Joni Mitchell’s The Fiddle and the Drum
by Joni Mitchell / Alberta Ballet Company
(Koch Vision, 60 minutes)
The Fiddle and the Drum is a ballet choreographed by Jean Grand-Maitre to songs by Joni Mitchell. Performed by the Alberta Ballet Company, the program's nine numbers (plus one more, "Big Yellow Taxi," delivered as an encore) are linked thematically by Mitchell's lyrical explorations of environmental matters and human beings' seemingly unshakable inability to live at peace with one another. The staging also utilizes her visual art, presenting paintings and other imagery in a large circle hovering over the dancers below.
The song selections draw heavily from her underrated Geffen ‘80s era, and while it is stirring to hear the songs in a new context, there are limitations for how well this works as a sustained dance piece. The familiarity with Mitchell's music relegates the ballet to the role of an accompanist, like a series of music videos. By turns thoughtful, energetic, dazzling and moving, this plays like a series of short individual pieces - a grand undertaking, but it would have benefited from Mitchell's music all being new as well. Which is why the closer, an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's "If," is so complete an experience to behold.
Special Features: Behind the Scenes with: Joni Mitchell and Jean Grand-Maître, Kelly McKinlay and Nicole Caron (Alberta Ballet Dancers), and Mario Rouleau (Director of Filming); Joni Mitchell's video installation from the set. DAVID GREENBERGER
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