RWB Premieres "The Doorway - Scenes from Leonard Cohen"

[Adrian]

Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet premieres a contemporary ballet, "The Doorway", based on the words and music of Leonard Cohen. I'm delighted to be able to report:

Allison Crowe Alights with Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet - World Premiere of "The Doorway" - May 9 - 13, 2012

Musician Allison Crowe is thrilled to perform with Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet for the World Premiere of "The Doorway" - a contemporary ballet from choreographer Jorden Morris opening the words and music of legendary poet, singer-songwriter, and survivor Leonard Cohen.

"Graceful, moving, achingly honest, the series of dance vignettes are set to Cohen's songs and poems, exploring the emotional journey across the threshold to love and longing," says the RWB of this new piece from Morris, creator of the tremendously successful and celebrated "Peter Pan" (2006 premiere) and "Moulin Rouge - The Ballet" (2009 premiere) for the company. For the live national broadcast of the 2011 Genie Awards, Morris created a sensuous pas de deux - embracing Cohen's song "Dance Me to the End of Love" - performed by Corps de Ballet member Sophia Lee and former RWB Principal Dancer, and current Ballet Master, Jaime Vargas with music from Montréal rock band Karkwa.

"Working with the RWB is going to be such an awesome experience - even to just watch these amazing people dance is gift enough," Allison Crowe says. "I am humbled to be able to be a part of such a beautiful project, in tribute to such a wonderfully talented and brilliant man, Leonard Cohen."

Growing up in Westmount, on the Island of Montreal, Cohen entered the fringes of a life in music as a Buckskin Boy. Though "born with the gift of a golden voice", and building a sterling reputation as a writer - author, poet and songsmith - in the '60s , '70s and on, he's endured stranger times to test his mettle. This century has witnessed a renaissance in appreciation of his work and Leonard Cohen reach his most cherished state as an artist. Emblematic of this status, in May 2012, as the RWB presents this new creation based on his art, Leonard Cohen will be feted for a lifetime of achievement in music and poetry - receiving the Glenn Gould Prize at Toronto's Massey Hall. One of the world's top concert draws, Cohen's newest album, "Old Ideas", charted #1 in countries 'round the globe.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, based in the culturally-vibrant city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is Canada's oldest, and North America's longest continually operating, ballet company. Founded in 1939, it's the first ballet company in the world to be granted the Royal title - bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. And, it's the first organization anywhere to present a theatrical or dance production of Leonard Cohen's work. During the RWB tenure of Artistic Director Arnold Spohr (1958 - 1988), in Summer 1970, Brian Macdonald choreographed "The Shining People of Leonard Cohen" which debuted in Paris. Later, that July, it's staged at Canada's National Arts Centre in Ottawa - with eclectic band Lighthouse, and a pair of bats from the belfry, opening the show.

Today, André Lewis, named RWB Artistic Director in 1996, (he began his association as a dancer with Royal Winnipeg Ballet School in 1975), oversees the launch of this newest creation, "The Doorway - Scenes from Leonard Cohen". Jeff Herd, native Winnipegger, after a decade as company manager for Cirque du Soleil's "O" at the Bellagio, in Las Vegas, and some years overseas, is back home helping further the RWB's legacy in motion as Executive Director. Bob Stewart serves as Production Director. Tad Biernacki, is RWB Music Director and Conductor and, in this circumstance, kindly, match-maker. With costume design by Anne Armit and lighting design from Hugh Conacher, Jorden Morris' piece is partnered with RWB alumnus Peter Quanz's "Luminous", and audience favourite Mauricio Wainrot's "Carmina Burana" for an evening, (and one Sunday matinee), of classical and contemporary ballet that runs May 9 - 13, 2012 at Winnipeg's Centennial Hall. It's a mixed program united as "Pure Ballet".

