Double the Fun

Two of the Granada Theatre’s resident companies, the State Street Ballet, celebrating its 25th anniversary, and the 72-year-old Santa Barbara Choral Society, combined their abundant talents in American Masters.

The enticing program featured masterworks from Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, and Morten Lauridsen, and choreography ranging from neoclassical to the avant garde combined in an endeavor described by ballet founder Rodney Gustafson as the “culmination of the magical idea we call art.”

The showcase kicked off with Bernstein’s 1965 Chichester Psalms with New York choreographer William Soleau creating an impressive ballet premiere in celebrating the West Side Story composer’s foremost piece of choral music, with notable singing by countertenor Jacob Hall.

Dancers, chorus and orchestra, conducted by veteran maestro JoAnne Wasserman, shared the stage during the multi-faceted performance.

Morten Lauridsen’s 1997 work Lux Aeterna was the score for the second segment of the entertaining show, with multimedia special effects bringing new dimensions to the popular choral work by the USC Thornton School’s professor of composition, again featuring creative choreography by Soleau.

Copland’s 1944 Appalachian Spring wrapped the show, with the talented dance troupe on stage with the orchestra in the pit. The piece, again with choreography from Soleau, premiered in 2011, when I first saw it.

There was also a short “Thank You Santa Barbara” film by Andre Yew accompanied by live music from classical guitarist Chris Fossek.

State Street Ballet’s silver anniversary season at the Granada continues with The Nutcracker in December and the premiere of Sleeping Beauty in March.