Joffrey Ballet Presents UNDER THE TREES’ VOICES Review — Springtime Elegance Inspired by Nature

Scenes from Nature

Blanc takes the audience into a forest scene not only with the giant leaf set pieces but also through lighting and costume. The lighting is soft and muted, like seeing the sunlight filtered through the trees in a forest. The dancers’ costumes are sheer, sprinkled with leaf embellishments, as if the dancers are falling leaves themselves, swirling around in the wind. 

Bosso’s score featuring string instruments is soft and elegant, at first very simple, just one note hanging in the air. As the piece continues, the music gets more full-bodied and lively, and the dancers' movements echo the change. 

The Joffrey Ballet Evokes a Variety of Emotions 

Under The Trees’ Voices is set in four sections, each with a different feeling, the first section is softer and more melancholy, the stage filled with dim purple and blue hues in the lighting. The dancers move slowly and softly, the focus on one male dancer. This section is reminiscent of the beginnings of spring when nature is just awakening from a long winter. 

The second section features an ensemble of all-female dancers. Pink and purple hues brighten the stage and the women move with power and fluidity, with rippling arm movements and fast-paced turns moving together in circles. There is a warmth and spark of excitement in this section that is juxtaposed to the third section, which is somber with a returned darkness to the stage. According to a press release by the Joffrey Ballet, this section is a metaphor for loss. A trio of dancers stands on stage. Two dancers standstill, statues on stage intertwined while the third performs a solo reaching for them but unable to reach them. 

The last section, evoking feelings of hope and light, is lit with bright yellow tones and a more lively score. The dancers run across the stage energetically performing elaborate leaps and jumps. The piece ends with the dancers all moving in unison together as one community, reaching up toward the sky as the music hits the final note and the stage goes black.

WHEN:

Stream Anytime

WHERE: 

Streaming from Joffrey Ballet’s website

TICKETS:

Free

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