A pure talent and communicator in song, Allison Crowe, is invited to perform her piano and vocal version of "Hallelujah", a modern classic. First recorded by Crowe in 2003 for her CD "Tidings", this Leonard Cohen song has been covered more than 200 times - in a wide range of styles. Iconoclastically, free of mainstream ties and marketing, Crowe's version has steadily emerged among the most-enjoyed worldwide. A YouTube video of Allison Crowe performing "Hallelujah" live-in-the-studio has an audience of more than eight million people - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIMOdVXAPJ0 Acclaimed Hollywood director Zack Snyder tags it "beautiful", "sexy" and "romantic". The bi-coastal singer-songwriter, born in Nanaimo, BC, and now home in Corner Brook, NL, is honoured to deliver her passion for the song live to the RWB's lovers of "visible music".

Crowe enters fine musical company with those whose performances will also illuminate "The Doorway". Whether criss-crossing the country to visit hundreds of schools and inspire children, or expressing their humanitarian nature performing in Kenya and Dubai, dynamic Winnipeg duo "Keith and Reneé" (http://www.keithandrenee.com) shine. The veteran pair make music of many genres, folk and country among them, that reach people via radio, tv, film and commercials. They penned "Good Year", theme of Manitoba's Homecoming 2010 and, fresh off a dream tour with entertainer Jann Arden, "KnR" bring to the Centennial's live stage their heartland take on "Bird on a Wire".

Alongside these performers, and recorded words and music of Leonard Cohen, the program includes an incandescent "Sisters of Mercy" as captured live on "Circle of Friends", a 1991 album by South Dakota-born, US prairie-raised musician, activist and pioneer Cris Williamson (http://criswilliamson.com). This was the 15th anniversary concert recording of Willamson's "The Changer and the Changed", an epochal album which went gold, (sales over 500,000), and is to indie and women's music what Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was to general pop in its day.

Info on "Pure Ballet: Fluid Motion Virtuosic Dance", location, ticket details and more is found @ http://www.rwb.org/pureballet

Allison Crowe follows up this exciting RWB engagement with a rare off-stage role - serving as Music Director for "Newfoundland Vinyl" - a rollicking spin through popular music's coming of age on "the rock" - presented in this Summer's Gros Morne Theatre Festival by Theatre Newfoundland and Labrador. A "Tidings Live" album and video documentary is in the works with film-maker Peter Buckle. These North American activities precede Allison Crowe's next European tour - featuring a concert return to Germany, Italy, England, Scotland+

Fuller details will be posted @ http://www.allisoncrowe.com

[lizzytysh]

I wish I could see this, Adrian... it surely will be wonderful with Allison! You are clearly still doing well . It's good to see you .


~ Lizzy

[mutti]

Love to see this Adrian. Hey you live in one of may favorite places in the world...I almost moved there many times.
Leslie

[Adrian]

Thanks, Lizzy it's good to see you, too! We've been sticking to our knitting, Allison and I, and it's turning into quite the quilt

Obviously, this is not our production, and, so, how the future unfolds is the design of the RWB. I will be sure to let you and everyone know should there be opportunities, be that touring, television, or anything else, to share in this experience

Here's hoping!!

Leslie, fun! - this is where I love to be home - and other than certain times trying to get on and off the island, it is paradise, as is our whole PNW

Thank you, both, for your kindness. Everyone involved in this collaboration wants the program to express the ineffable. It's really a glorious time for those who love and appreciate Leonard Cohen

[Adrian]

Update! An article in today's Winnipeg Free Press - These are RWB's stories and they're sticking to 'em
- http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-a ... 46175.html notes:

"Next season, the troupe will tour a mixed-repertoire program, including its new Leonard Cohen ballet The Doorway, to Atlantic Canada."

I am new to how ballet operates, but, it does seem - they start with the premiere in their home venue, then, take the performance on the road, in ever-widening circles, should things go that way

[lizzytysh]

That sounds wonderful, Adrian!
Haha... love the quilt analogy .
I'll watch this space for sure!

