[Performance photos will be added upon receipt.]
New Jersey Ballet
Mayo Performing Arts Center
Morristown, NJ
March 15, 2025
“Masterworks in Motion” Program: Concerto Barocco, Tarantella, Purcell Suite, Hallelujah Junction
Jerry Hochman
New Jersey Ballet resumed its 2024-2025 season with repeat performances of three dances it presented previously, as well as one that was new to it. So why attend a dance program that primarily consists of dances seen previously? Sometimes one sees different casts, which might make an evaluative difference in the performance, and sometimes one just wants to enjoy a superb ballet again. Both those considerations, plus the piece new to the company, were sufficient considerations, and it proved to be a wise decision.
When I previously saw NJB’s performance of George Balanchine’s classic Concerto Barocco, I marveled at how strongly the company executed this difficult piece, and concluded that that performance was on a high enough level of proficiency that it could hold its own with performances anywhere, including across the Hudson.
This year’s Concerto Barocco performance, at least judged by what I saw Saturday evening, was different in several respects, all of which may have been a consequence of a complete change in the lead cast and noteworthy changes in the dance’s supporting corps. So it was like seeing a completely different performance – which, of course, it was.
New Jersey Ballet in a prior performance
of George Balanchine’s “Concerto Barocco”
Photo by VAM Productions
The result was mixed. The tempo seemed slightly slower, but if the recording used was the same as it was previously, that’s my misconception. Regardless, and except for that sense that it should have been performed at a more rapid pace, the corps delivered a fine performance, handling Bach’s counterpoints visualized by Balanchine’s counterpoints (where those not familiar with the ballet think that some corps dancers had lost the beat) flawlessly.
The primary difference was a consequence of the different lead dancers. Here, the ballet was performed by Denise Parungao, one of NJB’s finest dancers, opposite another highly-regarded company ballerina, Eunice Suba, and, where the choreography called for it, Parungao was partnered by Joshuan Vazquez, one of the company’s strongest danseurs. The difference from the leads I saw previously, particularly in the renderings by the two ballerinas, was seismic.
When I’ve seen this iconic dance performed by other companies, including New York City Ballet, the dancers, including the two lead ballerinas, maintain a serious and characterless demeanor, seemingly oblivious to whatever was happening around them. At times this demeanor can look robotic, with the ballerinas executing the choreography as required, mostly quite well, but nothing more – which I came to think was as Balanchine wanted it. Occasionally, however, I felt that the banality of expression diminished the overall quality of the performance.
New Jersey Ballet in a prior performance
of George Balanchine’s “Concerto Barocco”
Photo by VAM Productions
There have also been situations in Concerto Barocco performances I’ve seen in which the two ballerinas were markedly different in height – that is, one was significantly shorter/ taller than the other. That kind of mismatch, and the visual discord it engenders, didn’t occur here. Parungao and Suba came across as virtual twins. Nor was there a difference in demeanor between them – but there was a considerable difference in demeanor between their performances and, to my recollection, all others I’ve seen. Both Parungao and Suba smiled. A lot. Almost constantly – much more than the occasionally nodding acknowledgement of one lead ballerina to the other when they come in close stage contact.
This expressiveness was initially off-putting; it was not the way it’s supposed to be. But the more I watched their performances, the more certain I was that this didn’t matter; on the contrary, to some extent the smiles (none of which came across as forced) enhanced the presentation. In my opinion, the less robotic-looking the better.
The tarantella is the most popular folk dance in Southern Italy. Its name is derived from the town where it purportedly originated: Taranto, which purportedly got its name from a local spider, a bite from which would cause those bitten to dance as hard and fast as they could in order to sweat out the spider’s venom. The spider’s name is “tarantula.”
Balanchine’s Tarantella isn’t that – although it may be one of the five-century evolutions of it. Reflecting the music to which it’s choreographed (composed by Louis Moreau Gottschalk a mid-19th century composer and pianist who was a native of New Orleans, and was arranged by Hershy Kay), the dance is a “standard” pas de deux (although there’s no supported partnering) with built-in requisite virtuosity, but is distinguished by its spirit and its Southern Italy ambiance. There’s no bite involved – except maybe the “bite” of good-natured flirtation and pursuit.
I never saw Balanchine’s Tarantella performed live by its original cast, Patricia McBride and Edward Villella. But I’ve seen it many times with other casts. Saturday was NJB’s first effort.
Brian Sevilla, here in New Jersey Ballet’s “Nutcracker”
Photo by VAM Productions
Generally, the two NJB dancers, Risa Mochizuki and Brian Sevilla – two of the company’s most spirited dancers – performed it very well, but at a slightly lower decibel level than I’ve seen elsewhere. Their energy-level was there; the polish isn’t quite there yet – but with these dancers I suspect they’ll grow into it quickly.
