Artistic director, choreographer and dancer with Ballet Victoria, Paul Destrooper is assuredly “de trooper exceptionel.”
In the fall of 2007, he took the reins of Ballet Victoria, now brisé-ing all round B.C. with an eclectic program that includes not only his innovative choreography but also that of fellow Canadians, Shawn Hounsell and Bruce Monk.
Saturday’s bevy of ballet genres at the Performing Arts Centre opened with three excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, beautifully danced by Andrea Bayne, Robb Beresford and the company, and staged by Destrooper to satisfy any yearning in the audience for tutus, tights and pointes.
Thereafter, classical ballet jetéd offstage and we did a glissade into the 21st century.
Destrooper invited those with Twitter accounts to turn on their cell phones and, by using a specific hash-tag, instructed the dancers (primarily himself) how to interpret the iTunes randomly selected from his musical library.
In response to one request, to “follow the index finger on your right hand,” Destrooper’s digit took his entire body from one side of the stage to the other, then upwards, via his nose, toward some point in outer space.
This up-to-date version of audience participation in on-the-spot creativity was refreshing and delightful and provided insights into modern dance design.
Next, our danseur noble joined Beresford, a three-year veteran of Ballet Victoria, in a premiere performance of Nicolas Bernier’s ultra-contemporary sound construction, Ran.
Award-winning choreographer Hounsell created an interconnected, mechanical, uniquely masculine dance that blended impeccably with the music.
Bernier, a prolific experimenter with electro-acoustic surround sound, also designed the aural background for Hounsell’s first full-length ballet, Wonderland, recently acclaimed in Kelowna.
Three Leonard Cohen classics, including Hallelujah sung by kd lang, set the musical backdrop for Monk’s choreographic masterpiece, Cry Sigh Hungry Kiss – memorable lines from Closing Time.
Destrooper, this time with prima ballerina Andrea Bayne, danced an exquisite pas de deux that exuded sensuality and desire to Cohen’s Suzanne.
The second half of the program was devoted to Bizet’s Carmen, choreographed by Destrooper.
In it, Don José (Beresford) forsakes his former love (Bayne) for the sultry charms of Carmen (Tao Kerr) who leads him in a merry dance (pun intended) and ultimately leaves him for the charismatic bullfighter Escamillo (Destrooper). Tormented by jealousy, Don José stabs Carmen, killing her and rendering himself a broken man.
Despite imaginative staging with a set created solely by light and shadow, and the company’s flawless dancing, the audience became lethargic.
Had they peaked in the first half? Did Destrooper’s choreography lack Spanish flair? Or was it because his presence upstaged the rest?
Not that Kerr’s sashaying Carmen failed to seduce nor that Beresford’s tormented obsession as Don José failed to impress; but when, before he appeared as Escamillo, Destrooper portrayed a nameless soldier in a three-man corps de ballet, his presence and concentrated energy, like a cougar about to pounce, simply compelled.
Even in a chorus line 11 times as long, he’d have shone. His place is centre stage and that’s where he should stay, as artistic director, choreographer and principal dancer with Ballet Victoria: “de trooper exceptionel.”
Editor’s note: Ballet Victoria’s Carmen was the last in the Vernon Performing Arts Centre Society’s 2010-11 season. Stay tuned for next year’s season, which should be announced in the coming months.
–– Freelance writer, actress and historical impressionist Christine Pilgrim reviews the North Okanagan Community Concert series and other concerts for The Morning Star.
