Sarasota Ballet Honors Great British Choreographers @ The Joyce

Above: from Sir Peter Wright's Summertide

~ Author: Oberon

Sunday October 3rd, 2026 matinee - Sarasota Ballet presenting a highly enjoyable afternoon of classic works by three renowned British choreographers: Anthony Tudor, Sir Frederick Ashton, and Sir Peter Wright. Everything about the performance seemed perfect: the lighting designs by Ethan Vail, the lineup of composers whose music we heard (Chausson, Massenet, Auber, Tchaikovsky, Britten, Prokofiev, and Mendelssohn...all favorites of mine!) - and the specific recordings chosen for each work. The dancers of the Company all showed a deep sense of musicality; the lyricism of their dancing swept the afternoon along, leaving us craving for more.

I had only seen Tudor's Jardin aux Lilas once previously - at ABT many years ago - danced by Susan Jaffe and Kevin McKenzie. The mixture of romance and despair in the piece, and its haunting score, have remained clear in my mind ever since; it was a great pleasure to see it again today...and so expressively danced. Sarasota Ballet's simple production - with evocative lighting and fine costuming - created a perfect atmosphere. Iku Okura as Caroline and Andril Ishchuk as Her Lover perfectly embodied the youthful passion of their secret romance, and the desperation of their fleeting moments together in what will be their last encounter was palpable. Ricardo Graziano superbly captured both the innate pride and suffocated desire of The Man She Must Marry as his own illicit affair with the sophisticated but secretly anxious Willa Frantz is also reaching its end. The music, the narrative, and the dancing struck so many deep chords in my soul, and the final moment of the ballet - the shattered Mr. Ishchuk alone with his longings - left a lump in my throat. 

A brilliantly devised lineup of excerpts from five Ashton works opened with perhaps my favorite musical work of all time: the Meditation from Massenet's THAIS. Dancing as if in a dream, Kaitlyn Casey and Ricardo Rhodes - in exotic costumes - were ideally matched. The recording chosen included the hummed choral passages, which are seldom included in live performances of this music. Wonderful!  In a pas de trois from LES RENDEZVOUS, blue lighting and silky blue costumes were eye-soothing, whilst the choreography - sweet and clever - had real charm. In this trio, Andrea Marcelletti and Gus Payne were joined by Pasha Levy - the daughter of my longtime friends Amy (Marshall) and Chad Levy. I remember distinctly meeting Pasha as a tiny child; how wonderful to see her onstage today as a lovely young woman. 

The Ashton tribute continued with what was billed as the Awakening Pas de Deux from SLEEPING BEAUTY but which we NYC Ballet fans think of as Clara's Dream from the Balanchine NUTCRACKER: a rose by any other name. The music is Tchaikovsky at his tenderest; it was elegantly danced by Sumika Fujiwara and Mr. Ishchuk. In a pas de cinq from Aston's setting of Britten LES ILLUMINATIONS, the Sarasota company brought forth a quintet of beautiful humans: Marijana Dominis, Trevin Ralphs, Jonah Glickman, Ze Ellis, and Simon Plante. How touching to hear the voice of Peter Pears, Britten's longtime companion, in an old and rather scratchy recording as the dancers moved poetically in this charming work. The Ashton collection was completed by the immortal Balcony Scene from ROMEO AND JULIET; the youthful lovers were finely matched in their tender partnership: the pretty Sierra Abelardo and her handsome young partner - Samuel Gest - gave us some of the evening's finest dancing. The music, as ever, was hauntingly expressive.

Sir Peter Wright's SUMMERTIDE made for a perfect ending to the program. Set to Mendelssohn's second piano concerto, the ballet opens with Ricardo Graziano spotlit alone onstage. The dancers join one by one; the music, sometimes tempestuous, brings forth a male quartet and numerous pairings, all dancing with a spacious sense of freedom. The choreography is quite demanding, but the Sarasota dancers handled it all deftly. The second movement is a dreamy pas de quatre, danced by Ms. Abelardo and Mssrs Graziano, Ralphs, and Plante; the lighting here was especially atmospheric. In the finale, which has a scherzo feeling at times, the dancers' numerous comings and goings kept the eye engaged.

Walking out into the breezy late-summer afternoon, I was delighted to run into Attila Csiki, Lar Lubovitch paragon extraordinaire and all-around fascinating person. We hadn't seen each other for a very long time; it brought back many memories of watching Attila rehearse, perform, and teach during the years when I was deeply involved in the dance world. 

~ Oberon