghiardi give the Big Swans an equally impressive grace.

With his smoldering good looks and dramatic dancing, Stephan Azulay is perfect as sorcerer Baron Von Rothbart, and crafts a complex portrait of the sinister man. He is the keeper of the Swan Maidens, opening his serpentine arms to manipulate them into formation, conducting them like a sadistic shepherd herding his flock. There's a terrifying moment when he tears Odette away from Siegfried with only a flourish of his hands and the magnetic power in his fingertips. Dale struggles to resist yet is pulled forcefully toward him, twisting and turning while contorting her body aesthetically to transform from a woman back into an imprisoned swan.

Scene II takes us to the sumptuous castle for Siegfried's birthday celebration and introduction to the princesses, from whom he reluctantly must choose a bride to please the Queen Mother, played by Clarice Rathers. Each princess leads her own dance, and includes the elegant Baker in the Hungarian, a saucy Lucas supported by Sergio Alvarez and Morgan Stillman in the Spanish, a coquettish Ghiardi in the Russian, and the charming Fukui with Jun Tanabe in the Neapolitan duet.

Rothbart arrives with his doppelganger daughter Odile, also danced by Dale, who attempts to fool the Prince into thinking she is his beloved Odette. In the simmering Black Adagio Dale is sharp and calculated as she seductively teases while he chases, and Goforth is full of desire as she entices him erotically and then coldly pushes him away. He's overjoyed at her touch and she knows she's got him. The scene abruptly goes dark save for one stark, unforgiving spotlight beaming down on him. His heartbreaking betrayal of Odette is complete.

On opening night the pair slipped slightly during the adagio which seemed to momentarily shake their confidence and their individual variations weren't as strong as they might have liked. Still, Goforth was euphoric as he performed his beautiful beats and multiple tours, and Dale jubilantly attacked the 32 fouettes, her near mastery dazzling the crowd. Kudos to both for having the presence, stamina, and extreme emotionality to pull off these demanding characters. Dale brings distinct personalities and movements to the notoriously difficult roles of Odette and Odile with her clean, expressive technique and subtle feeling, crafting both as part awakening woman and part tremulous bird, yet in very different ways. And Goforth carries the mournful story by fully fleshing out the brooding Prince, who can't fit in with the norm, with an undercurrent of aching sadness even when he is blissfully in love with the archetypally pure, perfect Swan.

After Odette and the Prince throw themselves off a cliff knowing the spell can never be broken, some productions divinize the lovers by sending them up in a chariot to live forever together in the afterlife. NBT's version gives the happy ending to the Swan Maidens, who in warm sunlight metamorphose back to human form when Odette's ultimate sacrifice leads to Rothbart's demise.

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EMAV Review: Artfully exploring the human condition, two ensembles 'Coalesce' for UNLV Dance

★★★★☆ - Delicious

New York City based Harper Continuum Dance Theatre and Las Vegas' own Red Desert Dance Ensemble came together this past weekend to perform their intriguing and insightful concert "Coalesce," presented by UNLV Department of Dance in Dance Studio One at the Alta Ham Fine Arts. In meaningful collaboration the two contemporary dance companies take very different approaches in style and tone to an intense examination of the ways in which humans do, and also don't, manage to connect.

Their respective pieces are presented in two separate acts and include additional art forms such as poetry, spoken word, live vocalizations, and even live painting. And while the two ensembles do unite in harmonious coalescence toward the end of the concert, it's only a momentary convergence. As a whole the disparate styles don't quite blend, but contrast, perhaps, is precisely the point.

The first half of the show is shaped by the hustle and bustle of a busy city with its endless possibilities for meaningful connection. It proves the perfect landscape for the contemplative modern dance work "Strangers on the Street," a collection of ten pieces choreographed by Cathy Allen, artistic director of Red Desert Dance Ensemble. Each number is inspired by and titled after an actual photo from famous photoblog "Humans of New York," by Brandon Stanton, and subtitled with its accompanying, thoughtful text.

Opener "Passing Strangers Waiting" subtitled "The Subway on 57th street and an Artist in the Park" establishes a spiritual, almost epiphanic mood, set to the heavenly music of Kevin MacLeod and the humming of live vocalist Gary Fowler, who also recites the poetry of Walt Whitman. UNLV dance students Lonnie Chaney III, Keanna Corley, Malik Gray, Kristina Hakobyan, Dakota Jean Miller, and Lay'la Rogers perform with quiet, powerful presence and athletic grace, crafting subtle characterizations while using their bodies as imperfect instruments for emotional expression. They reach and grasp, contract and fall, tilt and hinge. They bounce as if riding on a subway train, purposefully walk in challenging patterns, and watch as Miller moves slowly with sustained poses while painter Isaac Pelayo brushes impromptu artwork upon her. A human canvas, she ultimately blends into a painting he has drawn on a wall, a fantastic effect helped by Elizabeth Kline's lighting design.

The pieces segue seamlessly one to the next, and the sinuous Gray creates a stark, beautiful stage picture during his solo "Little Boy Thinking," rolling about on a footstool with controlled, outstretched limbs and fluid movement to the percussive sounds of Adionautix. The luminous Rogers has the stirring solo "Silent Voice Reaching" in which she moves softly to a plaintive piano, slowly building momentum and strength along with the music. She adeptly conveys deep sadness, and when she was unintentionally upstaged by a group of latecomers searching for seats, she admirably maintained calm and focus. An earnest Corley effortlessly transmits a feeling of longing from her gut during her solo "Compliance," Chaney III and Hakobyan share a charming flirtation during their balletic duet "Encounter," and the entire ensemble lets loose during the playful "Samba Ensemble," pulling audience members onstage for a Latin ditty.

While Act I feels open and hopeful, Act II feels closed and repressed. With eight pieces the contemporary choreography of Heather Harper, artistic director for Harper Continuum Dance Theatre, is stylized and refined. Ian Dodge, Jordan Norton, and Amy Perkinson comprise the trio of excellent company dancers (though they weren't always in sync Friday) and appear to be classically trained, which suits Harper's often jazzy, balletic style as in "Slogging Away." Set to Moby's jarring electronica the piece feels angry, full of swinging arms, swift turns, and sharp flip lifts, the trio moving urgently as if interaction with others is a struggle.

"Cloistered" is an eerie piece set to "The Lonely Night" by Moby with dystopian voiceover of Mark Lanegan. The choreography is stark and aesthetic with the trio in spotlight center, at first slowly moving their angular arms into different shapes which carve out the space around them. They roll in spirals on the floor, do turn arabesques, and sweeping arm reaches. Claustrophobic and emotionally empty, it's almost like the three dancers represent different fragments of a person with a shattered identity.

After the dark pieces comes the light, comforting "Grounded," danced gently by Perkinson to the poem "Angels On Shoulders" by Janine Leffler in voiceover by Libby Winters, which opens the door for the ensemble to join the trio and improvisationally "Coalesce" to angelic orchestral music. Dressed in white, moving and swaying as one organism, they unite in a message of hope. But it's fleeting, because in the finale "Inscription" they exit coalescence and separate into their original groups, stripping to their undergarments as Pelayo returns to paint the ensemble, bringing the show full circle and ending how it began.

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