From the Nashville Ballet
Taking the First Leap Into the Future: Nashville’s Inaugural Dance Festival
On Friday, July 21, 2023, Nashville inaugurated its first annual Dance Festival. Sponsored by the Nashville Ballet (NB) under newly promoted artistic director Nick Mullikin, the performance was a bold felicitous fusion of fantasy and practicality. Boldly asserting that the festival will continue in years to come, the fantasy came from the wonderfully varied choices of choreographies and music. The practicality came from both the choice of venue—the attractive, spacious Fisher Center at Belmont with its nearby parking—and timing the festival during a summer institute where significant numbers of young dancers are trained. These students lent a festive, almost sportslike atmosphere. Whenever a dancer onstage would land a skilled fouetté (a series of pirouette turns where one leg whips around) or grande jeté (big leap), you could almost hear the soccer sportscaster yell “GOOOOOOAL!” as they cheered.
This partisan enthusiasm was fine for most of the program, but when Travis Bradley’s piece “Sweet Knowledge” was performed, it became an obstruction. Bradley, an accomplished theater choreographer who formerly danced with Ballet Memphis and the Houston Ballet, successfully fused American music with the tantric concept of “memories of intrinsic sweetness,” creating the dance equivalent of the Americana music he chooses by songwriters like Dolly Parton. This multisectional group, with barefoot dancers dressed in comfortable casual clothes, is set to songs like Molly Drake’s poignant “I Remember” with a moment of stillness in the transition between sections. Misplaced audience cheers marred each of the moments.
A contrasting piece “Thick as Thieves” is one of several choreographies premiered on the program. Penny Saunders, Artist in Residence at the University of Southern California’s Kaufman School of Dance, has created a charmingly eccentric work of little Charlie Chaplin figures doing delightfully awkward steps including the Charleston before they scurry away.
Another new work, “Blue Ink” by Norbert de la Cruz, was less successful. De la Cruz, who has worked with the Alvin Ailey company and Aszure Barton—an artist performed this season at OZ Arts by the Cuban company, Malpaso—creates an interesting world of dancers in a variety of gray costumes with one character in a pale blue dress with white peter pan collar. A few intriguing gestures, like the blue-costumed dancer pushed in a chair as in a wheelchair and later dancers in a circle springing up like the spouting of a decorative fountain demonstrated choreographic imagination, but the narration needed a trained reader to match the quality of the same text sung on the recording. Nonetheless, the work promises increasing growth in the company.
More than any piece, Paul Vasterling’s pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet represented classical ballet with its formal movements and elegant choreographic lines. However, much as works like Mendelssohn’s violin concerto or a Mozart piano sonata, have styles so formal and so renowned that tackling them requires a technical perfection the dancers have not yet attained. Sometimes, however, well-framed sections with a bit more modernity worked. Examples include the initial kiss and the moment when the man is prone and the woman steps toward the v-shape of his legs, gradually leaning atop him in movements that were elegantly romantic without any hint of salaciousness. Quite lovely.
More than any piece, Yury Yanowsky’s “Circadian Rhythm” represents the experimental nature of modern dance. After decades with the Boston Ballet, this award-winning French-born choreographer has generated a thought-provoking fusion of fiercely quick and funereally slow energies, alongside an exciting blend of vigorous modern athleticism and historical steps like a 16th-century Italian movement called the “groppo [knot]” where one foot winds around the ankle of the standing leg. Then, after a section that resembled gymnastic floor exercises, the dancers simply walk off the stage as if the routine is over. Effective.
Kevin Thomas, a former company member of Dance Theater of Harlem (DTH), current artistic director of Memphis’ Collage Dance Collective, successfully reenvisioned George Balanchine’s setting of Stravinsky’s Firebird. It is a tribute to Thomas that his setting in the mythical African land of Tokoloshe was exhilarating. With Rickey Flagg II, in Gabriela Moros Diaz’ adaptation of Zulu textile design, and Lauren Philson as the Firebird herself, dressed in magically glittery red feathers, Thomas’ movements—some original, some with an occasional homage to Balanchine, like the plucking movements made famous in Maria Tallchief’s performances—were deeply satisfying.
From the total package combination of fascinating choreography, music, and technique, “When Love” choreographed by Helen Pickett was the strongest, most gratifying piece. It was impressively set to “Knee 5” from the iconic Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass, expertly danced by Alexandra Hutchinson and Micah Bullard. Bullard, particularly, provided a model for beautiful articulation of controlled movements in approaching, lifting, and releasing his partner, a model from which all the festival’s male pas de deux dancers could benefit.
“Zero Gravity Blooms” sticks in my mind as the most imaginative piece on the program. Choreographed by Gabrielle Lamb to “For Scott Kelly, Returned to Earth” a work for harp by Mary Lattimore, “Zero Gravity” alludes to the atmosphere of Kelly, the astronaut who grew zinnias in the zero gravity world of the International Space Station. “Zero” opened with gorgeous close-knit poses like yoga postures. Dancers in pastel ombre-colored tunics floated through a melange of scenes: some featuring stretching movements in real-time with others moved in half-time; some drifting across the stage like a school of tropical fish, once prone on the stage floor with feet fluttering like fins underwater; some interweaving arms like undulating seaweed. The correspondence between movements in the ocean depths and the depths of space was captivating.
Special notice must go to Mycah Kennedy who created costumes for the Saunders, de la Cruz, Lamb, and Yanowsky. Kennedy so masterfully matched the tenor of each piece, communing with the spirit of the music and choreography that it was a bit of a shock to find that one person designed for these very different works. Kudos!
The entire program was interesting, intriguing, inventive. Any lapses in technique projected more of the promise of growth rather than ongoing bad habits seen in some young companies. This was a truly hope-infused beginning to a festival I hope will continue to vibrate with imagination for years to come.
A Guest Author Contribution:
The Future of TPAC
In February 2022, news broke that the State of Tennessee is looking to lease a nearly two acre parcel of land located at 301 Rep. John Lewis Way N. The site is currently occupied by the 24-floor James K. Polk Building, which houses numerous state government offices and, most notably, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center on the ground floor. DGS (Department of General Services) commissioner Christi Branscom expounded on the announcement, saying that $120 million in deferred maintenance cost rendered the building “beyond a reasonable state of repair.” With this clarification, we can surmise what’s left unsaid publicly: the state intends to lease the land to a private developer with the understanding that they’ll demolish the existing building before developing a new project. So when will the Polk Building come down? Where and what will TPAC’s new facility be? What will it look like? When will TPAC move in? With the scant information available, we can use inferences and some cautious speculation to attempt to answer these questions.
The Demolition
To clarify before anybody cancels their upcoming tickets at the TPAC: a building intended for demolition in the future is not necessarily a building unsafe to inhabit in the present. I’ve heard plenty of sour stories about the state of the Polk building – uneven floors, plumbing issues, and flooding in the lower levels to name a few – but none of these inconveniences point to the building being structurally unfit to occupy. The state’s announcement last year was likely based on a DGS decision to forgo any costly future maintenance to the upper office floors, not on some imminent structural catastrophe.
