HINTS OF HOLLYWOOD'S GOLDEN AGE
Tribute to a classic composer

N.C. Dance Theatre presents Balanchine's celebration of Gershwin

STEVEN BROWN
sbrown@charlotteobserver.com

Yes, George Balanchine was a trailblazer of 20th-century dance. He also was a fan of Fred Astaire.

Put those facts together, and you get Balanchine's "Who Cares?"

Based on classic George Gershwin songs, "Who Cares?" -- which N.C. Dance Theatre performs beginning Thursday -- is Balanchine's homage to a composer he never got to collaborate with in person.

The work has turned out to be a lasting gift to one of Balanchine's dancers: Patricia McBride, now NCDT's associate artistic director. McBride was a soloist at its 1970 premiere, performed it for the rest of her career, and now passes it on to her dancers at NCDT.

Balanchine met Gershwin in the 1930s, when each worked for Broadway and Hollywood. Gershwin proposed that they collaborate on a movie, "Goldwyn Follies." But his death at only 38 years old intervened.

Balanchine revived the idea decades later. He picked out a batch of Gershwin songs and set to work with his troupe at New York City Ballet. Memories of Hollywood were obviously on his mind.

"There was a step in `Embraceable You' where he'd say, `Fred and Ginger!' -- when they were side-by-side doing something," McBride recalled.

In his finished product, Balanchine had a male soloist take turns partnering three women, with solos sprinkled in. Glitter and speed were McBride's specialty, and Balanchine put that to work in "Fascinatin' Rhythm." But he also treated her to a change of pace with "The Man I Love," a romantic pas de deux.

"I didn't have to move a million miles an hour," McBride recalled with a laugh. "It was the most lyrical, beautiful connection you could have with your partner. ... You could listen to the music and enjoy doing it."

Balanchine created lighthearted, playful duets for the other two women, McBride said. The man, moving among them, provided "the strength of the piece." (Balanchine also included a larger ensemble of men and women, but NCDT will perform an adaptation that leaves out the larger group.)

As casts changed, McBride was able to dance "The Man I Love" with her beau and eventual husband, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux.

"We had fans who said, `Oh, isn't it wonderful. They're involved, and they're dancing this pas de deux,' " McBride said. "It was great."

In 1989, nearly 20 years after the premiere, McBride included "The Man I Love" in the program marking her retirement from the New York City Ballet.

"It was one of Miss McBride's sublime performances," the New York Times' critic wrote, "full of emotion and ... rapport with a partner."

Balanchine always expected his dancers to let their own personalities color his works, McBride said. As she coaches NCDT's dancers in "Who Cares?", she has the same goal for them.

"I want my dancers," she said, "to be themselves. ... To enjoy it. And to give 100 percent of their energy to it." PREVIEW

N.C. Dance Theatre

The group performs George Balanchine's "Who Cares?" and two other works. Mark Diamond's "Bolero," based on Maurice Ravel's orchestral piece, is "very steamy and sensuous, with a little bit of humor" mixed in, NCDT's Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux has said. Dwight Rhoden's new "Momentary Forevers" plays off the idea that, in a relationship, an instant can seem like forever.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday; and 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday. Also 7:30 p.m. March 6; 8 p.m. March 7 and 8.

WHERE: Booth Playhouse, Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, 130 N. Tryon St.

TICKETS: $27-$69.

DETAILS: 704-372-1000; www.ncdance.org.