Category: Ballet

Ballet Next!

Monday November 21, 2011 – In one of the most-anticipated dance events of recent seasons, BALLET NEXT have made their world debut with a single calling-card performance at The Joyce. The theater was filled to over-flowing and many luminaries from the Gotham dance scene were on hand, lending the evening a special air of excitement. Rehearsal photo of Michele Wiles and Charles Askegard at the top by Nir Arieli. Click on the images to enlarge.

In the Summer of 2011, two of ballet’s premiere dancers made their farewell appearances with their respective resident companies: Charles Askegard had a full-scale grand gala as his last performance with New York City Ballet. But ABT‘s Michele Wiles simply slipped away without fanfare, leaving New York balletomanes wondering why.

Not long afterward came the announcement that these two tall and tremendously talented artists would be launching their own ballet company: Ballet Next. Their plan: to present classic and new works with world-class dancers, calling upon top choreographers of the day and working with live music. Tonight their initial offering was an emphatic success.

As the audience settled into expectant silence, the ensemble of musicians struck up the White Swan prelude and moments later Michele Wiles (above, in rehearsal) made Odette’s iconic entrance to a burst of applause. Then Charles Askegard stepped onstage; the audience greeted him affectionately. The two dancers look so very fine together, with Michele’s long limbs shaping the classic poses with finesse and Charles giving a textbook lesson in the art of partnering: ardent but never fussy. Their partnership immediately made me start making a list of works I want to see them dance together: the BAYADERE Shades pas de deux comes first.

The first half of the evening was devoted to the classics and to Tchaikovsky; Ballet Next‘s musical director Elad Kabilio and his fellow musicians now introduced the Act III pas de deux from SLEEPING BEAUTY. San Francisco Ballet‘s delicious petite etoile Maria Kochetkova was exquisite as Aurora and New York City Ballet’s Joaquin de Luz was her blindingly handsome Prince. Their partnership had the youthful charm and elegance that makes the balletomane’s heart beat the faster; they held their finely-shaped final fish dive (of three) to the delight of the crowd. In their solos, the two dancers swept thru the demands with flair, re-uniting for a bravura coda. Their lovely performance extended to their gracious bows.

From ABT, soloists Misty Copeland (rehearsal image, above) and Jared Matthews gave a joyous, space-filling performance of Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. The Joyce stage could barely contain their ebullient dancing; their easy rapport as partners and the speed and clarity of their solo dancing won the audience’s vociferous approval.

Following the intermission, Ms. Kochetkova re-appeared in a whimsical costume: pink body tights, a head-wrap, and half a tutu. She danced a Jorma Elo solo entitled ONE OVERTURE set to music of Mozart and Biber. This solo calls for pure classical technique applied in off-kilter, witty combinations as the dancer occasionally whisks offstage only to re-appear. In the pit, Ben Laude switched from piano to harpsichord for an authentic Baroque texture. The choreography is clever and unusual but the piece is a trifle too long.

For Satie, Mr. Laude reverts to the piano and the curtain rises on New York City Ballet principal Jennie Somogyi with Charles Askegard (rehearsal photo, above) to dance a Margo Sappington duet, ENTWINED. This work is stylized in its shaping but there are erotic undercurrents in play, as one might expect from the choreographer who gave us Oh! Calcutta! The two dancers, in sleek body tights, look fantastic together. I hope Ms. Somogyi is at the top of Ballet Next‘s list of dancers for future return engagements; there are so many things I would love to see her dance. It was fun to see Ms. Sappington joining the dancers onstage at the end.

Misty Copeland then returned to dance a solo, ONE, choreographed by Robert Sher-Machherndl to music by Max Richter. In this solo, Misty showed off the power of both her technique and her ability to hold the audience in the palm of her hand. The choreography was not memorable, and the piece went on a bit longer than necessary, but as a vehicle for the dancer all was well.

Above: Michele and Misty taking a break at rehearsal.

The musicians then struck up Vivaldi’s beloved La Follia and the curtain rose on Michele Wiles and Drew Jacoby crouching in a pool of light. The two leggy ballerinas then took off in Mauro Bigonzetti’s demanding and fast-paced choreography, dancing in sync or in solo passages. Bigonzetti keeps throwing steps and gestures at the two girls; they take it all in stride and keep sailing on the music.

“Faster!”, Drew Jacoby (above, in the studio) called out to the musicians at a rehearsal I attended, although she was already moving at high velocity. In her solo Michele spun some silky pirouettes; there’s some very quirky footwork in the finale which then seems to evaporate at the girls return to their opening pose.

Above: Michele Wiles rehearsing the Bigonzetti.

