MUSIC AND DANCE REVIEW : Oakland Ballet Dances ‘Carmina’

You can’t really expect tasteful, exquisite choreography for Carl Orff’s popular “Carmina Burana,” a setting of profane medieval texts.

And John Butler’s 1959 venture, danced gamefully by the Oakland Ballet and sung strongly by the Pacific Chorale under John Alexander’s direction Saturday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, doesn’t provide it.

Monkish robes and hands clasped in prayer quickly give way to Tarzan briefs or unitards and variations on rutting and seduction. A central sequence involving tribulations of a faithful and an unfaithful couple attempts to nestle a quasi-narrative into the otherwise plotless response to the repetitive, banal score.

In its day, Butler’s grafting of Graham torso twists onto balletic technique seemed revolutionary and promising. Today, the ballet (recently performed in Los Angeles by the Ailey company) looks strained, episodic and empty.

Still, the men and women of the Oakland corps worked hard and maintained their dignity. The lithe or athletic soloists included Joy Gim, Jenna McClintock, Anton Labuschagne, Joral Schmalle and Sean France. Everyone had trouble in the choreographer’s one-legged balances, however.

Vocal soloists included Frank Kelley, whose clear, clean tenor encountered severe strain in the cruel tessitura of the roasted cygnet’s song; Kerry O’Brien, whose slender soprano negotiated the heights cautiously and with wavering support, and Zheng Zhou, whose creamy baritone represented luxury casting.

The chorale and the Pacific Symphony addressed the score with familiar mastery, although coordination between dancers and orchestra sometimes slipped.

The program began with Stephen Paulus’ “Voices,” a 35-minute cantata based on texts by Rilke.

The composer has inflated the poet’s poignant short dramatic monologues by the dispossessed into massed declamations (in English translations by Albert Flemming and Stephen Mitchell). Although progressing from confrontation to celebration, the work exerted relentless pressure. Here, unfortunately, the words were only infrequently clear, but texts were provided.

Martha Jane Weaver was the dark-toned, expressive mezzo-soprano soloist. Kelley was virtually overpowered by the chorale in his brief duties in the opening section.

Alexander and the Pacific forces were scheduled to record the work Sunday at the center under Paulus’ supervision. The composer was on hand Saturday to share the limelight.

* Alexander will lead the Angeles Chorale and the Pasadena Symphony in Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” danced by Oakland Ballet, Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St. Works by Ralph Vaughan Williams and James Hopkins complete the program. $15 to $35. (818) 760-7449.