by Diane Claytor
In less than a month, Diablo Ballet will bring down the curtain on its very successful 22nd season. The final show – Celebrated Masters, featuring a new production of Carnival of the Imagination, the breathtaking Hamlet and Ophelia, and the world premier of Mythic Place – will be enjoyed on May 6 & 7 in Walnut Creek’s Del Valle Theatre.
If you are one of those fortunate enough to have been mesmerized by a previous Diablo Ballet performance, you already know what’s in store for lucky audience members at this final show: elegant movements; bold, innovative and creative pieces; amazing artistry; powerful classic and contemporary dance; and talented, flexible, strong, fluid, beautiful dancers. But don’t just take my word for it.
The most recent performance, Diablo Ballet’s 22nd Gala Celebration, received glowing reviews. Some of the comments written by Grier Cooper, who describes herself as a “writer in a dancer’s body,” should entice you to attend a future production: “Diablo Ballet has a lot to celebrate: This year the company marked twenty-two successful seasons… and the company has never looked better…Diablo Ballet brings an eclectic offering of dance to the stage and beyond into the community through its PEEK Program…”
Describing one piece in the program, Cooper writes, “The dancers’ technique was gorgeously fluid, yet they held nothing back as they undulated, leapt, and turned wildly… Diablo Ballet’s 22nd gala was a wonderful retrospective for the company, with something old, something new, and even something blue (the costumes in Serenade). It’s easy to see why they’re still going strong.”
On criticaldance.org, Bryn E. Namavari wrote, “A host of Bay Area dance icons filled the auditorium, signaling that the company holds a significant presence on the arts scene… Making a strong showing of not only the company’s talent but also its artful collaboration with local musicians and artists, most of the pieces were performed with live music. Artistic Director Lauren Jonas has built the company’s reputation both on the resurrection of historical material and the fostering of new and innovative pieces…”
Describing the film, “We, Divine” featured during the March gala performance, Namavari noted “the dancers’ sterling grace and athleticism.” And with the concluding sentence of the review highlighting the final repertoire in the show, Namavari wrote, “the final piece of the evening, La Fille Mal Gardée (choreographed by Jonas after Marius Petipa) elicited the proper audience gasps for this revived classic’s seemingly unending and radiant leaps, lifts and turns. There was much applause for the merry and lively choreography that tested the dancers’ versatility in its combinations — saying much for their strength and for Jonas’ expertise.”
You can read the two reviews in their entirety by clicking on the following links:
http://www.griercooper.com/diablo-ballet-theyre-still-going-strong-22-years/ or
http://criticaldance.org/diablo-ballet-22nd-season-celebration/.
But even better, if you’re in the Bay Area, you can purchase tickets to next month’s show and “experience the power of dance” yourself.
To get tickets to Celebrated Masters, go to https://diabloballet.org/tickets/ or call 925-943-7469.