State Street Ballet’s RECESS Is Fun for All Ages

RECESS! will showcase the amazing versatility and virtuosity of the dancers of State Street Ballet (SSB) at the Lobero Theatre, March 21 and 22. Full of humor, extreme technical prowess, interesting and unusual choreography, and sophisticated humor, this program is a must-see for all ages. The company will present three very different works highlighting aspects of care-free childhood, choreographed by some of America’s leading choreographers: Alexei Kremnev (Carnival of the Animals), Jerome Robbins (Interplay), and Autumn Eckman, whose new work Level Up was commissioned by SSB this season.

The rich sounds of the Opera Santa Barbara orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Kostis Protopapas, will accompany the dancers for Saint-Saëns’s delightful Carnival of the Animals and Morton Gould’s contemporary, jazzy American Concertette for Interplay. 

In the final piece, Level Up, the dancers portray video game characters. The music is a fascinating blend of electronic sounds by Rolemusic, using synthesizers found in vintage arcade machines, old computers, and video game consoles. 

Computer-generated images of falling stars, lasers, and other game images will be projected onto a scrim during the performance. The visualizations with which the dancers will interact are designed by Colby Nordberg, award-winning lighting design specialist of the Department of Theater and Dance at Kennesaw State University, where Eckman is a professor of dance. 

“This program is a celebration of the pure joy and freedom of childhood, expressed through sophisticated, world-renowned choreography,” said SSB Artistic Director Megan Philipp. Executive Director Cecily MacDougall explained that audiences may not understand the extraordinary athleticism required for ballet, which is akin to elite sports. “With RECESS! we’re inviting young people to see ballet as an Olympic-level art form that pushes the limits of the human body. At the same time, it is pure joy!” 

For many years, SSB has presented one family-friendly program each year, designed to introduce young children to the ballet. Last year, they presented The Little Mermaid, with a specially composed score by Charles Fernandez. Directors MacDougall and Philipp knew that Carnival of the Animals was something they wanted to do for this year’s family program. “Kremnev is unique,” explained MacDougall, “combining contemporary and classical genres.” 

This is the second year that SSB is presenting a special Saturday matinee “sensory-friendly” performance, designed for families with special needs and young children. The audience lights will remain on, and kids will be encouraged to move around and respond to what they are seeing. 

I asked MacDougall how they cast the dancers for each piece. She explained that they sent video clips of the dancers in class to Kremnev and Robert La Fosse, the ballet master from New York who taught Robbins’s Interplay, and each one cast the dancers for his piece remotely. Level Up was cast in person, by Eckman, who has a long history with SSB.

Carnival is adorable, but also very technical. At the studio preview, the “Turtle pas” was danced by two SSB newcomers, Gina Quiodettis from Panama and Noah Gnes from San Diego. Their smooth partner work makes them look like they’ve been dancing together for years. And rumor has it that the newlyweds Ryan Lenkey and Saori Yamashita will be dancing the elegant “The Swan” pas de deux.

Interplay was the second ballet Robbins created, in 1945. He wanted to portray natural people — kids having fun in a playground. Although lighthearted, it is a tremendously virtuosic piece. 

MacDougall explained how, in order to get permission to perform any of Robbins’s works, a company must pass several levels of adjudication. The final level for SSB was to demonstrate that at least one of the dancers can execute a series of four double tours en l’air, and Harold Mendez was up to the task. And, at the preview, Lenkey demonstrated his jaw-dropping series of traveling double tours en l’air a manége! 

I cannot wait to see this program. The themes of childhood — animals, playing in a playground, and computer games — resonate with the child in all of us. Tickets can be purchased through the State Street Ballet website (statestreetballet.com/recess) or the Lobero Theatre (lobero.org/events/recess).