[Adrian]

... an invitation - of special interest to folks in the Winnipeg area:

RWB invites fans to Pure Ballet rehearsal

By: Staff Writer Winnipeg Free Press Friday, April 27, 2012

ROYAL Winnipeg Ballet fans who'd like a free peek at preparations for the upcoming Pure Ballet program can attend an open rehearsal from 7 to 8 p.m. on May 4.

The rehearsal is in the Founders' Studio at the RWB building, 380 Graham Ave.

It will likely consist of excerpts from The Doorway, the company's world-premiere ballet set to Leonard Cohen songs.

The season-ending, mixed-repertoire Pure Ballet program also includes Carmina Burana and Luminous.

Reservations must be made to attend the open rehearsal. To book your seat, call 956-2792.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 27, 2012 D2
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-a ... 95195.html

[Adrian]

The World Premiere of "The Doorway - Scenes from Leonard Cohen" nears, and there's now fuller word from Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet on the spoken word and musical components to this contemporary dance.

The ballet will include selections of Leonard Cohen interviews as spoken word recordings, along with: "The Letters" sung by Leonard Cohen and Jennifer Warnes from the CD "Dear Heather"; "Bird on a Wire" performed live by the Winnipeg-based duo of Keith and Renee; "Hallelujah" performed live by bi-coastal Canadian Allison Crowe; "Since You Asked", poem recited by Leonard Cohen from the CD "Born to the Breed" A Tribute to Judy Collins; and "Sisters of Mercy" recorded live by US singer-songwriter Cris Williamson on the CD "Circle of Friends".

And, from the RWB, here's some details on the dance and its inspiration :

The Doorway: Scenes from Leonard Cohen

Beautifully set to the music of Canadian songwriting legend Leonard Cohen,
Jorden Morris’s new ballet The Doorway: Scenes from Leonard Cohen explores
the complexities of relationships across the threshold to love and longing.
Initially started as a sketch, Morris expanded the piece into five separate
dance vignettes that each tell their own story.

Morris previously choreographed to Cohen’s music in a piece he created for
the 31st Annual Genie Awards, titled Dance Me to the End of Love, which was
performed by RWB Corps de Ballet member Sophia Lee and former Principal
Dancer Jaime Vargas. Morris explains he titled his latest piece The Doorway
after a quote of Cohen’s with which he personally identified.

“Cohen says that in his own curious, magical universe (his creative process)
is a kind of a doorway. He explains that he can’t really speak too much
about it because he can’t quite put his finger on it, except to say that it
is a doorway. He has to open it carefully otherwise what is beyond that isn’t
accessible to him and it’s something he takes very seriously,” said Morris.
“It’s the same for me as when I choreograph.”

Canadian songstress Allison Crowe will perform Cohen’s Hallelujah live
during the show, while local Winnipeg duo Keith & Renée will sing Bird on a
Wire.

[Adrian]

This feature article appears in today's edition of the Winnipeg Free Press:

Setting dance to Cohen like poetry in motion

By: Alison Mayes


Jo-Ann Sundermeier and Yosuke Mino in The Doorway: Scenes From Leonard Cohen. Tim Fennell photo

Last year, Winnipeg's Jorden Morris was asked to choreograph a pas de deux to Leonard Cohen's soulful Dance Me to the End of Love for the nationally televised Genie Awards.

It was so well received that the Royal Winnipeg Ballet commissioned Morris to create a longer work to songs by the legendary Cohen.

The 44-year-old dancemaker, who teaches at the RWB School and created the company's hits Peter Pan and Moulin Rouge -- The Ballet, was already a fan of the 77-year-old Montreal-born poet and singer-songwriter. Years ago, he attended one of Cohen's spiritual concerts in Montreal.

Still, he embarked on an intensive research quest, downloading huge quantities of Cohen's influential music, reading biographies and getting his hands on 14 hours' worth of audio interviews with the deep-voiced singer, spanning some 40 years. He hopes to meet Cohen one day.