The short answer to when the demolition will happen is that the timeline isn’t publicly available, if it exists at all. If the building’s structural issues do amount to merely a financial decision about maintenance cost, demolition likely wouldn’t take place for a couple of years, until the state makes arrangements for displaced office workers and reaches a lease agreement with a private developer. But if the building’s defects are severe and worsening quickly enough to make the building unsafe, there’s always a small chance that TPAC will find themselves suddenly homeless. Readers of News Channel 5 may remember a similar scare from 2014 when the building was suddenly evacuated after two days of swaying and vibrations.
State: ‘No Structural Concerns’ With Polk Building
The East Bank
Speculation abounds as to where TPAC will move after the Polk building shuts its doors. Temporary or long term residencies at the Schermerhorn Center or Belmont’s Fisher Center are oft-repeated rumors, but neither bears much merit or evidence to support it. While there’s still uncertainty if the timing will necessitate a temporary facility, the presumptive site of TPAC’s permanent new location is within the upcoming redevelopment of Nashville’s East Bank: a 338 acre master plan area bounded by the Cumberland River to the west, Interstate 24 to the east, and Jefferson Street to the north.
The implementation of the “Imagine East Bank” plan is based on lessons learned from the Gulch’s successes in the past decade. In 2001, Metro Nashville named MarketStreet, a private developer, as Master Developer of a 91 acre area known as the Gulch Master Plan. Other developers purchased land within the Master Plan, and MarketStreet oversaw their work to keep it in line with the city’s vision for the neighborhood. The results, as anyone can see, were a resounding success. A thriving urban neighborhood has sprung up from a dead space of empty lots and abandoned warehouses. Following this blueprint, city council passed the Imagine East Bank master plan in October 2022, this time around implementing over a year of community involvement meetings to address residents’ concerns and aspirations for the area. Based on this community feedback, the East Bank plan has a heavy focus on walkability, transit access, green space, and neighborhood connectivity.
The plan’s scope and potential impact on the city are difficult to understate. It’s a blank canvas comparable in size to an area from Korean Veterans Boulevard to Union Street, stretching from the river westward to 12th Avenue. At the epicenter of this explosion of development is approximately 130 acres of land owned directly by the city government. City ownership of the land affords many benefits to the development process. They are unimpeded on delivering their vision to the community, free of competing concerns for return on investment or creating value for absentee shareholders. This holistic strategy of doing what’s best for Nashville brings us back to where we started: the city can create a space for TPAC in the context of an excellent neighborhood with lesser financial pains than a private developer.
So where specifically would this new facility go? The East Bank Vision Plan addresses the strong community feedback for cultural spaces such as museums, theaters, and galleries by earmarking space for a “Cultural Terrace.” There are two candidate sites, one immediately north of the pedestrian bridge and the other immediately south of the Woodland Street bridge. Both would benefit from pedestrian connectivity to downtown, while also integrating seamlessly into the new neighborhood. The Woodland Street site would also benefit from close proximity to the Mobility Hub planned for the site at the corner of Main Street and 1st Street, currently home to Titans Lot E. This hub will provide connectivity for high-frequency bus routes, bike and scooter rentals, rideshare pickup, and a variety of other options. While the Vision Plan doesn’t mention TPAC by name, the city’s intentions, their description of the “Cultural Terrace” space, and the public knowledge of ongoing discussion between Metro and TPAC over site selection make it seem all but certain that TPAC will move across the river.
In the map above, the two candidate sites for the Cultural Terrace are labeled as 3A and 3B. The Mobility Hub is labeled as 1.
The Neighborhood
One glaring change is the location of the Titans stadium in the Vision Plan. Since there’s extensive coverage of the new stadium deal by every news outlet in town I won’t get into the details, but in summary the Titans, Metro, and the state are co-funding a new, roofed stadium. The existing stadium will continue to host the Titans while the new one is constructed on Titans Lot B, with plans for it to open in time for the 2027 NFL season. At that time, the old stadium will be demolished and redeveloped as part of the East Bank Vision.
A common concern during the community feedback meetings was that the character of the neighborhood would cater entirely to tourists while leaving locals feeling alienated in their own city. This is certainly a risk, and the neighborhood’s geography as a link between Broadway and the Titans stadium doesn’t help. But Metro’s Vision Plan clearly shows an awareness of this risk and a good sense of how to avoid it. There are plenty of examples of great stadium neighborhoods – Chicago’s Wrigleyville area and Boston’s Fenway Park come to mind. They create a sense of place, an attraction that invites you to visit and linger, that goes beyond their role as gameday host. The proposed stadium would have excellent walkable integration with the pedestrian and Woodland Street bridges, while connecting cleanly to the public green space leading towards the riverfront.
It’s understandable that some TPAC regulars will balk at the close proximity to the Titans stadium. Anyone who’s attended a weekend show at the Schermerhorn has felt the cultural whiplash of transitioning from Beethoven to Bachelorettes. However, the plan’s clear focus on building a dense mixture of housing, dining, and community spaces will likely create an environment more like a scaled-up version of the Gulch than a newer, shinier Broadway.
The above rendering gives an idea of what the area surrounding TPAC’s new building could look like. Houston’s Hobby Center is standing in for the currently unknown TPAC design.
The Theater
In May 2023 TPAC announced that it had selected the world-famous Danish firm BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), Boston-based William Rawn Associates, and the local firm EOA Architects to design their new facility. Each of these firms has a strong and recognizable design portfolio. BIG has designed a wide range of theaters and museums, championing the look of the modern European cultural building. Their strong focus on geometry, especially sweeping curves and repeating simple patterns, makes their works stand out wherever they’re built. But in stark contrast to this individuality, on closer inspection one can sense a deep connection between the building’s design and its subject matter. Each project feels defined by the art for which it was built.
William Rawn Associates has a storied track record with live venues; their work at Tanglewood in the Berkshires and Baltimore’s Music Center at Strathmore demonstrate their mastery of the performing arts space.
EOA Architects will contribute their local knowledge and expertise, with works such as the Tennessee State Museum and the Williamson County Library displaying their capability to deliver on significant community and cultural projects.
It’s far too early in the process to expect any renderings of a future TPAC home, but what we can expect from these designers’ portfolios is something bold and unique, something that simultaneously stands out while integrating with its surroundings. The presumptive East Bank location’s proximity to the river will put the theater on display to the world, standing in stark contrast to the historic brick buildings on the opposing riverbank, symbolizing for many the unique situation of living in a city in rapid transition.
