City Ballet’s Amar Ramasar shares the stage with the New York Phil and conductor Alan Gilbert in the multimedia “Dancer’s Dream,” which also has puppetry (inset) and video. (
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Stravinsky meets Cirque du Soleil in “A Dancer’s Dream,” an intriguing but confusing grab bag of a show, in which the New York Philharmonic, puppeteers, opera singers, dancers and even cameramen get into the act.
This extravaganza is the brainchild of the Phil’s music director, Alan Gilbert, in tandem with theater and opera director Doug Fitch and video producer Edouard Getaz. The trio, who teamed up three years ago for a Ligeti opera, are back now with two Stravinsky-scored ballets — “The Fairy’s Kiss” and “Petrushka” — sutured together into a new tale about a dancer, played by New York City Ballet’s Sara Mearns, and her imagination.
“A Dancer’s Dream,” which opened Thursday, keeps you endlessly on your toes. To start, confetti “snow” falls gently on the audience as a light picks out Mearns in the house, dressed suspiciously like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.” She walks up onstage and into the drama.
“The Fairy’s Kiss” is about a young man’s date with destiny, when a fairy who kissed him as a boy returns to claim him at his wedding. This time, the story’s gotten a sex change, with Mearns as both the heroine and, on video, a Lady Gaga-like Ice Maiden.
The second half, “Petrushka,” stays closer to its original story of a sad little puppet who falls for a ballerina marionette. Appearing on video, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo and bass-baritone Eric Owens both get the silent treatment: Costanzo mimes out the title role while Owens portrays his nemesis.
With all the other hoopla, dancing plays second fiddle. Mearns and fellow NYCB member Amar Ramasar are limited by the shallow space. Choreographer Karole Armitage doesn’t give Mearns much more than standard ballerina moves as she travels to and fro. Ramasar fares better; he gets to show off his charm and charisma, but also tight, clean air turns.
The orchestra seemed to relish the chaos. Gilbert, the conductor, plays The Magician in “Petrushka,” and the musicians wear winter gear, march as they play, and even juggle. However, they were also pushed back even farther than usual by the performing space, and swallowed into the poor acoustics of the hall.
The show’s relentless ingenuity is its biggest strength — and problem. With dancers, onstage roving cameramen, black-garbed puppeteers and a huge orchestra all competing for your attention, it’s only minutes before sensory overload. And even if you know the original stories, the plot is illogical and confusing. Most of the deeper meanings in both tales are lost.
But what a procession of cool effects! An alpine village and a swirling winter fair come to life in ingenious ways you won’t anticipate. If only they could tell the story as well.