As all the dancers came out to bow, I was thinking of the endless possibilities for future Ballet Next programmes. With their extensive network of friends who are also great dancers, Michele and Charles can call upon stellar line-ups in the wink of an eye. There’s a vast store of established works that they can dance, both popular and forgotten, which will fare well in their live-music settings. And there are many choreographers I’d like to see them working with – Jessica Lang, Melissa Barak, Emery LeCrone, Edwaard Liang, Andonis Foniadakis, Pontus Lidberg, Justin Peck and Luca Veggetti come immediately to mind. Let’s see what’s next for Ballet Next.

The rehearsal photos included here are by Nir Arieli.

November 21, 2011
Fall for Dance 2011 Program II

Above: Clifton Brown and Yuan Yuan Tan in Kokyat’s image from a rehearsal of Jessica Lang’s AMONG THE STARS. More photos from this rehearsal will be found here.

Sunday October 30, 2011 – The Fall for Dance 2011 festival continues with:

PROGRAM II
Vertigo Dance Company, Mana (adapted for Fall for Dance); Noa Wertheim, choreographer
Drew Jacoby, Bloom; Andrea Miller (Artistic Director of Gallim Dance), choreographer
Jessica Lang Dance, Among the Stars; Jessica Lang, choreographer
Richard Alston Dance Company, Roughcut; Richard Alston, choreographer

In Noa Wertheim’s MANA (photo above by Gadi Dagon), Vertigo Dance Company from Israel featured eight dancers in dark-toned long tunics, skirts and wide-legged trousers dancing before a beautifully lit silhouette/facade thru the door of which they come and go. With folk-like motifs of circular patterns and casually organized duets, the movement feels both spontaneous and ritualistic. Ran Bagno’s mid-East fusion score is rhythmically varied with some quirkly instrumentation; it is pleasantly innocuous and eventually unmemorable. The dancing was excellent and the dancers deserved the enthusiastic response of the audience, but the work would make a more persuasive statement if it were pared down a bit. It gives the impression of someone who goes on talking after his point has already been made.

The imperial contemporary ballerina Drew Jacoby (this year’s calendar girl for Fall for Dance, in a Lois Greenfield photo above) then danced a new solo created on her by Gallim Dance‘s Andrea Miller. Entitled BLOOM, set to music of Radiohead, the solo finds the dancer on a blue-lit stage in a gossamer cerise frock; dancing bare-footed rather than in toe-shoes gives the ballerina a vulnerable look. Swirling thru windswept patterns that propel her around the space, Drew is restless and relentless. Elements of classic ballet technique are subtly spun into the choreography – big jete, attitude turns – and are executed at high velocity. In moments of relative calm the dancer seems aware of the audience but is then propelled on her way again, at times almost against her will. The curtain falls but Drew continues to dance at the lip of the stage and eventually sails back into the re-opened space. The solo personifies the dancer as a force of nature and is a wonderful Drew Jacoby portrait; we get to see Drew again at the Festival in Pontus Lidberg’s Faune (November 1st & 2nd).

Yuan Yuan Tan, principal ballerina of San Francisco Ballet, and Clifton Brown, beloved Alvin Ailey star since 1999 and now a guest artist with that Company, created quite a stir as they danced Jessica Lang’s mystically luminous duet for star-crossed lovers, AMONG THE STARS. Above, the two dancers at a recent studio rehearsal, photographed by Kokyat.

The duet draws upon the legend (found in many cultures) of Altair, a lowly herdsman who dared to love Vega, daughter of a goddess. They are punished by being transformed into stars separated by the vast river of the Milky Way, But it is said that the Goddess of Heaven, out of pity, decided to let them unite once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month as she was touched by their devotion.

Poetic images of tenderness and longing fill this pas de deux, which Ms. Lang has set to music of Ryuichi Sakamoto. Yuan Yuan Tan and Clifton Brown danced with poignant lyricism, the ballerina’s compelling technical mastery wedded to her delicately nuanced gesture and expression while Mr. Brown was the epitome of masculine grace. The audience, spellbound by the piece and by these two magnificent artists, erupted in a frenzied ovation as the dancers stepped forward to bow.

ROUGHCUT, performed by the Richard Alston Dance Company, closed the evening. It was perhaps impossible to imagine something that could follow the sublime dancing of the Lang duet; in the event the Alston piece gave the right counter-balance of mood but stretched out beyond its viability as the choreographer worked to fill the two long Steve Reich pieces with dance. In the end it seemed too much of a good thing.

Clarinetist Roger Heaton and guitarist James Woodrow played the demanding Reich scores live, standing at either side of the proscenium. The nine Alston dancers gave unstinting energy and flair to the choreographer’s spirited, driven combinations, soaring about the stage in spacious leaps and turns. There were passages of near-respite in some solo and duet segments but the onrush of movement never abated. As the dancers were rightly hailed at the end, I was thinking how much ROUGHCUT reminded me of some of David Parsons’ fast-paced works. But David would have known when to get out the scissors.

