I asked last José Verstappen, former Artistic Director of
Early Music Vancouver, last December 2014, to answer my question, Why
Bach? It had all to do with the fact
that Early Music Vancouver was going to produce Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. I
asked others to weigh in here.
José Verstappen
Let me step on some toes with this one. Here goes: The
simple answer is, "Bach? Of course!" My background in the European
tradition that focuses on Bach rather than the Messiah around Christmas and
Easter still has an impact. The powerful Mengelberg tradition of the Matthew
Passion with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, for example ("early music"
of a different kind!) kept people huddled around the radio on Palm Sunday, and
the streets were deserted. Not to offend anyone; there's of course nothing wrong
with Messiah — but personally I would rather sit through the Passions or the
Christmas Oratorio on hard pews in a cold church (as I have done many times)
than hear another Messiah in a comfortable concert hall.
José Verstappen – Artistic Director Emeritus Early Music
Vancouver
While the above statement by Verstappen might be
confusing to some, what it boils down to is that I avoid, every year, Handel’s
Messiah like the bubonic plague. Fortunately this year Early Music Vancouver
produced Michael Preatorious’s Christmas Vespers at the Chan.
In the same way having gone to many Nutcrackers with my
two daughters and in this century with my two granddaughters it is my hope that
the issue of becoming a great-grandfather and having to take great-grandchildren
to another of those will not happen for me. I will be long gone.
The last Nutcracker I went to involved my grandchildren
and having crepes with the Sugar Plum Fairy. I wrote about it here.
Fortunately the folks at the Arts Umbrella Dance Company
give us the chance to skip that boring Christmas routine by featuring an
alternative that has bits of the Nutcracker but in the end it is surprisingly
better. I have been a fan of Mixed nuts since its inception. It is full of
warmth, drama, skilful dancers and with choreography by the best in town and
from abroad.
This year’s Mixed Nuts (last year's) even though I have now seen a few
of them was full of surprises. At about this time this amateur modern dance
aficionado picks on what I think will be the next year’s crops of dancing
virtuosos who will graduate from the Senior Dance Company to join dance
companies around the world.
Arts Umbrella Dance Company is full of experienced
virtuosi but I have picked five from the Senior Dance Company (I may pick more
as I get to know more of them in future performances). On the top of the list
is Prince George Tristan Ghostkeeper, who dances very well but has a presence
in spades. His partner in The Charmer and the Snake (the Arabian segment dance of
the classic Nutcracker and brilliantly choreographed by Ballet BC’s Racheal
Prince) is the lithesome and lovely Beatrice Larivee. Then there is Lebanese Charlie
Prince who brings his particular brand of classic ballet. His partner in one my
favourite tunes of all times, by Tchaikovsky, which is featured in Grand Pas de
Deux is the German (lots of tradition in dance there) Antonia Kruschel (and she
is tall!). And lastly there is our very own Vancouver dancer, the compact Haley Heckethorn who when she partnered
with Tristan Ghostkeeper ( In Racheal Prince's Matadors ) oozed an erotic presence perhaps punctuated by the
loveliest upper legs (a kinder expression) I have seen in years.
A dancer's bond.
A dancer's bond.
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| Beatrice Larivee & Tristan Ghostkeeper |
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| Charlie Prince & Antonia Kruschel |
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| Tristan Ghostkeeper & Haley Hechethorn |
Below you will see the pictures I took with my Fuji X-E1
at the matinee performance of Mixed Nuts at the Vancouver Playhouse on December
19.
My granddaughter who is 13 and is in her fifth year at
the Arts Umbrella Dance Company I hope will provide me with the distinct
pleasure of her performance in a future Mixed Nuts. I can never tire of it.
