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Ballet star Jeffrey Gribler remembers past, eyes future
by Barbara Malinsky
After 26 years with the Pennsylvania Ballet, exuberant star Jeffrey Gribler gave his final performance on stage this past weekend in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Next year he will be a full time ballet master for the company, a post he has been holding on a part-time basis. As he pauses to consider his career, he remembers his favorite roles, exciting tours and changes at the Ballet. Over the years Gribler has experienced a wide range of roles. Some hold very special significance for him. "Melancholic in The Four Temperaments was my first adult role. Mercutio (in Romeo and Juliet) has always been great and so has the role of the Ugly Stepsister in Cinderella.
"I adore Prodigal Son but one of my most favorite gifts that I was ever given was Concerto 622. I wish there were some way to put into words what it feels like to dance it but I think people understand that. This is about love, strength, concern and friendship. And now there's Puck...," he says, recalling the role as being "fun" and requiring "lots of energy. How lucky I have been! The things I've gotten to do; I could not have asked for more."
As a senior member of the company he has also seen quite a bit of the country and the world when on tour. Pennsylvania Ballet's performance in China stands out in his mind as one of his life's memorable experiences.
"What a thrill; it was overwhelming. I got to stand on the great wall of China. These were people with next to nothing but were so generous. We were part of an arts festival and shared the program with a Japanese rock and roll band which was very loud. The theater seated about 4,000 people but only 800 were there and scattered around. In the Chinese culture, they don't applaud like we do; they're not very loud but polite so we thought, at first, that they didn't like us but they did.
"In '92, I went to Paris to stage Lynne Taylor-Corbett's Great Galloping Gottschalk and, last year, I toured Germany with Kevin O'Day. When I first joined the company we toured 12 weeks out of the year throughout the United States and Canada."
Going back to the beginning, Gribler reports loving the Pennsylvania Ballet from the first time he saw it. "I thought I was the luckiest kid in the world," he exclaims.
The Pennsylvania Ballet of then and the Pennsylvania Ballet of now are full of differences and similarities but it's the similarities, Gribler says, that define it. "The company has always been a place that attracts dedicated dancers, people who want to work not just have a job and who give 100 percent every day. It's chock full of the strongest dancers around. There's a tradition here; Roy (Kaiser, artistic director) is from Pennsylvania Ballet and so is Tammy (ballet mistress Tamara Hadley). Sandy (ballet mistress Sandra Jennings) who's from new York City Ballet is of the same mind set-work, work, work, get better, get better, get better."
Although, he has had his entire career with one company, he feels he has danced with several different companies. "I've danced with four different directors; had four different jobs. How great is that! It's been incredibly interesting and I've had a lot of support along the way. I'm just thrilled I get to stay here. Most dancers have to find somewhere else to go but I want to stay in this business to expand. There's always something new to learn and you have to remain a perpetual student."
With his performing career behind him, next season he will continue as ballet master and start to teach company class and expand his coaching repertoire.
After 26 years, how will it feel not to be on stage?
"Well, I've always been comfortable being out there and I love being out there. So whenever somebody needs a short father, I'll be there in a beard hobbling around."
Jeffrey Gribler has had an outstanding career. He has been a mainstay during the many storms that the company has weathered. Throughout its trials and tribulations, he was always there-instantly recognizable with his shock of blond hair in motion, his broad smile radiating across the footlights into the farthest reaches of the balconies, and, above all, his complete dedication on stage; his emotionally resonant performances a delight.
I have seen him as an impish Puck, a supportive partner in Concerto 622, a tap dancing cowboy in Rodeo, a plaintive Petrouchka, the naive American Boy in "Slaughter on 10th Avenue," the exuberant Boogie, Woogie, Bugle Boy in "Company B" and so many more roles. Those are the images that will remain in my mind where he will be forever young.
Brochures for the 2001-2002 season for the Pennsylvania Ballet are available now by calling 215-551-7000.
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'Portuguese Heritage Day
by Ruth R. Russell
The Multicultural Series, being sponsored by PECO Energy this summer, will continue with Portuguese Heritage Day on Sunday, June 24, from noon to 8 p.m. Music, dance, food and handicrafts will be featured at this special event, one of several in a series celebrating various ethnic groups. The public is invited and admission is free. The location, new this year, is the Festival Pier at Penn's Landing, Columbus Boulevard and Spring Garden Street. To learn more, call Penn's Landing at 215-922-2386.
Pressed flower art
Youngsters and their parents are invited to discover decoupage at a family workshop at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 118 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, on Saturday, June 23, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Participants will press flowers, grasses and leaves, then learn how to handle, arrange and preserve the
pressed items to use for one-of-a-kind frames, picture mats and note cards. Pam Whitman is the instructor. This is one in a series of programs free with museum admission; group rates are available. For
information, call 215-572-2061.
Summer entertainment
Keswick Theatre is hosting six shows especially for families this summer. First is New York Roller Skating Spectacular on Wednesday, June 27, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tickets are $7.50 each; a special discount offers six shows for $37.50 (one show free) and half price tickets are available for grandparents accompanying kids. Additional shows are Environmental Magic with Steve Trash on Tuesday, July 10; Aladdin on Tuesday, July 17; Peter and the Wolf on Tuesday, July 24; The Wizard of Oz on Tuesday, July 31, and The Emperor's New Clothes son Wednesday, August 8.All of these performances are at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tickets may be bought at the box office at Easton Road and Keswick Avenue, Glenside; by calling 215-572-7650, or on line at
www.keswicktheatre.com
Archaeology for Kids
As part of its summer day camp program the University of Pennsylvania Museum, 33rd and Spruce Streets, will host an archaeology workshop for boys and girls ages 8-12 on Monday, July 2, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Kids will be "immersed in a different world culture." A fee is charged. For registration and information about other day camp opportunities at Penn this summer, call 215-898-4000.
