Author: Philip Gardner

Above: Da’Von Doane (of Dance Theater of Harlem) and Elizabeth Claire Walker (from Los Angeles Ballet) in Claudia Schreier’s TRANQUIL NIGHT, BRIGHT AND INFINITE @ The Joyce; photo by Travis Magee

Author: Oberon

Friday July 21st, 2017 – Tonight’s performance by Claudia Schreier & Company at The Joyce was something I had been looking forward to ever since the choreographer confided to me last Fall the news that she had been invited to show a full evening of her work at the iconic dance venue. Having put together an impressive program of her ballets which explore a range of moods and musical styles, Ms. Schreier assembled a simply gorgeous troupe of dancers and also summoned a choir, a pianist, a clarinet virtuoso, and a string quartet to make the performance one of the most impressive and satisfying in many a Gotham moon.

I first became aware of Claudia Schreier’s choreography thru her creations for Columbia Ballet Collaborative; those elements in dance-making that should be fundamentals (but so often aren’t) – musicality, structural integrity, showing off dancers in the best possible light, and an underlying sense of passionate commitment – are givens when it comes to Ms. Schreier’s work. 

It was one particular piece – her 2013 ballet HARMONIC set to a dazzling score by the Dutch composer Douwe Eisenga – that heralded a great leap to prominence for the choreographer. After its premiere at Columbia, the ballet was taken up by Craig Salstein’s Intermezzo Dance Company for performances at Vassar.

And then, in 2014, HARMONIC won Claudia Schreier the top prize in the Breaking Glass Competition for Female Choreographers. The shouts of joy from the crowd as HARMONIC ended that night signaled the emergence of a major force in the dance world, and things have rolled on with a sense of inevitability since then. A year after winning their Competition, Breaking Glass presented a full evening of Schreier choreography at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre which was a smashing success. Claudia then became the second woman to hold the Virginia B Toulmin Fellowship for Female Choreographers at New York University’s Center for Ballet and Arts. A ‘big ballet’ (CHARGE) for Ballet Academy East, and an intimate quartet (SOLITAIRE) for the Vail International Dance Festival (2016) have shown Ms. Schreier’s range. Commissions and future projects will keep her busy for months to come.

And so this evening’s Joyce program provided a welcome vision of what Claudia Schreier has accomplished to date, where she stands at the moment, and where it all may lead her in the future.

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On Valentine’s Day, 2016, Claudia and I attended a concert which was part of the New York Philharmonic Ensembles series at Merkin Hall. A stellar group of NY Phil players opened their program with the Piano Quintet – composed in 2010 – of Ellen Taafe Zwilich. After the quintet’s striking first movement, I whispered to Claudia: “That’s your next ballet!” and she whispered back, “I was thinking the exact same thing!” And…voilà!…a year and a half later, we have WORDPLAY.

WORDPLAY is an impeccably-crafted duet, danced by New York City Ballet’s Unity Phelan and Jared Angle (above, photo by Travis Magee). Clad in sleek red-and-black body tights from designer Martha Chamberlain, the dancers mirror the changing moods of the Zwilich score in a pairing that shifts from intimate to gently ironic. Jared Angle, always my ideal as a danseur noble, looked thoroughly at home in the supple Schreier choreography, and his partnering skills are to die for. Ms. Phelan’s technical authority is vivid, yet I can’t quite get a sense of the woman inside the dancer.

Above: Wendy Whelan, Da’Von Doane, and members of Tapestry in Claudia Schreier’s VIGIL; photo by Travis Magee 

VIGIL is set to choral works by Tomás Luis de Victoria and Sergei Rachmaninoff which were performed live tonight by the choral group Tapestry. Their achingly beautiful harmonies evoked such feelings of peace: an escape to a realm of purity and truth from an ever-darkening world. Danceworks which can move us to the very depths of our souls come along but rarely; VIGIL is in that rarefied echelon. 

With the singers of Tapestry, clad in black, ranged in a semi-circle onstage, the stage lights came up on the heavenly sight of Wendy Whelan poised aloft, borne up on the strong arms of Da’Von Doane. Together they moved thru the choreography, which somehow manages to be both elegant and soulful, in a state of grace. As Da’Von manipulated his gossamer-light ballerina with consummate skill thru lifts and sustained poses, they seemed like angels on Earth. Wendy’s other-worldly beauty and serenity as she floated weightlessly in her partner’s hands was something to behold.   

