DTH on Demand
March 13, 2021
Charlotte Kasner
For his version of Firebird for Dance Theatre of Harlem, choreographer John Taras transplants the tale of the magical bird that triumphs over evil from Russia to an exotic Caribbean setting.
Designer Geoffrey Holder creates a Rousseau-like backcloth, the decor fighting the Russianness of the music but creating a suitable sense of fantasy, in this 1982 recording, broken only by a couple of shots from the side into the wings which rather destroys the illusion.
Holder’s costume for the Firebird is scantily gorgeous but his Princesses are more like harem concubines than chaste girls and it is difficult to enjoy the lines created by Lorraine Graves as the Princess with yards of fabric fluttering around her legs.
Photo Martha Swope
Koshkei’s minions are truly scary with butterfly-like giant eyes on their costumes, and scary face and body paint. They seize the Prince by the limbs and for a moment it seems as if they are about to rip him apart. There is no egg containing Koshkei’s soul in this production, the Firebird banishing the evil herself.
Donald Williams is a terrific prince although he does not get much to dance. Stephanie Dabney is a rather brittle Firebird with a somewhat harsh face and little vulnerability although her allegro is impressive considering that she is nearly six feet tall.
It is shocking to realise that it is 37 years since this cast were seen in Firebird in London (in a season that also included the world premiere of their iconic Giselle) but associated documentaries released simultaneously as part of DTH’s Firebird Day prove that, in the great tradition of ballet, the roles are being passed on to new generations.
In the 1982 PBS documentary, Stravinsky’s Firebird by Dance Theatre of Harlem viewers are taken behind the scenes as the company prepare to perform the ballet at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Introduced by Arthur Mitchell, it includes glimpses of rehearsals and interviews with the original cast, Taras and Holder. At one point, Donald Williams mentions listening to a disco version when he was still training! Mention should also be made of the excellent young rehearsal pianist, sadly uncredited.
The Rare Birds tells something of the history of Black dancers who have performed the ballet’s lead role. It was Firebird that inspired Lauren Anderson, the now retired first African-American principal dancer with Houston Ballet, to dance professionally. Misty Copeland danced it with American Ballet Theatre and then wrote a children’s book about dancing Firebird. Toy maker Mattel even turned her into a Firebird Barbie doll. DTH’s own Charmaine Hunter was taken on straight from the corps with just a few hours’ notice. “My body never hurt so badly,” she recalls. Mitchell coached each dancer differently to adjust to their physique and each found a way to make the role their own.
In Passing the Torch, past DTH Firebirds reflect on dancing the role. Former principals Christina Johnson, Kellye Saunders, Tai Jimenez, Bethania Gomes (who remembers watching wild macaws in her native Brazil) and Paunika Jones explore the opening Firebird solo, talk about their own experiences and coach members of the present company via Zoom. Jones learned it when still in the corps, having absorbed the role until she finally danced it in 2004 – on a raked stage. “There’s no rake that you can forget – being shot out of that wing on your own.” Jiminez observes that the fluttering of the hands is a release not a resistance and that she needed to warm up her hands in order to be able to do the flutter
Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Firebird (preceded by the PBS documentary) is available to watch until March 19, 2021 through DTH On Demand on YouTube.
Also on YouTube are Passing the Torch and The Rare Birds.