There’s a certain serenity that comes with watching a live performance in an age gone digital: real people displaying their talent, no rewinds, no instant replays, and no fast forwards. On Thursday, September 6 at the Boston Opera House, all eyes derived away from their screens and back in time to be engulfed by the immaculate dancers of the Boston Ballet.
Genius at Play exhibits three excerpts from the works of the world-renowned choreographer, Jerome Robbins. Born in 1918, Jerome Robbins filled his life creating more than 60 ballets along with directing and choreographing plays, movies and television. His efforts were rewarded with two Academy Awards, four Tony Awards, an Emmy award and many other forms of recognition for his marvelous masterpieces. 2018 signifies the centennial anniversary of Jerome Robbins, which makes the youthfully exuberant Genius at Play fitting tribute to his years of brilliance.
Besides the wonderful dancing and beautiful music, the exemplary lighting skills is what shone the most during the performance. For both the first and third act featuring scenes from Robbins’ abstract ballets Interplay (1945) and Glass Pieces (1983), respectfully, the stage props were scarce and the costumes simple, but the use of lighting and shadows created an atmosphere in which left viewers awestruck at the visual mastery. As seen in the third photo below during Glass Pieces, spotlights were used to emphasize the foreground dancers while up lighting gave way to the elegant silhouettes lining the rear of the stage.
Furthermore, act two from the ballet Fancy Free (1944) told a story of three sailors: Relying solely on the visuals of the dancers’ graceful movements and a few props, the audience was brought back in time to a NYC bar where the sailors drank beer and pursued two women on a summers evening. Half the stage was “outside”, and half the stage was “inside” the bar; a confusing notion to grasp as an audience member especially the amount of “in and out” the dancers were doing. But the lighting effects were so spot on you just instinctively knew the whereabouts of the character; an orangey lantern glow for portraying inside seamlessly changed to a white moonlight hue upon exiting the bar.
From the dancers, to the orchestra, to the lighting and backstage crew, Boston Ballet’s performance of Genius at Play impressed the audience from beginning to end, keeping the legacy of the timeless Jerome Robbins alive and well.
(scene from Interplay)
(scene from Fancy Free)
(scene from Glass Pieces)
All photos by Rosalie O’Connor; courtesy of Boston Ballet. Background information from this article comes from Genius at Play Playbill pages 11-15