It is one of three Ashton works that fill the revised lineup for the company’s sixth digital program. Artistic Director Iain Webb had originally planned to feature George Balanchine’s “Serenade” along with “Valses” and Ashton’s “The Walk to the Paradise Garden.” Because of health and safety protocols, he replaced the Balanchine work with a third Ashton piece, “Facade,” which the company has performed many times.
Rhodes and Hulland last danced “Valses Nobles” together about five years ago, and it’s been at least two years since they partnered. Even after a break, Hulland said, “There’s so much comfort there. We always danced together, and Rickey’s got my back.”
The Sarasota Ballet’s Digital Program 5, released this past weekend, featured ballets from past and present choreographers. George Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations and Ricardo Graziano’s Amorosa differ largely in style but are similar in that they are both choreographic sensations. Donizetti Variations, first performed by the New York City Ballet in 1960, is a plotless ballet set to music by Gaetano Donizetti. The choreography reflects many aspects of the August Bournonville style with a Balanchine flare. Principal couple Katelyn May and Yuri Marques danced with attack and precision during the pas de deux and solo sections. May’s musicality was spot on during her variation, and Marques nailed his turning sequences.
Everybody else was expecting more from Graziano.
“People were writing to me and saying, ‘I can’t wait to hear about all this stuff you’re creating at home.’ But I wasn’t creating anything at home,” he said. “When I decided to give myself time for body healing and mental healing, I didn’t force myself to create anything. I didn’t feel I had to do anything and then things started flowing.”
That’s the way he prefers to let new choreography develop. “I always have so many random ideas and eventually I did start thinking and planning a ballet,” he said, but he initially had no dancers to work out his vision.