Velveteen Rabbit at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
© Steve DiBartolomeo. (Click image for larger version)
ODC/Dance
The Velveteen Rabbit
★★★★✰
San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
24 November 2018
www.odc.trip the light fantastic toe
world wide web.ybca.org
As Nov fades away and December's bustle begins, an enchanting Bay Area dance favorite returns for its annual ii-week run at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts – ODC/Trip the light fantastic's The Velveteen Rabbit. Alongside an abundance of festive cabarets, wintry revues and many, many versions of The Nutcracker, Velveteen Rabbit is a staple in this region's holiday calendar. In fact, 2018 marks the thirty-2nd anniversary of the family-friendly production, created past ODC Co-Artistic Director KT Nelson. It's actually been some time since I've seen the testify, viii years to be exact. And it's been far longer since I've read the source material – Margery Williams' legendary 1922 children's book. Then going into Sat'south opening performance, I had somewhat fresh eyes. What these eyes saw were deeply adult characters, a cast (the company plus students from ODC's school) as skilled at acting and motion, and a touching narrative about connection, transformation and dear. Velveteen Rabbit may be geared towards the young but its universal themes transcend age. It's on until December 9thursday – go meet information technology and enjoy an uplifting afternoon or evening at the theater.
© Steve DiBartolomeo. (Click image for larger version)
Even before the houselights dimmed, Velveteen Rabbit had a number of checkmarks in its favor. Its iconic plot centers around the abiding bond between a young boy and his much loved plush toy, a toy that aches to be real. Information technology's a seasonal tale that is opening right as tree lots are popping upward and lights are being strung. And because it's from ODC/Dance, in that location are both loftier production values and great dancers. When the curtain rose, it was clear that Velveteen Rabbit was brimming with even more than positives. Nelson and ODC mined the larger story arc for narrative nuance. They revealed plot points and character depth through innovative choreography. Their 2-human action, sixty-v minute accommodation isn't but sweetness; it's very, very practiced.
Mutual devotion and unconditional friendship lie at the heart of Velveteen Rabbit, shown through the many duets danced past the boy (Daniel Santos) and the rabbit (Tegan Schwab). Imbued with affectionate embraces, the diverse pas de deux saw the pair taking turns providing support and being supported, existence lifted and being the lifter. Theirs was a two-way human relationship – the boy needed the rabbit and the rabbit needed the male child. Only Velveteen Rabbit has many other narrative gems, which Nelson and ODC handily unpacked. They touched on simplicity. In Act I, Scene III, the audience is transported to a packed nursery playroom replete with sparkly, shiny, mechanical activity figures and gadgets. However, in the face of all that vibrancy and hubbub, it is the unadorned, stuffed bunny that ends up belongings a special place in the male child'south heart. In that same scene, the Skin Equus caballus toy, portrayed past James Gilmer, profoundly comments on historic period and fourth dimension. He explains to the rabbit that existence existent is something that just age can bring, occurring when fur and hair become scant, when hues fade, when seams break and rip. In a place like San Francisco, which puts youth at such a premium, that message is quite outside the norm. Pain and loss become part of the picture as the boy and the rabbit are separated; magic, when Rachel Furst's Fairy transforms the toy into a real beingness. And in the dance's concluding moments, the power of memory and the human activity of remembering rang truthful. Though fourth dimension had passed, the boy and the rabbit, at present real, recognized each other and in doing then, recalled their enduring connexion.
© Steve DiBartolomeo. (Click image for larger version)
Choreographic victories abounded too, my favorite existence how Nelson marked the passage of fourth dimension. Velveteen Rabbit spans a number of seasons, and while at that place were different backdrops, scenery pieces, costumes and lighting cues to note the change, it was the choreography for the adult chorus and the children's cast that gave a sense of place. Swirling, blustery artillery and billowy jumps mimicked winter's snow; sprightly lifts and spring frog games welcomed spring; and for summer, the cast, clad in retro bathing costumes, swam and dove through the space, feet kick imaginary h2o and arms circling in a series of backstrokes. Two solos also stood out for their choreographic ingenuity. After becoming existent, Schwab'south graphic symbol discovers that she now has hind legs like all other rabbits. Split leaps, long extensions and articulations of the foot, ankle and knee communicated this new reality. Every bit the elder statesman of the plant nursery playroom, Gilmer's Pare Horse emanated wisdom and steadfastness, cycling though defined stately motions, tedious, precise promenades and an enviable penchée. The developed chorus must also exist praised for their speed, stamina and finesse. They were constantly shifting from character to character and costume to costume, and never in one case looked rushed or flustered.
Velveteen Rabbit's opening performance had some unison struggles here and there, though I imagine these will get worked out over the run. And there are a couple of scenes that might keep a bit too long. Simply there was really only one chemical element of the show that didn't fit for me: the score, or to exist more than accurate, parts of the score. Nelson gear up Velveteen Rabbit to music by Benjamin Britten with Geoff Hoyle narrating Williams' prose. The orchestrations and text worked corking together; zippo more was needed. Especially non the intermittent songs that crept in from time to time. And I utilize the verb 'pitter-patter' on purpose considering they came across equally kind of creepy – sung in a wispy, mysterious timbre and hovering between major and minor tonalities. Certainly, it seemed an odd choice for this otherwise heartwarming work.
Source: https://dancetabs.com/2018/11/odc-dance-the-velveteen-rabbit-san-francisco/
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