written by: Melody Kester
I attended Opening Night of Ballet West’s performances of the world premiere of Nicolo Fonte’s Carmina Burana and Serenade by George Balanchine. What a way to start the season!
Serenade was the opening dance. When the curtain opened the audience along with me collectively gasped at the first image of the several ballerinas on the stage all perfectly posed. This work features the women of Ballet West and shows off the beauty and precision of these dancers. The costumes were done in wonderful shades of blue and simple staging that gave this piece a heavenly aura.
Carmina Burana was next on the program which is a much more earthy and sensual. This has been performed more than 100 times since 1974 by Ballet West and is a Utah favorite. It has been a favorite of mine over the years. With that being said this World Premiere of Nicolo Fonte’s was stunning and made me love this work even more. The choir was above the dancers on the stage and the soloists interacted with the dancers as they sang their parts. I pretty much had chills the entire performance as the music by Carl Orff is very powerful and the dancing so athletic, creative and moving. Don’t miss the opportunity to see Ballet West perform these two masterpieces at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre, November 8 – 11, 2017 with a matinee performance on Saturday November 11, 2017. It is the best of both worlds!
