By K.D. Norris
The Grand Rapids Ballet, after a year of beautiful but somewhat distant virtual performances last season as the troupe and everybody else battled COVID-19 shutdowns, will return to the live stage this week with the first weekend of its 2021-22 season of live-audience (and still virtual) performances.
GR Ballet artistic director James Sofranko and his 19 dancers’ return to the Peter Martin Wege Theatre stage — with a live audience watching, and listening to the exquisite marriage of dance and music — is an opportunity to return to a sense of normal as much as it is to a live stage.
The 2021-22 Season will feature classical ballet favorites, including The Nutcracker, Cinderella, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as showcasing contemporary works such as Off the Canvas and Jumpstart 2022.
The debut program, Off The Canvas, will offer three modern dances, choreographed by modern masters, set to modern music — including Philip Glass — or at least modern takes on classic music.
The program title is a reference to the brush strokes of a painting coming “off the canvas,” and does not have any relation to the common pugilist term “getting up off the canvas” after being knocked down — or does it?
“The title of this program Off The Canvas is taken from one of the ballets we are presenting from choreographer Katarzyna Skarpetowska, which is in fact called ‘Off the Canvas’,” Sofranko said to WKTV. “Her piece is inspired by the Baccus paintings of abstract artist Cy Twombly, so I believe that the title comes from the movement of the brush strokes coming ‘off the canvas’ and brought to life in the movements of the dancers.
“I had not heard of the boxing reference, but I do like the idea that we at Grand Rapids Ballet were dealt a very difficult situation with Covid, but we have rebounded with spirit and energy to return to live performing this season.”
Off the Canvas features three different world-class choreographers “exploring art in motion, taking inspiration from the world of visual arts” — Adam Hougland, resident choreographer Penny Saunders, and Katarzyna Skarpetowska.
“The three choreographers in the Off the Canvas have a knack for moving the dancers around the stage in bold strokes the same way an artist might paint on a large canvas,” Sofranko said in supplied material.
Skarpetowska’s work, “Off the Canvas,” is set to music by Adrian Lim-Klumpes and Vivaldi. Saunders’ ballet, “In-Frame”, features music by Max Richter and explores the creative process cycle that coincides with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Hougland’s ballet, “Cold Virtues”, is scored by Philip Glass, loosely based on “Dangerous Liaisons”, and follows a story of a power couple, moved to manipulate society for their own entertainment.
Music and dance, as always, blend on stage
When it comes to the marriage of music and dance, ballet — all dance classic and modern really — has always been closely tied to music in the minds of choreographers, dancers and Sofranko (who is both).
“Music is often the reason we dance, so selecting a piece of music to choreograph to is a big first step (usually) in the process of creating a new dance,” Sofranko said to WKTV. “When I choreograph, I like to listen to a piece of music over and over until I know every measure and nuance by heart, and I use that knowledge as a sort of road map to create the steps.
“Certainly, you can also create a dance in silence, and then put music on top of it, or leave it without music too, but most of my favorite dances marry the music and the movement. A choreographer can come up with an idea for a dance and then find music to go with it, or they may be inspired by a piece of music first and let that lead them to develop ideas for the dance. There is no right or wrong.”
When, were and how to see (and hear) Off The Canvas
Off the Canvas will be presented Friday to Sunday, Oct. 15-17. Tickets are available, starting at $32, online, via phone at 616-454-4771 ext. 10, or in-person at the ballet’s box office, at Grand Rapids Ballet’s home, 341 Ellsworth Ave SW, Grand Rapids. Season subscriptions are still available for the 2021-22 season, as are tickets for all its individual programs.
And having learned from its season of virtual performances, and community feedback, the Grand Rapids Ballet will also begin a “virtual season” subscription for those who wish to see the GR Ballet dancers “differently” or are unable to join in person.
Additional program details and performance dates and times can be found at grballet.com/2122season.
