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Alexandra Tomalonis
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Washington Ballet’s Peter Pan

By Alexandra Tomalonis
Special to The Washington Post
February 3, 2001

With its island of pirates, Indians, crocodiles and naughty boys who don’t want to grow up, “Peter Pan” could have been the prototype for “Survivor.” James M. Barrie’s play has entertained children for nearly a hundred years now, but its themes of adventure, independence, and rebellion against civilizing forces continues to strike a chord with their parents as well.

The Washington Ballet’s production of “Peter Pan,” with choreography by the company’s Artistic Director, Septime Webre, received its world premiere last night at the Warner Theatre. The ballet is billed as a co-commission with the Cincinnati Ballet, which presented its own version several seasons ago in choreography by Peter Anastos. The two productions share music (an original score by Carmen DeLeone that’s more serviceable than magical) and storybook costumes (by Claude Lynch/Sideline Design) and sets (Jay Depenbrock and Holly Highfill. The flying effects, as they nearly always are, are by Foy.

Webre’s ballet doesn’t mine any of the plays’ subtexts very deeply, but it is entertaining. The story is clearly outlined in the score--from the Indians’ tom toms, to tick tocks signaling the impending entrance of the croc who swallowed a clock, to a scene where Peter saves Princess Tiger Lily from a Fate Worse Than Death by impersonating a 19th century ballerina, diverting the pirates by desperately dancing fractured fragments of such Romantic ballets as “Giselle” and “Swan Lake.”

This, and the wonderfully camp Captain Hook (John Goding), a ballerina of sorts himself in his scarlet frock coat, who likes to be partnered by his men and dances a tango with the Crocodile, may have been especially suited to Anastos’s zany sense of parody. Webre’s forte is in the broader comedy of the Born to Be Bad pirates and the antics of an enormous gamboling dog.

All of Barrie’s characters are there, and instantly recognizable, if rather one-dimensional. The Lost Boys; Sweet Wendy Darling, beautifully danced by Michele Jimenez, all long limbs and high extensions; Tinkerbell (Yvonne Cutaran), more a goodhearted Lilac Fairy than Peter’s spunky comrade-in-arms; and Tiger Lily (Erin Mahoney), who leads her maidens in a very stately classical ballet.

Jason Hartley was a stalwart Peter, a fine ballet hero -- brave and noble and true -- but not particularly rebellious or adventuresome. Hartley is usually cast as a human whirligig in Webre’s works, so it was good to see him have real classical variations to dance, and his flying (especially the midair backward somersaults) was dazzling.

The audience seemed enchanted from the first scene, and “Peter Pan” may well turn out to be the durable family ballet that the company has been searching for. The story is strong enough to keep children’s attention and there is enough dancing in it to prevent grown ups from getting bored. But the choreography may not be quite imaginative enough to entice ballet fans back to compare casts in multiple performances, and there are still scenes and conflicts that could be developed.

Peter’s dance with his shadow in the first scene wasn’t very clear, for example. The shadow looked like a piece of gauze, as though Peter had filched one of Wendy’s veils. Also, the tension between Tinkerbell, the wild spirit of nature, and Wendy, the female interloper who represents mother love to the Lost Boys, isn’t developed. But the pirates are a blast, the strutting Crocodile will always get a laugh, and the sight of beautiful bodies flying through the air will delight audiences for at least another century.