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My first foray into the American Mid-West beyond a 1965 visit to Chicago was induced by imminent expiration of two airplane coupons, a chance to view The State Ballet of Missouri with William Whitener as the current artistic director and to see the Asian collection at the Nelson-Atkins Museum. The fiscal necessity couldn't have produced more felicitous results.

The State Ballet of Missouri was started by Todd Bolender at the invitation of Kansas City balletomanes in 1981, shortly after his return from Turkey staging musicals and working with Turkish National Ballet company. At the suggestion of the late Lincoln Kirstein, Bolender met with Elizabeth Wilson, came to Kansas City and discussed the needs of a ballet company, his vision and requirements, a school to train dancers and live music for performances among them. A prior ballet organization, the Kansas City Civic Ballet Association. had been in place since 1957, but the affiliated company had recently gone belly up.

Kansas City lies on the bank of the Missouri River, is noted for its historical role in the development of jazz, its reputation for corn-fed beef, and nearby Independence as the home of Harry S. Truman, the president who succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt, and saw World War II to a formal end, the establishment of The Marshall Plan and the commencement of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. One of the major stops on the Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad route to Chicago, Kansas City and Independence lay at the eastern end of the Oregon Trail. It now possesses a substantial symphony, a chorale with a notable reputation, and has been a regular stop for touring dance and theater companies certainly since thespians and dancers were intrepid enough to venture into America's heartland.

I arrived just as an announcement was published about the forthcoming construction of a major performing arts complex on land which has been owned by Ross Perrot. This will have a felicitous impact on the State Ballet of Missouri which currently shares the Lyceum Theater with both The Kansas City Lyric Opera and the Symphony. The complex will feature a separate hall for the Symphony. An auditorium will shared by the Lyric Opera and the State Ballet, plus, glory be, a separate facility all its own for the company, school and administration.

Bolender commenced The State Ballet as a cross state venture, playing a three season programs in both Kansas City and St. Louis. He started with a nucleus of a dozen dancers, and the company roster has grown to twenty-two with three adult and four student apprentices. The name State Ballet of Missouri itself dates from 1986. In its eighteen year existence, the company has mounted 79 productions, the number factoring out to four plus new productions a season, which comprises three repertory programs and the ballet world's cash cow, "The Nutcracker", at Christmastime. He relinquished artistic direction to William Whitener in 1996, but continues as Artistic Director Emeritus, and providing an occasional ballet. His last work on the company, Arena, will be revived for the October, 1999 performance cycle.

William Whitener came to Kansas City as Artistic Director for the State Ballet of Missouri from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company, with an impressive variety of professional experience as performer and choreographer. Native to Seattle, Whitener trained at both the Cornish School and on scholarship with San Francisco Ballet before studying at the Joffrey School, joining the Joffrey Ballet in 1969 for an eight-year association when the Joffrey company was at its performing and touring high. After leaving the Joffrey in 1978, Whitener performed in Bob Fosse's "Dancin'." Late that same year he joined Twyla Tharp's ensemble. When he left the Tharp company in 1987, he assisted Jerome Robbins in researching for the retrospective "Robbins' Broadway." Whitener also served as rehearsal assistant for Twyla Tharp when she created works for American Ballet Theatre. Combined with choreography for a number of companies, Whitener taught at Harvard and the University of Washington, staged ballet for operas and staged works of other companies and for television with the clown Bill Irwin. In 1998 Whitener was one of two evaluators for the Jackson International Ballet Competition.

Whitener's knowledge of the range of information in today's professional performance arena is amazing, but quite logical given the list of his credits. When he speaks of Kansas City he has a clear grasp of cultural developments in other arenas along with what serves the cause of The State Ballet of Missouri. It's clear Whitener likes his dancers and the potential development of the company's position as a major city cultural institution. The feeling of the company's administration is one of shared responsibility, enthusiasm and belief. There is an unspoken comraderie and mutual respect can't be feigned. To this collective set of assets, Whitener adds a physical presence one can mistake for a well established, physically fit investment broker.

"It's rare in a mid-sized company like State Ballet of Missouri" Whitener remarked, "That you come up with two Giselles. Dancers for the role are born, not made, and we have two of them. Kimberly Cowen grew up in Missouri, studied at Pacific Northwest Ballet and The Joffrey School and has been groomed by Todd Bolender. She is in her eighth season with the company.

"Jennifer Owen, on the other hand, comes from Seattle, and trained at Pacific Northwest. She also studied at San Francisco Ballet and School of American Ballet on full scholarships. Jennifer studied at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and later danced with the State Ballet of Turkmenistan, the Moscow Renaissance Ballet and was offered a position with Gordeyev's Russian State Ballet. This is her third season with the company.

"We've rented the sets and costumes from Ballet West, the former by Peter Cazalet and the latter by David Heuvel. We've staged it with a live orchestra - something which Todd Bolender requested when he came here in 1981 and a continuing practice. We're using students from the upper levels of the school to augment the corps de ballet."

Vida Brown, now head of the State Ballet of Missouri ballet school as well as Ballet Mistress, came to Kansas City the fall of 1998 and was responsible for the staging of "Giselle," She came to Kansas City from principal dancer status with Les Grands Ballets Canadien after stints with Pennsylvania Ballet and the National Ballet of Washington, where she learned the staging of "Giselle" from Frederick Franklin.

