New York City Center
December 16 2012

By Leah Gerstenlauer.

For an iconic dance company with a successful, history-rich repertory and a loyal following, the notion of newness can pose a problem. To strike a balance between inevitable forward motion and the grounding force of tradition is no trivial undertaking. But in his second year at the artistic helm of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Robert Battle is tackling the challenge with grace and guts to rival those of his dancers.

The company’s New York City Center season featured four premieres and over a dozen pieces, by various choreographers, selected from the vast Ailey archives. I took in a collection of new works delightfully varied in tone and illustrative of the company’s remarkable adaptability — nowhere more evident than in Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort, the first ballet by the Danish dance-maker to enter the Ailey repertory.

The elegant athleticism of Ailey’s dancers proved a refreshing and powerful alternative to the neoclassical angularity characteristic of the artists normally seen in Kylián’s choreography. With a pair of Mozart’s piano concertos providing the soundtrack and not-so-subtle sexual imagery laced throughout, Petite Mort requires both daring and delicacy of its six-couple cast, and the dancers indisputably delivered. Agile Alicia Graf Mack slipped into Kylián’s movement with liquid ease, while Linda Celeste Sims and Glenn Allen Sims offered a duet delicious in its playful, expertly-timed contortionism. As a group, the dancers seemed to relish the technical demands of a piece unlike any other they have experienced with AADT.

Battle’s own Strange Humors spurred a sensation of a different sort, sending palpable electricity through the theater. The dynamic male duet, originally devised for Parsons Dance Company, is an apt outlet for the adventurous physicality of Ailey’s younger generation of dancers. Renaldo Gardner and Michael Francis McBride seamlessly blended Battle’s mixed bag of genres — classical modern dance, hip-hop, latin social dance, even gymnastics — into a performance equal parts personal statement and convivial dance duel. While executing simultaneous solo work, the two men moved in different dialects, yet easily unified their language during phrases of synchronized action. The result: two dancers and an audience collectively bereft of breath and ready for a second round.

The high-energy evening continued with Kyle Abraham’s Another Night, an infectiously upbeat world premiere that paid homage to the Big Band era dance hall scene. Rachael McLaren exuded an irresistibly arresting charisma throughout, Daniel Harder served up a solo notable for both its humor and mercurial movement quality, and every other artist in the ensemble-centric creation had more than a moment to shine. Abraham’s choreography, though mildly monochromatic at times, generated an exhilarating atmosphere that the dancers clearly savored.

A new production of Robert K. Brown’s spiritual and spirited Grace, originally set on AADT in 1999, closed the program with cheer-inducing vivacity and a message of mindfulness for the audience. Linda Celeste Sims’ rich solo segments were well complemented by the superb musicality and technical precision of the corps, particularly that of Demetia Hopkins, whose vulnerable magnetism drew the eye. By the end of the piece, viewers were on their feet and applauding the entire collection of deserving dancers. If this night of new works was any indication of Ailey’s direction under Battle’s dexterous hand, the already thriving company has nowhere to go but up.

Top photo: Alicia Graf Mack and Jamar Roberts of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Petite Mort. Photo by Paul Kolnik.

Joyce Theater, New York City
October 14, 2011

By Stephanie Wolf.

It was a packed house for the Friday evening performance of Houston Ballet at the Joyce Theater. The Texan company brought their ‘A-game’ with an impressive array of repertoire from some of the world’s most sought after choreographers: Jorma Elo, Jiri Kylian, and Christopher Bruce. New Yorkers lusting for great dancing were not disappointed.

With simple costumes of short black unitards and dramatic stage lighting, the performance opened with Kylian’s all-female ballet Falling Angels, featuring an ensemble of eight dancers and the pulsating rhythm of Steve Reich’s Drumming. Kylian created Falling Angels over ten years ago, but the ballet still feels fresh and innovative.

No particular dancer stood out because the group as a whole was the ‘star’ of the piece. All of them danced the frenetic, quick movement in excellent unison. Each dancer engaged every muscle of her body; fully committed to the choreography and driving beat. Kylian included moments for each performer to break from the unison work and dance a brief solo, which kept the piece from being too repetitive.

The dancing was aerobic and incorporated the use of exaggerated facial expressions. Sometimes, the dancers tugged back and forth on their unitards to further enhance the movement. Their endurance was impressive, as they maintained the high energy from the moment the curtain went up until the end of the ballet.

ONEendONE with Artists of Houston Ballet. Photo by Amitava Sarkar

The second ballet on the program was Jorma Elo’s One/end/One, a display piece for the technical virtuosity of eight Houston Ballet dancers. It contrasted classical attire (the ladies wore tutus and the men were in tunics) with contemporary movement. Elo contorted a leg extended in tendu to an unballetic posture with the swerve of a hip and bend of a knee. Dancers’ arms took a classical form, and then rippled into a more gestural position (if position is even the correct word because it appeared as if the dancers never stopped moving). His choreography was relentless, but the dancing was brilliant.