October 30, 2011
AMONG THE STARS/Rehearsal Gallery

These are some of Kokyat’s images from a rehearsal of Jessica Lang’s pas de deux AMONG THE STARS. The work was being prepared for two performances at New York City Center as part of the 2011 Fall for Dance Festival. Yuan Yuan Tan, principal ballerina from San Francisco Ballet, and Clifton Brown, who danced with the Alvin Ailey Company for over a decade and now appears with them as a guest artist, premiered the duet together in 2010. The music is by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

These images are from a studio rehearsal on October 28, 2011. Details of the Fall for Dance performance of AMONG THE STARS, which drew ecstatic applause from the packed house, will appear here shortly.

All photos by Kokyat.

October 29, 2011
Fall for Dance 2011 Program I

Photo: Fabrice Calmels and Victoria Jaiani of The Joffrey Ballet in Edwaard Liang’s WOVEN DREAMS.

Thursday October 27, 2011 – At the superbly renovated New York City Center, the annual Fall for Dance festival opened tonight with four companies participating:

PROGRAM I
Mark Morris Dance Group, All Fours, Mark Morris
Lil Buck, The Swan, Lil Buck
Trisha Brown Dance Company, Rogues, Trisha Brown
The Joffrey Ballet, Woven Dreams, choreographed by Edwaard Liang

The main reason I went tonight was to see the Edwaard Liang piece (photo at the top) and I enjoyed every second of his WOVEN DREAMS – and so, it seems, did the rest of the crowd who quietly “ooooohed” and “aaaaahed” throughout the ballet and then lavished the Joffrey dancers with sustained applause at the end. If Edwaard had taken a curtain call, that would have been the crowning touch. But he’s too modest. We did see him during intermission and he looks – if possible – handsomer and more fit than ever. I’d give anything to see him dancing again. But the life of a choreographer certainly seems to agree with him, and we need his choreography.

But to start at the beginning of the evening, as the musicians took their seats to play the Bartok quartet #4 for Mark Morris’s ALL FOURS, I thought maybe this was a piece that would revive my admiration for the choreographer. Back in the 1980s we trekked several times to see Mark Morris at the Pillow and always loved what he was was doing; but over the years it seems to me that he’s run out of creative steam. ALL FOURS, from 2003, avoids the cliche Morris moves – fanny wiggles, pelvic thrusts, waving arms – for the most part. Much of the piece is given over to structured walking about; there’s a good duet for two guys and a nice quartet. The dancers all did well, but as the work passed by it seemed that the same motifs kept cropping up; in the end the waving arms made their appearance. The piece was politely received, but the musicians were vigorously saluted at the end: Jesse Mills and George Valtchev (violins), Jessica Troy )viola) and Wolfram Koessel (cello).

In the solo THE SWAN, Lil Buck (above) performed his unique fusion choreography to Camille Saint-Saens’ classic Dying Swan: imagine morphing Michael Jackson and Maya Plisestskaya. At first there was some laughter as the street-clad dancer moved in a pool of light, but this quickly turned to admiring sighs and bursts of applause as Lil Buck rose onto the ‘pointes’ of his sneakers. With cellist Joshua Roman and harpist Rita Hequibal Printup rendering the familiar Saint-Saens melody onstage, a few feet away from the dancer, the piece made a cohesive statement of music and movement. True to Isadora Duncan’s ‘rule’ that no dance work should exceed five minutes in duration, it seemed to me that Lil Buck really had something to say. A few toffs turned their noses up but the overwhelming response was whooping enthusiasm.

Trisha Brown’s Rogues features two men – one tall, one short – dancing mostly in sync to a whimsical score by Alvin Curran. From a frenzy of buzzing insects, the music switches to piano, then some sort of electronic pipe, and then harmonica. The two dancers, Neal Beasley and Lee Serle, were genial and moved smoothly thru the choreography of this pleasant duet.

After a pause while the huge basket-weave drapery for the Liang piece was hung, the large contingent of Joffrey dancers took the stage for WOVEN DREAMS.

Looking at the Playbill, my first thought that Edwaard was using too many different composers but then: the soudtrack of a dream is never predictable. Thus he was able to develop this six-movement ballet using music of Ravel, Galasso, Britten and Gorecki. Throughout the piece, Edwaard’s musicality and sense of structure – the keys to success of a large-scale work – were ever evident as was his daring sense of pushing the dancers to extremes of technique and partnering. As the work unfolded, the Joffrey dancers delivered everything Edwaard asked of them with a combination of energy and artistry that seemed perfectly aligned to both the music and the choreography.