"He's such an amazing individual -- his ideas, his beliefs, the way he can so eloquently express anything, and put a shape and texture and colour onto it," Morris says. "If he's just talking about his hat, it sounds fabulous."

The full-scale Cohen project will ultimately be about an hour long and will likely debut in the 2013-14 season, Morris says. But a 20-minute version for seven dancers, The Doorway: Scenes from Leonard Cohen, has its world première Wednesday as part of RWB's season-ending Pure Ballet program.

The production, on until Mother's Day, also features Peter Quanz's Luminous and Mauricio Wainrot's Carmina Burana, both to recorded music.

The troupe actually has a history with Cohen. Back in the hippie era, it premiered Brian Macdonald's ballet The Shining People of Leonard Cohen. Still, don't hunt for the poet in the audience next week. He was invited, but is too busy to attend.

The Doorway consists of five relationship-themed vignettes set to four songs and a recording of Cohen reciting the poem Since You've Asked. Each vignette is preceded by a relevant audio clip of Cohen.

"What I'm trying to do is tie him to the music, and then make a picture," Morris says.

Two of the best-known songs will be performed live. The placement of the musicians is still being worked out, but Morris hopes they'll be in close proximity to the dancers.

British Columbia-born singer-songwriter Allison Crowe will play the piano and sing Hallelujah, choreographed as a female solo.

Winnipeg duo Keith and Renée will perform Bird on a Wire. The ballet also includes Sisters of Mercy as recorded by singer-songwriter Cris Williamson and The Letters sung by Cohen and Jennifer Warnes.

Morris doesn't have much experience choreographing to lyrics, but is very aware of the pitfall of matching movement too exactly to the words. It's a trap some audience members felt choreographer James Kudelka fell into with the Johnny Cash-scored ballet The Man in Black, performed here last fall by the National Ballet of Canada.

"I got a lot of comments (after the Cash ballet) saying, 'God, please don't be that literal with Leonard Cohen,'" Morris says. "It almost gets pedantic for the audience. ... You want to use Cohen's words as the canvas. The movement is the paint."

The title The Doorway, he says, reflects Cohen's almost priestly passage through the portal to the stage.

"He talks a lot about the doorway he goes through before he performs. It's something very sacred and special to him."

It might seem surprising that Dance Me to the End of Love doesn't appear in The Doorway, but it's because Morris envisions it as a number for many dancers in the hour-long version, to be titled The Chamber.

"I want it to be a huge group section for, like, six couples," he says. "I'm kind of saving that -- and things like Famous Blue Raincoat and Tower of Song."

alison.mayes@freepress.mb.ca

Dance Preview

Pure Ballet
Royal Winnipeg Ballet

Centennial Concert Hall

May 9-12 at 7:30 p.m.; May 13 at 2 p.m.

Tickets $33 to $97.50 at Ticketmaster or 956-2792

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 5, 2012 G5

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-a ... 74705.html

[Adrian]

http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/scene/theatr ... ure-ballet

CBC Arts Correspondent and SCENE Producer Andrea Ratuski attended dress rehearsal, and files this report on the RWB's "Pure Ballet" and the World Premiere of "The Doorway - Scenes from Leonard Cohen".

[lizzytysh]

How exciting for Allison and you, Adrian. I really enjoyed the excerpt and would love to see the dancer's performance of the entire song.

Again, congratulations to you both for being able to engage in such great opportunities /

And, now I realize/remember that this is where I first saw the notice about this ballet production... and THEN I reposted it to FB.

[Adrian]

It IS tremendously exciting, Lizzy

And the dance, each of the vignettes, is beautiful and I hoping, but, don't know the likelihood - that there may be video, or some way for this to be experience more widely. And, then, yes, more touring.

