TERRY TEACHOUT
191
seeing a lot of people standing around on stage doing nothing," Weiss
explains. Accordingly, he builds each scene around a carefully organized
dance scqucncc, just as Balanchinc did in his great Shakespeare ballet.
He uses the stcps and combinations of Balanchine-style neoclassical bal–
let
to
make specific narrativc points, yet his large ensembles have a near–
symphonic clarity of structurc that keeps thc eye engaged. Though the
second-act tavern scene of "Carmcn" consists of a half-hour of virtually
non-stop dancing, the dramatic tension builds fast and stays taut.
Whethcr Weiss can keep Carolina Ballet's doors open remains
to
be
seen, but it can only be a matter of time bcfore the artistic directors of
othcr companies rcalize that he is making the best story ballets
to
be
premicred in the past dccade and more. Together with the similarly
striking output of Christophcr Whccldon, a younger, post-Balanchine
choreographcr whose work combincs Balanchinian neoclassicism with
the romantic lyricism of rrederick Ashton, Weiss's dances offer fresh
hopc for thc futurc of classical ballet. To be sure, Balanchine's posthu–
mous empirc continues
to
grow by leaps and bounds, but one choreog–
rapher, however great, cannot singlehandedly make a minor art form
major. Only if Balanchinc's ballets inspire an ongoing tradition of gen–
uine choreographic crcativity will his carccr prove in the very long run
to
have been more than merely a glorious fluke.
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