A Tale of Two Cities United by Dance

Philadelphia witnessed two Gala celebrations of dance and performance on opposite sides of town in October. It seemed like a tale of two cities. One in the center where much of the cultural events take place and the other on the fringes, down by the riverside.

Philadelphia Ballet's annual gala. Photograph by Alexander Iziliaev

In the twenty-seventh year of Philadelphia’s Fringe Festival, the FringeArts building which sits just opposite the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, hosted funders, audience, supporters and artists, to roast retiring founder, Nick Stuccio. In 2013, he raised hundreds of thousands to renovate a vacant nineteenth-century water processing plant beside the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. It opened with a restaurant and bar (now FringeArts) on one side, a black box theater, and a capacious outdoor beer garden overlooking the Delaware River for dining and dancing to area bands. The site has become a center for the performing arts and community gatherings. Stuccio changed the balance of culture between center city and the river wards neighborhoods. But the opening of the FringeArts building saw a tangent between the uptown ballet. At its inaugural performance in 2014,“What I Learned About Outer Space,” guests were there as much to see the Pennsylvania Ballet dancers in new works as they were to party. It was a co-creation of (then) Pennsylvania Ballet, Curtis Institute of Music and Fringe Arts.

The Gala for Stuccio was a night of hilarity with Martha Graham Cracker (Dito Van Reigersberg, also of fame as a founder of Pig Iron Theater Company) and Bearded Lady, John Jarboe, emceeing. The glitzier academy event took place on the following weekend at the grand old Academy of Music on Broad Street. It’s a wide corridor that divides our city by east and west and unites us from the northernmost end to our southernmost border with the section south of City Hall long ago dubbed the Avenue of the Arts. The Gala celebrated the sixtieth Anniversary of the Philadelphia Ballet (formerly the Pennsylvania Ballet,) Ángel Corella’s tenth year as artistic director, and the long awaited groundbreaking of the new black box theater at the ballet’s north Broad Street digs, “a dramatically expanded Center for Dance.” With it's black box theater north of City Hall on Broad Street, this promises yet another shift in the axis of our arts landscape.

The festivities included the bestowing of several awards, among them the inauguration of Board chair, David F. Hoffman’s eponymously named award for artistic achievement to Debra Austin, who, in 1982, became the first African American female principal ballerina of a major American ballet company, and to Barbara Sandonato, the Pennsylvania Ballet’s first principal ballerina in 1964. Her daughter, Gabriella Yudenich, who danced as a soloist from 2001 to 2013, accompanied her mother to accept the award. Yudenich looked like an exotic bird in a multi-colored floor length-sheath, split up one side to show her dancer’s leg. Sandonato’s husband Alexie Yudenich, Gabriella’s father, had also danced with the ballet. In the company’s early days many of the dancers lived in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia, some, like Yudenich and Sandonato renting apartments from my relatives.

Students of School of Philadelphia Ballet. Photograph by Alexander Iziliaev

Having grown up on the classic story ballets and the Balanchine-heavy repertoire of the last several decades, I am glad to see them presented year after year for each new generation of dance lovers. But for me, it’s the crackle and snap of modern and post-modern ballets. Some most memorable choreographers Corella has presented during his tenure are Twyla Tharp, William Forsythe, Matthew Neenan, (previous choreographer-in-residence,) Juliano Nunes (current resident choreographer,) and last year’s big hit, Andonis Foniadakis. And of course, Christopher Wheeldon.

I asked Corella what his favorites were. “It's tough to pick just one,” he said. “Our dancers have tackled so many incredible contemporary ballets and each has left its mark. Some standouts for me are “Chroma” by Wayne McGregor, “DGV” by Christopher Wheeldon, Twyla Tharp’s “In The Upper Room,” William Forsythe’s “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated” and “The Second Detail,” and “Prima Materia” by Andrew Winghart. These pieces demand both technical mastery and a fearless approach, and our dancers have really risen to that.”