The Move
It’s easy to get excited about the future of TPAC, the East Bank, and Music City in general, but it’s important to remember that the full buildout of the East Bank could take 20-30 years. Keeping that in mind, there’s a strong possibility that the new TPAC facility will be among the first things to get underway. The below map, taken from public Metro filings, calls out seven parcels, A through G, totaling approximately 30 acres. These lots represent most of the East Bank land owned by the city, excluding the current and planned stadium. Together they’re first in line to face redevelopment – Metro is expected to announce a developer for this stage of the project by the end of summer. Readers may have noticed that parcel E on the map was one of the two areas identified for the “Cultural Terrace” in the East Bank Vision Plan. While Metro hasn’t said anything related to TPAC in this development round, it’s completely possible that private negotiations with prospective developers are ongoing for a new TPAC facility on parcel E. This would put TPAC’s timeline in the realm of 2-3 years instead of decades, and the timing of TPAC announcing they’ve locked in architects for its new facility certainly points towards this more expedient route. If TPAC isn’t included in this development round, the timing is much more cloudy. We can only assume they would build their facility on the other “Cultural Terrace” site, 3A, at some later date.
The Future
While uncertainty surrounds TPAC’s situation, we can be sure they are working towards bringing their organization to an excellent future without any major program interruptions. That future will likely be on the East Bank, might be sooner rather than later, and will almost certainly be in a stunning, state of the art theater. The future, whatever it may be, certainly looks bright.
4 days. 5 venues. 18 wildly unique projects.
Counterculture: Kindling Arts Festival 2023
In its sixth artistic season, Kindling Arts continues to develop innovative new works by Nashville’s experimental artists, empowering diverse creators with the resources required to explore challenging ideas. Nashville’s most radical independent artists explore new modes of performance-making and challenge the status quo. Recent Kindling Arts productions have been named ‘Best Immersive Theater Experience,’ ‘Best Summer Arts Festival,’ ‘Best Local Theater Performance,’ and ‘Best Wrestling-Karaoke Crossover’ by Nashville Scene.
The 2023 Kindling Arts Festival will be held July 27-30, with productions being presented at OZ Arts Nashville, The Darkhorse Theater, The Barbershop Theater, Nashville School for the Aerial Arts, and the Global Education Center. When interviewed by Music City Review, Daniel Jones and Jessika Malone, co-founders and co-artistic directors, shared more about the 2023 Kindling Arts Festival.
Music City Review (MCR): What similarities might exist between performances featured at the Kindling Arts Festival and those performances presented by the Nashville Symphony, Nashville Opera, or theatrical productions staged at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center?
Daniel Jones (DJ): What Kindling Arts offers stands in contrast to the other larger institutions in town: Kindling is presenting all-local work through a contemporary lens with innovation and experimentation at its core. While many larger organizations relegate contemporary or local projects to a new work development program that supplements the overall season, Kindling is supporting original Nashville-based performance projects as the core programming.
The type of work we are drawn to frequently pushes the envelope and explores complex issues of today’s society. We embrace what others might consider risky programming in an intentional way. We want to provide a home for projects to which other organizations may not be as open.
MCR: In what ways is the Kindling Arts Festival unique? Are these unique attributes an exciting or scary proposition for attendees?
DJ: Kindling Arts Festival is the place where local audiences are most likely to see truly interdisciplinary and unclassifiable work that defies traditional genres. Many of the anchor projects in the Festival each year combine authentic elements of many genres. The result is a thrilling new way to experience live performance – it’s visceral and energetic and often immersive. It allows us to expand the possibilities of what people think of as “theater.” The most common thing we hear is, “I may not have known exactly what I was watching, but I was sure happy to see it.”
MCR: How does the Kindling Arts Festival fit within the greater Nashville arts community?
DJ: Kindling Arts has become one of the most important assets to the local arts community. We provide a platform where young or emerging artists can debut their first creations, while more established artists can take big risks and be fully supported by experienced producers in the process.
We are also often a connector between organizations. For example, the invention of creative partnerships like the Poetry into Film Collaborations that were developed with Defy Film Festival debuted at OZ Arts Nashville. Another exciting new relationship has been initiated with Friends Life Community, allowing the work of artists with disabilities to be showcased. We believe that there is power in collective action and meaningful partnership; we love any chance we get to support other organizations or independent artists in the community.
MCR: How are productions and exhibits curated for the Kindling Arts Festival? Is there a theme or common link that connects the productions?
Jessika Malone (JM): This year, we’re thrilled to introduce a connective theme to the festival for the first time: Counterculture. Countercultures disrupt and subvert conventional practices and attitudes and can encompass various aspects of life, including music, fashion, art, literature, and social activism. They challenge established social, political, and cultural systems, often while advocating for alternative ideologies, embracing nonconformity, and celebrating personal freedom and self-expression.
Our festival was conceived to challenge the dominant traditional structures in live performance and has become its own kind of counterculture inside the city. We’re really excited to see how artists in this year’s festival have been inspired by the theme and responded to it with new creations.
MCR: Some suggest that art reflects the context and society in which it was created. If this is true of the Kindling Arts Festival, what might the artists be communicating this year? If the statement isn’t necessarily accurate, what might attendees take away from this season’s schedule of productions?
JM: Oh yes, our artists are both reflecting and refracting this moment in our collective history while simultaneously setting a vision for the futures they wish to see and inhabit. It’s a beautiful kind of magic to behold. If we were to step back and listen to what the artists’ collective voices are calling us to this year it would be to celebrate oneself in all of one’s uniqueness because the world needs each of us. We’re better together so let’s get together and create the space we deserve.
Individual Tickets, Wildfire Weekend Passes, and a variety of other ticket packages are currently on sale at www.kindlingarts.com/2023-festival. Individual tickets range from $10.00-$35.00, including some premium seating options for select events. The Standard Weekend Pass provides access to all Festival offerings for $95.00, while a VIP Weekend Pass, including premium seating at applicable events and a Kindling t-shirt, costs $150.00. Other package options start at $40.00.
Everyone deserves a voice. Everyone deserves to share their spark. Help make both charges a reality by supporting Nashville’s innovative art scene at the 2023 Kindling Arts Festival.
From Vienna:
Sabine Devieilhe in Brahms Saal
On Friday, June 16th, Sabine Devieilhe performed a recital of lieder by Austro-German composers in the historic Brahms-Saal at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. The sixth concert of the Liederabende series put on by the Musikverein, the concert featured excellent interpretations of mainstream and lesser-known works of quite influential composers on the Austrian musical landscape. As a result, the influences throughout, from composers centuries apart, were laid quite bare.
The evening opened with four early works by Alban Berg, written while the composer was still emerging from the tutelage of Arnold Schoenberg. The songs, for juvenilia, are remarkable in their direct, psychological expression. My favorites from the set were “Spielleute” and “Sehnsucht II.” After the performance of Berg’s Menuett für Klavier F-dur, a remarkable work (performed with great eloquence by Mathieu Pordoy) which clearly connects Berg to his Viennese ancestry, Devieilhe delivered a later version of “Schließe mir die Augen Beide” from 1925, when the composer had fully embraced an atonal language.
