Famed Hill physician ‘prescribes’ original ballets

by BARBARA MALINSKY

Chestnut Hill resident Dr. George Spaeth may be a nationally acclaimed ophthalmologist, research professor (at Wills Eye Hospital), author of 10 medical textbooks and more than 250 articles in medical journals and winner of countless medical awards, but last Saturday night at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater he prescribed therapy of a different sort — two original ballets commissioned by Dr. Spaeth that were performed by members of the Pennsylvania Ballet..

This marriage of arts and science started with a black tie event October 4 at the Kimmel Center to honor the International Society of Spaeth Fellows, a fellowship program which has trained hundreds of glaucoma specialists who practice, teach and perform research throughout the world. Dr. Spaeth is Director of Glaucoma Service at Wills Eye Hospital and President of the Glaucoma Service Foundation. The entire Spaeth family is very active in both the arts and sciences.

Dr. Spaeth, a member of the Board of Pennsylvania Ballet and an
accomplished pianist, developed an appreciation for ballet as a child when his mother “took me to see performances by Sadler’s Wells Ballet, Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and New York City Ballet.” His wife, Ann, has pursued graphic arts and community service; with Nancy Hubby, she was a co-founder of the Chestnut Hill Historical Society. All three of their children attended The Germantown Friends School. Daughter Kristin studied ballet at Pennsylvania Ballet, and son George is an aspiring actor while his brother Eric is an architect and amateur oil painter.

According to Dr. Spaeth, the arts and sciences share basic disciplines: “To practice medicine requires knowledge, skill, and judgment, or the art of medicine. Medicine can’t be done like a cookbook. The body is a complex entity; it has emotional and spiritual attributes as well as physical and mechanical ones. We have a training program here to treat glaucoma, and we don’t neglect that part, but there’s also the art of medicine that addresses the non-verbal things.

“Ballet is an excellent metaphor for medicine because, like medicine, it requires demanding technique, knowledge and skill, but it must be more than just mechanics. It’s that ‘more’ that we try to get out of our fellows; it’s the non-verbal expression of what we do, healing and caring. It’s our responsibility to tap into that to make our own lives and the lives of others as beautiful and joyful as we can.”

With this metaphor in mind, Dr. Spaeth approached Roy Kaiser, artistic director of the Pennsylvania Ballet, about creating a ballet to illustrate these principles. Kaiser, in turn, suggested dancer Meredith Rainey. “Meredith, my wife and I spoke often about this concept, but he is responsible for the music and the choreography. We didn’t want to impose or meddle in any way. We didn’t want to distract him; he’s the creator.”

“Dr. Spaeth is being modest; he’s a creator too,” said Rainey. When considering this commission to connect the disciplines of art and medicine, Rainey was at first perplexed. “This ballet was a challenge because I can be very literal. I didn’t want to show people in a hospital, so I had to abstract it. I also found doing a 35 or 40-minute piece so daunting. When I decided to do two pieces, it gave me complete freedom.” Verum Gaudium (“True Joy”) and There and Back Again are the products of this collaboration.

Rainey knew the pieces had to be entertaining. “You have to entertain; you can enlighten and educate, but you always have to entertain.” Verum Gaudium or “True Joy”, set to J. S. Bach’s Suite No. 1 in G Major for unaccompanied cello, expresses the beauty and nobility of life.

“The work is in five sections and each one is separate unto itself. I
chose this music to focus on the joy of feeling each emotion to its
fullest. This music makes me feel joyful and really resonated with me.

This piece is like the hug you give someone when they’re leaving.
There’s a sense of longing but also an anticipation of joy. The work
has a classical feeling.”

There and Back Again is in four parts and set to contemporary Estonian composer Arvo Part’s Arbos and De Profundis along with Bach’s famous “Ciaconna” from Partita No. 2 in D Minor for solo violin. This opus is a metaphor for a broken spirit returning to renewed life. “ I just happened upon this music and I realized how well it fit.”

Philadelphia philanthropist and renowned patron of the arts Jack Wolgin was responsible for the initial support of the project, which was performed on Saturday night by members of Pennsylvania Ballet — Heidi Cruz, Neil Marshall, Edward Cieslak, Jessica Gattinella, Tara Keating and Juan Carlos Penuela. “Mr. Wolgin was extremely generous,” declared Dr. Spaeth.

By all accounts, the evening was an enormous success. The
program included speakers from both the arts and medicine, such as Anne d’Harnoncourt, director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Dr. Thomas Samuelson, President of the International Society of Spaeth Fellows; and Roy Kaiser, artistic director of the Pennsylvania Ballet.

The ballets poignantly conveyed their messages of joy,
caring and healing. At the conclusion, Dr. Spaeth read a slight
adaptation of Lee Ann Womack’s song, “I Hope You Dance,” exhorting those in attendance to join in the dance of life. As the audience emerged from the theater, the syncopated rhythm of a sassy foxtrot by a live band beckoned them to dance. And everyone did, including Chestnut Hill’s Renaissance man, the irrepressible Dr. George Spaeth.