"Hallelujah" itself is danced by two soloists on alternating days. In that news clip is dancer Sophia Lee who performed on opening night and again this Friday and Sunday. Jo-Ann Gudilin (nee Sundermeier) dances the role on Thursday and Saturday. This is news to me, and it means there's even more to want to see

I was able to travel to the opening, and, have heard, again, that tonight's performance was greatly loved by the audience - as well as the dancers

It's nothing I considered before - how music that one knows so well, can become dance - as the RWB calls it "visible music". They are an amazing company of artists/athletes. Very inspiring!!

[Adrian]

Here's a review - http://www.sarahzaharia.com/2012/05/pure-ballet - from Sarah Zaharia in Winnipeg - with images - for anyone who doesn't catch this in the News thread! And, I'm keeping my eyes/ears out for more imagery, and, any video or records of this ballet - born this week!

Pure Ballet

After a big week, the live performance of Cohen’s Hallelujah by Allison Crowe and the incredibly emotional dancing by Sophia Lee brought me to tears. My friend Sarah and I agreed that Pure Ballet was the perfect escape on a Wednesday evening.



The Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Pure Ballet http://www.rwb.org/pureballet is a selection of 5 works, the first half includes; Luminous, Adagietto, Rivalry/Revelry and The Doorway. The second half is an excerpt from Carmina Burana, one of my favorite ballets and one of the most powerful choral and classical scores I’ve heard. Luminous was exceptionally moving. The music was a powerful chamber orchestra piece written for solo violin and it is so full of emotion and power. Hear from choreographer Peter Quanz http://www.rwb.org/blog/quanz as he explains the sources of some of his inspiration.

My favourite by far was Scenes from Leonard Cohen, The Doorway. This was the World Premiere for Jorden Morris’s new work and I’m looking forward to seeing more from him. It was very interesting to see musicians on stage with the dancers and all the more powerful to hear, watch and feel them together. I especially enjoyed how Morris allowed Cohen’s words to be the music at times, with interviews and poetry as the guide for the dancers.







With this being the final show of the 2011/2012 season it was also a goodbye to two dancers, who not only danced beautifully but were honoured with a poignant final bow. I’ve seen Emily Grizzell and Carrie Broda dance over the years and they will be missed.

It’s been a beautiful season and I’m already looking forward to next year’s Fairy Tale Fantasy http://www.rwb.org/season line up. Thank you to the RWB for sharing their dance, music and magic with us, I’m incredibly grateful.

Bravo!


*Photo credits to Bruce Monk and Tim Fennell

[Adrian]

Reviews of “The Doorway – Scenes from Leonard Cohen”, and the whole of “Pure Ballet” continue to be published. DJ Adrienne Daniels of CHVN Radio, 95.1FM, Southern Manitoba's Christian music station attends opening night and finds God is alive, magic is afoot...

Finding God at the RWB

Written by Adrienne Daniels



Sometimes working in radio has its perks. One of those perks came my way last Wednesday in the form of two tickets to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s production of Pure Ballet: Fluid Motion, Vurtuosic Dance. I love the arts, but don’t support them as much as I would like. This night was a beautiful opportunity to go and appreciate all the talent that resides in our city.

As my sister and I sat down and proceeded to go through the program, we noticed that something special was happening that night. The RWB was premiering a brand new work, called The Doorway, featuring the music of Canadian poet and artist Leonard Cohen. We both grew up listening to the music of this true Canadian treasure and as we studied the songs in the program we realized that they were some of our favorites. Everything from ‘The Letters’, to ‘Sisters Of Mercy’ to the song that is now sung in a few churches ‘Hallelujah’. What made this performance even more spectacular was that local artists were on stage to perform a few of the songs live. ‘Bird On The Wire’ was done by Winnipeggers Keith and Renee, and ‘Hallelujah’ performed by Allison Crowe… just her and a piano. But the triumph of this performance was Mr. Cohen himself. He wasn’t there, but the RWB used audio from interviews he did regarding the songs being danced to and it gave such an incredible insight into the performance that it took it to that magical level. Where spirit and art connect and you FEEL the music. You feel it in your soul, its tangible with your hands and you can literally taste it.