The contrast is powerful; the first song, with its adherence to poetic phrase and ideals of chromatic saturation, strongly contrasts with the later version which was itself Berg’s first foray into serialism. Hearing the two together is revelatory of the new style and there is no wonder that both have been performed together since 1930 when they were published for comparison by the music journal Die Musik. Devieilhe, who is probably most famous for her coloratura soprano, delivered the songs with a depth, expression and attention to historical nuance that could probably be sourced in her skills in musicology (she studied musicology at the University of Rennes). Considering this, and the fact that she had just completed a run of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites at the Vienna State Opera, as the character Soeur Constance, she is probably one of the most versatile singers on the contemporary landscape.
Next were a couple of songs by Wolfgang Amadé Mozart, including “Komm, liebe Zither, komm” and “Das Veilchen.” “Das Veilchen” is more of an ariette than a lied, with moments of recitative and shifting mood, always directed by the text. Its anthropromorphization of a violet, and the lament at its harsh ending points to later lieder from both Carl Maria von Weber and Franz Schubert. While these songs were lighter fare than the Berg that preceded these works and the Wolf Lieder to come, the Mozart works served as a pleasant reset and a grounding in the earliest of romantic (or the latest of classical) language in Mozart’s works.
A late romantic, ahead of his time and on the precipice of the later movements of Impressionism and even Expressionism, Hugo Wolf’s lieder maintain an important place in the repertoire, pointing to the masterpieces of Schoenberg and Strauss even as they extend the worlds of Schubert through the chromatic universe of Wagner. Of the set, Devieilhe’s performance of “Wie glänzt der helle Mond” was most remarkable. The clear intonation and gentle vibrato in her instrument, standing out in chromatic beauty, brought out Wolf’s subtle expression of an anxious, passive, and older man confronted by a dominant woman.
The second half of the program returned to a number of songs by Mozart, before proceeding to several by Richard Strauss. “Amor,” from Strauss’ Sechs Lieder, Opus 68, setting a text by Clemens Brentano, came off remarkably well. Strauss composed the songs for Elisabeth Schumann, a famous singer of his day with a light and delicate coloratura voice. Here Devieilhle allowed the delicacy of her instrument to blossom in an endearingly intimate manner.
Within the remarkable Brahms Saal, whose decay time is barely any shorter than that of the golden hall next-door, the high Romantic works of Wolf and Strauss were cushioned by a warmth in a space that both composers might have recognized. For the Mozart the room felt as though it might have been just a little too alive in the lower register, while for the Berg, especially in his atonal language, the decay was just too long and the clarity of his language somewhat blurred. Throughout, breaking these songs up with brief solo piano pieces, played with great delicacy by Pordov, was genius, allow both a palate cleansing and a moment to reflect before the next masterpiece.
In all, hearing these songs performed side by side brought the Viennese style into a sharp relief and left me wondering why Wolf, Strauss and even Mahler (an interesting lacuna in the program) aren’t accorded their own “Viennese School” by historians. In any case, one waits in anticipation for a recording! In the meantime, here is an old video of the two performing Mozart’s folk song “Ah! vous dirai-je, maman.”
Coming in June
The Latin Nashville Sound, June
(Versión en español aquí)
This June promises to kick off the summer season with an extraordinary variety of genres and artists who, from their Latin roots, have maintained their musical identity while also adapting to genres like country and rock ‘n roll. Internationally renowned artists, free events, and festivals will flood the city’s music venues.
GIOVANNI RODRÍGUEZ & 12 MANOS 
Rudy’s Jazz Room
Every Monday
9:00 PM
Admission $19.44+
Redes sociales: Instagram
Every Monday night at Rudy’s Jazz Room, the Caribbean sun awakens with the beat of congas. Giovanni Rodríguez, a multifaceted artist of Dominican descent based in Nashville, leads this project featuring prominent musicians from the city’s music scene. The venue offers a dance floor for this event to groove to the colorful rhythms of salsa, bachata, and Latin jazz.
KODIGOZ 
Plaza Mariachi
Sábado 1 de junio
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Free Admission
Social Media: Youtube Facebook Instagram
The indelible mark that Rock en Español has forged through generations is synonymous with identity and revolution. While it has found its influences in the Anglo-Saxon format, this genre has been built from the authenticity of each Spanish-speaking nation. Kodigoz has the power to imprint the style and essence of renowned artists in a fresh amalgamation that keeps the audience ecstatic.
RITMO SABROSO 
Plaza Mariachi
Saturday, June 1
8:30 PM – 10:00 PM
Free Admission
Social Media: Facebook Youtube
As its name suggests, Ritmo Sabroso is an orchestra that inevitably gets the audience on their feet to join the rhythm of salsa, merengue, and cumbia. These genres have undoubtedly infused generations of parties across Latin America and the music scene across the Atlantic. This group brings together experienced musicians from Venezuela, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the United States, countries representative of the rich sound and cultural heritage of these genres. For those looking to enjoy a tropical night this weekend, this is an event not to be missed!
LOS KUMBIA BROTHERZ 
Plaza Mariachi
Sunday, June 2
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Tickets: $10 Facebook
Coming from Mexico and based in Memphis, Los Kumbia Brotherz represents the traditional sound of the güiro and the electric keyboard. Mexican cumbia, with its contagious rhythm and lyrics that narrate everyday life, strongly resonates with each listener’s story, making it a genre that has remained relevant in regional celebrations.
PORANGUÍ (Brasil) 
The Mil – Cannery Hall
Sunday, June 2
7:00 PM
Tickets $34+ Facebook
Poranguí’s expression goes beyond musical performance; his eclectic blend of ancestral sounds and electronics invites the listener to explore various sensations besides musical enjoyment. The loop structure of melodies and effects creates the perfect environment for connecting with one’s inner self, turning this experience into an exercise in meditation.
LAS CHICAS ROLAND (Honduras) 
Diamante Night Club
Sunday, June 2
8:00 PM
Tickets:$50
The tropical sound of “catracha” music has crossed borders thanks to the success of Las Chicas Roland, who add versatility and sensuality to the genre with their feminine touch. In a mix of rhythms and African and indigenous instrumentation, this music originating from Honduras has taken the dance and energy of unmistakable Caribbean flavor to the next level.
SAMMY ARRIAGA (EEUU/Cuba) 
CMA Fest – Hard Rock
Thursday, June 6
10:00 AM
Free Admission
Website: https://sammyarriaga.xyz/
When you thought Nashville’s country music had it all, Sammy Arriaga infuses his Latin heritage through fresh rhythms and songs in Spanish. This breakout artist elegantly blends each musical style, maintaining the traditional cadence in the voice of romantic and modern country.
LATINO NIGHT 
New Heights Brewing Company
Thursday, June 6
5:00 – 10:00 PM
Free Admission
Music Neighbours and Musicana come together to offer a night of music and dance. Soul, blues, and funk will make the stage vibrate with the duet Cane + Cancino (US/Spain-Chile); Elia Esparza (US/Mexico) will bring freshness with her unique pop style, and Karina Daza (US/Colombia) complements this musical celebration with her jazz and Latin pop influences. Dynamic Ballroom & Performing Arts will also be present to accompany the party with dance lessons.
