“Bolero” the Joffrey’s livestream performance reviewed by Julia W. Rath

[rating=5] A riveting tour de force! Enticing and splendidly entertaining! Superbly choreographed! The Joffrey Ballet’s world premiere of “Boléro” is a spectacle to behold. Grounded in Maurice Ravel’s original orchestral composition for ballet (as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra), this brand-new livestream performance represents the collaborative efforts of artistic director Ashley Wheater and the highly imaginative choreographer Yoshihisa Arai. Together they have created a ballet, supremely original in every way, that tells a story that goes beyond a trite or dated preoccupation with COVID-19. Instead, they have made disease and adversity universal and generalizable. Bolstered by Arai’s gorgeous and meticulously detailed choreography, principal dancer Anais Bueno generates fire and fervor in fighting off the madness of the virus and the madness of our times. The threat is not just that of the disease itself but in being unable to get close to others physically. Hence Bueno dances alone among the crowd, and we are in awe of her talents. In the course of each iteration of Ravel’s melody (each with different instrumentation), the audience finds itself asking whether the prima ballerina can resist death and dying and retain a semblance of living. Will the virus overwhelm? Or is it capable of being defeated, at least by this one individual?

Bueno wears what appears to be a white hospital gown and an elastic flesh-colored face covering (clearly not an N95). Supporting dancers, male and female, are all dressed in black in relatively stark outfits; the men’s outfits have more of a Japanese look, while the women’s outfits have more of an Egyptian flair, as in the black beaded necklaces. All wear face coverings. The corps de ballet includes: Edson Barbosa, Evan Boersma, Jose Pablo Castro Cuevas, Lucia Connolly, Jonathan Dole, Olivia Duyea, Dara Holmes, Blake Kessler, Hyuma Kiyosawa, Brooke Linford, Xavier Nùñez, Christine Rocas, Julia Rust, and Valentino Moneglia Zamora. Costume designer Temur Suluashvilli has done a phenomenal job merging the modern and the ancient, the new world with the old. Disease and hardship date from antiquity; their latest incarnations, new and novel.

Uniform throughout the show is the purple-blue stage lighting reminiscent of the disinfecting ultraviolet lights in health and hospital settings. In addition, this contemporary lighting design by Jack Mehler tinges the dancers blue and makes the setting look cold and unforgiving. Black drapes in the background add to the unreality and somberness of this place—and the dance.

Although the performance was livestreamed, it was professionally recorded and edited. Without the video production by Big Foot Media, and Director Tim Whalen, Director of Photography Michael Kettenbeil, Camera Operators Kettenbeil, John Shaw, and Parker Nyquist, and Editor Nicolás Rojas, we would not have had such a fantastic recording that captured the dancers from all angles, including closeups. This appeared to be a five-camera design, including one camera overhead. The crispness of the editing is only matched by the sparkle of the dance, simple yet so charming and powerful.

“Boléro” is the Joffrey Ballet company’s first performance since the start of the pandemic, and it could not have been any better. We learn during the last iteration of Ravel’s theme whether the principal dancer will live or die, and this keeps our attention riveted to the story. In all, the vitality of the dance and very strong production values are major reasons why this 16-minute performance will no doubt be timeless.

The Joffrey Ballet’s “Bolero” was streamed for free on February 26, 2021, via their website Joffrey.org/bolero.

The show is part of the company’s recently announced Joffrey Studio Series, a comprehensive roster of free, virtual programming during the COVID era: from livestream performances and rehearsals to pre-recorded conversations. The Joffrey Studio Series continues with two rehearsal livestreams of Nicolas Blanc’s “Under the Tree’s Voices” on March 3 and April 7, 2021. These culminate in the one-time-only world premiere performance on April 30th, at 7:00 p.m. More information can be found at www.joffrey.org/studioseries.

Note that 2020 winners of the annual choreographic competition re-imagine their works for the virtual stage in livestream performances on March 25-26 and April 8-9, 2021.

For more information about these and other future virtual productions, please visit Joffrey.org. Connect with the Joffrey on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Many generous donors have contributed to the funding of the Joffrey Ballet. Most notably, The Joffrey Crisis Stabilization Fund was established to recover lost ticket revenue due to the pandemic and to maintain basic operations. Please consider making a donation to support professional ballet in Chicago by visiting https://joffrey.org/donate/. Your assistance at this crucial time would be most welcome.