Writer Shannon Severson // Photography by Rosalie O’Connor
Arizona, and the Valley of the Sun in particular, is not reputed to have four seasons. We are roughly confined to two seasons — what other states might consider cool fall temperatures alternating with scorching, oven-level heat. We’re also a state with unparalleled sunsets, natural beauty and talented artists and performers.
From May 15 to June 1, Ballet Arizona will bring together the best elements of life in the Grand Canyon State in a performance of Antonio Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” at Desert Botanical Garden.
The production, choreographed by celebrated artistic director Ib Andersen, takes the audience on a balletic journey through the seasons with the sky as proscenium and a scrim formed by the Papago Buttes and desert flora.
“This score has to be one of the most celebrated in the classical canon, and it is proving to be as fun as it is challenging to choreograph [for] our dancers,” Andersen says. “There is so much depth and so many layers to this piece. It is actually 12 different movements, and it changes constantly and dramatically. This piece will be a visual feast full of exquisite energy that can only be enhanced by the outdoor desert landscape.”
The company’s 30 professional dancers from around the world are adorned in beautiful costumes hand-painted by Andersen, designed and produced in partnership with costume director Leonor Texeira. The pieces highlight the grace and athleticism of the dancers and are enhanced as the lighting changes with each season.
Cabrioles and Cacti
Guests can arrive about 45 minutes before the familiar strains of the violins that begin the “Spring” concerto echo amid the spreading branches of the palo verde trees and may purchase a picnic dinner to enjoy while the dancers warm up on stage.
Seating is divided into stadium risers, standard and premium table seating that is closest to the stage. It’s a casual, summery setting that is certainly a departure from the company’s home stage at Phoenix Symphony Hall downtown. It’s also one of the most popular performances of the year and tends to sell out quickly.
Averi Gutierrez, the director of marketing for Ballet Arizona, says the performance start times each night are dictated not by the clock but by nature.
“We start just when the sunset kisses the horizon,” she says. “It’s an event that is uniquely Arizonan and cannot be replicated anywhere else in the country because of the uniqueness of the desert landscape. It’s the perfect marriage between art and nature.”
Ballet Arizona’s partnership with Desert Botanical Garden was first envisioned by Ballet Arizona board member emerita Carol Schilling and Desert Botanical Garden executive director Ken Schutz. Bringing arts experiences to the garden for its members has been a strategic priority for Schutz.
“The Garden and Ballet have been collaborating on the project for 12 years now and the results just keep getting better,” Schutz says. “The beauty of the garden, and especially the backdrop provided by the Papago Buttes, provides the perfect outdoor stage for the magic that Ballet Arizona creates each year. I think it’s a match made in heaven and the results are divine.”
Audiences agree, and the feedback that Ballet Arizona has received has been glowing.
“The location of the stage and time of day was absolutely perfect — obviously chosen on purpose,” said one guest. “The sunset silhouetting the mountains with a crescent moon just hovering above was a magical backdrop to the… spotlight-intensified trees and cacti. The layers of nighttime sky, mountains, trees and performers were incandescent; truly magical.”
The dancers’ skill must contend with a few challenges of an outdoor performance.
“It’s an adventure for [the dancers] just as much as it is for the audience members,” says Gutierrez. “Dancing outdoors, dealing with the wind [while] landing on point, the environment and staging. It’s an opportunity to experience ballet in a new way [for the dancers and the audience].”
The popularity of these outdoor performances is something Ballet Arizona has seized on to create outreach to audiences that may not have ever considered setting foot inside a grand performance hall.
“Ballet Under the Stars” is a series of performances that take place in public venues around the Valley each September. Admission is free and presented by the Diane and Bruce Halle Foundation. The company’s professional dancers give audiences a sneak peek at each upcoming season with a medley of classical and contemporary performances that can be experienced during the season.
“Ballet Under the Stars is a fantastic opportunity for folks who are new to ballet as well as longtime ballet lovers to come together as a community and enjoy a free performance,” says Claire Schmaltz, Ballet Arizona’s community engagement manager.
A special performance is added each night featuring the young participants in Ballet Arizona’s Class Act program. In each host city, the initiative gives elementary students from one school the opportunity to pair up with the professionals. They learn ballet steps, choose music and create a completely unique work over the course of three hours before the stage lights come up, much to the delight of their parents and audience in attendance.
“Children arrive in tutus and dance the night away. Families have entire picnics before and during the performance, and the performance is always stunning, showing the full breadth of what Ballet Arizona can do. It’s the perfect community builder for anyone and everyone who is looking for an opportunity to relish the Arizona landscape right in their own cities.”
Poetic Performance
At the Desert Botanical Garden performances, the landscape becomes a main character in the production. The spiky ocotillo and flourishing foliage of Mexican bird of paradise catch the light and shadows as the dancers spin and leap. Spring, summer, fall and winter take human form as the audience is swept up in rapt attention.
Ballet is often described as “poetry in motion,” and the description is particularly apt for a musical score like “The Four Seasons.” The Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, who wrote the well-known group of four violin concertos in 1720, published them in Amsterdam in 1725 with a set of accompanying poems that many believe were written by him.
It’s a glimpse into what Vivaldi was trying to communicate and is written onto the pages of music. The seasonal scores are divided into three movements each, separated by tempos: fast, slow, fast. They echo the meter of a sonnet.
As the dancers jeté onto the stage, the sun dips low and stars begin to twinkle overhead. Audiences see Vivaldi’s words in motion:
“Spring has arrived with joy
Welcomed by the birds with happy songs,
And the brooks, amidst gentle breezes,
Murmur sweetly as they flow.”
While we may not physically experience all four seasons here in the desert, we have glorious opportunities like this one — enjoying the arts surrounded by our unforgettable sunsets and natural environment.
‘The Four Seasons’
May 15–June 1 // 8 p.m. // Desert Botanical Garden // 1201 N. Galvin Pkwy, Phoenix // $60+ // balletaz.org
Comments by Admin