Ballet in Seattle, scattered thoughts

Attend PNB's A Midsummer Night's Dream last Friday. 'Twas lovely. Besides the dancing itself being utterly amazing, the costumer has my complete respect. And kudos to the set designer as well--the scrim painting (leaves) was gorgeous. The other flowery set pieces were really cool too, though.

Anyway, accolades for the costume-designer. First off, the wings were really impressive. I liked the costume/choreography synnergy that happened there (with the fairies in Titania's train, but more obviously with the butterflies). The wings were made of some really delicate cloth that tended to flutter a bit as the dancers moved (when they were doing those mincing little steps in particular, the wings appears to be fluttering rapidly as those they were hovering). Also, color-coordinating Hermia/Lysander and Helena/Demitrius helped keep track of who-is-who and who-should-be-with-who. The use of identical costumes between the couples (ie Hermia's dress being blue with red trim, Helena's the same but red with blue) also underscored the symmetry between their roles and situations. And it helped explain Puck's confusion between the two boys when administering the love potion/purple flower. ;)

Speaking of Puck, he rocked. While maintaining his graceful and elegant movement, he still managed to be really comedic. When both him and Oberon are 'communicating' thusly, it was a real riot. And I loved his "putting a girdle 'round the earth" bit when he was frolicking all over the stage (I suppose the kudos go to the choreographer for that--but it was still Puck making it so funny).

I was really impressed with all the principals' flexibility and strength. They make all those crazy arabesques and whatnot look to pretty and so effortless. I really wish I could do that. Also, Hippolyta's stage-presence really sticks out in my mind. Titania, Helena, and Hermia were all very pretty and graceful and expressive, but the brief scenes with Hippolyta really conveyed a sense of power, without sacrificing much in the way of grace. And the precision of the chorus! (Especially the younger children playing what I take to be sprites.) It was unreal how well in time they were. I ocassionally saw one get slightly off-time with the others--if anything, that was an enhancement, a sort of proof that these were in fact humans!