By Dale King
Boca Ballet Theatre wrapped up its 24th season with two memorable performances Aug. 1 and 2 that brought a diversity of talent, elegance and comedy to the stage of the University Theatre at Florida Atlantic University.
It featured some top-notch professional dancers along with the 32 aspiring performers from the United States and Canada who were finishing up their term at the Ballet Theatre’s five-week Summer Intensive Workshop.
The production, called Summer Spectacular: Works of American Masters, highlighted the efforts of agile corps de ballet members chosen at auditions in Atlanta, New York City, Salt Lake City and Boca Raton. “They have spent countless hours preparing to perform,” said Boca Ballet Co-Artistic Director Dan Guin.
Variety was the spice of this show that put the dancers through some entertaining paces. It opened with a production of George Balanchine’s Serenade, the first ballet he created in the United States, set to Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings.
From the opening entry’s emphasis on structure, the show moved through a couple of shorter pieces to the finale, Con Amore, a humorous performance that had many in the audience laughing out loud. The humor provided by choreographer Lew Christensen did not detract from the talent of the dance. If anything, it enhanced the overall performance.
Con Amore also featured the artistry of Alexey Kulpin, considered by Guin to be “one of the best dancers in the world.” Two guest dancers came along for this polished ride: Dennis Lue, who was in The Lion King on Broadway and will join the Boca Ballet faculty in September, and Sanjay Saverimuttu, a Boca Raton native who received early training at Boca Ballet and now dances with the Louisville Ballet.
One ballerina, Anabel Alpert, 17, of Delray Beach, has just been accepted to the Miami City Ballet School. She started at Boca Ballet 10 years ago and was Clara in last year’s production of The Nutcracker. She appeared as the waltz girl in Serenade. Kulpin, Lue, Saverimuttu and Patrick Ward were also part of the expansive dance segment that filled the stage.
Guin said Balanchine created Serenade as a lesson in stage technique for students at the School of American Ballet. So it seemed logical to kick off the Boca show with this opus.
The second segment, Just Swingin’, was a tribute to World War II America, with the lady dancers performing in modified military uniforms. The four accompanying songs ranged from a Glenn Miller entree to “Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy.” Guin choreographed this segment performed in front of a U.S. flag that virtually filled the back wall. Featured dancers included Carly Brink and Faith Candino, and Saverimuttu bounded around the stage with his trumpet to match the beat of the “Boogie Woogie” finale.
Following Just Swingin’ was Long Train Running, which had nothing to do with the Doobie Brothers. Somewhat akin to Serenade in structure, it offered a more relaxed atmosphere for dancers in more colorful garb to again mix jazz with ballet.
Ending on an up note, Summer Spectacular offered Con Amore, patterned after opera buffa. It bounces back and forth between two scenes. In one, Amazons in smart, heraldic uniforms deal with an intrusive thief. In the other, a mistress of suspect repute bids farewell to her husband, only to encounter a gaggle of would-be suitors at her door, looking for a tryst. One by one, she ushers them into closets as others arrive.
Guin, who has performed this piece with wife and Boca Ballet co-artistic director Jane Tyree, called it “a spoof of opera and ballet.” This portrayal featured Kulpin as the thief, whose jumps and moves are perfection.
In perhaps the funniest moment, the thief bares his chest as if to welcome a fusillade from the Amazon muskets. As they aim their weapons, the music suddenly stops.
The two parts come together in Scene 3 when Cupid enters the fray and fires arrows hither and yon. When the chaos settles, the bandit has fallen in love with the mistress, the husband is with the Amazon captain, the sailor and the dandy embrace the lieutenants and the timid student is smitten with love for Cupid herself.
This piece was Christensen’s first major work as director of the San Francisco Ballet. It was performed to Rossini overtures.
Boca Ballet’s upcoming season, its 25th will include performances of Giselle and La Sylphide, and for a special anniversary gala, some of the company’s earlier dancers will return to re-create scenes from favorite shows in the troupe’s history.