As for future acquisitions, he continued, “I’m always excited to bring in fresh voices from around the globe. I'd love to work with Christopher Wheeldon again; he has a special connection with our dancers and audiences. Nacho Duato is another brilliant choreographer we’d be thrilled to work with. My goal is to keep introducing unique voices and styles to our company and our audiences.”

And speaking of audiences, “Our audiences are incredibly expressive, which makes it a joy for our dancers,” he added. They don’t hold back in showing how much they’re moved by what they see on stage. Full-length ballets remain a favorite, but as we add more contemporary works and world premieres to the mix, it’s inspiring to see audiences respond with that same enthusiasm and openness to new experiences.”

Philadelphia Ballet perform an excerpt of “Ballet Imperial” at their annual gala. Photograph by Alexander Iziliaev

Stuccio danced with the ballet from 1986 to 1995 where he met his wife, former ballerina Anne White. With such a strong connection to the ballet, they attended the Academy Gala looking as glam and fringed as the rest of the guests and patrons. Former dancers Jennifer Smith-Borish, Alexie Borovik, Jonathan Stiles and wife Martha Chamberlain, to name a few, all looked svelte for this reunion. I didn’t spy former ballet master, Jeffrey Gribler, but recall his leap onto the stage at age 17 in 1975 drew gasps and giggles from the girls in the audience and he became the ballet’s instant heart throb.

For this Gala, Corella chose a broad spectrum of audience favorite excerpts, brilliantly performed by stars of the company. I originally saw Christopher Wheeldon’s “After the Rain” a year after its company premiere, the duet to Arvo Pärt’s “Spiegel im Spiegel,” with Julie Diana and Zachary Hench. To me, it’s one of the greatest duets of the twenty-first century. Its textures reflect Pärt’s chromatic music, and its choreographic contours frame it. Here, principal dancers Oksana Maslova and Sterling Baca curled their torsos and limbs between them like endless mobius strips with no beginning and no end. Maslova’s ability to articulate every inch of her small body, her fingers, her spine, her feet into unearthly curves astonishes me each time I see her dance. Her full backbend at the final phrases was liquid and high enough to let Baca slip under her feet first, his torso to the floor, hers to the flys above. An excerpt from “Le Corsaire” began had Nayara Lopes, as Medora, Jack Thomas as Conrad, and Ashton Roxander as Ali, performing the pas de trois. Excellent in the role, Roxander imbued his dance with the passion it requires.

The performances had begun and ended with Balanchine works. The rousing “Stars and Stripes” pas de deux danced by Jacqueline Callahan and Sterling Baca and a part of “Ballet Imperial” with its circular and diagonal lines intersecting about 30 of the company’s roster. Dayesi Torriente, Lucia Erickson and Pau Pujol took the principal dances, with Pujol’s crisply landed jetés and tours brought the audience out of their seats like champagne uncorked. Confetti showered the entire company along with conductor Beatrice Jona Affron, and piano soloists, Martha Koeneman and Alexander Timofiev, board members, and awardees.

Post show, Yudenich and Sandonato spoke with me briefly. A Balanchine die-hard, Sandonato said Balanchine considered her as artistic director when the ballet’s founder, Barbara Weisberger left. “But,” she said, “I had children to raise, and I didn’t think I could do it.” She wished Corella a long term as artistic director and congratulated him for “Keeping the Balanchine works and bringing the dancers to this level of versatility. They can do anything.” For that evening, it was the best of times.

Merilyn Jackson

Merilyn Jackson has written on dance for the Philadelphia Inquirer since 1996 and writes on dance, theater, food, travel and Eastern European culture and Latin American fiction for publications including the New York Times, the Warsaw Voice, the Arizona Republic, Phoenix New Times, MIT’s Technology Review, Arizona Highways, Dance Magazine, Pointe and Dance Teacher, and Broad Street Review. She also writes for tanz magazin and Ballet Review. She was awarded an NEA Critics Fellowship in 2005 to Duke University and a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship for her novel-in-progress, Solitary Host.

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