VIVA COLOMBIA EN TENNESSEE 
Plaza Mariachi
Saturday, June 8
11:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Free Admission
The flavor of Colombia comes to Plaza Mariachi with the best of its traditions and cuisine. At this festival, the community will enjoy a variety of flavors and music to feel like they are back in their country for a day. Naturally, soccer cannot be missing, so what better than to share the live broadcast of the match between the national teams of Colombia and the United States!
TUMBAYÉ 
Plaza Mariachi
Saturday, June 8
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Free Admission
Social Media: Instagram
Salsa, merengue, and bachata are some of the rhythms to be enjoyed with this fantastic, flavorful group. The voice of Tatiana Liary (Puerto Rico), known for her urban salsa style, and the unmistakable beat of Manuel Manotas’ (Venezuela) percussion make for an explosive combination to enjoy dance music in every sense of the word.
THE KRAZY HOUR 
Plaza Mariachi
Saturday, June 8
7:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Free Admission
At a wedding or a quinceañera, “la hora loca” is that moment when protocol takes a back seat, and all attendees gather in a carnival of music and revelry. The Krazy Hour is a project that elevates the meaning of this tradition to another level, providing an unprecedented fun experience.
BRAYAN CÁCERES (Colombia) 
Plaza Mariachi
Saturday, June 8
8:30 PM – 10:00 PM
Free Admission
The authentic voice of Brayan Cáceres resonates with memories of traditional salsa heard in Colombia. With a repertoire of original songs and classic versions of the genre, this concert promises a pleasant evening of dance to close the “Viva Colombia en Tennessee” festival with a flourish.
MAELO RUIZ (Puerto Rico) 
Bucanas Night Club
Friday, June 14
9:00 PM
Tickets $50+
The renowned salsa singer, known for songs like “Te Va a Doler” and “He Vuelto Por Ti” and for a successful career that has made him one of the most important artists in the romantic style of the genre, will arrive at Bucanas Night Club to provide a warm and joyous night to an entire community of fans who have grown up with his music.
BANDA EL RECODO y LA ADICTIVA (México) 
Plaza Mariachi
Friday, June 14
9:00 PM – 2:00 AM
Tickets $80
Norteño music lights up the night at Plaza Mariachi with these two traditional groups. Banda El Recodo has remained for generations since the 1940s, positioning itself as a pioneer in promoting this genre. On the other hand, La Adictiva, with a career spanning over 20 years, offers a captivating musical experience with vibrant costumes and choreography.
OS MUTANTES (Brasil) 
The Mil – Cannery Hall
Wednesday, June 19
7:00 PM
Tickets: $30
Experimental and psychedelic rock have made Os Mutantes one of the most recognized bands not only in Brazil but on the international scene. Since 1966, this group has challenged musical conventions, inspiring new generations to create an authentic and innovative style from Brazilian rhythms and rock’n‘ roll.
2024 SPIRITS OF SUMMER, “SYMPHONIC NIGHTS”
Nashville Symphony Schermerhorn Symphony Center
Thursday, June 27
6:30 PM – El Salón Havana, VIP Experience, Main Lobby
7:30 PM – Spirits of Summer, Laura Turner Hall
Tickets $100+
A sensory journey through the streets of the beautiful city of Havana. Music combined with a menu of electrifying cocktails is an experience you can’t miss. A team of cocktail experts will seduce the palates of attendees to win the Symphony’s Spirits of Summer award, while Cuban tropical sounds accompany this magnificent evening.
Violet at the Nashville Repertory:
A Victorious Final Show
Violet is a straightforward musical about a young woman hoping a faith healer can heal her of a disfiguring facial scar. She travels across the south by bus in 1964, meeting people and learning to see worth in herself and others that’s more than skin-deep. Based on a short story by Doris Betts, it was adapted into an Off-Broadway show in 1997 and has since been performed on Broadway. It is simple, funny and hopeful. It’s a solid 90’s show, and I can’t imagine it being performed better than the Nashville Repertory Theatre did on opening night, May 12.
It is performed with the full orchestration of the original musical, and the sound is full and colorful. Besides having the standard Broadway instrumentation, it features varied guitars, banjo, mandolin, and more. The music travels with the characters, moving through different genres: folksy, classic country radio, Memphis music hall, gospel, and 90’s Broadway sound. Some microphone effects are used for diegetic singing, which adds to the performance.
The Andrew Johnson theater at TPAC doesn’t have a pit, so the musicians are set behind the stage, their heads silhouetted against the backdrop like the orchestra in Disney’s Fantasia. Like the rest of the staging, lighting, props, and costumes, this is part of a perfect balance.
As the play is about inner beauty versus outer beauty, I thought it is an interesting choice that they don’t put any scar makeup on Violet. The Nashville Repertory’s study guide stated that the original staging of the show deliberately refrained from scar makeup. That makes it easy for the audience to see past Violet’s scar, and it emphasizes how she’s more bothered by it than anyone else is. Part of me wondered if I might have empathized more with her genuine pain if I could have seen it, and if it could have been a helpful challenge for the audience, but maybe I just wanted to see a cool scar.
The main trio of actors, Violet and two soldiers she meets on the way, Flick and Monty, have excellent chemistry with each other. The characters argue and tease each other a lot, and it would be easy for this to become grating. Instead, they are funny, likable, and sympathetic. Kelsey Brodeur is an earnest Violet, avoiding entitled protagonist syndrome while not shying away from her character’s flaws. She is hilarious in her performance in “All to Pieces,” the song where she cherry-picks facial features from celebrity magazines while being teased by the soldiers. Mike Sallee Jr. is Flick, who doesn’t have a scar but goes through life being judged by the color of his skin. The printed program had a different actor listed, but a bookmarked-sized insert gave the cast bio for Mike Sallee Jr. It didn’t state if this was a last-minute change or had happened early in the rehearsal process, but by the performance Sallee gave opening night, it felt as if he had been there from the beginning. His Flick has great rapport with Violet and Monty, and his performance in ensemble songs meshes perfectly. Nathan Quay Thomas is a charming Monty, the innocent bad boy soldier. He balances Monty’s character well, so that the teasing doesn’t feel mean, and Monty’s rare moments of seriousness are naively sincere.
There are flashbacks to Violet’s childhood and her girlhood self appears several times throughout the play, sometimes in flashbacks, other times in dreams, but my favorite song with her, “The Luck of the Draw,” is a parallel scene, where both Violets share the stage, adult Violet playing poker while young Violet is taught poker by her dad. Riley West made a likable young Violet.