Aside from that, this Tarantella performance suffered from two issues that were not at all the dancers’ doing. First, that lower decibel level was also a product of the seriously deficient “clang” of the tambourines (a major component of the dance’s joie de vivre). I could barely hear them – and in performances by NYCB, the tambourine sound could be heard across the Hudson.
Risa Mochizuki (center) and New Jersey Ballet,
here in Goerge Balanchine’s “Rubies,” from “Jewels”
Photo by VAM Productions
This was not a problem with the way the dancers handled the tambourines (it affected them equally); I suspect it was some deficiency in the tambourines. The sound of each seemed dampened, as if there weren’t enough “clangers” attached to the instruments’ frames. I don’t know how to remedy this other than to either buy a new set of tambourines that sound better, or to somehow add more bells to their frames.
The other problem was a wardrobe malfunction. The male dancer’s costume includes a bright red beret-like head covering. During the performance, Sevilla’s beret began to slide off his head. And the more active he was, the more the cap slid down his head, covering part of his face and ultimately falling to the stage floor. This wasn’t Sevilla’s fault – on the contrary, his effort to ignore the obvious problem was commendable. I doubt it will recur, but it did impact this performance.
New Jersey Ballet in Harrison Ball’s “Purcell Suite”
Photo by VAM Productions
Former NYCB Principal Harrison Ball’s Purcell Suite was the unqualified hit of the evening. And this third viewing proved to be as powerful and as enjoyable, as the previous ones were. It’s one of those dances one doesn’t tire of seeing – or writing about, even if all I can do is repeat the platitudes I’ve written previously.
It’s a deceptively simple piece, with deceptively simple choreography and deceptively simple costumes by Zac Posen. Purcell Suite doesn’t bowl one over with its choreographic complexity or its depth of meaning; it does so by its measured clarity and the variety of expression within that context, coupled with the NJB dancers’ (the cast is essentially the same as it was in the prior performances) commitment to it. The dance’s eight segments, an assortment of seemingly unrelated excerpts from a variety of Henry Purcell music, hold together because there’s a common sensibility that Ball himself creates that supersedes whatever themes there might have been in the original compositions. The presentation is a unity, with a Greek Chorus-like assemblage of dancers embodying or enhancing some compelling although unknown underlying event.
Denise Parungao and New Jersey Ballet
in Harrison Ball’s “Purcell Suite”
Photo by VAM Productions
Ball breaks the ensemble of twelve into various component parts as the ballet’s segments evolve, starting out with seven, breaking that group apart and reassembling it in a slightly different form and with a subset of dancers, then adding another group of five and breaking that up in similar fashion, ultimately combining the two into a living ensemble that breathes with vitality as well as consistency. Periodically the ensemble’s seeming uniformity is breached as individual dancers separate from the whole, adding emphasis to the event(s) being lamented, remembered, or commemorated.
New Jersey Ballet in Harrison Ball’s “Purcell Suite”
Photo by VAM Productions
Purcell Suite is a joy to watch on multiple levels. Its only possible downside is that it sets a high bar for Ball to reach in future choreographic efforts.
The evening concluded with Peter Martins’s Hallelujah Junction. I’ve seen this piece several times previously with NYCB, and once before with NJB. It fares better as an opening piece than a closer, particularly when it follows Purcell Suite, but it’s still an exciting piece of work even without the on-stage pianos present in the NYCB production. And it demonstrates, as I’ve written previously, that Martins’s choreography is better than he’s given credit for.
Denise Parungao and Joshuan Vazquez,
here in Christopher Wheeldon’s “This Bitter Earth”
Photo Courtesy of New Jersey Ballet
This is a black and white ballet, albeit one not part of the black and white output of George Balanchine. The beauty of the piece is its varied movement quality – slow, fast, jazzy, explosive – matching the score by John Adams. It’s an abstract piece with no emotional gloss whatsoever, but the choreography and the NJB dancers’ execution make such a display unnecessary.
This cast featured a different crew of lead dancers from the previous NJB presentation. The lead pair in white were Mochizuki and Vasquez, and the lead dancer in black was Michael Paradiso. Of the four pairs of supporting dancers, the women were the same as I’d previously seen (Catherine Whiting, Yuiko Honda, Suba, and Emily Barrows), but three of the four men were different (Aram Hengen, Vinicius Freire, David Lopena, and Felipe Valentini).
When all was danced and done, subject to a few glitches this was another solid NJB program.
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