“The Joffrey Ballet’s Golden Hour” reviewed by Carol Moore

**** Highly Recommended   Golden Hour is a demonstration of all that makes the Joffrey such a leader in contemporary ballet.  The performance included two recent pieces from the Joffrey repertoire and two world premiere pieces.  The Joffrey’s classically trained, incredibly talented dancers execute the most complicated choreography with flawless technique and timing – and they make it look easy!   4 BIG Spotlights

Under the Trees’ Voices, choreographed by Nicholas Blanc to Ezio Bosso’s Symphony No. 2, is about community in the age of social distancing.  As the first movement begins, the ensemble, wearing costumes evocative of tree bark, are all dancing alone, scattered and separated by huge leaves.  As one movement ends and the next begins, the leaves move into different positions at different heights, and the dancers move ever closer to each other.

Featured dancers: Third Movement soloist – Olivia Durea.  Pairs – Victoria Jaiani & Edson Barbosa; Jeraldine Mendoza & Dylan Gutierrez, Amanda Assucena & Alberto Velazquez.

The Ensemble: Valeria Chaykina, Dara Holmes, Yumi Kanazawa, Stefan Gonçalvez, Blake Kessler, Xavier Núñez, Davide Oldano, Aaron Renteria, Alberto Velazquez

I remember watching the premiere of Under the Trees’ Voices online during the Covid shutdown, but only a tiny portion of the whole was visible.  The stage version is so graceful it’s overwhelming and wonderful.

Heimat, a celebration of family, choreographed by the amazing Cathy Marston, is her interpretation of a symphonic poem, Seigfried Idyll, composed by Richard Wagner after the birth of his son.  This family – Mother (Olivia Duryea), Father (Dylan Gutierrez), Older Sister (Amanda Assucena), Brother (José Pablo Castro Cuevas) and Younger Sister (Yumi Kanazawa) – is having fun on an outing.  It’s joyful, playful and enchanting.

Andante, a world premiere choreographed by Yuri Possokhov to music by Dimitri Shostakovich, has just three dancers, Victoria Jaiani, Alberto Velazquez and Xavier Núñez.  In this short piece, which has a distinctly beachy feel, two male dancers seem to compete for the favor of a single female dancer.  It’s fun to watch.

The final piece and second world premiere of the performance is a reimagined fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea, choreographed by Dani Rowe, Music by James Stephenson, Libretto by Dani Rowe & Garen Scribner.  Emma Kingsbury’s ingenious set and costumes reinforce the feeling that instead of a Hans Christian Anderson tale, we’ll be falling into a magic hole!

The Narrator (Dylan Gutierrez) sets up the story by explaining how the Master Pea (Anabelle de la Nuez), aided by Underlings (Fernando Duarte, Reed Henry), took over the kingdom forcing everyone to grow and eat only peas.

Princess Penelopea (Basia Rhoden) hates peas, so one day, her loving fathers, Dad (Valentino Moneglia Zamora) and Papa (Evan Boersma) closed the curtains before serving carrots.  Master Pea and the Underlings burst in and sealed both fathers in cans.  With the help of her new friend, Carrot (Jonathan Dole), Penelopea wrested the giant can opener from Master Pea saving Dad and Papa.

Farmers (the ensemble) includes Coco Alvarez-Mena, Olivia Duryea, Dara Holmes, Nae Kojima, Lindy Mesmer, Lauren Quinn, Natali That, Ao Wang, Maxwell Dawe, Zachary Manske, Davide Oldano and Aaron Renteria

Please note that the dancers I’ve mentioned in this review might be different in the performance you attend.  A reminder for my northwest Indiana readers, Kelly Boersma, principal of Munster’s Frank H. Hammond Elementary School is still beaming with pride.  Her son, Evan Boersma, a member of the company, who appears as Papa in The Princess and the Pea, will also have a featured role in Under the Trees’ Voices on Friday, February 28^th.

The Joffrey Ballet’s Golden Hour is performed through March 2^nd at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago.  Closest parking option is the Poetry Garage, 201 W. Madison, $13 reduced rate available at https://joffrey.org/performances-and-tickets/plan-your-visit/directions-and-parking/

Running time is a little over two hours with two intermissions.  Remaining performances are Thursday, February 27^th at 7:30 pm; Friday, February 28^th at 7:30 pm; Saturday, March 1^st at 2:00 and 7:30 pm; and Sunday, March 2^nd at 2:00 pm.  Single tickets start at $36.  FYI (312) 386-8905 or www.joffrey.org.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Golden Hour”.