Every cast member sang well and with good voices, but the woman that blew me away was Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva as a soloist in the faith healer’s choir. She has a strong, beautiful voice. Her solo in the gospel number “Raise me Up” is in a scene mocking smarmy faith healers, but when she sang on opening night it felt like Sunday morning and Aretha Franklin must have been humming in her grave. The faith healing preacher is played by Ryan Greenawalt, who has an obvious blast sermonizing. Beth Anne Musiker plays a sweet old lady and a hooker with comedic skill, and Piper Jones performs beautifully as a music hall singer.
Tracey Copeland-Halter directs a balanced and enthusiastic musical for the Nashville Repertory Theatre. It’s a victorious end to their 22/23 season and it has me looking forward to their next season with high expectations.
The Nashville Repertory Theatre will be performing Violet through May 21st. For tickets and more information about the show, click here: https://nashvillerep.org/violet
The Nashville Symphony plays Copland, Slatkin, Elgar
A Celebration, An Elegy, A Majestic Ending
Fresh from their triumph in the world premiere of The Jonah People, an opera the symphony commissioned from composer Hannibal Lokumbé, the Nashville Symphony presented a solid program of more traditional works on Saturday night May 6 in Schermerhorn Symphony Center. These works, with famed American conductor Leonard Slatkin at the helm, showcased Nashville’s strengths, the lush string section with fine work by the brass section.
Copland’s orchestral suite from his ballet, Rodeo, is always a crowd favorite, a well-deserved tribute to an exciting piece of music. From the bold, dynamic “Buckaroo” to the delicate vulnerability of the “Corral Nocturne; from the sometimes raucous, sometimes sensual “Ranch House” to the “Saturday Night Waltz” redolent of the rich calm of hard-working ranchers enjoying a welcome break; ending with the famed “Hoedown,” this work sings of America. Its diverse musical styles celebrate a diverse country with hope for the future.
It’s ironic that Aaron Copland, a New Yorker born in 1900 who rarely left the northeast, was fascinated by the rest of this great land. Somehow the American Dream was the focus of his fantasies, resulting in works set in Appalachia (Appalachian Spring), on the border of Texas and Mexico (Billy the Kid), in his native New York (Quiet City), and pieces encompassing the breadth of the entire country from sea to shining sea (Fanfare for the Common Man). Rodeo is perhaps the most attractive distillation of the breadth of Copland’s skill: beauty, wonder, and raucous independence.
Slatkin conducted with efficient gestures that had the orchestra turning on a dime effortlessly, only bearing down in spots like the descending cello scales in “Hoedown,” the fierce down bows complemented by a percussionist gesturing the beats before striking the cymbal. The joyous chaos of this piece had the audience on their feet by the last note. Nobody had to ask “Where’s the beef?” It was a meaty performance, properly seasoned.
A perfect next stage was Slatkin’s own composition, Kinah. Written as an elegy for his parents, this work scored for strings, percussion and brass stood on its own, but the backstory was quite moving. Slatkin’s parents were both skilled musicians for the movie studio orchestras of the Forties. As premier violinists and cellists of their time, they were in preparation for their lifelong dream of performing Brahms’ Double Concerto together. The night before the performance, tragedy struck, Slatkin’s father died suddenly.
As a result of this dream forever deferred, Slatkin has ethereal themes from the Brahms’ slow movement started by an offstage violinist and cellist—themes started, but never completed. An offstage flugelhorn, played with gorgeous tone by principal trumpeter, William Leathers, seems to play the role of the trumpet in Charles Ives’ Unanswered Question, an omniscient narrator whose winding melody outlines the shape of a question mark, perhaps asking how this could happen, or perhaps accepting fate’s inevitability. It was a touching tribute to Slatkin’s parents and the audience responded with great appreciation for the music and its meaning.
The second half of the program moved across the sea to Edward Elgar, a composer as English as Copland is American. The link to Brahms revealed a connection from Kinah to Elgar’s first symphony. Like Brahms, Elgar was a major composer of his era who was late to writing symphonies, a composer whose first symphony was eagerly awaited and accepted by music lovers. While Brahms felt the weight of Beethoven looking over his shoulder, Elgar felt the shadow of Brahms hovering over his music desk. And like Brahms, Elgar stuck to the traditions of symphonic music in four movements, rejecting program music (music based on an artistic or literary theme).
Elgar, known best for “Pomp and Circumstance” and the “Enigma Variations,” intended the first movement—sonata-allegro form with a slow introduction—to be a noble statement, a slow English call, intended for “persuasion, not coercion.” There were some pitch problems between the clarinets and violas in the midst of the composer’s rich warm harmonies, but the clarinets reclaimed their time with a lovely diminuendo at movement’s end.
The allegro molto second movement referred a bit to Mendelssohnian scherzos and, once again, regal British marches. The trio had a touch of the pastoral elements of Brahms. There were, in fact, touches of Brahms throughout—hemiolas in the first movement, syncopation in the last, lush strings throughout with woodwinds in octaves above them. While this massive work was well-played and well-received, it paled (slightly) in comparison to the innovations of the first half, though that might be my bias in favor of the vigor of American music.
Regardless, this was a very fine program of very fine music, played very well. Slatkin brought the best out of the orchestra. This performance deserved a much bigger audience than two-thirds of a hall, but the audience clapped with great enthusiasm, each piece receiving a well-deserved standing ovation.
And speaking of Brahms, Symphony musicians will play his magnificent clarinet quintet (clarinet plus string quartet) Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at 6 pm, followed by a program called “Virtuoso Fireworks” with Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor and guest artist, Bomsori Kim on violin. This set of three performances will be held at Schermerhorn on May 18 (7 pm), 19 (8 pm), 20 (8 pm).
From the Nashville Symphony
Reflections on The Jonah People: A Legacy of Struggle and Triumph
It was a madhouse. Half the crowd was shouting in delight; half the crowd was shouting in shock. The roar from these competing forces was so loud that the dancers could not hear the massive orchestra, so the balletmaster screamed out an eight-count beat, which was less than useless against a piece that changed meters as often Ru-Paul changes clothes. This was premiere night.
No, this was not Nashville 2023, this was Paris 1912 when Igor Stravinsky’s controversial ballet Le sacre de printemps [The Rite of Spring] first appeared on stage. The piece was dramatic, heartwrenching, featuring a culture so pagan that they sacrificed a woman, dressed in burlap, forced to dance herself to death for the perceived benefit of society. The ferocious excitement of the music, the fierce rejection of pretty tutus from fellow Russian Tchaikovsky’s immensely popular Swan Lake and Nutcracker—works that came to define classic ballet—divided highly sophisticated, typically unflappable Parisian culture into two camps: love it, hate it.
As a musician, musicologist, music lover, it had always been a fantasy of mine to witness the premiere of a piece that made people care dramatically, a piece representing an earth-shattering change in the way we think about music and theater. At the April 12, 2023 final dress rehearsal before The Jonah People, that dream came true.
