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Dance Preview: 'Jewels' in PBT's crown Men flex dance muscles to achieve equal footing with ballerinas Sunday, March 19, 2000 By Jane Vranish, Post-Gazette Dance Critic
Ballet's male dancers have long suffered from an image problem. That probably came from their artistic roles -- most often that of tortured princes, aristocratic dandies or, in a blue-collar vernacular, forklifts for the ballerinas. Even George Balanchine -- choreographer of "Jewels," the next Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre offering -- once said, "Ballet is woman."
Rudolf Nureyev made his historic leap to the West in 1961 and single-handedly elevated the male technique to a place where men were on equal footing with women. Ultimately, Nureyev, with his sensual nature and bold technique, became the draw that would sell out the house.
"Rudy wasn't a pure classical dancer," says PBT artistic director Terrence Orr. "But he was a strong, dynamic man. He had what we look for in male dancers. Erik Bruhn [a Danish star of the same era] had a pretty dry, but wonderfully clean technique when he was first exposed to Western audiences. He learned from watching Rudy."
Mikhail Baryshnikov followed suit when he made his own dramatic escape from Russia in 1982. He would exhibit amazing aerial combinations that had writers scrambling through technique manuals and audiences clamoring for more.
The repercussions of the vaulted men's role were felt in many corners of the dance world. But it has taken until now to hit Pittsburgh.
PBT's current crop of magnificent men in tights (and shorts and sweats) has provided the impetus for the company's most dazzling development in decades. It has surprised everyone, including Orr, who made the improvement of PBT's male crop a primary goal. But, he said, "I didn't expect it to happen so soon." It also may be the thing that catapults PBT into the national spotlight.
Make no mistake, PBT has had a few very good men along the way (Peter Schaufuss, Marco Pierin, Per Sacklin), and most of the rest had a clean, comfortable technique. But there were also years when some of the ballerinas jumped higher than the men.
It all bore an uncomfortable similarity to football. The men were like a weak offensive line that couldn't control the ball and its share of the clock. The women were the defensive line, forced to carry the artistic load.
Yes, for years PBT ballet was "woman."
The collectively powerful athletic element that draws "oohs" and "ahs" from the women in the audience (and an appreciative nod from the men) has never existed at PBT until this year. This is the first time there is a "stage" war between the sexes, and the audience will benefit.
All through the ranks, the men are armed with good looks, plenty of muscles and sex appeal.
The two men at the top cover the gamut of physical types. Principal dancer Steven Annegarn, who is married to soloist Erin Halloran, arrived at PBT in 1991 via the London Festival Ballet. At 6-foot-3, with blue eyes and strong, chiseled features, he is noted for his good looks and clean lines in aristocratic roles like Prince Siegfried. But this year, Annegarn increased his arsenal of jumps, making him more effective in solo variations.
"He's a prime example of what one can do," says Orr. "Jiabin [Pan] can do all the tricks and create charisma on stage."
Pan came to PBT with wife Ying Li from Central Ballet of China and Ballet Met of Columbus, Ohio, in 1992. His Pan-ther-like jumps make him a natural for character roles, like the acrobatic Jester in "Romeo and Juliet," and contemporary works. But he has the versatility to cover all the bases.
Among the soloists, newcomer Richard Bowman made an immediate impact on the company. "He is a real personality on stage," says Orr. "He likes to perform and is charismatic."
Orr began using Bowman in a number of principal roles, while Terence Marling, who has a go-for-broke physicality that is just reaching its peak, is cast most notably in character parts. Alexander Nagiba, the veteran of this group (1985-present), has inspired many choreographers over the years for his complex, brooding quality and articulate technique.
Orr says Nagiba's "pirouettes are unbelievably dazzling, and his forte is his great footwork." In fact, choreographer Lila York wanted him to come back with her to the Paul Taylor Dance Company when she was here to set "Mercuric Tidings."
Among a particularly strong corps de ballet (Orr is high on all of them), Christopher Rendall-Jackson is just starting to get noticed by incoming choreographers. Trained at San Francisco Ballet School and the National Ballet School in Toronto, he is a new arrival this year from Boston Ballet, along with wife and corps member Kaori Ogasawara. "[Rendall-Jackson] is a tremendous find for our company, with his wonderfully masculine physique," says Orr. With his soft, big jump, Rendall-Jackson went toe-to-toe with Bowman in a duet in "Sleeping Beauty."
Dmitri Kulev, who has a "grand style and delivery on stage," according to Orr, graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet School in 1992. After three years with the Bolshoi Theatre Grigorovich Ballet, he moved to America and joined Ballet Arizona. Kulev then danced with Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet, where he married Jennifer Langenstein, now a PBT soloist.
Audiences can catch tantalizing glimmers of PBT's men in this weekend's production of "Jewels." Balanchine did create a popular "tongue-in-cheek" solo for Edward Villella in the "Rubies" section and a stalwart cavalier in "Diamonds."
Orr refers to Balanchine's style as one where "women are flowers and men are gardeners."
But not at PBT. It appears a lot more is blooming -- and just in time for spring.
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Program: "Jewels."