In the opening section, Elo played with the idea of tableaux; creating a picture with the dancers in space and then allowing it to quickly dissolve into a series of fast turns or footwork. Despite the speed of the choreography, the dancers executed the movement fully and the men covered the entire length of the stage in just a few jumps. Dancers entered and exited the stage throughout the section, resolving in several different variations of solos, pairings, trios, quartets, etc. A particular stand out in both the first and final section of the ballet was Melissa Hough, who joined the company in 2010 after dancing with Boston Ballet. She attacked every intricate step with an uncanny amount of speed, poise, and confidence.

There were many moments of creativity and beauty in One/end/One. In the adagio, danced by Soloist Karina Gonzalez and Principal Connor Walsh, Elo produced an unusual yet stunning interpretation of a typical pas de deux. Several lifts had Walsh not only suspending Gonzalez in extended positions, but also required him to lift a leg to arabesque and maintain the ballerina’s placement simultaneously. Another interesting moment in the pas de duex had Walsh lying on his back with his legs stretched up to the ceiling, swaying back and forth like windshield wiper blades at Gonzalez’s command. The two made the difficult partnering work look smooth and delicate.

It was interesting and intriguing, but asked the question, “What is the point?” This is not to say that a choreographer should ever have to explain his or her work, but the intent behind the ballet was curious. Was Elo mocking ballet with the choreographed quirks and unusual angles or simply further exploring both the formality and litheness of classical form?

The final ballet of the night was Christopher Bruce’s Hush, a clever vignette of dances for three men and three women. Hush brought to life the unique musical partnership of violinist Yo-Yo Ma and vocalist Bobby McFerrin. The dancers resembled mimes with the ladies dressed in pom-pom adorned muslin dresses, the gentlemen sporting suspenders or old-fashioned suits, and all with white faces. It had the feeling of a 1930s circus.

From playful, to sentimental, frenzied, and joyous, the ballet ran a gauntlet of emotions. Bruce hoped to tie in the element of everyone’s inner child and did so successfully. It’s a relatable piece, which sparked several bursts of laughter or sighs of pleasure from the audience. 

The opening section had series of twists, turns, and lifts with the dancers often linked by their limbs. From there, each section highlighted a different dancer with original and creative choreography. Jessica Collado danced a fluid, carefree solo exceptionally well. There were several tender moments from Kelly Myernick and James Gotesky, who brought a maternal and paternal aspect to the ballet. And a trio between Melody Mennite, Rhodes Elliott, and Ilya Kozadayev to McFerrin and Ma’s interpretation of “Flight of the Bumble Bee” was particularly fun. The ballet ended with a ‘hoedown’, eventually winding down to a final picture of all six dancers heading upstage, linked arm and arm.

Running a little under two hours, it was a well-balanced program. The evening showed the technical proficiency of the company, as well as original and interesting repertoire. Thank you Houston Ballet for reminding New York how much exciting dance exists outside of the city’s perimeter.

Top photo: ONEendONE with Karina Gonzalez and Connor Walsh. Photo by Amitava Sarkar

By Rain Francis.

Born in Kingsley, England, Paul Lightfoot trained at the Royal Ballet School before joining Nederlands Dans Theater in 1985. He created his first ballet for NDT 2 in 1989 and went on to create over 40 works for Nederlands Dans Theater, in collaboration with his wife, Sol Leon. Since 2002, the couple – operating under the harmonious name Lightfoot Leon – have been Resident Choreographers for NDT. Rain Francis caught up with the charismatic Paul Lightfoot, on NDT1′s recent tour.

Your work, Silent Screen was performed as part of NDT 1′s tour. Tell me about Silent Screen.

Every piece has a different catalyst; for this piece it was silent movies. It was Hitchcock who said that silent film is the purest form of cinema. I’m a big film fanatic, and I love the genre of silent movies. It’s basically choreography, because it’s people telling a story without words. I wanted to use a film without anybody in it to create a surreal situation, where you have real people moving with the camera, and they can go to different places that evoke different feelings. I thought it would be beautiful to create a tromp l’oeil, a Victorian parlour trick. Phillip Glass was also a huge inspiration, and his Glassworks is one of his most famous pieces. I was very lucky to come across it at the right time for this project.

Nederlands Dans Theater 1 present Silent Screen by Lightfoot & Leon

Are there themes or ideas that you find yourself returning to in your work?

Yes. Silent Screen is an incredibly important piece for us. It is the journey of a man and a woman, which of course is in relation to Sol and I, the way we work, and the way we are. It wasn’t to tell our story, but it was to tell the story of emotions that every couple can relate to, during the stages of a relationship. Sol and I have been together 25 years; we’ve had many ups and downs and those things inspire you.

Do you always create together with Sol?

