Reinking Premiere At State Ballet Of Missouri

Dance Magazine, Feb, 1999 by Jim Williams

KANSAS CITY, Missouri--The State Ballet of Missouri's new Suite Kander, which the company performs February 18 through 22, is something of a homecoming for its creative team. State Ballet artistic director William Whitener conceived it as a tribute to Tony Award-winning composer John Kander, whose Broadway musical collaborations with lyricist Fred Ebb include Cabaret, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Chicago. "John is originally from Kansas City, and still has family here," Whitener says. "This is our way of honoring his achievements."

To do those honors, Whitener commissioned a longtime friend: choreographer Ann Reinking, herself a Tony Award winner for the 1996-97 revival of Chicago. Reinking and Whitener had been high-school chums in Seattle--"We used to gate-crash proms together and dance the light fantastic," says Reinking--and later took the same ballet classes from Robert Joffrey. They also performed together on Broadway in Bob Fosse's Dancin' and teamed up again in 1989, this time as co-choreographers, for Pacific Northwest Ballet's Sondheim Suite.

Although she gained her first fame on Broadway, "Ann's primary training was as a classical dancer," explains Whitener. "I think one of the things that Bob Fosse found so fascinating about Ann as a dancer was her ability to bring the Classical line of ballet to Broadway dancing."

For Suite Kander, Whitener said he gave Reinking no specifios about what he wanted, and Reinking said she let the music guide her choreography. "I love John Kander's music," she said. "I've always realized that a great deal of John's music is very melodic, and obviously danceable. Even songs that you wouldn't think would be as melodic as they are, because they're saying something different in the show, are really quite gorgeous.

"I think the piece will have a style that goes hand in hand with what Kander and Ebb have always been attracted to, which is a darker, Brechtian style. I sense that Bill wants something that's contemporary, so that his dancers can have an eclectic approach to their work."

The eclectic approach extends to the overall February program, where Suite Kander will join George Balanchine's Donizetti Variations and modern dance choreographer Lila York's Gloria [see Presstime News, January, page 35]. "I hope it will bring some new people into the theater who are fans of Broadway and Broadway dancing," says Whitener. "It's going to be great fun--for everybody."