Connecticut ballet production features Ukrainian talents (04/04/04)

Connecticut ballet production features Ukrainian talents

by Alexander Kuzma

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - On January 10, at the Carol Autorino Center on the campus of St. Joseph College, the Connecticut Dance Project and Premier Dance Studio produced a new ballet production titled "The Snow Queen."

Under the direction of two recent émigrés from Ukraine, Alla Nikitina and Boris Gershman, this original ballet related the timeless story by Hans Christian Andersen of a cruel snow queen who resents the growing love between two youngsters (Gerda and Kai). She casts a wicked spell on Kai and carries him off to her ice castle, forcing his heartsick friend Gerda to set out on an arduous journey through dangerous and mysterious lands before she can break the spell and win back his heart.

The ballet featured a promising young star in Areta Bojko of Glastonbury, Conn., as Gerda. Ms. Bojko danced flawlessly and with charming grace, having to hold her own in the company of seasoned virtuosi such as Sarah Wroth of the Boston Ballet, who convincingly played the role of the Snow Queen, and Jared Matthews and Sarah Lane of the American Ballet Theatre. (Ms. Lane and Mr. Matthews traveled from New York City to perform a stunning pas de deux in the roles of the Prince and Princess). Another standout in the production was Anastasia Teterichko, who danced in the role of the chieftain of the Child Robbers who steal Gerda's possessions on her journey north. The chieftain's role demands tremendous energy yet subtlety as she eventually takes mercy on Gerda and commands her gang of robbers to return the stolen items.

In addition to their training with the Premier Dance Studio, Ms. Teterichko and Ms. Bojko are both members of the Zolotyi Promin Ukrainian Dance Ensemble of Hartford under the direction of Orlando Pagan, formerly of Syzokryli and currently a member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Other Ukrainian American children in the Snow Queen cast included Olya Lyba and Orest Markiv.

In describing their motivation for the new ballet, Ms. Nikitina and Mr. Gershman stated that they were looking for an alternative to Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" that might be of interest to the public during the winter season. "We grew up in a time and a place, Ukraine, where this particular story was very popular. The powerful impression that this story made on us then inspired us to create and choreograph it for the stage."

The creative process that led to the successful production was quite daunting, according to Ms. Nikitina. "It was a great pleasure to work on this ballet, but it was also an enormous challenge. First of all, there was no musical score ... we had to put one together with the music of Glazunov and Shostakovich. [Other excerpts included Dvorak and Chopin.] We had to listen to hundreds of CDs in order to select from them the golden passages of melody that reflect the mood and events of the story. Furthermore, as a new arts organization in the Greater Hartford dance community, we didn't receive any funding for our venture, and so our budget was, literally, zero. We had to borrow costumes, instead of having them made especially for this work, and we had to rent scenery, as well, instead of having it custom-built for our purposes," she related.

In addition to the 60 members of the Premier Dance Studio, "The Snow Queen" also drew on the talents of the Hartt School of Music - Dance and Theatre Division, Dance Connecticut, the University of Hartford, and Ethel Walker School in Simsbury.

The sold-out crowd at the Autorino Center rewarded the performers with a well-deserved standing ovation. At a time when few ballet companies are willing to risk original new productions, much less in the classical tradition, the audience was left to wonder what exciting new creations Ms. Nikitina and Mr. Gershman may produce in the future.

| Home Page |