ATONEMENT, FULL OF PASSION AND REGRET,
IS A MUST-SEE BALLET
Choreographer Cathy Marston’s ballet adaption of Atonement layers the complexities of Ian McEwan’s critically acclaimed novel with visually and musically stunning performances. The Joffrey Ballet co-produced this piece with Ballet Zürich, which premiered the ballet at the Zürich Opera House in Switzerland earlier this year. Marston masterfully conveys Atonement’s complex narrative through dance, and Laura Rossi’s music, performed by the Lyric Opera Orchestra, beautifully underscores the ballet’s emotional highs and lows.
Yumi Kanazawa
The Joffrey Ballet Ensemble
The ballet begins in the English countryside in the 1930s on the Tallis family estate. We are introduced to a large cast of characters, which for a moment I worried would become confusing, but I’m happy to report the characters were clearly differentiated by style of dance and characterization. Costuming by Bregje Van Balen also helped in this regard, at least for those of us who have seen the 2007 movie adaption. Characters were costumed in colors corresponding to the wardrobes of their movie counterparts.
Amanda Assucena, Alberto Velazquez
Yumi Kanazawa, Valeria Chaykina
Atonement revolves around the youngest member of the Tallis family, Briony (danced on Thursday by Yumi Kanazawa), a determined little aspiring choreographer. Briony is always getting in the way of her siblings, Leon (Xavier Núñez) and Cecelia (Amanda Assucena), but she especially pesters her much older crush, Robbie Turner (Alberto Velazquez), son of the Tallis’ housekeeper, who has grown up on their estate. As she’s following Robbie around one day, Briony picks up a discarded R-rated journal entry Robbie penned about Cecelia. Soon after, she walks in on the lovers entangled in an embrace (the culmination of an exquisite pas de deux). Too young to understand sex, Briony’s opinion of Robbie is unfairly colored.
Amanda Assucena, Xavier Núñez, Alberto Velazquez
Amanda Assucena, Alberto Velazquez
Later that evening, when Briony is attempting to mount her first ballet with the help of her cousins, Lola (Valeria Chaykina), Jackson (Samuel Beukenkamp) and Pierrot (Sheppard Littrell), Jackson and Pierrot run away, and a search party is sent to find the young twins. Out on the search and alone with the wrong person, something terrible happens to Lola (another incredibly choreographed and performed pas de deux, tonally in stark contrast to Robbie and Cecelia’s). Briony comes upon the Lola and her attacker in the dark, and, with her recent knowledge of Robbie, she jumps to the wrong conclusion. Based only on Briony’s witness statement, Robbie is sent away to prison, separated from Cecelia, the love of his life.
The Joffrey Ballet Ensemble
The Joffrey Ballet Ensemble
The second act of the ballet transitions to the chaos of World War II battlefields and London hospitals with a heartbreaking dream sequence danced by Cecelia as Robbie lies injured. When act two comes to an end and the young lovers are reunited in a quiet home after the war, the company takes their bow. But, to the surprise of those unfamiliar with Atonement, this isn’t the end. An epilogue is just beginning, and it’s extremely cleverly done. A voiceover, the first words we hear spoken, brings some clarity to the last chapter of Briony’s story. Older Briony (danced on opening night Oct. 17 by Victoria Jaiani) joins the rest of the company in a heartbreaking sequence, revisiting choreography we’ve already seen, but with an added layer.
Amanda Assucena, Alberto Velazquez
The Joffrey Ballet Ensemble
In Atonement, the Joffrey Ballet and Ballet Zürich have created a work that is both faithful to McEwan’s novel and innovative in its artistic expression. I am immensely impressed with the talent of this storytelling team (scenario by Cathy Marston and Edward Kemp, staged by Adam Blyde and Anastacia Holden). Marson’s choreography, combined with Rossi’s music and the ensemble’s stellar performances, results in a ballet that is a thought-provoking as it is beautiful.
photos by Cheryl Mann
Atonement
Joffrey Ballet
Lyric Opera House, 20 North Upper Wacker Drive
for tickets (starting at $36), call 312.386.8905 or visit Joffrey
remaining performances:
Sunday, October 20 at 2
Thursday, October 24 at 7:30
Friday, October 25 at 7:30
Saturday, October 26 at 2 & 7:30
Sunday, October 27 at 2
for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago
