Ballet Ariel’s The Birth of Rock and Roll: A Preview
By Marc Shulgold
Talk about strange bedfellows—Classical ballet and classic rock. Imagine Elvis crooning, “You can do anything but lay off of my pink point shoes.” But then, the Joffrey has danced to Prince songs, Twyla Tharp’s Deuce Coupe enjoys a Beach Boys soundtrack. Locally, Ballet Nouveau Colorado has danced to Queen, among others. So there is precedent for such cross-over moves. That said, rock ballet does seem a bit of a stretch. Mention this juxtaposition to Ilena Norton and she doesn’t blush. In honor of America’s most popular pop music, Norton has created The Birth of Rock and Roll, a 45-minute work for her Ballet Ariel that will be presented on April 28 in Denver and May 4 in Parker—on each occasion, accompanied onstage by the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra.
A partnership with the MJO proved to be the impetus for Norton’s new piece, thanks to an open invitation from MJO co-founder/executive director/lead trumpet Scott Handler. “Scott offered the band’s services to several local performing groups,” she recalled, “and I liked the idea. I really wanted to collaborate with them. Then, I started to come up with ideas, to take the best advantage of MJO. At first, I got an idea for a piece loosely about Elvis, but then thought it wouldn’t be a good fit.”
The title of Norton’s piece (and the accompanying poster picturing Peter Strand in classic Elvis pose) might suggest that she maintained a strong rock connection, but the work only touches on ’50s pop at the very end. There are early segments focusing on the swing era and on pre-rock blues — which makes sense, since Handler’s 19-piece ensemble specializes in music of the Big Band Era.
In order to embrace these three musical periods, the choreography is built around a story that journeys through several decades of American music and dance genres. “It’s about a traveling musician (Strand), who also travels through time,” Norton explained. “It starts in the swing era, where he’s a clarinet player who falls in love with a chorus girl. There’s a jam session, and he becomes famous. Then, it switches to the blues era, around the time of World War II. There’s a GI number in which a fight breaks out.” In that segment, Strand’s ax changes from clarinet to trumpet.
Naturally, when we arrive in the Rock ‘n Roll era, our hero now sports a guitar. Again, a love interest enters, here portrayed by “a sweet girl in a poodle skirt,” Norton said. All ends happily as the two rockin’ lovers exit together.
It all sounds like breezy fun, but assembling the choreography and the live accompaniment was no easy task, the dance-maker revealed. “Some of the dancers had experience with those popular styles. Most have had jazz training, which helped. I think the company has had a lot of fun learning them. But steps like the Lindy Hop were pretty difficult.” To get thing right, Norton brought in Ceth Stifel, a respected teacher of the Lindy and other period dance styles. In addition, she watched a lot of old movies, drawing particular inspiration from Singin’ in the Rain’s gorgeous Dream Ballet performed by Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse.
Norton never forgot that her troupe is, after all a ballet company. “There are ballet moves in the piece, as well,” she assured. “But I also had to keep the period look…”
Adding to the challenge of “The Birth of Rock and Roll” was deciding on which songs would best accompany the dancing. You might think that the MJO’s leader would serve as a key adviser. “Actually, Scott kept wanting me to tell him what to play,” Norton said. “So, I came up with the score myself.” She decided that five songs per segment would work best. Reluctantly, she had to consign some of her favorites to the cutting room floor. “I so wanted to include (Fats Domino’s) Ain’t That a Shame, but it just didn’t seem right. I also thought about having vocals for some of the songs, but I decided not to.”
Among the crowd favorites to be played by the Jazz Orchestra are the finger-snapping theme to American Bandstand, Arthur Smith’s Guitar Boogie, a pair of Elvis hits—Don’t Be Cruel and Jailhouse Rock, and the inescapable Shake, Rattle and Roll. Or should that be Shake, Rattle and Jeté?
Ballet Ariel performs “The Birth of Rock and Roll” and a new work by Gregory Gonzales at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 28 in the Cleo Parker Robinson Theatre, 119 Park Avenue West (303-945-4388) and Saturday, May 4 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. in the Pace Center, 20000 Pikes Peak Ave., Parker (303-805-6800). Tickets start at $16.
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