As the lights began to fade on the final moments of VIGIL, I wanted so desperately to remain in that beautiful place with Wendy, Da’Von , and the singers of Tapestry. I was put in mind of the ecstatic words of the Dyer’s Wife in Act II of Richard Strauss’s DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN; upon being shown a vision of the life she has always desired, she cries out: “O Welt in der Welt! O Traum im Wachen!” (“O world within the world! O waking dream!”)… 

But if we cannot linger long in paradise, then let it be Shostakovich who calls to us: the gentle opening of his Piano Quintet, Opus 57, played by pianist Emily Wong, opens Claudia Schreier’s SOLITAIRE, which was first seen at last summer’s Vail Festival. Unity Phelan leads off the ballet alone to that pensive piano solo; she is soon joined by three men: Jared Angle, Da’Von Doane, and Cameron Dieck, as the strings take up a chorale-like passage.

The Shostakovich section ends with the first of two sensational lifts of Ms. Phelan by Jared Angle. The moderato pastorale from Alfred Schnittke’s Piano Quintet is the setting for their ensuing duet, which reaches a striking climax with a powerful, very exposed overhead lift. 

Let us now praise the superb musicians (above) who so beautifully played the Shostakovich/Schnittke scores used in SOLITAIRE: Emily Wong (piano), Lily Holgate and Kenneth Trotter (violins), Drew Ford (viola), and Julia Henderson (cello).

Here are some of Travis Magee’s images from SOLITAIRE:

Da’Von Dane and Unity Phelan

Unity Phelan and Jared Angle

Unity Phelan and Jared Angle

During the intermission, everyone was abuzz about the choreography, the music, and the dancing. It was wonderful to find so many dance-world luminaries among the crowd: Deborah Wingert Arkin and her daughter Ava; Christina Lynch Markham and Madelyn Ho from Paul Taylor; Miro Magloire, Brian Brooks, Vincent Paradiso, Richard Isaac, Jere Hunt…

Live music set the evening’s second half on its way with a brilliant performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1942). Above: Ms. Wong was again delightfully at the keyboard with Weixiong Wang delivering a performance of the clarinet part with delicious tone, fluent technique, vastly appealing subtle moments, and a lively personality to boot. This ballet, with the intriguing title TRANQUIL NIGHT, BRIGHT AND INFINITE, opens with the five dancers in silhouette.

As the lights come up, Martha Chamberlain’s tourquoise/sea-green/black costumes catch the eye – above, Jared Angle, Unity Phelan, Elizabeth Claire Walker, and Dameron Dieck; photo by Travis Magee. The choreography is agile, sometimes stylized, with comings and going and brisk partnering trade-offs. Joined by Da’Von Doane, the dancers follow the music into a lyrical state…

…as Ms. Walker and Mr. Angle dance a pas de deux while their colleagues eavesdrop. The ballet ends with an upbeat feeling.

More images from TRANQUIL NIGHT, BRIGHT AND INFINITE courtesy of Travis Magee:  

Unity Phelan and Da’Von Doane

Unity Phelan and Cameron Dieck

Solo danceworks for women loom large in my memory-book: seeing Peggy Lyman dance The Incense at Jacob’s Pillow; Kaitlyn Gilliland debuting at New York City Ballet in Eliot Feld’s Étoile Polaire; Ioanna Toumpakari enrapturing me with Andonis Foniadakis’ Rite of Spring; a whole evening of solos from the magical Miki Orihara at La MaMa…the list goes on and on. Tonight, Claudia Schreier’s THE TRILLING WIRE, danced by Wendy Whelan, wrote a whole new chapter in my dance diary: an unforgettable piece performed by Terpsichore’s favoured handmaiden.

The choreography for THE TRILLING WIRE is different from all other Schreier choreography I have seen. And I’m sure it posed challenges for the dancer; but Wendy Whelan has risen to every challenge that’s ever come her way and thus she turned this unusual work into a full-fledged triumph.

