We want to thank OregonFast for being a Gold Sponsor and
Dr. Chad E. Clement, DDS PC for being a Silver Sponsor of this performance.
"All You Need is Love" celebrates the iconic music
of The Beatles performed by The Eugene Ballet Company.
With their lively dances, audiences will recall those days in their
youth when everyone was listening to the great Beatles music.
A NIGHT AT THE BALLET Review by Ellen Templar
Baseball, basketball, football, soccer, ice hockey, speed skating, skateboarding, roller skating, tennis, team rowing, golf, volleyball,badminton, skiing, bowling, swimming, slalom sledding and sports unknown were the beginning of a Terpsichorean evening with Eugene Ballet Company on Friday, September 28th. In an FEC performance not for wimps, Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer Toni Pimble and the men of EBC presented "Channel Surfing". Displaying their dance and athletic prowess, these young men jeted, jumped and pirouetted their way through every moving sport known to human kind. Pimble's unique sense of humor and fun abounds as the ever energetic dancers moved on, around and off the stage through a myriad of sporting activities. As the dancers make this modern and technically demanding piece look easy, it becomes obvious why athletes have learned that ballet improves their ability to move with control, agility and added strength. Dance is the most demanding sport of all.
Act II was strictly classical ballet at its best. In the Grande Pas De Duex from "Don Quixote", principal dancers Juan Carlos Amy-Cordero and Yoshie Oshima performed the late Marius Petipa's legendary demanding choreography to the late Ludwig Minkus's famous music. To the casual eye, this duet performance looked smooth, well done and very beautiful. To the trained eye, the difficulty of the poses, lifts and technical movements show ever so slightly in the dancers. Oshima performed them very well but a slight shaking for successful control of the poses could be detected with Amy-Cordero working to support her.To lift a lady takes great strength, balance, practice and concentration. Imagine yourself as a male dancer lifting your partner high above your head with layers of scratchy tutu netting in your face. And you must accomplish various lifts while still smiling. The ideal partner, Amy-Cordero managed this feat multiple times with complete grace. The technically difficult solos both have notable parts. For the ballerina it is the 32 fouettes. The perfect performance that all ballerinas strive for is to dance these turns "on a dime". Like most dancers, Oshima doesn't quite meet that perfection but she does not wander far off the mark and executes a laudable performance. Barrel turns circling the stage are the flashy technique of the male solo. The famous Russian danseur, Mikhail Baryshnikov, was known for his technical execution of just about everything and particularly his jumping height. Amy-Cordero brought Misha to mind more than once during this performance.
Act III, the beautiful "Light Rain", created by Gerald Arpino for NYC’s Joffrey Ballet, was superbly performed by the 21 principal and company dancers. The music, "Dream Dancer" composed by Douglas Adamz and Russ Gauthier, is described as "East-West fusion" but retains the distinct musical flavors of the story of the Romni people in"Latcho Drum". Very definite belly dancing moves were in evidence.
Act IV was the very entertaining work, "All You Need Is Love", created by Pimble to 20 original Beatle's tunes. With appearances by the "fab four" and characters portraying the tunes, the high energy and physically demanding dancing the audience had become accustomed to continued.
Evolving into "The End" with all of the company dancers coming and going, a brief but extremely beautiful breath in the performance was several couples dancing together in dimmed lighting. During the encore/finale, "All You Need Is Love", EBC received the standing ovation audience appreciation that they definitely deserved.
Produced by SEAcoast Entertainment’s Jane Rincon, Eugene Ballet Company was the first of SEA’s 32nd concert season at the Florence Events Center.