When asked about the song ‘Hallelujah’, Mr. Cohen explained ‘"It's, as I say, a desire to affirm my faith in life, not in some formal religious way but with enthusiasm, with emotion... It's a rather joyous song." The songwriter continues: "I wanted to write something in the tradition of the hallelujah choruses but from a different point of view... It's the notion that there is no perfection ~ that this is a broken world and we live with broken hearts and broken lives but still that is no alibi for anything. On the contrary, you have to stand up and say hallelujah under those circumstances."

While sitting in my seat in the 10th row, I couldn’t help but notice something. That the beauty of movement can convey such passionate emotions, both positive and negative without ever speaking a word. That these bodies we’ve been given, created by a Holy God, are the most incredible vessels to convey the love and loss and passion and sorrow that we are confronted with on a daily basis. That we are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ to bring Him glory and honour. I was witness to one of the most moving spectacles of human expression that I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. My soul took flight for over 2 hours as I watched the poetic nature of the human form in motion; dancing, swaying, fighting, loving, understanding and confusing all at once.

Beauty in movement.

In standing still.

In human expression.

Oh, how He loves us!


http://www.chvnradio.com/index.php?opti ... &Itemid=71

[Adrian]

We've seen coverage from across a spectrum of cultural outlets - and, now, we have a perspective en Français. Pierre Meunier, classical music aficionado with Manitoba's French language journal, La Liberté, offers the following dance critique. Of "The Doorway - Scenes from Leonard Cohen", choreographed by Jorden Morris, Meunier says: "Chacune des cinq scènes est un petit bijou." En Anglais: "Each of the five scenes is a small jewel."

http://la-liberte.mb.ca/blogue-du-journ ... e-winnipeg

Ballet Royal de Winnipeg

FIN DE SAISON IMPRESSIONNANTE

Le 9 mai 2012, le Ballet royal de Winnipeg présentait la première du spectacle de clôture de la saison, intitulé Pure Ballet. Ce spectacle de facture exceptionnelle met en valeur le talent d’artistes, danseurs ou chorégraphes, dont la carrière s’est déroulée ou se développe en lien étroit avec le RWB. Emily Grizzell, soliste et Carrie Broda, second soliste, formées à l’École professionnelle du RWB, prennent leur retraite après respectivement 15 et 14 ans de carrière au sein de la compagnie. Le chorégraphe Mauricio Wainrot, qui a déjà dansé avec le RWB, est revenu une troisième fois présenter une des ses oeuvres, Carmina Burana. Il avait collaboré aux productions de The Messiah en 2005 et Carmen, The Passion, en 2007. Jorden Morris dont le ballet The Doorway: Scenes from Leonard Cohen est présenté en première mondiale, a complété sa formation et mené presque toute sa carrière au sein du RWB. Enfin, le jeune chorégraphe Peter Quanz, dont le RWB produit pour la première fois Luminous, est également diplômé de l’école du RWB. Il rayonne sur la scène internationale mais garde des liens étroits avec le RWB.

Le spectacle débute par Luminous de Peter Quanz. Ce ballet a été inspiré à Quanz par le magnifique Concerto pour violon “Affairs of the Hearth”, du compositeur canadien Marjan Mozetich et une phrase du livre Le patient anglais de Michael Ondaatje: “Nous mourons rempli de la richesse de nos amours et de nos tribus …”. Le ballet évoque les rencontres entre huit personnes au fil du temps. Les danseurs évoluent sur une scène sans décor, dans une belle lumière qui délimite l’espace et le temps. Les couples se forment et se séparent, trouvent consolation dans le groupe et y tissent de nouvelles relations. D’abord superficielles, les relations deviennent de plus en plus profondes et amoureuses, durables jusqu’à la séparation finale dans la mort. C’est une danse remplie de sensibilité et de sensualité, au style classique dans une forme moderne, sur une musique très expressive. Les mouvements sont fluides, les figures sont belles et parfaitement exécutées.

