Dance preview
“The Firebird” and “Serenade”
The Georgia Ballet
7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20; 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21. $15-$33. Cobb Civic
Center, 548 South Marietta Parkway, Marietta. 770-528-0881,
www.georgiaballet.org.
What better send-off for the Georgia Ballet’s artistic leaders, Gina Hyatt-Mazon and Janusz Mazon, than George Balanchine’s “Serenade?” In its opening, 17 women, pristine in pale blue tulle, gesture toward the moonlight, shielding themselves from its brilliance. They move through wave-like patterns to emotional surges in Tchaikovsky’s music, rushing inevitably toward the final moment when one woman ascends into the light.
“Serenade” will join Mazon’s “The Firebird” this weekend at Marietta’s Cobb Civic Center, in the company’s last mixed repertory production under Hyatt-Mazon’s direction. After “The Nutcracker” in December, she will join the Hamburg Ballet’s artistic staff; Mazon will join her at the school year’s end. The Georgia Ballet’s board of directors hopes to announce a successor within a month.
“Serenade” makes a fitting farewell. Balanchine created the piece in 1934 for his first American students; generations of dancers have since performed it. With themes of innocence, love, destiny and loss, the ballet offers dancers a chance to reflect on where they’ve been and how far they’ve come.
The Hamburg Ballet’s offer was a call home for Hyatt-Mazon and Mazon, who spent their performing careers there under choreographer John Neumeier’s artistic direction. Neumeier has called Hyatt-Mazon, who created lead roles in a number of his ballets, one of the most important artists he has worked with, Georgia Ballet Executive Director Michele Ziemann-DeVos said.
The couple came to Georgia in 1997 to raise their daughter near Hyatt-Mazon’s paternal family and worked with the Georgia Ballet under direction of Iris Hensley. At her request, Hyatt-Mazon became artistic director when Hensley died in 2003. Mazon, who also maintains a chiropractic practice, serves as ballet master and choreographer.
Like most of today’s successful ballet companies, they’ve aimed to present diverse contemporary works on a strong classical base. But it’s been a challenge to maintain professional standards with a part-time schedule.
“We could have gone further, but were limited,” Mazon said. “It’s difficult if you cannot provide (dancers) financial security.” The company’s budget is about one-tenth of the budget of its neighbor, Atlanta Ballet. Yet the Georgia Ballet’s technical and artistic levels are remarkably high.
Balanchine Trust repetiteur Zippora Karz commented on the troupe while rehearsing “Serenade.”
“They dance it with purity, honesty, magic and femininity,” said Karz, whose book, “The Sugarless Plum,” describes her struggles as an insulin-dependent diabetic in one of the most rigorous professions. She attributes dancers’ artistry and freedom to the company’s positive atmosphere.
“It’s not an environment of fear,” said Karz, who restaged “Serenade” for the Georgia Ballet. “There’s so much loving, caring and nurturing, while pushing and bringing out the best in dancers. It’s a rarity in the dance profession.”
In rehearsal with dancer Abby Hyatt, Karz’s subtle corrections – lifting through the elbows and lengthening the neck – make dramatic changes. Suddenly, Hyatt’s jumps burst upward like fireworks, as jubilant as Tchaikovsky’s music. The space comes alive as she dashes across the floor with sweeping runs and soaring leaps.
Company member Elizabeth Chapman danced in the corps of “Serenade” six years ago. Since then, she’s grown strong enough to dance principal roles in both of this weekend’s ballets. Returning to “Serenade” has made Chapman grateful for what Hyatt-Mazon and Mazon have taught her.
“Every day… I want to push myself as hard as I possibly can, not only for myself, but for them, so they can see in my dancing how much they’ve helped me and how much they’ve shaped my dancing, my work ethic and everything,” Chapman said.
“They have played a huge part in my life,” said Chapman. “I want to perform in a way that they are very pleased with me. I want to give them that.”
