Alice in Balletland

NBT plays its cards right

by Christopher Key

I’ve never figured out why ballet isn’t more popular than football.  Ballet is all about beauty and grace, the dancers are better athletes and they’re damn sure better behaved off the field.  Case in point: Northwest Ballet Theater’s Alice in Wonderland.  Lewis Carroll’s classic tale has given NBT Artistic Director John Bishop lots of room to exercise his choreographic talents and he has, if you’ll excuse the sports metaphor, kicked it through the uprights.

Alice has entranced generations of children just on the strength of the story alone.  When Bishop starts kicking out the jams with his evocative choreography, a whole new level of enchantment is achieved.  He’s got a championship team behind him.

Photo credit - John Fischer

One of the amazing things about NBT’s Alice is that a middle-school student dances the lead role.  You’d never guess Julia Schwartz's age by her stage presence.  She’s cool, confident and mature as a performer far beyond her years.  That’s part of what happens when you start dancing at age four.

Dancers are occasionally described as having “elegant lines” and Schwartz has that in spades.  Hearts, clubs and diamonds, as well.  That’s not something you can teach.  It’s all about a long-limbed, slender body.  What you can teach is how to take advantage of that physical grace and Schwartz has learned her lessons well.  Brilliant!

She gets solid support from NBT veterans like Hailey Forsberg, who delivers the best White Rabbit since Jefferson Airplane.   The 20-year-old Forsberg is as adorable as all those little girls Bishop gets onstage and not much bigger.

And speaking of adorable, NBT fixture Angus McLane doubles as a hookah-puffing caterpillar and the least intimidating executioner ever.

Photo credit - John Fischer

The Cheshire Cat is famous for a disappearing act that leaves only a crazed smile behind.  Bellingham High School senior Sophia Kongshaug has a delightful smile, but it’s those Bette Davis Eyes that will stick in your memory.

Kongshaug’s classmate Chloe Johnston is another long-time NBT favorite and gets to show a whole new set of acting chops as the Queen of Hearts.  She’s a regal as a raised eyebrow and can order a decapitation without a second thought.

Ian Aegerter doesn’t get much stage time as the Knave of Hearts, but when he finally gets to strut his stuff, he wows the audience with his seemingly effortless leaps.  He’s seriously upstaged by another male dancer, however.

Unlike most small boys shanghaied into ballet, Lev Cornwall looks like he’d rather be dancing than playing football.  Or even video games.  This young man has the stage presence, the acting chops and the obvious joy in performing that mark him as a future star.

NBT Board President Dan Jordan invested in some slick back-projection toys that Lighting Designer Dave Wright has some serious fun with.  Alice has some notably psychedelic overtones and just wait until you see what happens to the rabbit hole and a deck of cards when Wright gets through playing.

Alice in Wonderland has more sheer audience appeal than anything NBT has done since I’ve been writing about them and that’s saying a lot.  Even the most die-hard Seahawks fan can appreciate this one.  There was only tonight’s performance at McIntyre Hall in Mt. Vernon, but the ballet performs next Saturday and Sunday at Mount Baker Theatre.  Tickets are available at the MBT box office (360) 734-6080 or online at the website.

You’ll get a kick out of it!

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NBT wins doubleheader

Bishop + Chaplin = Dynamite

by Christopher Key

Like many extremely creative people, Northwest Ballet Theater Artistic Director John Bishop occasionally wanders off out there where the buses don’t run.  We should all be grateful for that because when he comes back, he usually brings something brilliant.  This time, he encountered the ghost of Charlie Chaplin and turned it into a thing of rare beauty.

Bishop’s original Remembering Chaplin is as unforgettable as its subject, but that performance was only half of this year’s Northwest Dance Festival.  Bishop created the festival in order to show off shorter ballets and to include disciplines beyond ballet.

Tonight’s performance began with Paquita, a one-act ballet set to the music of Ludwig Minkus and first performed in 1847 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.  This lovely and lyrical piece gave us a chance to appreciate many of the senior dancers we have been watching grow in stature for many years.

Photo credit - Kari Martilla

Ally Rose, Chloe Johnston, Sophia Kongshaug, Delci Syvertson, Julia Schwartz, Ona Underwood, Emily DesChane, Hailey Forsberg, Sion Calabretta and Anna Rombold give eloquent testimony to what long hours of pain and sweat can bring forth.  Never mind the beauty and grace, these are some of the best athletes you’ll ever see.

NBT also introduced some new male dancers and we all know how hard they are to find.  They’re as rare as mature presidential candidates.  Ian Aegerter and Evyn Bartlett are both accomplished performers and prove that male ballet dancers are more than just furniture.  That’s Bishop’s description, not mine.

Paquita was delightful, but Bishop is a thoroughgoing showman and knows how to save the best for last.  He not only developed the concept and original choreography for Remembering Chaplin, but somehow found a doppelganger to play the role of the Little Tramp.  James Innes is 19 years old, looks about 12, and was apparently born to play Chaplin.

Photo credit - Kari Martilla

His slender stature is perfectly Chaplinesque and he obviously spent many hours perfecting the unique physicality that made Chaplin an icon.  Bishop took him to see a triple feature of Chaplin silents at the Mount Baker Theatre to help him prepare for the role and it obviously worked.

Innes starts with the bumbling, stumbling Charlie disrupting the routines of ballerinas.  Chaplin himself was an accomplished dancer that that’s what it takes for a good hoofer to look awkward onstage.  With the help of some sympathetic ballerinas, he discovers the joy of dance and before long is leaping about the stage with effortless abandon.

But the characterization would not be complete if it were all just for laughs.  The Little Tramp captured America’s heart because he balanced the comedy with pathos.  Innes manages to capture both and that’s no stroll in the park.  Bishop plays a Keystone Kop who gets thoroughly abused by the Chaplin character and shows a distinct flair for slapstick comedy.

Unfortunately, this was a one-time performance.  But if enough people raise enough hell, I’m betting we’ll get another chance to see this gem.  Here’s how: e-mail John Bishop nwballettheater@gmail.com or call the NBT office at 714-1246 and demand an encore.

NBT’s next performance will be Alice in Wonderland, coming to McIntyre Hall in Mt. Vernon on May 14, and May 21 and 22 at the Mount Baker Theatre.  I wasn’t a ballet fan until I saw an NBT performance.  You, too, can be saved!

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