Kyohei Yoshida

Grand Rapids Ballet presents Program 4

Grand Rapids Ballet presents Program 4

Kyohei Yoshida dances 'Arms That Work' during dress rehearsal for Grand Rapids Ballet's Program 4 Wednesday, March 20, 2013.   (Chris Clark | MLive.com)

 

Kyohei Yoshida and Connie Flachs dance 'Arms That Work' during dress rehearsal for Grand Rapids Ballet's Program 4 Wednesday, March 20, 2013.   (Chris Clark | MLive.com)

Kyohei Yoshida, left, and Attila Mosolygo dance 'Light Rain' during dress rehearsal for Grand Rapids Ballet's Program 4 Wednesday, March 20, 2013.   (Chris Clark | MLive.com)

Kyohei Yoshida dances 'Light Rain' during dress rehearsal for Grand Rapids Ballet's Program 4 Wednesday, March 20, 2013.   (Chris Clark | MLive.com)

Dancers gather for 'Light Rain' during dress rehearsal for Grand Rapids Ballet's Program 4 Wednesday, March 20, 2013.   (Chris Clark | MLive.com)

 

Kyohei Yoshida dances 'The Four Temperaments' during dress rehearsal for Grand Rapids Ballet's Program 4 Wednesday, March 20, 2013.   (Chris Clark | MLive.com)

Grand Rapids Ballet accomplishes evening of ground-breaking dance by Balanchine, Arpino | MLive.com

Two seminal works that changed the face of ballet, George Balanchine’s “The Four Temperaments” and Gerald Arpino’s “Light Rain,” were part of the program plus one new work, “arms that work” by Andrew Bartee, that very well could do the same. Naturally, time and subsequent performances will tell.

It was an evening of adventurous, ensemble dance for the entire company, plus five guest artists, in Grand Rapids Ballet's Wege Theatre. Three more performances follow tonight through Sunday.

The challenge, both physically and mentally, was to dance three distinctly different vocabularies in one evening. That was a huge undertaking, and the company led by artistic director Patricia Barker accomplished it with flying colors on Thursday.

via www.mlive.com

[Kyohei Yoshida, normally an explosive dancer, cast against type, was exquisitely burdened in the slow Melancholic variation.]