'Try a Technique'
Sgraffito plates will be the focus of 'Try a Technique' on Sunday, June 24, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway. In this free, drop-in program parents and kids ages 6-13 will learn methods used by artists and then try similar ones. Paid tickets are required. Also that day, families will be welcome to practice observation and drawing skills in the galleries between noon and 2:30 p.m.; an artist will provide materials and help. Tickets are not needed. Earlier that day, preschoolers (ages 3-5) and their parents will enjoy picture books and craft projects-focusing on The Lion and the Little Bird-from 10:15 to 11 a.m. Paid tickers are needed. Admission to the museum is free on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information on family programs, call 215
684-7605.
To have a program considered for this column, contact the Public Record or e-mail Ruth Russell at
ruth@phillyrecord.com
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'Journey of Man' a dazzling display by Cirque du Soleil
by Gary Kramer
The wondrous new IMAX film, Journey of Man, at the Franklin Institute Science Museum, is a 40-minute exploration of dreams, faith, and love by the renowned troupe Cirque du Soleil. The performers mix athleticism with grace, and wear imaginative costumes as they depict man's transformation from an innocent young child to a wise adult during the course of several vignettes.
The film opens with rhythmic drumming in a cave and the "birth" of a child. A beautiful underwater ballet segues into a forest scene in which the playmates of a young boy teach him about emotions such as fear and courage. In this dazzling sequence, a group of four trapeze artists soar through the air, performing remarkable feats of
derring-do.
While the individual episodes are spellbinding, Journey of Man is less than the sum of its parts. The filmmakers have constructed a fable out of the various sequences, and the narration, though eloquently provided by Ian McKellan, is not particularly engaging. Children will probably appreciate the "story" more than adults.
What is impressive, however, is a scene in which a man and a woman-both body-painted to look like statues-enact a pas de deux on a lily pad in a reflecting pond while the hero watches. As each dancer defies gravity to carry the weight of the other, the audience will be left breathless. Likewise, the film's final sequence, a series of aerial acrobatics, is also noteworthy. A group of somersaulters construct a tower of men (with one man's feet on another's shoulders) four persons tall, and it just about fills the frame of the oversized IMAX screen.
Thankfully, Journey of Man mainly resists the gimmicky photography that many of these large-format shorts employ, especially since troupe members are capable of their own dynamic movements. The camera's attempts to keep up with the high-flying trapezists and a sweeping shot over a rocky landscape are the film's only real excessive flourishes.
A good introduction to Cirque de Soleil's magical style of performance, Journey of Man will likely prompt viewers to want to see the troupe in person.
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Opera still on the menu at Victor's Café
by Len Lear
In the early 1930s a South Philadelphia resident named John DiStefano owned a record store at 1303 Dickinson St., but in the middle of The Great Depression, records were not exactly selling like hotcakes, so DiStefano came up with a brilliant idea-to sell both music and hotcakes (so to speak) simultaneously.
That is, since DiStefano loved food as much as he loved Italian opera, he converted his record store into a cafe where diners would be serenaded by local opera singers-in-training while they ate. (There has never been a dearth of fine singers in South Philly.) After all, John figured, even in a Depression people had to eat.
John called his musical eatery the Victor Cafe, in honor of the RCA Victor Company, the most prolific producer of operatic recordings at the time. One theory is that John felt the name would be more likely to at least get some of his singers an audition with RCA Victor than if he called it, say, the Dickinson Street Cafe.
Today, 68 years later, the Victor Cafe is more successful than ever. It's a fine full-service Italian restaurant (the DiStefano family is still involved) that continues to serve up opera as one of the main courses. To the best of my knowledge, there is no other restaurant in the United States quite like it. The Victor Cafe looks like many other South Philly storefront restaurants except that every 12 to 15 minutes a waiter or waitress rings a bell, causing diners to halt conversation, and proceeds to sing an aria, with musical accompaniment. All of the servers, it turns out, are students of opera at the Academy of Vocal Arts, Curtis Institute and/or other local music schools.Some of the young performers already sing like polished professionals; others need some work, but all are several mountain peaks above those of us who sing in the shower or car. Even when they come to a table to sing "Happy Birthday," as a trio of them did at our table for 20 last Saturday night, it's a thrill. Some of the songs are chestnuts like "O Solo Mio" and "Come Back to Sorrento;" others range from an occasional Broadway ballad like "If I Loved You" to arias from the classic operas of Verdi, Puccini, Rossini and others.
There was a time when this shrine to opera, which also features photos of countless musical greats adorning the walls (Lanza, Toscanini, Ormandy, Pavarotti, Domingo, etc.) did not have the best reputation for its food, but that has definitely changed in recent years. We both had salads and pasta entrees that were on a par with so many other fine Italian restaurants in South Philadelphia. Our salads were $7, and our entrees were $16. Several entrees are over $20, and valet parking, if you select it, is $10.
William Shakespeare wrote in A Midsummer Night's Dream, "If music be the food of love, play on." Shakespeare would undoubtedly have loved the Victor Cafe. For more information, call 215-468-3040.
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