Kansas City Ballet’s new season sparkles with classics, a trio of gems
The Kansas City Ballet has strung together a strand of precious gems for its 2020-2021 season. Fantasy and elegance define the season with full-length ballets based on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” and the beloved fairy tale “Cinderella.”
“The Nutcracker” returns in all its eye-popping glory and the season will conclude with the dazzling full-length George Balanchine masterpiece, “Jewels.”
The season will begin, as it always does, with Kansas City Dance Day on Aug. 29, an end-of-summer celebration of dance. In September, the Kansas City Ballet continues its successful collaboration with the Carlsen Center called “New Dance Partners.” Then, in October, just in time for the witching season, it’s “Dracula.”
This will be the second time the Kansas City Ballet has presented “Dracula.” The first, in 2013, was also Devon Carney’s first production as the company’s artistic director.
“It is truly one of the best interpretations of ‘Dracula’ that I’ve ever seen,” Carney said, adding that the cinematic production is helped by the strong collaboration of choreographer Michael Pink and composer Philip Feeney.
“It is one of those scores that is haunting in its portrayal of the story. Feeney requires so many percussionists in the pit, which is really exciting to hear.”
Carney’s brilliant rendition of “The Nutcracker” returns in December. Carney says he never tires of Tchaikovsky’s ballet.
“‘The Nutcracker’ entices the young and the young at heart to let the wonder of their childhood ignite their dreams that are full of candy canes, cotton candy and sugar plums,” Carney said. “And our ‘Nutcracker’ has got exquisite costumes and grand sets and pretty good choreography, I must say.”
New Moves is Kansas City Ballet’s showcase of world premiere choreography. It’s also an opportunity to experience dance up close and personal in the intimate Frost Theater at the Bolender Center.
“There is a certain element of our audience that finds New Moves to be our most invigorating, interesting and forward-thinking performances,” Carney said.
“You are very much having an experience with the dancers because there’s little distance between you and them. I think the dancers feed off of that, too, so there’s an exciting synergy that occurs between the dancers and the audience.”
Sergei Prokofiev composed his ballet “Cinderella” while World War II was raging. It was finally performed after the war ended on Nov. 21, 1945, delighting the Bolshoi audience with its gorgeous score and whimsical plot, which includes some evil but bumbling stepsisters.
“I’m creating a new version of ‘Cinderella’ and I’m really excited about it,” Carney said. “I’ve done ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ ‘Swan Lake,’ ‘Giselle’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ so I’m excited I’m finally bringing my vision of ‘Cinderella’ to the stage. It’s daunting. It’s a full-length ballet. But it’s a great story that is so well known with the glass slipper and the troubles at home.”
The season will conclude with one of the greatest 20th century ballets and the first full-length abstract ballet: “Jewels” choreographed by George Balanchine. The idea for a ballet based on gems was suggested to Balanchine by the jeweler Claude Arpels of Van Cleef & Arpels.
Balanchine created a sumptuous three-act ballet with each act representing a different jewel and a different dancing style. “Emeralds,” set to music by Fauré, celebrates the “perfumed” French style of ballet, as Carney calls it. “Diamonds,” with music by Tchaikovsky, recreates the great Imperial Russian ballet tradition. “Rubies,” set to the spiky music of Stravinsky, bristles with American energy and jazz.
Carney said that while the Kansas City Ballet has never done “Emeralds,” the dancers performed “Rubies” 17 years ago and “Diamonds” for the group’s 60th anniversary.
“Diamonds,” he said, is “the most classical of the three movements and has the most technical demands. And it’s the biggest. It takes 18 couples to do. I knew that if we could look good doing ‘Diamonds,’ then we would be able to do the other two ‘jewels.’”
For more insight into these works and dance in general, the Kansas City Ballet’s Dance Speaks lectures usually include a rehearsal performance by the dancers followed by a panel discussion. It’s a way to take your love of dance to the next level.
For tickets and more information, 816-931-8993 or www.kcballet.org.
▪ Aug. 29, 2020: Kansas City Dance Day (Todd Bolender Center for Dance & Creativity, 500 W. Pershing Road)
▪ Sept. 18-19, 2020: New Dance Partners (Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park)
▪ Oct. 16-25, 2020: “Dracula” (Muriel Kauffman Theatre, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts)
▪ Dec. 3-24, 2020: “The Nutcracker” (Muriel Kauffman Theatre)
▪ Feb. 4-7, 2021: New Moves (Frost Studio Theater, Todd Bolender Center for Dance & Creativity)
▪ March 12-21, 2021: “Cinderella” (Muriel Kauffman Theatre)
▪ May 7-16, 2021: George Balanchine’s “Jewels” (Muriel Kauffman Theatre)
Dance Speaks:
▪ Oct. 7, 2020: Dance Speaks: “Dracula” 5:30-6 p.m. company open rehearsal. 6-7 p.m. panel discussion (Frost Studio Theater, Todd Bolender Center for Dance & Creativity)
▪ Jan. 20, 2021: Dance Speaks: New Voices, New Moves. 6:30-7:30 p.m. Panel Discussion. (ArtsKC Gallery, 106 Southwest Blvd.)
▪ Feb. 24, 2021: Dance Speaks: “Cinderella.” 5:30-6 p.m. Company Open Rehearsal, 6-7 p.m. panel discussion (Frost Studio Theater, Todd Bolender Center for Dance & Creativity)
▪ April 14, 2021: Dance Speaks: “Jewels.” 5:30-6 p.m. company open rehearsal. 6-7 p.m. panel discussion.
You can reach Patrick Neas at patrickneas@kcartsbeat.com and follow his Facebook page, KC Arts Beat, at www.facebook.com/kcartsbeat.
This story was originally published January 31, 2020 at 6:00 AM.