Like its predecessor, Le sacre, this piece is dramatic, heartwrenching, featuring a culture so pagan it sacrificed people to the death for the perceived benefit of society. Like his predecessor, Stravinsky, American composer Hannibal Lokumbe writes both ferociously exciting, but also poignantly moving music, fiercely rejecting the artifice of immensely popular fellow opera composers like Wagner, Verdi, and Puccini, who now define classic opera. But the Nashville audience of media representatives and home-schoolers was not divided. All were struck by the power of a new conception of how to tell the history of American tragedy through this historic medium.
As seen in our MCR interview with soprano Karen Slack, Lokumbe’s work is divided into “veils of understanding” rather than acts. The set is an allusion to a giant slave ship, with a semi-transparent scrim at the rear of the stage. Images were projected onto the scrim, but often it was lit so the shadows of the choir behind it could be seen. This effectively gave the impression of slaves in the ship’s hold. The composer’s use of the choir for singing, for declarations, and as the moans of the oppressed captives aboardship was masterful. Sometimes, the important text of the choral music was unfortunately incomprehensible, but other times the powerful chanting made the choir’s contribution to the saga as vital as the tragic text of a Greek chorus or the mourning bench of a Baptist church.
For example, the first scene of Veil 4, which follows the Haitian revolution scene, offers a call and response between Susie, a character representing the composer’s actual ancestor Susie Burgess Peterson, and the choir. Susie, whose spirit is expressed in part by delicate piccolo lines floating above the fray, calls out:
Susie: I am the power to make things right.
Choir: POWER
Susie: I am the power of the sky and the land.
Choir: POWER
Susie: I am the power of the moon and the sea.
Choir: POWER
Susie: I am the power that will always be.
Choir: POWER
Chorusmaster Lloyd Mallory, Jr. and his coaching and prep staff are to be congratulated, as is choreographer Nomalanga Eniafe whose ritual dances intensified Veil 1, dealing with African origins.
Likewise, the costumes designed by Christelle Matou, a native of Paris with familial ties in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, and sets designed by Shaun Motley and Steve Prince were both poignantly spare and deeply effective. The scene of harvesting sugar cane was notably well-conceived, with minimalist allusions to broad fields of evenly planted plots of cane. My own parents “chopped cotton” in Arkansas, so this resonated with particular vibrancy.
One unique aspect of this work is the wide-ranging melange of musical styles from African drumming, through opera arias, and toward the essence of spirituals, jazz, and blues. Two scenes didn’t quite work, but the disconnects had different causes. The scene of Harlem-based Minton’s Playhouse, a famed jazz club where legends like Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk played in the ’40s, was clearly intended as a vehicle to include the composer, a skilled Jazz trumpeter, onstage as part of the zoot-suited action. But it broke the momentum of the story. And the blues presented in the “Healing” scene was more musically consistent with the rest of the score, yet it was an abrupt change from Minton’s and appeared unstaged with the cast incongruously standing still as they sang this moving music.
But these matters are relatively insignificant. Veil 3 and its depiction of the auction block sales was singularly hard to take, especially because, wisely, the composer did not overdramatize it. The sheer mundane nature of this dehumanization, including the whipping of Asase, enhanced the power of the narrative. The overt drama was left for the scene where the desperate enslaved mother, Asase, repeatedly raped and impregnated by her owner, leaves her family behind, promising them a time of reunion someday. Although the opera title refers to “triumph,” setting the “healing” scene to blues music left a shadow that fell short of redemption.
Poet Ade Johnson, recent first prize winner of the Knoxville Writers Guild’s annual competition, attended the rehearsal with me. She found the announcer’s instruction that those present not clap or respond to be both restrictive and unwise. Performers often learn what works and what elicits an unexpected response during previews. A poet who frequently sings as part of her readings, she agreed that the production contained some flaws but remained potent and profoundly touching.
It might seem to be an awkward time to stage a work on such a topic as America’s slave trade, especially since US ideals of freedom and democracy seem to be in their most fragile state since those days over 150 years ago. Yet perhaps as we grapple with issues left fallow in the fields of the American imagination for too many generations, it is perhaps the perfect time. And perhaps Nashville, representing an evolving Southland, is the perfect place. And perhaps art, the highest expression of human creativity, can lead the way onward and upward through veils of understanding to the better angels of our nature.
The Pirates of Penzance at Nashville Opera
I saw the Nashville Opera’s final performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance at TPAC’s Polk Theater this past weekend. This comic opera premiered over 150 years ago and still gets laughs. The plot is silly: Frederic has been indentured to pirates through an accident (his nursery-maid misheard his father, who asked her to indenture him to a pilot, not a pirate), and as he comes of age, he leaves the pirates to obey his duty to destroy them. He runs across beautiful girls and falls in love with Mabel, the daughter of a Major General. Frederic is then visited by the pirate king who tells him that, although he’s been alive for twenty-one years, since he was born on a leap year he’s only technically had five birthdays. Since his contract of indenture said he would serve with them until his 21st birthday, 63 years in the future. Frederic’s sense of duty compels him to return to piracy, a lot of policemen and pirates run around the stage until then end, when all the pirates give up piracy in the name of the queen.
One of the first things I noticed when arriving for the Sunday matinee were the children playing with piratical photo props, hooks and hats and telescopes. Then when we sat down, kids were peering over the wall into the pit to stare at the musicians and their instruments. It reminded me of when I was a kid in 2006 and got to see the Nashville Opera perform another Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera, Iolanthe. I remember being captivated by the stage, the music, and the jokes. If I had been one of the children watching The Pirates of Penzance on Sunday, I would have considered the moment when the head of police’s pants fall down to reveal his heart-covered boxers to be the peak of comedy. I don’t recommend taking children to every opera just as I don’t recommend taking them to every movie, but the Nashville Opera doing Gilbert and Sullivan is a perfect introduction to the stage.
Before the curtain went up on the full house, Stage Director John Hoomes came out and told us that five minutes before the end of the Saturday-night performance, the actress playing Ruth (the nursery-maid) fell on stage, but got back up and finished the show. After it had ended she told him she thought her wrist was broken. It was, and she spent all night at the ER. Later I found out that she took minimal painkillers for the performance and is awaiting surgery later this week. Despite this, she would continue her role in the Sunday show. “The cast she’s wearing is real, don’t think it was a directorial choice,” Hoomes said.
After he spoke, a spokeswoman from a corporate sponsor came out to read a long buzzword-collage speech off her phone. I’m thankful for generosity that supports the arts, but it made our pre-show enthusiasm wane slightly. After that was over, the lights dimmed and the orchestra, under Conductor and Nashville Opera Music Director Dean Williamson, began the overture. They were able to regain the pre-show enthusiasm; then and throughout the entire opera, the orchestra sounded excellent. It was full, balanced, colorful, and able to move fluidly through each mood. Each soloist was strong, and together they captured the sense of humor needed to partner with the singers and to make the show.
One of the delightful things about The Pirates of Penzance is the amount of voices it has; there are thirteen young women under the Major General’s care (if I counted correctly), and a matching number of pirates. We get rich moments of over a dozen women harmonizing with each other, the same with the men. When they all harmonized with each other the effect was overwhelming. I can sit down and play a seventh chord on the piano and it just sounds like a chord, but if I hear a large group of people singing a seventh chord I think “Oh the tension!”
