Ballet Director Speaks at Rieman

On Tuesday evening, Boston Ballet’s artistic director Mikko Nissinen brought to Harvard an evening of education, entertainment and enthusiasm for a constantly evolving art form. Along with dancers of the Boston Ballet and moderator Rachel Yurman, Nissinen presented a lecture-demonstration about Boston Ballet’s history, its repertory and his own personal tastes in dance in the first of two “Dance Talks” Boston Ballet will present at Harvard’s Rieman Center; the second will be on February 17.

Boston Ballet, currently one of the top five ballet-only companies in the United States, received much support in its early existence from émigré neoclassical pioneer George Balanchine, the man responsible for popularizing this abstract and theoretical subgenre of ballet over the course of the 20th century. Balanchine’s influence on Boston Ballet’s character as a company is visible in their repertory even today.

Nissinen believes that such neoclassical ballets are the focus of ballet companies today, rather than “academic” or classical ballets such as Giselle and Swan Lake. However, the company doesn’t refrain from performing these standards, because, as Nissinen says, “If we do not perform them, who will?”

Nissinen and his company perform a mix of classical, neoclassical and contemporary works in order to appeal to and simultaneously challenge a broader audience. This season’s slate of performances clearly manifests that goal: neoclassical programs make up the fall, followed by an updated version of The Nutcracker, August Bournonville’s romantic La Sylphide, an all-contemporary program in March, and finally The Sleeping Beauty in May.

Despite the breadth of the company’s repertoire, Nissinen’s enthusiasm for Balanchine’s intricate, highly musical and technically demanding style cannot be hidden. On Tuesday the company performed two excerpts from well-known Balanchine works, and the last commissioned dance for Boston Ballet came from choreographer Peter Martins, often considered to be Balanchine’s successor in the neoclassical style. Nissinen sums up his taste in ballets by stating, “I like pieces that are angular and sharp, especially with music that is not hummable.”

Martins’ new piece, “Distant Light,” will be performed by the company this fall on a mixed bill with several Balanchine works.

Asked to describe the defining aesthetic of Boston Ballet, Nissinen described his company’s work as characterized by integrity, honesty and directness.

“I am personally allergic to overstatement,” says Nissinen, who prefers “art that is slightly understated and deeper.”

Nissinen also stressed that Boston Ballet’s repertory and performance quality attempt to reflect the influences of both its local community and American culture on a larger scale.

The first excerpt the company presented was Balanchine’s “Divertimento No. 15,” set to music by Mozart, a composer favored by Balanchine. Dancers Larissa Ponomarenko, Carlos Molina, Kathleen Breen Combes, Tempe Ostergren, Sacha Wakelin and Rie Ichikawa brought a crisp, effervescent energy to their performance. Especially notable were Molina’s graceful, fluid transitions and jumps seeming to hover in midair.

Later, the company performed the pas de deux from the Second Movement of “Rubies,” Balanchine’s homage to his American influences. Set to Stravinsky’s “Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra,” Romi Beppu and Yury Yanowsky danced with vibrancy to match their bright scarlet costumes.

Beppu’s sinuous, smooth movements, combined with beautiful execution of the extreme leg extensions characteristic of Balanchine’s work, perfectly juxtaposed her playful, easygoing disposition. Yanowsky’s facial expressions were a bit too stern for the carefree nature of this piece, but his powerful stage presence and exacting bodily articulation more than compensated.

These “Dance Talks” are only a small part of a growing connection between Boston Ballet and Harvard’s Dance Program. Nissinen was recently a guest teacher for the Dance Program’s advanced ballet class, and other guest teachers from Boston Ballet will be teaching at Harvard throughout the year.

Additionally, both Nissinen and Dance Program director Elizabeth Bergmann are very excited about the innumerable possibilities presented by Harvard’s nearly-completed new dance space in the Quad Athletic Center.

This partnership between institutions would have been impossible without the contribution of Dance Program Coordinator Susan Larson. Before coming to Harvard, Larson was employed at Boston Ballet, first as an accompanist and then as director of operations at its school. Now at Harvard, she has brought her close ties to Boston Ballet with her. Bergmann describes Susan as “instrumental in making this relationship happen.”

Nissinen notes that he was very impressed with Harvard dance students’ ability to learn combinations quickly and their considerable background in ballet.

“They are a very attentive, hungry group,” says Nissinen, “It was a very enjoyable experience to teach them.”

After Tuesday’s presentation, it is clear that there is much for dance students and audiences to look forward to in the coming months, both onstage at the Wang Theatre and on the Harvard campus.

—Staff writer Marin J.D. Orlosky can be reached at orlosky@fas.harvard.edu.