Head thrown back, ballet dancer Eric Carnes strikes a Grecian pose on the floor: arms stretched out as if to draw a bow, with one knee bent. He takes command of his role of the faun during a recent rehearsal in the ballet “Afternoon of a Faun,” at the Hartford-based Albano Ballet.
Joseph Albano sits on a stool nearby, nodding from time to time, eagle-eyed for every nuance, and is attired in his customary shorts, bare chest, and dance shoes. He is gearing up to present Summer Dance 2016 at the Mohegan Sun Cabaret Aug. 4.
The program consists of what was once the controversial “Afternoon of a Faun,” which was choreographed and danced by Vaslav Nijinsky in 1912, shaking up audiences for its erotic notes. Set in a lush forest, an earthy faun pursues a group of elusive woodland nymphs. For his version, Albano chooses one nymph, intensifying the ballet with an intimate interlude between Carnes as the nymph and the tiny Miku Kawamura.
“I felt other nymphs would be a distraction,” Albano said of his choreographic choice, one that is not surprising for the Albano, who has a particular emphasis on pas de deux in his ballets.
Carnes lifts his partner so high, she practically skims the ceiling in the studio. She clings to him, facing frontward, her legs wrapped around his back as he twirls her around. At other times she leaps away, or backs up in a flurry of feathery foot movements. Before slipping away into her lush forest, the nymph is entangled with the long golden scarf she dances with. It braids the two together, and is all that remains of her when she departs, leaving the faun immersed in its essence, trying to recapture the interlude.
The company is quite proud to have performed the ballet on the grounds of Rudolf Nureyev’s estate in the village of La Turbie, overlooking the hills of Monte Carlo, this past May, as Nureyev was renowned for his portrayal of the faun.
The ballet is what Albano describes as “impressionistic,” for its surreal qualities set to the music of Claude Debussy. The ballet’s story line was inspired by a poem by Stephane Mallarme, and movement in part by Nijinsky’s fascination with Grecian art, creating new poses and body alignment for this short ballet. Costumes are bathed in gold, with the faun in a patterned unitard, and a headpiece with horns.
Opening the program is the “Strauss Waltz,” a sparkling, light ballet that features three dancers vying for one male’s attention. “Everybody loves the waltz,” said Albano. “It is easily digested and romantic.”
Albano continues to chisel his mark as a choreographer — most especially with the debut of “The Mystery,” a work set the operatic score of American composer Carlisle Floyd and the soaring soprano voice of the recently deceased Phyllis Curtin.
Eclectic, Surprising And Sensual
“It is an operatic dance drama,” stated Albano, who also likes to present the authentic features of modern dance. The ballet is an homage to motherhood, and stars five women who represent the stages of motherhood.
“I don’t do restaging of other people’s work,” said Albano. “This is American dance, the fusion of classical ballet as vocabulary and modern dance of American dance. I’ve got them doing angular work — they have to know how to do Martha Graham.”
Albano mixes professional dancers with dancers he is training. In addition to rehearsing in Hartford, Albano travels to New York once a week to teach the dancers that perform with him in Connecticut free of charge, determined to have a cohesively styled company.
The pared down style of neo-classicism is presented with Albano’s “Romantique Borodin,” set to the romantic melodies of Alexander Borodin’s String Quartet #2, transporting the ballet into a four-movement piece. The ballet presents challenging toe dances, and in keeping with the surreal mood, has a set designed by Leo Meyer in a stylistic vein of Salvador Dali.
“The melodies in Borodin String Quartet are just stunning,” stated Albano.
It all fits, somehow, in this plucky company of which Albano takes the helm, charting courses and energizing others for his vision.
At times, he can pause the company to dispense a train of thought while the dancers wait patiently, content to take a breather and dote on his small dog.
“I have things that are just pretty in my ballets,” explains Albano, amused that the shock elicited when “Afternoon of a Faun” was unveiled for its sensual subtext is too mild to engender a response from audiences today.
“That release of expression is a joy of anything and that anything can be pretty or vulgar.”
ALBANO BALLET will perform “Summer Dance 2016” 7 p.m. Aug. 4 at Mohegan Sun’s Cabaret Theater, One Mohegan Sun Blvd., Uncasville. Tickets are $30 and $35. Call Mohegan Sun’s box office 860-862-8499; ticketmaster.com, 800-745-3000; or Albano Ballet, 860-232-8898, albanoballet@netzero.net.
