Time to kick up their heels

Ballet Theatre San Luis Obispo’s weekend dance concert draws inspiration from diverse sources, such as Copland’s ‘Rodeo,’ to a priest in Molokai

By Sarah Linn

What do ballet dancers, world music gurus and a classical pianist have in common?

The answer is Ballet Theatre San Luis Obispo’s latest show.

This weekend, the local dance company focuses on both sides of the musical spectrum. The program ranges from “Rodeo,” Aaron Copland’s musical tribute to the Wild West, to a primal piece inspired by local world music group Calinambe.

There’s even a rumination on the life of Father Damien, the so-called “leper priest” of Hawaii, set to a strikingly modern piano sonata. The pianist is Templeton resident Torsten Juul-Borre.

“I love working with my friends who are artists. It’s great,” said Theresa Slobodnik, artistic director of Ballet Theatre SLO.

Although this show has had its challenges, including difficult music and a squashed schedule, Slobonik said the program should be one of the company’s strongest.

The 46-member cast includes local stars such as Lisa Deyo as well as students from American Dance of San Luis Obispo.

“With my company, I have to look at the dancers I have at the time. What’s going to showcase them and be appealing to the audience?” explained Slobonik, who choreographed all four pieces. “Everybody’s having a blast.”

An insider’s view

The dance concert begins, appropriately, with a humorous inside look at life at a ballet company.

Created last fall for a company fundraiser, “Levez le Rideau” follows an artistic director and her assistant as they secure funding, audition dancers, rehearse and finally put on a show. The title means “Raise the Curtain” in French.

“It’s kind of a snapshot of what we go through every day trying to put something onstage. And it’s a story that most people don’t know about.” explained Blair London, the company’s assistant director.

“Wali Sangara,” which draws on themes of strength and freedom, features instrumental songs by the Central Coast’s Calinambe. Choreographed for the Performing Arts Center’s 10th anniversary celebration, the new version expands from two movements to three.

“The feel of that is completely primal and athletic and sensual and intense,” Slobodnik said. “It’s really amazing stuff.”

Calinambe co-founders Johnee Gange and Tim “Timo” Beckwith will accompany the dancers live, alongside professional flute player Cassandra Tarantino.

According to Gange, the group initially balked at the project.

“A lot of what we play comes from the magic of improvisation, so to structure it is a huge challenge,” the Cayucos musician said. “There’ve been many times in the last few months when I’ve said, ‘We can’t do it.’ ”

Still, Gange said, Calinambe is working hard to bring that magic to the stage.

A challenge for dancers

“Damien of Molokai,” which makes its world premiere this weekend, was an even greater challenge for Slobodnik and her dancers.

The new piece is set to the complicated “Sonata for Piano,” composed by former San Luis Obispo resident Frederic Balazs.

Balazs, a violinist and composer, founded Music and the Arts for Youth in San Luis Obispo and has served as symphony director in Tucson, Ariz., and Wichita, Kan.

According to Slobodnik, Balazs took his inspiration from a variety of sources: Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Bells,” the serene beauty of the Hawaiian island of Molokai and a Carl Sandburg poem about gargoyles.

At first, the artistic director said, she struggled to find a way to translate the diverse piece to dance.

She hit upon a unique subject: Father Damien, the Belgian monk who spent more than a decade administering to Molokai’s isolated, poverty-stricken leper colony.

According to Slobonik, “Damien of Molokai” focuses on the priest’s life and mission as well as the order he brought to the community.

“It had so much to do with what Father Damien accomplished in a peaceful, loving nature, by caring for these people,” she said.

London, an engineering professor at Cal Poly, will dance the role of Damien.

Because of the subject matter, Slobodnik said, her choreography refrains from big, grandiose gestures. It’s staged on a minimalist set with only one prop—a casket.

“The fine line between telling a dramatic ballet and being melodramatic, you really have to watch,” Slobodnik said.

Templeton pianist Juul- Borre will perform Balazs’ sonata this weekend.

“It’s a very exciting piece, very interesting, written by a man who has great sensitivity and wit,” said Juul-Borre, who first performed the piece last summer in Europe.

Added Slobodnik, “For a lot of people, it will be the most powerful, favorite thing they see, because it’s so different.”

A Wild West finish

The concert concludes with Aaron Copland’s 1942 ballet about buckaroos, cowgirls and the American west, “Rodeo.”

Slobodnik put her own touch on the ballet, setting it in the days of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Audiences will recognize one movement, “Hoe- Down,” as the soundtrack to television’s “Beef: It’s What’s For Dinner” commercials.

“Rodeo’s” down-home set dressing includes a painting by local artist Melody Fisher depicting a cowboy on a bronco.

Cowboy boots and hats from Farm Supply of San Luis Obispo complete the look.

“We wanted to make it look authentic onstage. We didn’t want to skimp things,” London said.

Ballet Theatre San Luis Obispo will perform “Levez le Rideau” and “Rodeo” for a youth audience on Friday. As Slobodnik shared, she hopes to hook art enthusiasts young.

“Ballet isn’t just three-minute dances done on the street corner… It’s big theatrical work,” she said. “That’s what I love— being in the theater.”