State Street Ballet entered its 25th year on Saturday, October
12, with a ravishing program of dances by co-artistic director William Soleau. The
evening featured the Santa Barbara Choral Society in two of the works, and a live
orchestra for all three. State Street and its partners continue to show us just
how much can be done with The Granada Theatre’s features, and it is a lot. No one
among the venue’s resident companies is using the building more effectively. From
the choral risers to the projection screen to the orchestra pit with its built-in
elevator, we saw how all the pieces of this fabulous system can work together to
create true theatrical magic.
In Chichester Psalms, a dozen dancers performed in dusky
rose and gray costumes lit by warm yellow light. Seen against the background of
the strict black and white of the massed figures of the chorus, the pointe work
and the many dazzling lifts in the choreography shone with a golden glow. After
a short video clip about the composer, the chorus and eight dancers performed Soleau’s
setting of Morten Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna. This piece balanced danced sections
with longer stretches for chorus alone — and featured parallel duets that gave human
form to the highly spiritual music.
After the intermission, with the orchestra now in the pit and
the whole stage free, Soleau’s splendid, freewheeling version of Aaron Copland’s
classic Appalachian Spring took over. Using rail fence set pieces and sophisticated
projections, the company told the story of a country wedding in achingly direct
and wonderfully memorable terms. Ahna Lipchik and Jack Stewart were particularly
outstanding as The Girl and The Boy. This has to be one of the most inspired works
ever set on the company, and it was a great pleasure to see it once again on the
Granada stage.