Always. Ever since the first piece. For the first few years the works only had my name on them, and Sol wasn’t really aware how much she was becoming a choreographer. She was helping me. We’d go home and chat, go into the studio and work something out, and slowly this partnership was growing. I like to share. Our partnership is highly irregular in the world of choreography. It’s like a dialogue; we combine our ideas, we respect each other, and move forward together.

Do you ever struggle for inspiration, or are you full of ideas?

It sounds very pretentious when I say I’ve got lots of ideas, but sometimes I think it’s a curse. Generally I’ve got too many. I have to chop them down, get to the essence. It can be very chaotic, but I work very instinctively. I’m a good planner but I immediately break all those plans, and follow my gut. With Sol there too it’s very important to remember that there’s somebody else there. You might be fixated on your idea but you have to be ready to let go of it, because the other person isn’t going to always be on the same wavelength.

Do you get to a point where you are satisfied with a piece of work, or could you go on tinkering with it?

No, there’ve been very few pieces that we’ve tinkered with. There are other choreographers I know and love very much, who get itchy. So they return to older works and make changes. It’s funny, even if it’s a lot better, I feel that they haven’t succeeded. I think when pieces have been made, they’ve been made – there’s a certain kind of destiny to it. Imperfections can be very beautiful, and what make things or people special, so I don’t look to make the perfect piece, and I think that’s part of what makes it magical sometimes. I haven’t touched a step of Silent Screen.

You say you are a film fanatic. What kind of things do you watch?

I love everything. I am a bit of a maverick really, I go to anything. Of course I watch the commercial things. I have a 13 year old daughter, so I’m quite often going to see those ones. I can have as much fun watching those as with a much more artistic film, but generally it’s more enriching to watch the work of great directors.

So, what did you think of Black Swan?

I think it’s a good film. It isn’t realistic, in terms of what a ballet company is – it’s a dark, negative fantasy, and frankly, I can imagine someone in that frame of mind going that far. We do deal with obsession, and we do stare at ourselves all day in a mirror and judge ourselves constantly, and those things can turn into a sickness if you’re not careful. I saw it as a lot less of a ballet film and more as being about the destruction of a human being, and ballet was just a tool to describe her story. The film paints a very dark tale. I love thriller and fear and they’re very important elements to all of us.

What advice can you give to budding choreographers?

I would give them a warning, with all the kindness in my heart – make sure you’ve got something to say. It’s not good to do anything in life if you don’t really believe it. Choreography is sort of an exaggerated version of that, it will show you up very fast.

Also, it’s very important to have your own language. Work a lot with your own body first, don’t just wait for others to do all the hard work for you, because it is hard work. It’s hours in the studio, and you have to be dedicated to doing that yourself.

Don’t be afraid to be influenced. I was highly influenced by many people, in many strange ways. Hans van Manen was a giant inspiration to me, and Jiri Kylian of course. People say, ‘I can see you are influenced by Kylian’ – well, absolutely – where else am I going to learn from? I don’t see that as being somehow negative. It’s very important to learn from people who are lots wiser and more experienced, like we do in all walks of life.

Test your dance knowledge!

By Rain Francis

1. Which name is best associated with Tanztheater?

a) Isadora Duncan

b) Alvin Ailey

c) Garry Stewart

d) Pina Bausch


2. Which modern dance expert choreographed for the films White Nights, Hair and Amadeus?

a) Paul Taylor

b) Twyla Tharp

c) Mark Morris

d) Rudolf Laban
 

3. Jacob’s Pillow is an annual dance festival held in which US state?

a) Massachusetts

b) New York

c) Iowa

d) Colorado

4. Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mark Morris founded a dance company in 1990. What was it called?

a) Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet

b) White Oak Dance Project

c) White Nights Dance Project

d) Baryshnikov Morris Dance Company

5. Which of the following is NOT a work by American choreographer, Twyla Tharp?

a) In the Upper Room

b) Movin’ Out

c) Fancy Free

d) Fugue

6. In which work would you find Herod, Herodius and St. John the Baptist?

a) Salome

b) Spartacus

c) A Midsummer Night’s Dream

d) Sinfonietta

7. Which Australian contemporary dance company has its home in Adelaide?

a) Dancenorth

b) Expressions Dance Company

c) BalletLab

d) Australian Dance Theatre

Choreographer Jiri Kylian. Photo by Joke Schot

8. Choreographer Jiri Kylian is best associated with which company?

a) Nederlands Dans Theater

b) Sydney Dance Company

c) Rambert Dance Company

d) DV8 Physical Theatre

9. Who choreographed Appalachian Spring?

a) Rafael Bonachela

b) Mats Ek

c) Martha Graham

d) Merce Cunningham

10. Which work allegedly caused a riot when it was first performed?

a) Romeo and Juliet

b) Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring)

c) Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes

d) Falling Angels

Answers:
1 – d, 2 – b, 3 – a, 4 – b, 5 – c, 6 – a, 7 – d, 8 – a, 9 – c, 10 – b