Blue Suede Shoes
by Jeanette Lin April, 2007
I saw the ballet performance 'Blue Suede Shoes' at San Jose Center for the Performing Arts on March 24, 2007. It was choreographed by Dennis Nahat, costumes and scenery were designed Bob Machie, and the dancers were from the Ballet San Jose Company. The music, of course, was sung by Elvis Presley.
The Blue Suede Shoes tells a story, but it has nothing to do with Presley himself. As summarized in the review in the Mercury News on March 21, 2007, by Rita Felcian, "From the hundreds of Elvis' songs…Nahat gathered about 30 and shaped them around a narrative about three buddies…they fall in love; they compete, and finally part on their way to adulthood."
In the opening scenes, the numerous duet dancers, dressed in yellow, orange, blue, green, and other contrasting bright colors, rocked with the seemingly carefree, energetic songs such as "Guitar Man" and "Blue Suede Shoes", combined with the sun beaming lighting. It was dazzling in sight and sound, and I felt like dancing with them.
The performance was organized in 7 or 8 scenes, from high school to graduation, to army, and to jail, etc. In one of the high school scenes, we saw a bunch of high school students standing in line balance and dancing in unison on campus. The utilized motifs included twisting torsos and legs, waving arms, turning and jumping, especially with men lifting women (support change). The overall energy quality was free, light, buoyant, and quick. Stillness was used to create a dramatic freeze, or to transition to a new move or to end, or to give the audience an opportunity to applaud.
One cannot help but wonder why the choreographer would combine classic ballet with rock-and-roll music. Mr. Nahat said, "In 1955, when we first heard his music, it was as if a sledgehammer had come down on the heads of all Americans." He and many of his contemporaries certainly were deeply in love with Elvis. That is why it was his long-time dream to make such a ballet.
To me, however, they were like the scenes from the old American movies of the 60s. Although it was before my time and totally different from what I experienced in high school in Taiwan (plain uniforms, no dating allowed, and short hair), I could appreciate the highly dramatic, flashy performance because it was just fun to watch. And even though I am not a big fan of Elvis, I am familiar with some of his songs and have seen his movies.
I liked the humor in the choreography. In a couple of scenes, the male dancers flashed their butts briefly. Likewise in the story, one of the heroes, who was very short, was pursuing a tall, slim, beautiful girl. When they danced together, the difference in their heights made it look so silly.
I was especially impressed with two dance segments. In the Heartbreak Hotel scene, the three heroes were sitting on chairs in a triangle formation in line balance, with one in the down right side, the second in the up right side, and the third in the down left side of the stage. They changed their outfits in unison, indicating they were getting dressed to check out of the hotel. When I first saw the performance, I actually was not aware of the storyline, so I was very intrigued by the fact you did not need to move a lot to create interesting dance movements.
The other one is in the Wooden Heart scene. The background was a large clock, like one you would see in the city square of a German town. The female dancers, dressed in traditional German costumes, played the parts of the mechanical figures in the clock. They twirled out of one side and back in the other side of the clock, one after another, in cannon. The robotic, restrained moves, and the tumbling steps of the dancers were indeed a big contrast to those earlier movements of free and quick energy quality.
In the final scene, the three buddies got together and put on their blue suede shoes doing a reprise of the dance motifs. They looked happy and energized, seemingly ready to face anything ahead.
We may ask: what was the message from such a performance? What did it try to tell us? In the words of the choreographer, "we saw Elvis as one of us, just a decent guy with a message, a message we could understand: Freedom. Isn't that what America stood for?" I would add to that: I think it is also about optimism, love and friendship, and an opportunity to fulfill your dreams even when there are setbacks in life.
Blue Suede Shoes 藍絨皮鞋
by Carl Perkins
歌詞
Well it's one for the money, two for the show
Three to get ready, now go cat, go
But don't you step on my blue suede shoes
Well, you can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes
Well you can knock me down, slap in my face
Slander my name all over the place
And do anything that you wanna do
But oh-oh honey lay off of my shoes
But don't you step on my blue suede shoes
Well, you can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes
Well you can burn my house, steal my car
Drink my liquor from my ol' fruit jar
Do anything that you wanna do
But oh-oh honey lay off of my shoes
Now don't you step on my blue suede shoes
You can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes
誕樹
