REVIEW: Webb dances, but Kobborg the star of “Salute”

No matter how it went, the buzz about the Sarasota Ballet’s “Made in America” program was bound to be over the “surprise” guest in Johan Kobborg’s “Salute,” the newest addition to the company’s eclectic repertoire. 

Iain Webb as "The General" and the men of the Sarasota Ballet in Johan Kobborg's "Salute." / Photo by Frank Atura

At 52, Artistic Director Iain Webb has been retired from a career with the Royal Ballet for more than 15 years and hadn’t danced with this company since an isolated appearance in “Checkmate” in 2008. But last week he announced – coincidentally with the news that the weekend’s run had sold out and an additional performance would be added Monday night – that he would dance in the ballet his long-time friend, the Danish star of the Royal, originally choreographed for students at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2010.

While it can make for effective marketing – and admittedly, Sarasota can’t seem to get enough of Webb – as a rule I am not in favor of these kind of come-backs, which generally only serve to showcase a dancer’s diminished skills and steal the spotlight from those who more rightly deserve it. However, in this case I’m forced to make an exception.

Webb, identified only as “The General” in the program, was perfect for the role of the crusty, aging commander in Kobborg’s delightful series of vignettes about soldiers going off to war and the girls they leave behind. But the true star of the show was the ballet itself – only Kobborg’s second piece of original choreography – which was fresh, funny and styled after his Bournonville roots without being dated or derivative. With his theatrical roots, I believe Kobborg will become as gifted a choreographer as he is a dancer.

In “Salute,” six men dressed in white tights and epauletted jackets and six women in long tutus covered with red peplums (costumes by Natalia Stewart) cavort through 10 variations, from a pas de trois of two girls (Emily Dixon and Sareen Tchekmedyian) and a bumbling, overwhelmed suitor (Logan Learned) to an “All Boys” dance comically directed by “The General” and including a tiny Sara Sardelli attempting to fit in with the guys. Each scenario relays, usually to hilarious effect, the eternal dance of the sexes.

To the music of “the Strauss of the North,” Hans Christian Lumbye, the 23-minute piece relies on expressive acting and spot-on comedic timing and the Sarasota dancers got it just right.

Sardelli – literally bursting with the joy of being back on stage after a December injury – made me laugh out loud with her attempts to compete with Kate Honea for the affections of Miguel Piquer and Jamie Carter; her dive off-stage showed her relentlessly full commitment to has not diminished despite her recent setback.

Already a technical wizard, Learned just seems to get better and better theatrically. And the slightly creeky hitch in Webb’s step (which may well have been authentic; check with him in a few days) and his blustery nature made his small role large as life.

Emily Dixon and Ricardo Rhodes in the pas de deux from Will Tuckett's "Spielende Kinder." / Photo by Frank Atura

The rest of the evening was tame by comparison. A reprise of Will Tuckett’s “Spielende Kinder” (“Children at Play”) from last year, with the boys in short pants and knee socks and the girls in school pinafores (costumes by Tricia Hopking and Robert Gordon) was charming, if slight. Its subject matter – the joys, pains and interactions of adolescents – may have been too similar to “Salute” to make them a good pairing on the program. But the pas de deux did showcase two dancers I predict will be the next starring couple – Emily Dixon and Ricardo Rhodes, whose standout adagio was seamless.

As for “Donizetti Variations,” it no doubt satisfied those who like to see ballerinas hop around a lot with bent knees on pointe, but I can’t say it did much for me. I almost never think even Balanchine’s earliest works look dated, but with its St. Paulie girl costumes and air of 19th century European divertissement (despite the occasional hip thrust), this seemed more suited to the 1968 program saluting Italy’s 100th anniversary it was created for than the audience of today. Despite their facility with many styles, I think the Sarasota dancers still have a ways to go to capture Balanchine’s musicality and give a less hurried effect.

Victoria Hulland and Richard Graziano as the lead couple in George Balanchine's "Donizetti Variation." / Photo by Frank Atura

And what was up with that single slow section amidst all the lightness of the allegros, when the dancers faces fell as if hit by some grand tragedy? They’d obviously been told to look lugubrious and stricken, but sandwiched between the gaiety of the rest, it just read as artificial and forced.

So far this season, Webb has managed to inject an element of excitment into every program – from the company’s debut in D.C. in October, to the on stage promotion of Learned to principal dancer in November, to the Americana addition of Agnes de Mille’s “Rodeo” in December. I can only imagine what he might have in mind for the all-Ashton program next month.

I am fully expecting Sir Frederick himself to rise from the dead to be there.