By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
September 29, 2000
7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 8 p.m. Oct. 6; 2 and 8 p.m. Oct. 7
Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress
Tickets, $20-$55
(312) 902-1500
A youngster, a stripper and gangsters galore mix things up in the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s latest production, “Jazz Triple,” the uniquely inventive ballet program that will be presented Tuesday through Oct. 7 at the Auditorium Theatre.
The trio of ballets begins with “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue.” Choreographed by the legendary George Balanchine, “Slaughter” is unique, fetching and sometimes controversial. Based on the 1936 musical “On Your Toes,” the production follows a young American dancer who joins a famed Russian ballet company. After becoming embroiled with society’s underbelly, he ends up dancing for his life. Literally.
Like the other two ballets in the program, “Slaughter” pays homage to jazz. The piece is accompanied by the company’s live orchestra, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
The Echoes of Ellington orchestra accompanies the other two dance productions, which were choreographed by Birmingham’s artistic director, David Bintley. In the quirky “The Shakespeare Suite,” the music of jazz great Duke Ellington plays off the dancers, who portray characters from “Hamlet,” “MacBeth,” “Othello” and “Romeo and Juliet.”
Ellington’s music again is at the forefront in the lighthearted “The Nutcracker Sweeties.” This time, though, it’s a jazz version of Tchaikovsky’s original ballet score for “The Nutcracker Suite.” “Sweeties” features its own bevy of sweethearts (Candy Kane, Sugar Rum Cherry and the Peanut Brittle Brigade) that rival the more traditional Sugar Plum Fairy.
Formed in the early 1930s by Ninette de Valois in London, the Birmingham Royal Ballet underwent name and location changes before settling into its current home in Birmingham, England, in 1990.
