Review | Symphonic-Dance Highs and Wherefores

Who would have thought Romeo and Juliet could have a happy ending? It’s no spoiler alert to note that both lovers in Shakespeare’s saga end up as beautiful corpses. But something funny and touching happened at The Granada Theatre, during the performance of Prokofiev’s famed ballet, courtesy of both the Santa Barbara Symphony (SBS) and State Street Ballet. After the gush of ovations and bows, Romeo — a k a the real life Ryan Lenkey — got on his knee and proposed to Juliet — a k a Saori Yamashita. She cried happy tears and accepted, they kissed, and the deal was done, before 1,500 charmed public onlookers.

You don’t see that on the Granada stage every day. 

Another first this weekend was the concurrent, collaborative season-opening events for both the Santa Barbara Symphony and State Street Ballet, jointly producing a memorable and sharp realization of the ballet. This season marks the 20th anniversary of maestro Nir Kabaretti’s reign at the podium, and he proceeded to demonstrate the firm yet flexible command he wields over our fine orchestral ranks.

This program was mostly taken up by Prokofiev’s two-act classic, with short orchestral appetizers to kick things off and showcase the symphony. Correction: as is now custom with SBS’s season-launching concert, it all started with the National Anthem, as a jumbo American flag descended from the rafters. Somehow, the current American Trumped-up turmoil seeped into and colored the moment, as did the impending World Series, leading us to expect a post-anthem exhortation of “Play ball!”

Play ball they all did, and with clarity and aplomb. Befitting the double-dose of organizations involved here, stage maneuvers were required. Kabaretti led a standing orchestra in the suitably fanfare-ish blast of Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture,” with extra brass players (some from the Santa Barbara City College Brass) filing in on the riser behind the pillar-lined scene set for extra climactic effect towards the end. Rachmaninoff’s “Men’s Dance,” from Aleko, followed in the short orchestral section of the evening, with harmonizing celli and spin drifting violins leading the charge.

After a break, the curtains opened on the full stage set for the ballet (borrowed from the Minneapolis Ballet), to dramatic effect, and now with the orchestra perched above the stage, versus the traditional orchestra pit placement. 

Coincidentally, the Granada stage has hosted two major ballet pieces by Russian composers within a few weeks, between this grand event and the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s exemplary reading of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, sans dance. (One of the most powerful orchestral moments of the year here.) Both famed ballet scores are highly episodic, by nature and design, suiting the collection of discrete dance sections. 

Prokofiev’s elaborate tapestry of a score is a wonder to behold, on purely musical terms. Kabaretti and company delivered on the finely detailed and color-filled musical fabric. This is one of the great ballets, which stands up well as music for its own sake, and it would be nice to hear this orchestra take it on in dance-less form. 

But that was not the order of this ambitious presentation, in which the vibrancy and pageantry of choreographed moving parts seized the stage, proper. Choreographers Nilas Martins and Megan Philipp presented a smartly plotted and propulsive design, beautifully and tautly executed by a large and conspicuously gifted cast of dancers. Special spotlight was cast on the nimble Lenkey and the lithe, graceful Yamashita — who did effectively convey the thrill of falling in love — along with the arch, villainy-oozing Tigran Sargsyan as the sword-happy Mercutio. 

Deaths happen, by blades and, of course, poison. But so does the life-affirming stuff of the palpable flowering of love, as conveyed in the delicately passionate pas de deux at the end of Act 1, and a sense of communal exuberance in the ensemble scenes.

Similarly, the sum effect of the production and performance had a community-gathering sense of solidarity, with multiple forces and a multitudinous cast contributing to the impressive whole. On a more personal, real world note, Sunday’s performance featured what must be the public proposal of the year. All was right with Santa Barbara and State Street for two hours and change.