Dance Review: Great Things Come in Small Packages, Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada

Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada delighted us this past Sunday with a very humorous and unique version of Igor Dobrovolskiy’s ballet, Don Juan. The small, ten dancer company was warmly greeted with a large house at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College.  Most people came expecting the familiar, intense rendition of Don Juan, the tale of a man who can seduce any woman, but left feeling pleasantly surprised with the light-hearted and airy spin-off of the age old story.  From start to finish, Plie to Pas de Chat, the ballet kept not only the dancers, but the audience on their toes.

Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada is based in Moncton, New Brunswick on Canada’s east coast, but tours all over the country as well as internationally.  Under the direction of Igor Dobrovolskiy, the company strives to present audiences with full length story ballets that take from both classical and contemporary movement. They call themselves “theatre ballet,” a mix of intricate choreography and demanding artistry along side a colorful set of costumes, scenery and innovative ideas.  “Ten dancers who pull off a two act performance, this is something that is truly unusual in the world,”  Dobrovolskiy tells us emphasizing that size is insignificant to the quality and emotion one performance can convey.

As soon as the dancers begin to move you’ll notice one thing, a stage full of beautiful, type-A ballerinas.  Long necks, graceful arms, legs for miles and feet that seem to endlessly curl in the most delicate way, they move in unison, but each giving a personal touch to the movement; it’s hard to decide which dancer to watch!  The choice of male dancers proves just as difficult with their solid legs, effortless turns and grand leaps.  However, do not be deceived by all the classical performers you see before you because once the music picks up you’ll realize that each individual on stage has a full range of contemporary motion too.  Decorated in vivid, bright and exciting costumes the dancer’s lines really stand out and the simple set is perfect in that it allows the audience to focus on the ballet while throwing in a surprise of neon light here and there.

The real gift in Atlantic Ballet Theatre’s Don Juan is its fun and free spirited characters.  The choreographer felt that if he had met Don Juan on the street he would be a pretty easy going guy, after all he’s got all these women just vying for his attention and he lives on the edge, one moment at a time.  Kosta Voynov did a superior job with this character giving him just the right touch of comedy and a good deal of technical spark that made us both laugh and gaze in awe at his speedy turns. The beginning of the second act opens with Don Juan doing a dance in large bunny slippers and a bathrobe, not every dancer could pull that off but Voynov included the audience in his glee and made us feel part of the joke.

Though all the dancers in Dobrovolskiy’s company are of soloist standards one female ballerina particularly stands out.  She was this evenings Madame X, the only women Don Juan can’t seduce with the flick of his wrist.  Anya Nesvitaylo flies across the stage, her Grande Jetes seem absolutely effortless, over-extended, as if she has no plans to come back to the ground.  She wears an elegant silk cloak that follows her and hugs her body as she spins into triple pirouettes and arabesque turns, the definition of a graceful dancer.  Despite the beauty in her technical elements she’s got a good share of spunk, teasing Don Juan and captivating him with her nonchalant, playful attitude.

The full length, two act ballet tells a story that is, appropriately, married with a talented and colorful set of composers.  The cast of musical storytellers includes Gershwin, Mendelssohn, Liszt and Bizet and the choreography definitely did these men justice.  The collection of music was so right for this ballet that it was hard to remember it was not specifically written for the piece.  Each turn of the head or flick of a pointe shoe was rhythmically and musically correct, right where it should be. Each scene easily flowed into the next just like the turn of a storybook page.

When most people think of a ten dancer company they think of an innovative contemporary group;  Dobrovolskiy contests that saying, “We are ballet.”  Each dancer is trained at the highest level of classical technique and has studied modern movement, but Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada is not just about the exterior.  The director defines each of his dancers as “… [a] human being who can dance.  A human being who can talk to you through dance.”  And talk they did!  It seems that Atlantic Ballet Theatre can do it all and will continue defying the odds reaching new levels of artistry and taking great risks to fuse theatre and ballet onto one, singular stage.  They have lit a spark in the world of dance and we hope to see it grow into an exciting and fulfilling future for this talented group of artists.

Photography by (c) Bud Gaulton (Top and Middle Photographs)
Photography by (c) David Corkum (Bottom Photograph)

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Sofia Konstance Uralsky
Performance: Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada- Don Juan
Choreographer: Igor Dobrovolskiy
Venue: Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College
Date: March 22, 2009
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