PRINTRock 'n' Pointe
Missouri Ballet turns it out in an encore event
Ian Norio Thomas
February 7, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
The image of a ballerina is no longer represented by that plastic twirling dancer inside a young girl’s jewelry box. It is time to close the lid, make that squeaky music stop and change the way you think about ballet. The Missouri Contemporary Ballet has traded pink tights for velvet bell-bottoms and Tchaikovsky for Jimi Hendrix in its performance of Rock. Tonight’s encore show (originally performed in November 2007) brings back an unconventional performance to downtown Columbia’s entertainment repertoire.
The Blue Note rarely hosts dance performances and even more rarely, ballet performances. Although indie rock bands are more prevalent on The Blue Note’s calendar of events, owner Richard King is excited to have Rock back because it fills a void in Columbia’s entertainment scene.
What: Rock presented by the Missouri Contemporary Ballet
Where: The Blue Note
When: Tonight, 6:30 p.m.
Cost: $15 - 25
Call: 874-1944
Rock incorporates different types of dance and takes its audience on a trip from the ’60s through the ’80s. The audience can expect an energetic dance performance and might even pick up a brief history lesson of the decades being danced to. “It’s a blast from the past,” says Lily Frazier-Ransom, an MCB dancer. “I have actually learned things from doing this piece.”
The production is not limited to the pliés and pirouettes normally associated with ballets. “It is really going to stretch the viewer’s imagination in terms of what to expect in a performance,” Frazier-Ransom says. The audience can expect to see a contemporary dance style that includes elements from hip-hop, jazz and swing, which makes this production right at home on the stage of The Blue Note.
Contributing choreographers for Rock include MCB executive and artistic director Karen Grundy, former dancer for the Kansas City Ballet Nick Kepley, and choreographer Tiger Martina, who has worked with such stars as Liza Minnelli. They all offered their individual expertise to the MCB to capture the essence of these eras through dance choreography.
MCB fan Libby Pratt, 16, of Mexico, Mo., attended the November performance and was impressed by the authenticity demonstrated by the dancers. “They did so much research on the fashion, and they really did just look like something out of that decade,” Pratt says.
The company is deemed contemporary for a reason. Sean France, associate artistic director of the MCB, says there are still classic elements incorporated in Rock, but the show is not performed in classical ballet fashion. “It’s accessible to people of all generations,” France says. “I think everyone can appreciate the beauty of it.”
Amy Pugh, an MCB board member, agrees with France’s statement. “It’s not your typical ballerinas dancing to Swan Lake and running around in tutus,” Pugh says. “It’s ballet with a sense of humor, and I think everyone who has seen it has walked away with a smile on their face.”
Video montages introduce each decade in order for the audience to get a feel for the social setting of the time period. The dancers will perform in costumes such as jean jumpsuits and jazzercise leotards to music that includes The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” Pink Floyd’s “Goodbye Blue Sky” and Oingo Boingo’s “Dead Man’s Party.” Janis Joplin, The Police and U2 will also be thrown in the mix.
Pugh says the MCB occupies a significant role in Columbia’s art scene. “The arts community in Columbia is very strong, but I definitely think there was a missing element,” Pugh says. “MCB fills that gap very nicely.”
Frazier-Ransom, originally from Santa Cruz, Calif., worked with the Los Angeles Ballet and the Nashville Ballet before coming to dance with the MCB. “A lot of people ask me why I came to Missouri out of all places, and I feel that as a dancer, you go where the dance takes you,” Frazier-Ransom says. Sometimes that dance might just take you back to a hippie jam from the ’60s or a ’70s polyester-clad disco.