The sets were simple and most of their personality came from the projected backdrop, designed by Barry Steele. Mainly being a simple background, it occasionally participated in the comedy. As the nervous policemen sang their ridiculous song, the backdrop, which had been mere arches and stone walls of a chapel, suddenly had Monty Python-esque photograph cutouts of policemen with wagging mouths popping out from behind the stones. My teenage brother was with me and he thought this was a particularly hilarious touch. Later when people sang about the paradox of leap-year birthdays the entire background spun upside down. At the end, as the pirates were asked to yield in the name of Queen Victoria, a massive image of her looking particularly dour and victorian slid up and covered most of the screen, adding to the suddenness and pomposity of the deliberately goofy deus ex machina.
Glenn Avery Breed designed the costumes. The pirates wore good classic, colorful attire, the sort of look that cheap children’s costumes mimic poorly. My favorite costumes were those worn by the girls, light dresses with two different sets of patterns in many different colors. It allowed the girls to blend together and separate the differently-dressed Mabel from them, while having bright pops of color. The cut of the dresses made the choreographed dances, the sways and the movements of their colorful matching umbrellas, more fun.
Tosha Marie’s choreography was well done, funny and taking full advantage of the large cast. Each of the dances fit their songs and scenes, but my favorite choreographed moment was when the girls, singing that they’ll be kind to Mabel and allow her to have a private moment with her new boyfriend Frederic, sing about the weather while slowly shifting across the stage to listen in on the oblivious couple.
The orchestra partnered perfectly with the cast, which as a whole was solid, with several standouts. Emily Pulley played Ruth, the piratical nursery-maid, and she was easily my favorite performer in the show. She is energetic, has a lovely voice, and absolutely top-notch comic timing. Added to all this was admiration that she was able to achieve this with a freshly broken wrist. Judging by the size of the cast, which covered most of her hand and went up past her elbow, it must have been quite painful. After intermission her character appeared in piratical costume, and with a goofy hook stuck on to the end of her cast, making her look lopsided with a massive white hooked arm. The cast may have not been a directorial choice, but it might prove to be one in the future.
Evelyn Saavedra played Mabel, giving her oblivious extraness of the comedic love interest, and she sang her comically ornate songs with humor. Alysha Nesbitt played Kate, and her voice and stage presence made her stand out from the other women on stage. Curt Olds was Major General Stanley. His physical comedy was excellent and when he was creeping around in his long nightgown, trying to hide from his daughters, he channeled Marx brother energy from their famous scene in Duck Soup.
I saw the Nashville Opera do the Pirates of Penzance in their 2015 season, and years before that I had seen the Kevin Kline theatrical version. As I attended the show on Sunday, I remembered some of the major plot points and that it was funny. What I hadn’t remembered is exactly how funny it is and why it is such a staple of comic opera. I look forward to being able to take my son to future performances of such excellent comic opera.
From Nashville Ballet
New in Nashville
On the weekend of April 21st Nashville Ballet gave the last performance of their ’22-’23 season featuring a company premiere choreography Snowblind by Cathy Marston and world premiere choreography In the Time I Lived by Donald Byrd as well as a reprise of Matthew Neenan’s Hilos (premiered this year at the Fisher Center) and a return of Paul Vasterling’s great Appalachian Spring (premiered at the Schermerhorn in 2017). While the overall performance was billed as “New in Nashville,” there was a Janus-faced element to the evening as it celebrated not only the retirement of Director Vasterling, but also the retirement of two of the primas that have come to define the Nashville company—Mollie Sansone and Julie Eisen. Indeed, collaboration among these three artists have resulted in the productions that have put Nashville Ballet on the map.
The resumes of these two dancers are as long as they are deep in contemporary masterworks: Eisen playing Fortuna in Vasterling’s Carmina Burana, or as Blanche Dubois in Ochoa’s Streetcar Named Desire, Sansone as Lady Macbeth in Vasterling’s Something Wicked, or Lizzie in his Lizzie Bordon, the two women have danced (and acted) some of the most complicated characters in the literature. They have provided Vasterling and many other choreographers with a masterful palate and a stunning interpretive acuity that has come to be expected by the Nashville audiences. On Friday, it was no different.
Adapted from Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, Marston’s Snowblind pitched Eisen and Sansone on either side of a stretched and empathetic Ethan (Brett Sjoblom), negotiating themselves into a trio of codependency. Eisen’s graceful, heightened Zeena, expressing a majestic authority when en pointe, and yet sickly and doubtful, contrasted sharply with Sansone’s Mattie, bright in youthful vigor and passion. The ensemble’s snow, here supportive, there obstructive and confrontational, brought out the troubling nature of the story (and Arvo Pärt’s equally troubling and beautiful score, Lamentate).
Neenan’s Hilos, setting music of the same name composed by Gabriela Lena Frank, featured an onstage quartet of Gerald Greer (Violin), Kevin Bate (Cello), Daniel Parrette (Clarinett) and Alessandra Volpi (piano). In particular, Greer’s heavy pizzicato part, crossed genres and drove the music forward as the ensemble brought the music to life in a fairly abstract depiction.
Donald Byrd’s In the Time I Lived, has a grounded narrative, but who the dancing characters were, and how they were related, was left fairly abstract. Their involvement in the main character’s life was, in some ways, made quite clear–a child clinging to a doll or authority figures in smiling approval, but in others ways they reached into the absolute and/or the private. In any case, from life to death, relative newcomer (2021) Garritt McCabe danced the title’s subject with charismatic flair and a beaming smile, while the company around brought him (and us) through his various stages of life. As I watched the company perform, and lost myself in the narrative, (as I had been in Hilos) I was struck by the depth of the talent in the company. Names like Buchanan, Stark and Borman aren’t standing out from the program yet, but they sure are incredible to watch on the stage. It occurred to me that this was probably the “New” to which the title of the evening’s production referred to.
Over a decade ago, Vasterling joined a company in Nashville that had only 8 professional artists. It now features 35. Like Franz Josef Haydn did at Esterháza, or Duke Ellington did with his Orchestra, Vasterling has grown an ensemble and community of individuals within an artistic tradition that emphasizes and prizes the idiosyncratic. Just as Eisen and Sassone have each occupied a different place, role and purpose in Nashville Ballet, complementing and supporting each other, (as Kayla Rowser and others did before) each member of the company has or is in the process of realizing their own voice and place. Their retirement is certainly a harbinger of something “New in Nashville,” but we feel certain that in Nashville, these new voices will have the opportunity to reach their highest artistic potential.
In the final moments of his Appalachian Spring, when Eisen’s character, after leading the entire company, one after the other, into the spotlight, falls back into the community’s arms, Vasterling’s career is reflected on his stage. If the new Director Nick Mullikin can maintain this tradition, the future is extraordinarily bright for the Nashville Ballet.