Suit un magnifique duo d’amour dansé par Carrie Broda et Alexander Gamayunov, sur le superbe Adagietto de la Symphonie no 5 en do dièse mineur de Gustav Mahler, selon une chorégraphie d’Oscar Araiz . S’insérant en parfaite continuité avec Luminous, les lents mouvements des danseurs évoquent avec tendresse l’éveil de la passion et de l’affection entre deux personnes et leur émouvante montée vers l’extase amoureuse. Ce fut une très belle performance d’adieu de Mme Broda.

Emily Grizzel fait ses adieux dans la création en première mondiale de Rivalry/Revelry, qu’elle danse avec son partenaire favori Yosuke Mino, qui a fait la chorégraphie. C’est un court ballet de 5 minutes sur la musique entraînante de Perpetuum Mobile, de l’album The Signs of Life du Penguin Cafe Orchestra. C’est une danse aux mouvements vifs et humoristiques qui se termine sur un porté qui se fige, donnant l’impression que Grizzel va s’envoler hors de la scène à l’instant où les lumières s’éteignent. Image très symbolique de son départ à la retraite.

On retrouve l’atmosphère intimiste de la première partie du spectacle dans Doorway, Scenes from Leonard Cohen, de Jorden Morris. Par un assemblage d’extraits d’entrevues et de cinq poèmes et chansons de Leonard Cohen, le ballet évoque comment, pour Cohen, la poésie est une porte d’entrée sur les chemins intérieurs de l’être. Les rapports entre les personnes sont ici explorés à travers le perception intime et profonde de chacun, dans ce qui ne peut se dire que par la poésie: la poésie des mots, la poésie de la musique, la poésie des corps qui dansent. Chacune des cinq scènes est un petit bijou. Les scènes Bird on the Wire et Hallelujah, dont la musique est interprétée sur scène par Keith and Renée et leur ensemble dans la première et par Allison Crowe s’accompagnant au piano dans la seconde, sont très intéressantes. Il se crée un rapport ambigu mais intense entre les danseurs et les musiciens, comme s’ils exprimaient les sentiments conflictuels ou contradictoires à l’intérieur d’une même personne. Since You Asked, un pas de deux dansé par Yosuke Mino et Harrison James sur les paroles sans musiques d’un poème récité par Cohen, est rempli d’émotion . Le ballet se termine par l’émouvante chanson Sisters of Mercy, un hommage à ces personnes que l’on croise sur nos chemins, où elles semblent nous attendre au moment où on ne croit plus pouvoir continuer, pour nous apporter leur réconfort et nous aider à reprendre la route.

Complet changement de ton et d’atmosphère dans la deuxième partie du spectacle. La chorégraphie de Mauricio Wainrot sur le célèbre Carmina Burana de Carl Orff est magnifique.

Dans un décor minimaliste, les différentes scènes sont caractérisées par des jeux de lumière et d’écrans et par les costumes. C’est une chorégraphie abstraite, axée sur les émotions plutôt que sur le récit. Le corps de ballet est impressionnant dans les première et dernière scènes (Fortuna I et Fortuna II). Les costumes évoquent une tribu primitive exécutant une danse rituelle. Les scènes Primo Vere (Printemps) et Cour d’amours sont empreintes de douceur et de sensualité. Des lutrins peints en vert évoquent les bosquets où les jeunes gens vont célébrer le réveil de la nature et folâtrer. Les écrans mobiles évoquent des espaces d’intimité où se retrouvent des couples d’amoureux. La scène In Taberna qui les sépare est vivante et drôle, dans l’esprit des moeurs de cette époque lointaine.

Seul bémol à cette magnifique soirée, le son était sur-amplifié et perçait les oreilles. Cela a du être corrigé pour les autres présentations.

Pure Ballet est à l’affiche jusqu’au 13 mai à la Salle de concert du Centenaire de Winnipeg.