Lovers loving. Dancers dancing. Fountains rising and falling. At the ballet.
But everything was beautiful at the ballet
Graceful men lift lovely girls in white
Yes, everything was beautiful at the ballet
Hey!
I was happy… at the ballet.
At the Ballet, from A Chorus Line
Because ’tis true. If I could have attached a full-length video of the Justin Peck’s Everywhere We Go, a ballet he choreographed for the New York City Ballet, with music composed by Sufjan Stevens, then I would have done so.
If I had a magic wand, and could touch the screen of my computer with it, somehow sending out into the Googleverse the feeling, the electricity, the wonder, the joy, the energy of the collaboration that is Everywhere We Go, then I would do it. I would do it. I would do it.
Were I the sort to flagrantly disregard the rules of not videoing live performances at the ballet, I would have happily transgressed and captured for you the beauty and magic I saw last night.
Several weeks ago I read an article in the Times (link below) about Peck’s interest in the music of singer/song writer/composer Sufjan Stevens, who hadn’t liked ballet, had known anything about ballet, had assumed that his life would never intersect with the lives of men and women who spend their days moving their bodies to the sounds, beats, vibes and rhythm of different kinds of music.
Until, that is, young and inventive Justin Peck says Hey can I use your music for one of my dances? and Stevens wakes up to the glory of dance, and ballet in particular, and says Yes, and then the two of them are off and running headlong into a collaboration.
The latest round of which is the sublime (a little hyperbole is allowed when describing a sublime dance experience) Everywhere We Go. I really hate that videos are not readily available to the public. I used to be a dancer and while there is nothing like seeing a performance in person, for so many people across the country and the world that will never be a possibility and so a good video is a sublime (there’s that word again) second best choice.
But I feel bad, because I know something you all don’t know, which is what the fully fleshed out version of the tidbit you see in this video is like on stage, in front of an audience, with an orchestra, the lights dimming finally to that thing we call a live performance, outside the moon shining, and the fountain rising and falling at Lincoln Square, but inside on stage, dancers dancing, hands clapping, curtains calling.
The stage is one of the few places where true respect, true manners and true appreciation exists in a protected space. And so I did not sneak my iPhone out to take a surreptitious video. It exists in my memory. I went to sleep with a smile and woke up with one, too.
But here’s a little breakfast, of dancers dancing…at. the. ballet.
Everywhere We Go, with Justin Peck and Sufjan Stevens:
Justin Peck website:
Sufjan Stevens:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufjan_Stevens
#JustinPeck #SufjanStevens #EverywhereWeGo #NYCBallet
May 30, 2014 at 2:08 pm
Oh lucky you! I read a review of this and it sounded amazing. I hope the National Ballet of Canada gets a crack at it! (Here’s the Times review: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/10/arts/dance/new-york-city-ballet-opens-season-with-gala.html)
May 30, 2014 at 2:20 pm
Kena Herod I can’t even begin to describe it to you. I was thinking of you and Gary S. Hart and our fellow dance lovers here. It wasn’t just the inventiveness of the choreography, or the music…but somehow I could feel the collaborative energy between Peck and Stevens and the dancers. Maybe there is something to be said for not having liked something, not having been familiar with something and then waking up to it, and suddenly loving it. Maybe that is in part what gave birth to the magic of it.
It was highly emotional…and I meant that in whatever way it is interpreted. It was breathtaking. I so hope you get a chance to see it in some form or other. The dance world must really do something about making dance available on video. It’s absurd that it isn’t available. Absurd.
May 30, 2014 at 2:38 pm
I suspect that one of the problems of availability of quality dance videos, even though one would think it would be easier to do so in this day, is that it really is tricky to film dance onstage as it isn’t as difficult in the case of opera or drama. All that movement alone I would think require exceptionally good cameramen and a director who can almost think like a choreographer and composer and an in-house theatre audience member all at once! It’s got to be a special art to understand, especially when the stage is relatively full with dancers but with different groupings going at once. When should the camera focus, say, on a couple dancing while excluding much of dancers around them? I think that’s why most of the time dance is best seen live.
