4 minute read
Sarasota Ballet’s Highland fling
MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER A+ E EDITOR
Get your kilts out and get ready for a Highland fling among the palms as the Sarasota Ballet stages the Scottish-themed “La Sylphide” on March 24-25.
Macarena Gimenez and Luke Schaufuss star in Johan Kobborg’s production of the classic Danish ballet about a Scottish man torn between his betrothed and an ethereal creature.
Considered a “crown jewel” of Danish ballet, the production has a storied history that the Sarasota Ballet faces pressure to live up to. It’s not just metaphorical big (toe) shoes to fill, it’s also a physical chair.
“The chair that Luke (Schaufuss) sits in is the same one that Baryshnikov and Erik Bruhn sat in,” says Jason W. Ettore, general manager of the Sarasota Ballet.
Unless you’re a balletomane, which Ettore most assuredly is, it’s easy to dismiss the difficulty of passing down a production through the years, particularly before the spread of affordable film and digital technology.
To give the challenge some context, Ettore notes that if a director decided to stage the original “As You Like It” today, and Shakespeare came back to life for the show, he probably wouldn’t have too many objections.
Plays, musical compositions and screenplays provide lots of clues for modern-day artists to draw upon when they stage a classic. Not so with ballet, Ettore points out.
Many enduring ballet productions owe their longevity to the long life of choreographers, such as New York City Ballet’s iconic Artistic Director George Balanchine, he says.
In the case of “La Sylphide,” a community of Danish and English dancers and choreographers who found their way to Sarasota were instrumental in keeping alive August Bournonville’s classic, which debuted in Copenhagen in 1836. (There was an earlier incarnation that debuted in Paris in 1832, but that version didn’t survive.)
Ettore says Flemming Flindt, who retired in Sarasota and died here in 2009 at age 72, might be the one who deserves the credit for “La Sylphide’s” appearance on the Sarasota stage. As a director for the Royal Danish Ballet, Flindt preserved the 19th-century works of Bournonville, while adding his own signature.
Continuity matters when it comes to protecting historical gems like “La Sylphide.” That’s why Sarasota’s arts community has breathed a collective sigh of relief that the ballet’s board of directors recently renewed the contract of ballet Director Iain Webb for another 10 years.
A former Royal Ballet dancer in London, Webb joined the Sarasota Ballet in 2007. Along with his wife, Margaret Barbieri, a former Royal Ballet prima ballerina who is now assistant director at Sarasota Ballet, Webb is credited with putting Sarasota on the global ballet map.
Under Webb’s direction the ballet has been invited to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Joyce Theatre in New York and the Jacob’s Pillow summer dance festival in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.
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Kobborg’s version of Bournonville’s “La Sylphide” has been performed by companies across the world, including The Royal Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet. This weekend, his production will be accompanied by The Sarasota Orchestra conducted by American Ballet Theatre Music Director Ormsby Wilkins.
“Johan is one of the most soughtafter directors in the ballet world,” says Ettore. “He was one of the greatest dancers of his generation. He was a principal with both the Danish Ballet and Royal Ballet. The artistry that he brings to Sarasota is amazing.”
Another key player in the growth and evolution of the Sarasota Ballet is Executive Director Joseph Volpe, who joined the organization in 2016. The retired general manager of New York’s Metropolitan Opera spent 42 years at the Met. Volpe worked his way up the ranks after starting as an apprentice carpenter.
On April 30, the Sarasota Ballet will honor Volpe with a gala that includes a special performance at the Sarasota Opera House, followed by dinner, catered by Michael’s On East, and dancing at the Circus Arts Conservatory. “We incredibly grateful to have him,” Ettore says of Volpe.
Like all performing arts organizations, the Sarasota Ballet was knocked off its feet by COVID. Asked how the ballet has recovered, Ettore has to temper his exasperation.
“Haven’t enough words been written about that already?” he asks.
Pressed to discuss COVID’s impact, Ettore notes that the Sarasota had the financial wherewithal to pay its artists and other employees and provide assistance to ballet folk stranded during the crisis.
While the ballet’s coffers were full enough to withstand the pandemic, Ettore credits local arts patrons for their financial and emotional support during COVID.
But things still aren’t quite back to the way they used to be. This season, Ettore says the Sarasota’s attendance is down about 15% from the pre-pandemic 2019 season. But he says this is better than the industry’s record right now of audience declines of between 20% and 30%.
For those arts aficionados who want to see “La Sylphide,” there is a limited window of opportunity. The production will be staged three times over the weekend of March 24-25 at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.
The company returns to the stage April 23-29 with a tribute to George Balanchine at the Sarasota Opera House.
“We’re a touring company in our hometown,” Ettore quips, noting the different venues that host its performances. But regardless of the stage, it’s a safe bet that the Sarasota Ballet will land on its feet.
Monday-Friday 10-6 • Saturday 10-4
Also open two hours prior to showtimes
Prices, dates and times subject to change without notice.
Thursday
SAMANTHA BENNETT, VIOLIN
11 a.m. at Sarasota Yacht Club, 1100 Ringling Blvd.
$60
Visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org
Bennett, who also served as principal second violin with the Sarasota Orchestra, is the founder and co-artistic director of ensemble NEWSRQ, a new music collective based in Sarasota. Lunch will be served.
‘THÉRÈSE’
7:30 p.m. at 1732 Rhoades Terrace
From $25
Visit SarasotaOpera.org.
This rarely heard work by Jules Massenet about a love triangle during the French Revolution makes its Sarasota Opera debut. Continues at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
‘CELEBRATION’
7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Sarasota, 2050 Oak St. $35 Visit ChamberOrchestraSarasota. org.
A musical birthday card to Israel on the occasion of its 75th birthday by the Sarasota Chamber Orchestra presents the music of five Jewish composers — Felix Mendelssohn,George Gershwin, Boris Levenberg, Noubar Aslanyan and Ernest Bloch. Founder Robert Vodnoy is the conductor.
Friday
OPERA APPRENTICE
ARTIST CONCERT
Noon at Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave.
$10
Visit SarasotaOpera.org.
The hour-long concert in the Peterson Great Room features Sarasota Opera’s Apprentice artists singing arias and ensembles.
TANIA VERGARA PÉREZ
7 p.m. at Sarasota Contemporary Dance Studio, 1400 Boulevard of the Arts, Suite 300
$20
Visit SarasotaContemporaryDance. org.
“The Voices That Make Me Move” originated from the choreographer’s interest in creating the visual poetry of dancing bodies in response to world women’s literature. Continues Saturday, March 25.
‘BACKWARDS FORWARDS BACK’
7:30 p.m. at Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St.
$5-$39
Visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.
In this world premiere by Jacqueline Goldfinger directed by Urbanite Co-Artistic Director Brendan Ragan, a soldier returning from war must decide whether to address his PTSD or risk losing his family. Runs through April 23.
