Having spent nearly 40 years in the studio, Suzanne Farrell has come to a conclusion. She's sure the arts were invented because life isn't perfect — if it were, she figures, life would be ballet.
A ballerina for 28 years, Farrell inspired and danced the greatest pieces of renowned choreographer George Balanchine. Now retired and the director of a fledgling company, she's dedicated herself to staging Balanchine's ballets and continuing his legacy.
The Suzanne Farrell Ballet is scheduled to perform five of Balanchine's pieces at 8 p.m. tonight in Eisenhower Auditorium, with Artistic Viewpoints in the auditorium conference room an hour before curtain.
"There is only one Suzanne Farrell," said Derek Gordon, vice president of the Kennedy Center's education department, which supports Farrell's new company. "I've seen her work in the studio and on the stage — she's a tremendous artist . . . Even at this early stage, we can see the quality, the promise, and the artistry of what she's doing. We know we're seeing something really special."
The pieces in tonight's performance — Divertimento No. 15, Monumentum Pro Gesualdo, Movements for Piano and Orchestra, Duo Concertant and Apollo — were choreographed between 1928 and 1972 and demonstrate the span of Balanchine's celebrated artistic development.
Farrell's staging of these ballets has been widely acclaimed by critics, most especially impressed with her unique understanding of them. The Washington Post compared Suzanne Farrell's staging of Balanchine to "looking at a painting that's been expertly cleaned, framed and imaginatively lit."
Farrell's intimate knowledge of Balanchine's ballets comes directly from their years of work together, Gordon said.
"Suzanne has brought a willingness to take chances because she knows Mr. B. would have taken those chances. She knows what he would have seen in the dancers and where he would have gone," Gordon said. "She has such an intimate knowledge of these pieces from such intimate work with Balanchine."
As a choreographer, Balanchine insisted on de-emphasizing plot in his ballets, demanding instead that his dancers show technical brilliance, athleticism, speed and perfect musicality. Alex Hill, managing director at the Ballet Theater of Central Pennsylvania, explained that Balanchine tended to focus on one ballerina for inspiration. Suzanne Farrell, said Hill, was his most famous muse, the dancer for whom her choreographed his passionate and most distinctive works.
"Balanchine's work is very different and very beautiful," said Andrea Hill, artistic director at the Ballet Theater of Central Pennsylvania. "It's visually powerful because you're seeing the music come to life. You really feel that you're watching the music . . . As a choreographer, Balanchine did a lot of new things with steps and with musicality that changed what ballet looked like."
Today, nearly 20 years after Balanchine's death, Farrell is determined to preserve Balanchine's legacy. Since her retirement, she's begun teaching classes, many with the Kennedy Center, and staging Balanchine's ballets for companies around the world.
"And do you know what really feels great about what I'm doing?" Farrell asked The San Francisco Chronicle in an interview. "The lack of sleep, the working all day long, the wonderful exhaustion that I remember from when I was a dancer. It is such a joy.
"This is a new phase in my life. I wasn't sure that I would enjoy it at first, but here I am. The truth is that I could have danced forever; I would have. I stopped because I had to (due to arthritis). But I love what I do now . . . What we are doing right now is . . . keeping ballets alive, helping dancers grow, giving them a chance to perform. After all, that's what it's all about."
Tickets for the performance are available at the Arts Ticket Center or by phone at 814-863-0255. Coupons at the HUB-Robeson Center ticket desk or the Eisenhower Auditorium Box Office are redeemable by University Park students for a $5 ticket price. Tickets are $25 for the general public, $20 for students, $10 for University Park students (without coupon), and $13 for children 12 and younger. Company class at 10:30 am today in the auditorium is free to the public. For additional information, visit www.cpa.psu.edu.