May 30, 2014 at 3:04 pm
It’s true what you say Kena Herod. But all I can think of when I watch it..and when I do watch beautiful dance videos, is how much joy it can bring to the viewer. I also think of all the young boys and girls would might be inspired to become dancers who might not otherwise. And I think of all of the people who are homebound, or bedbound…or isolated or the elderly. And somehow I think that majorly funded corporations and companies who are patrons of the dance world could do something about that. Wouldn’t it be wonderful? Maybe even Matthew Graybosch would see the light???!!!!! 😉
May 30, 2014 at 3:24 pm
I so agree with you. I’m sure dance companies would love having the opportunity to make more videos (and not just short clips for youtube or the rare made-to-be-filmed one). Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a company that has a significant portion of budget devoted to this with a patron at the head such as there has existed for new choreography projects (like the Diamond Project that ran at the New York City Ballet for some years). I suppose something must exist at the Royal Ballet and the Bolshoi for their live broadcasts at cinemas around the world that they’ve been doing for the last few years (like the Met. Opera). These broadcasts, btw, at least the ones myself and my daughter have seen, have been very satisfying experiences (and a heck of a lot cheaper per ticket than what we would have to pay to go see the performance in the opera house itself). If anyone knows of any such programs, I’d so be interested to know. If only we could have more Pina’s! Gosh, what a gorgeous dance film Pina is! Great choreographer, great dancers and a great film director! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pina_(film)
May 30, 2014 at 3:38 pm
Lovely. Even my cat appreciated it (he jumped up on the desk to watch).
May 30, 2014 at 3:39 pm
P.S. this convo reminds me that a nice person sent me a few dvds of the Netherlands Dance Theater and the Paris Opera Ballet that I’ve not watched yet. Definitely on the agenda for the week!
May 31, 2014 at 3:58 am
Ah Karsten Ruszkowski your comment makes it all worth it. I love turning people onto some new artistic collaboration! Makes me smile Te big smile.
June 3, 2014 at 7:06 pm
“El instrumento mediante el que se expresa la danza es también el instrumento mediante el que se vive la vida: el cuerpo humano” y es tan lindo sentirlo apreciarlo …y lo mas bello compartirlo ..gracias ..!!
June 3, 2014 at 7:10 pm
Ah Marialejandra Roldann you are most welcome! I agree with you completely. Thank you so much for sharing my post. We dancers speak the SAME language, don’t we? When dancers dance together, it doesn’t matter whether they speak English, or Spanish, or Russian or Greek or Portuguese. We all understand one another. Dance is a universal language. As is music. As is painting. As are ALL of the arts. Cheers to you Marialejandra Roldann!
June 3, 2014 at 7:20 pm
” el arte de poder soplar o acariciar ” el arte por el arte ” yo tenía una maestra de danza que solía decirme .!!.querida !! si tu consigues que tan sólo cautivar una mirada , en ese otro espectador ..sin importar donde .Es por que ese otro se reflejo en algo que tu provocaste pero que no buscaste,simplemente sucedió ,.un reflejo ,una mirada ,una caricia,un abrazo o algo que ese otro a lo mejor deseaba ..es ahí donde el otro también hace arte por el arte …saludos y un placer compartir
June 3, 2014 at 7:43 pm
les comparto algo que escribí …cuando no danzo me gustá escribir
Allí en el horizonte, donde se unen los sueños
entre el mar y el cielo , entrelazando los versos
que se van dibujando con sus cuerpos,
engendrados en almas solitarias, que se encuentran,danzan, traspasan..