Brown wisely restricted the amount of mime executed in Act I, a choice reinforced when William Whitener's informal poll of the company's supporters confirmed their joint intuition that the 1841 romantic classic was a work not seen by the majority of Kansas City ballet goers. This did not deter the seriousness of the production, but for one familiar with some of Berthe's mime changes were distinct.

The normal cart on which Giselle is briefly mounted as the Queen of the Harvest yielded to a bench out of sheer necessity. The Lyceum is a warm, gracious place, but the 1600 scarlet seats are matched by a relatively small stage space. Something had to give. However, we were treated to the presence of two magnificent, shaggy salt-and-pepper hued Irish wolf hounds with the entrance of the Duke of Courland and his hunting entourage. The aristocrats sported luscious velvet hues of gold, hunter green, and rust. Why the women dangled large squares of white hankies I will never know, but apparently Heuvel thought this centimeter of white helped to establish aristocracy. The company size required Wilfred to double as the facilitator for refreshment when Bathilde and the Duke of Courland arrived in the village, and the size of the stage made it impossible for the regal pair to retire inside the Berthe's home to be summoned forth. Further, it is Albrecht's or Wilfred's horn which is hung at Berthe's door, not that of Courland's. These slight adjustments were handled with ease.

The set Act I had a brooding castle cheek by jowl with the upstage left entrance. I almost expected some serving maid to lean out a castle window to yodel at one of the young wine harvesters. Act II had a lake like expanse of shore , marked by sporadic clumps of reeds and semi- water soaked tree trunks, an eerie scene, augmented by a stage version of mist, lingering effectively.

The company's technique is strong, and the enthusiasm with which they lit into Act I was commendable. The physicality of the drama was obvious, and one easily responded to the antagonism between Hilarion and Albrecht. Berthe, mimed throughout by Jody Anderson who retires this year after eighteen years with the company, is bossy, and a nervous individual, definitely as authoritative as her dancing as Moyna in Act II. The manner in which she claps her hands to hasten the refreshments for the noble hunting party is absolutely commanding.

Eric Bourman and Paris Wilcox traded assignments as Albrecht and Wilford. Their assignments were inspired choices for Kimberly Cowen and Jennifer Owen in build, coloring and temperament. Bourman is a brunette, small of head, firm of chest, somewhat heavy in the thighs, but possessed of a romantic line and an equally somewhat far away comportment. It was easy to notice how his portrayal gained in depth from the first to the second performance, with the motivation apparent to the audience.

Paris Wilcox is a tad slighter, with a higher center of gravity, slightly more slender in build overall, but with a lyric cast to movement and motivation. Where Bourman might be likened to a seasoned merlot, Wilcox is a vintage Sauvignon blanc in spirit.

Both Albrechts were good foils for their Giselles - Cowen, while long of limb, is lyrical in quality and slight, a dancer fragile and reticent, making her Giselle conform to this dreamy, introverted quality. Her extension is high if not ear touching, and its ease made phrasing of extensions, arabesques and grand ronde de jambes on pointe quite a statement of spirit. Her emotional responses were something one could see in process, particularly during the second performance.

I found her mad scene strong on the lachrymose, and far more physical in its coverage of space than in many productions. The size of the stage was such that there was physical bumping of Bathilde, and the staging was such that Hilarion was far more involved in various moments during the mad scene, and even Albrecht once or twice as well. The involvement of the company was a strong one through out.

Cowen's second act was very atmospheric, and visually she was an ideal spirit. Her Myrthe was Courtney Bourman whose regal qualities, steel and vengeance was uneven. She gained in authority during the second performance, but seemed to equate a withdrawn correctness with regality. 'Taint so!

I saw a student matinee of "Giselle" with the second cast. Jennifer Owen is small, blonde and could easily be cast in soubrette and demi-charactere roles. She is innately musical and having been exposed to the role during her sojourn in Russia, she was at ease with the role. Her makeup was influenced by perhaps poor stage lighting she had experienced in Russia. When it is toned down, the ease of her characterization will be more convincing. Her Giselle is extraverted, and assured, playful. Owen conveys humiliation not only at the betrayal by Albrecht, but the devastation in front of the community and by Hilarion, the family friend whose zeal leaves her no recourse. There is one point where Russell Baker as Hilarion comes toward her in an early phase of her mad scene and she looks at him and laughs hysterically. I felt a chill run down my arm. Both Cowen and Owen's final heart convulsion conveyed the reality, terror and odd detachment with sincerity.

Christine Kille, a young Canadian from Alberta Ballet, danced Myrthe opposite Owen's Giselle. Her height assisted her authority, but there was a natural calm in her dancing and a familiarity with the style which helped to integrate the story line.

The small corps was whole admirable. While these Wilis do not convey the icy resolve which makes the Cuban corps de ballet so notable, there was a cohesion and a sense of filmy white which made the act a special, early Victorian romantic nosegay. With the energy and strong sense of ensemble it reminded me of a time when I took a train ride to Brighton at the invitation of Dame Marie Rambert to see her production of "Giselle" with Lucette Aldous in the title role. Her staging was a perfect evocation of the period. I only wish State Ballet of Missouri had a longer season so that the casts could have had three go rounds in their roles. Two were enough to determine them capable of enormous growth. William Whitener and Vida Brown desire, ultimately, to commission their own production and extend number of performances.

Let's hope the production gets back into the active repertoire in two or three seasons hence. State Ballet of Missouri may not be riding the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, but it definitely on track.