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“We feel strong and we’re going to do a full season of in-person performances,” Artistic Director Iain Webb said. “If there’s a roadblock, we’ll just have to maneuver around it.” He said it is too early to know what COVID safety protocols still may be required when the season starts.
“Will we have to do as much social distancing or masking? We don’t have the answer. We feel it’s going to start slowly. From a box office point of view, we’re looking at budgeting around 50 percent of our usual revenue,” he said.
Webb and other local arts leaders are aware that while many patrons are excited about returning to “normal,” they may not yet feel ready to attend indoor performances at full capacity, at least at the start of the season.
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.