Allí donde el mar acuna a la luna
donde el cielo se moja las alas,
donde el viento le canta a la aurora
donde se calman los llantos
y en donde uno cree estar perdido en la inmensidad
encuentra el mas bello de nuestros versos
Cuerpos que danzan,fluyen,pasan,negocian desde el puro aliento
dejando sus esperanzas, eso que sólo florece como algo sutil,nostalgia
Allí es donde todo se hace posible, donde los sueños se unen y te traspasan el alma,
como algo simple, sencillo y cálido,
es eso que yo siento …… ” LA DANZA”
August 11, 2014 at 11:08 pm
Giselle Minoli I loved reading what you had to say. I’ve never commented on a youtube video in my life, but this called for a comment. My friends and I just bought tickets for Everywhere We Go, and reading your beautiful words made me even more exited than I already was! Sufjan Stevens is my favorite musician ever, I knew the ballet would be amazing, but hearing how emotional it is, how many people it touched……I just can’t wait to see it.
September 3, 2014 at 2:25 am
Erika Maxton I’m more than a bit behind on Google+ since I posted this and am delighted to discover that you discovered it. I think you will love it. By the time you read this you might already have gone and, if so, I would love for you to report back your impressions, your feelings, your sensations…and what your friends that. As a result of this I have become a complete fan of Sufjan Sevens work and am miffed at Vimeo and YouTube that they do not make it easier for people who do not have access to tickets for performances in big cities to see these dances. I think it is really short-sighted to believe that if it is posted online people won’t go see it in person. Most people can’t. It’s a huge country.There has got to be a way to spread the word about incredible choreography that is being done on amazing dancers. It cannot continue to be such a secret!”
Erika Maxton let’s start a movement! What do you say????
October 18, 2014 at 4:32 pm
Giselle Minoli I saw Everywhere We Go a week ago today and I was entirely in awe of the music, the choreography, and how those two things worked together to create such a beautiful work of art. I want to be able to watch it over and over again, and replay my favorite parts and so I, like you, am frustrated that there is no way to access ballet performances. I am completely in agreement that ballet is meant to be viewed in person, much like visual art, however I wish I did have a way to share the ballet with those that are unable to go see it. While I was watching Everywhere We Go I finally somewhat understood ballet/dance in a way I never have before and I realized that it’s not very often that people are taught in school about ballet, it’s technique, and it’s impact on the art world. This made me sad because it’s such a beautiful art form, one that I would like to learn more about, but it’s hard to access good ballet without living in a big city. I don’t want the art of dance to be a secret anymore, because the Justin Peck/Sufjan Stevens collaboration has opened my eyes to an art form that I know next to nothing about, and that needs to change.
October 18, 2014 at 8:23 pm
Hello Erika Maxton. How sweet of you to get back to me/all of us with your report on the NYC Ballet and your reaction to it. I love that you went. I love that you loved it. And I loved that it impacted you so much that you want to know more about it.
I started dancing when I was six years old (Modern dance), didn’t start ballet until I was 17 actually and then switched to Modern Jazz when I was 21, finally morphing to Ballroom when I was, well…let’s just say many decades later!
I cannot imagine my life with out either being able to dance or being able to attend dance performances. I can’t imagine my life without art, but there is something so particular about dance movement, which is almost always movement to music, though some choreographers incorporate spoken words and then it becomes, in my view, something else on top of dance.
But it is always visceral for me. First, the athleticism of it astonishes. The imagination of the choreographer and how their vision is built upon the work of a dancer and their body, the collaboration with the composer/musicians and the costume designers. It is a particular kind of storytelling that, to me, is magical.
This summer I had a serious (non car) accident, that I am still recovering from, and I was amazed how frequently I would dream about dancing when I was hospital bed-bound and unable to move. It was very liberating, motivating, encouraging and soothing to me.
And I can’t help but note that, for me, who is a wordsmith…movement IS words…
While I respect the…what shall we call them…the intellectual copyright issues associated with not making videos of dance available to everyone everywhere for free, it also makes me sad because I think every young child, boy or girl, should be exposed very early on to as much dance as possible of every different kind and sort, because I absolutely believe that people who dance together have access to a kind of communication that is life changing.
Check out Vimeo. Check out YouTube. Check out the Dance review section of the NY Times on a regular basis. And through those three things you will be led to many wonderful and inspiring choreographers, dancers and artists in that field. Thank you again for getting back to me. You have put a big smile on my face today!