ABT 2019 - Jane Eyre

Being a single woman of a certain age, of course Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre was (and is) a seminal book for me.  A story of a woman who searches for her place in the world has always had a strong hold over me, I probably re-read it once a year.  A story where the woman is finally rewarded, instead of shunned, for her stubborn defiance to be entirely herself.  The atmosphere, the mystery, the danger, the otherworldly qualities - the book has held me captive for over 40 years.  So there is no way I would miss a new ballet based on the book, especially a new ballet choreographed by a woman.  When ABT announced they would be doing Jane Eyre this season, I was tremendously excited and I have been looking forward to seeing it for months.

I went back and forth over which cast I wanted to see - I decided to go with opening night's, because I wanted to see Devon Teuscher as Jane.  I also want to see Thomas Forster as Rochester, so I guess a return visit is in my future eventually.  So as not to bury the lede any further, I mainly loved this new Jane Eyre ballet, with some quibbles, of course.  My quibbles are not the same as my seat neighbor's, as I will relate later.  I guess, if you haven't read the book, like the young girls behind me who exclaimed loudly "great, there's a synopsis!" before the ballet started (which broke my heart, but I digress), I should warn you that spoilers will abound.

Choreographer Cathy Marston has tweaked the plot the tiniest bit to make the storytelling completely clear (I'll mention a couple of the changes later).  I know I've read the book dozens of times, but I had no problem understanding what was going on.  Things have been streamlined and condensed greatly - even though I'm pretty much a purist when it comes to these iconic works, I was fine with the adjustments because I felt they served the ballet so well and they worked for me.  The ballet begins with the moment after Jane runs from Rochester following their unfinished wedding ceremony.  As Jane flees, the "D-Men" (a group of around ten male dancers) follow her and impede her progress at every turn.  At the 92nd Street Y panel discussion, Marston had mention the D-Men as tangible reminders of Jane's fears and male society's obstacles to women.  Hearing about them beforehand probably helped me accept them as physical manifestations of Jane's internal feelings.  When she finally collapses, she is discovered by St. John Rivers and taken to his home.  As she's being cared for by his sisters, Jane has nightmares that become flashbacks to her past.  I want to mention that the brief pas de deux between Jane and St. John was fantastic - the way he transports her without just literally carrying her was incredible.

We then see a Young Jane (danced wonderfully by Catherine Hurlin) at the graveside of her parents (one of the changes I referenced above, but it worked like gangbusters for me).  The preacher who is doing the service at the graveside sees Jane's Aunt Reed and has to work really hard to convince her to take Young Jane in.  That bit of dance pulls together tons of events in the book and just crystallizes how Aunt Reed has no empathy and no feeling for Jane at all.  The choreography for Young Jane is terrific, all angles and fierceness, showing the internal fire and sense of injustice already within her that gets her sent away.  Calvin Royal III as Brocklehurst was evil personified.  I loved the choreography for the girls in Lowood school, all rote and synchronized, yet they already seemed broken and defeated.  It was so perfectly evocative of the book.  And when young Helen Burns starts performing out of sequence, we see the wrath of Brocklehurst on her.  Helen and Young Jane have an amazingly tender duet that plays their entire relationship, and Helen's death, in one extended sequence.  I adored it.

photo credit: Nina Westervelt

From there, Jane grows up (and now Devon Teuscher takes over the role) and responds to a request from housekeeper Mrs. Fairfax (played with quick feet and humor by Sarah Lane) to come tutor young Adele (terrifically played by Zimmi Cokler - she was crazy bubbly and really got the feeling of otherness for Adele just right).  Her meeting with Rochester (James Whiteside) was also fascinating - he has bits of choreography, sitting in his grand chair, that just crystallize his sense of superiority and imperiousness at the beginning of their relationship.  Their pas de deux, though light on 'classical' ballet dancing, had spark and passion.  I especially enjoyed the bits where Jane was the dominant partner, balancing Rochester, instead of the other way around (I'll expound a little more about that below).  I thought Teuscher and Whiteside had a wonderful rapport and they both captured elemental characteristics of Jane and Rochester splendidly.

photo credit: Gene Schiavone

I don't want to do a complete scene-by-scene synopsis, so I'll just say that I thought the act break was perfectly placed (when Jane rescues Rochester from the fire set by Bertha) and the second act made me hold my breath throughout.  The wedding was terrifically tense, and all of the lighting to indicate the fire that finally consumed Thornfield was grand.  I thought the ending was lovely - the way the choreography mirrored the scene where Rochester asked Jane to marry him was fantastic.  Oh, and I don't want to forget mentioning the original score by Philip Feeney; it was atmospheric and gorgeous, with interpolations of pieces by Fanny Mendelssohn and Schubert that were beautiful and enhanced the choreography beautifully.  Nor can I neglect to mention the sublime Stella Abrera as Blanche Ingram, she was perfection. 

photo credit: Nina Westervelt

I very much enjoyed this incarnation of Jane Eyre; I greatly appreciated the care and detail that went into the production, but I guess I should mention my quibbles - the darkness of the lighting at times went beyond moody and into just dark; the ever-present chairs-as-the-only-set-pieces started to make me sigh by the end (oh, good, another chair to act with!); and I did have qualms about how much Jane is pushed and pulled around in the choreography.  Intellectually, I understand the need for making her break free of it, but emotionally, I got concerned with all of the aggressiveness with which her body was manipulated.  I don't know quite how to express myself here - I know that the choreographer and the dancer want to show the empowerment of Jane, but on occasion, the partnering fought against it.  Which may have been the point, I don't know.  I just know I felt uncomfortable at times.  So that's why I really appreciated the times the choreography showed the equality instead of the struggle.

So, back to that seat neighbor I referenced above:  I was seated next to an older gent who smelled of mothballs and mediocrity, who at intermission exclaimed "I DO NOT COME TO BALLET FOR STORY!  OR DRAMA!  OR EMOTION!  OR OTHER WOMAN PROBLEMS!"  Reader, I let him live.  I'm still asking myself...why I let him live.  I mean, to be serious again, I get it.  This ballet doesn't have huge extended pas de deux and it doesn't have expansive choreography that fills the entire stage, I get that.  I was grateful to have my binoculars to be able to catch the exquisite intimate details throughout.  But, seriously, dude, this ballet shouldn't even have what you're missing!  If you just want dancing, steps, and no story, go to New York City Ballet across the plaza!  Watch some Balanchine to your heart's content and have a nice life.  There's room for both, bozo.  The fact that he had to connect the dots from 'too much story and emotion' to 'woman problems' just made me want to scream.  I may, in fact, have made a noise of disgust and he may, in fact, have heard me and lowered his voice for the rest of the intermission.  Like Jane, I tire of the struggle and the obstacles placed in our way, and look forward to the day the stillness comes and I can just step forward into my light.  You will have to go see ABT's Jane Eyre to completely understand what I mean.  I plan on returning myself.