With the string players back in the pit to play movements of three Marc Mellits string quartets, the ballet opens with Wendy – hair down, in a casual outfit and wearing socks – facing upstage. She begins to move, and within about three seconds we are totally under her spell: her most subtle gestures lure the viewer in. A flow of dance commences, with a searching air and marked by pauses as if she was examining the terrain along which her quest carries her. Mesmerizing at every single moment, Wendy transforms a prayerful gesture into an act of wonderment. 

As the musical pace steps up, the gorgeous movement quality becomes light and airy. Wendy’s arms and hands are hypnotic, and even her hair is dancing. As the strings stutter, the classic notion of “dancing like no one is watching” comes to mind.

Then out of the blue comes a walkabout: Wendy simply circles the stage. But even this simple act has such resonance. To pulsing music, fabulous movement ensues; veering from lyrical to stylized, turns and gentle leaps propel the dancer as the pace quickens. A sort of coda seems to indicate the solo is about to end, but suddenly Wendy stops, only to embark on a slowish passage with animated gestures. She has made the music, the choreography, and the very space itself her own. The audience erupted in a tumult of cheers and applause after having savoured this unparalleled dance experience. Graciously sharing the acclaim with the musicians, Wendy was engulfed in a flood of love.

Here’s a gallery of Travis Magee’s images of Wendy Whelan in Claudia Schreier’s THE TRILLING WIRE:

I simply cannot get over the power and the glory of Wendy’s performance!

Above: the final moment of CHARGE with Tiffany Mangulabnan is a spectacular lift by Gilbert Bolden III    

The evening ended thrillingly with CHARGE. Douwe Eisenga’s Piano Concerto, Movement III is the musical font from which this choreographed blessing flows. It is a work for large ensemble, and every dancer in that ensemble matters. There’s no standing about or idle promenading: this is a ballet that is meticulously structured yet seemingly bursting with spontaneity. The eye is constantly allured from one heavenly body to another as Claudia’s bevy of ballerinas and their handsome cavaliers flash thru the combinations and partnering motifs with élan.

The driven pace of the music – with fleeting moments of sparkle – propels various smaller ensemble sub-divisions into a vast tapestry of dance. Visual polyphony has seldom been so appealing: with endless comings and goings, one hardly knows where to settle one’s gaze next.

Travis Magee caught these moments from CHARGE:

Craig Wasserman and Holly Curran

Ramona Kelley and Gabriel Hyman

For me, this ballet was especially gratifying to watch thanks to the presence in the cast of a number of ballerinas who I count as wonderful friends: thus, thru every moment of CHARGE, I was feeling a very personal connection to what was happening onstage: thanks…and roses…to Holly Curran (who opens CHARGE alone onstage, luminous in the light), Amber Neff, Elinor Hitt, Ramona Kelley, Cassidy Hall, and Tiffany Mangulabnan. New to me were Evelyn Kocak, Jasmine Perry, and Jordan Miller. Beauties, all!

Da’Von Doane, having danced passionately all evening, looked wonderfully fresh and vital here: he and the other men have so much to do in CHARGE, from whirlwind combinations to tricky partnering motifs. Great work from all: Samuel Akins, Michael Breeden, Gabriel Hyman, Francis Lawrence, Craig Wasserman, and Gilbert Bolden III. Mr. Bolden, who I believe is about to join NYC Ballet, is a tall and powerful presence: he effortlessly put Tiffany Mangulabnan into an overhead lift to mark the end of this spectacular ballet.

As if we had not had enough thrills all evening, watching Elizabeth Claire Walker (above) toss off a series of demi-turns while sending her extension skyward was the frosting on the cake. This combination, which made me think of Gamzatti’s coda in Bayadere, just delighted me thoroughly. We don’t get to see Liz nearly often enough here in New York City.

The curtain fell, then rose again as the packed house went wild for the dancers. Wendy, Unity, Jared, and Cameron – already in street clothes – joined the cast of CHARGE onstage. Finally, Cameron brought Claudia Schreier out onto the stage; the entire audience stood up and literally screamed at the top of their lungs. It seemed actually that the roof might cave it. Such delirium, and so well-deserved.

Many thanks to Travis Magee for producing the images for this article.

~  Oberon