CORVALLIS – Over the years, choreographer Toni Pimble’s taken
ballet in countless innovative and interesting directions, from
jive, jazz and the blues to silk and steel, and even past our
planet entirely, to the outer reaches of post-psychedelic album
rock.

Her most recent undertaking, however, is positively Fab,
marrying interpretive dance to the equally innovative and
interesting works of The Beatles.

It’s an inspired, vibrant match that seems like one of mutual
love, love, love.

“All You Need Is Love” is the Eugene Ballet Company
co-founder/artistic director’s follow-up to her acclaimed 2010
interpretation of Pink Floyd’s headphone perennial, “The Dark Side
of the Moon.” This project presented something of a larger
challenge, however; no longer restricted to 10 songs on two sides
of a concept LP, Pimble had the freedom to explore a decade’s worth
of an evolving repertoire, digging deep into the band’s history,
and assemble it all into a cohesive whole. (Perhaps she took
inspiration from the words of John Lennon in her production’s title
song: “Nothing you can do that can’t be done.”)

And in the end — droll reference slightly intended — she culled
most of “All You Need Is Love” from The Beatles’ later period, when
they began experimenting with more lavish instrumentation and
pushed rock ’n’ roll down revolutionary paths.

This includes the magnificent parcel of suites that comprise the
back end of “Abbey Road,” from “Mean Mr. Mustard” through “The End”
(George Harrison’s gorgeous “Here Comes the Sun” features ladies
bedecked in bright pleather “like a bunch of ‘darling birds,’ as
they’re called,” Pimble said. “It’s very cute, very sweet.”).

Appropriately, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” opens the
performance, as it did on the 1967 game-changing LP of the same
name. Then there’s the haunting “Eleanor Rigby,” from 1966’s
“Revolver,” which in many ways embodies the ballet’s heart.

“That’s a beautifully written, poignant piece of music,” Pimble
said of the Paul McCartney composition (although it was credited to
Lennon-McCartney, as were all of the duo’s songs, whether equally
collaborative or not). “The overall theme as I was working through
it, putting it in an order that flows, was this feeling that a lot
of their music is about people trying to connect in life. It’s been
speculated that ‘Eleanor Rigby’ is about postwar (World War II)
Britain, which I grew up in. People had lost loved ones. There are
a lot of lonely people out there.”

“Eleanor Rigby” also marks the final Corvallis performance by
Jennifer Martin (also dancing to “Yer Blues”), an 18-year Eugene
Ballet Company veteran who’s retiring after this season to take a
more prominent role backstage. “Many audience members have come to
know Jennifer and love her work,” Pimble said. “She will be missed.
She’s very valuable to me.”

“All You Need Is Love” features 19 pieces in all, with songs
prerecorded by Portland’s Nowhere Band. It’s preceded by “Concerto
Grosso,” set to the music of Ernest Bloch, the legendary Swiss-born
composer (1880-1959) who retired to the Oregon coast in 1941 and
whose house still stands atop a high bluff over Agate Beach.

The curtains rise at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3, at the LaSells
Stewart Center on the Oregon State University campus. Tickets are
$20-$30 general, $18-$27 for youth and students, and $10 for
college students. Advance tickets are available at Gracewinds Music
in Corvallis or Sid Stevens Jewelers in Albany; via the Hult Center
box office at 541-682-5000; or online at www.hultcenter.org. Once
inside, sit back and let the evening go.

“I think the audience will really enjoy it,” Pimble said.
“There’s a lot of variety, with some older songs and a lot of the
later stuff, which to me is really interesting. It will be a really
fun piece.”

Could you take us through the process of creating “All
You Need Is Love”?

First of all, I was just listening to a lot of The Beatles’
music, taking a trip down memory lane, saying, “Oh, I used to love
that song.” I had to think seriously about which pieces spoke to me
immediately, choreographically. That’s how it works for me: I hear
something and I either have it or I don’t.

I also had to take into consideration that I wanted enough
variety within so that choreographically it would be interesting
too. We used “Rocky Raccoon,” which is a comedy piece, to keep it
light. Then there’s “Yer Blues,” which is really heavy.

“Sun King” is a dreamy piece. What it reminded me of was Louis
XIV, who codified classical ballet. I thought, ‘“Wouldn’t it be fun
if we had the Sun King onstage?” People who know classical ballet
will get it. Others will wonder, “What was she thinking?” (laughs)
(The monarch, who ruled France from 1643 until his death in 1715 —
an astonishing 72 years — was known as the Sun King.)

Our costume designer took the images of Louis XIV dressed as the
Sun King and she’s replicating that. My tallest dancer, Mark
Tucker, will be appearing as the Sun King: bright gold platform
shoes — everything Louis XIV wore was gold. It’ll be an
over-the-top costume, like something out of a revue show, which is
very much in the spirit of The Beatles.

I thought “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” was an
interesting selection. That’s kind of a throwaway track from “The
White Album.”

It’s naughty and everybody has one thing in mind when they hear
it. Petr Orlov, who is a lot of fun, is doing it as a solo. Our
“Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” is “Why don’t we dance in the
road?” That piece has such great rhythm, and it’s a lot of fun to
work with.

You’ve said, “We can now consider their music to be the
classical music of our era.” Could you elaborate? What makes their
music classical?

Maybe not classical, I think, but classic. Certainly classic
rock. People have taught “Eleanor Rigby.” In its form and
composition, it’s comparable to Schubert. It’s a beautifully
written piece of music, beautifully arranged.

“Golden Slumbers,” which is toward the end of the “Abbey Road”
album, was actually a lullaby from the 1600s that Paul’s sister was
playing on the piano. He looked to see what she was practicing,
picked it up and thought it was interesting. He reworked it into
“Golden Slumbers.” Part of the text is the original text.

(Producer) George Martin had a lot to do with the creativity of
their pieces. There was a very strong collaboration over ten years
as they put together their LPs. The Beatles really valued him as a
collaborator. He’d bring in the orchestras, the violinists — they’d
create these lines behind the work.

You’re originally from England. What do The Beatles mean
to you?

They’re a part of my growing up. I can remember my brother and I
listening to “She Loves You” on a record player. It was one of
those fold-up players; you could carry it anywhere. We’d just
gotten it. We were so excited. I must have been about eight or
nine.

Then, as The Beatles progressed musically, they challenged us
all. When you’d hear a new LP like “Abbey Road,” initially there
would be a struggle inside you. “That’s not The Beatles,” you would
say. But musically they would take you a step forward, and you
would grow with them.