Central to the ballet is a radiant two-part adagio danced by Victoria Jaiani and Fabrice Calmels (photo at the top of this article). As sometimes happens in dreams, this duet is interrupted by an unrelated passage (more about that shortly) but then the couple seem to pick up where they’d left off.

A choreographer could not ask for two more beautiful and expressive dancers than Ms. Jaiani and Mr. Calmels; the latter’s magnificent physique, long powerful arms and splendid line served as a tower of strength for his radiant partner. Together they moved thru the flowing style of Edwaard’s adagio, making the seemingly impossible partnering motifs look seamlessly grand. The underlying feeling of physical risk keeps the viewer entranced while the dancers’ sense of lyricism sustained the dreamlike atmosphere.

Between the two pas de deux segments, Edwaard interjects what seemed to me the most brillliant scherzo: a quintet of men suddenly appear before a lime-green background to dance a remarkable pas de cinq to the pizzicato movement from Benjamin Britten’s SIMPLE SYMPHONY. Here Edwaard finds a contemporary accent to the classic ballet vocabulary which male dancers have ‘spoken’ for decades. With its choreographic freshness and touches of subtle wit, this quintet lasted just long enough to leave us craving more. The Joffrey men gave their dancing an extra splash of darkish vibrancy.

In the larger-scale passages of the outer movements, all 20+ of the Joffrey dancers showed an intrinsic vitality and a willingness to follow Edwaard’s lead into exploring new combinations and patterns. The cumulative effect of the ballet and the way the floating woven tapestry was brought into play seemed to vastly please the packed house and there was enthusiastic applause at the end; I think if Edwaard had appeared onstage he would have been greeted as a rockstar. Which he is, in my book.

Above: Kokyat’s photo of the facade of the newly-renovated New York City Center.

On with the Festival! And thank you, Helene Davis.

October 27, 2011
MORPHOSES: BACCHAE @ The Joyce

Wednesday October 26, 2011 – MORPHOSES presents its production of Luca Veggetti’s BACCHAE at The Joyce. The work draws inspiration from – but is not a literal setting of – Euripides’ ancient Greek tragedy. Composer Paolo Aralla and flautist Erin Lesser are major forces in this creation, with lighting by Roderick Murray and costumes by Mr. Veggetti and Benjamin Briones. In the top photo: dancer Gabrielle Lamb.

Luca Veggetti’s BACCHAE is a dancework which summons up images of both the rites of the Bacchae – those wild women driven to ecstacy in their worship of Dionysus – and the death of the Theban King Pentheus at their hands. Set in a space surrounded in black silk drapery, the ballet takes on a funereal tone as the abstracted narrative moves to its brutal climax. The sudden exposure of the rear brick wall near the end draws us back to reality, awakening from a nighmare of deception and murder.

In a prologue, a puppet (skillfully manipulated by an actor all in black) mimes sets forth themes of the Dionysian rituals to which the Bacchae subscribe. At the dress rehearsal this device seemed to me not to work very well, but it the performance it was surprisingly effective.

But we have already met Dionysus by this time; as in the play, ‘he’ is the first player to appear: Euripides describes his appearance and demeanor as feminine, and Luca Veggetti casts a female – Frances Chiarverini (above) – in the role. Frances is a mistress of the Veggetti style which calls for fluid movement, maintaining a steady flow of motion through knees that are often bent, keeping the body low to the floor. Pivoting and sliding across the space as the hands and arms cut thru the air in angled gestures, the effect can be spiderlike and in this darkish setting seemed almost ominous.

As King Pentheus, the antagonist of the disguised god and who is determined to end the Bacchic rites, Adrian Danchig-Waring (above) brought magnificent presence and powerful dancing to the role. Lured into the trap Dionysus sets for him – an invitation to witness the Bacchae at their rituals – Adrian’s Pentheus is seduced and betrayed to his death.

The two-part pas de deux of Pentheus and his cousin Dionysus is a central aspect of BACCHAE, danced with a powerful sense of give-and-take by Adrian and Frances (above).

The third major character in the drama is Agave, the mother of Pentheus, who unwittingly murders her son after he is caught secretly witnessing the Dionysian revels of the Bacchae. Gabrielle Lamb’s passionate sense of drama – seemingly a natural gift rather than something she’s developed – was vividly projected through both her intense facial expressiveness and her superbly limber body.

The idea of a traditional Greek chorus is adapted here with an ensemble of excellent dancers who weave themselves into the dramatic situations, often appearing or vanishing under the hems of the silken drapes.

As one of the Bacchae, dancer Yusha-Marie Sorzano (above) carries a stick – a reference to the first confrontation between the Bacchae and the soldiers of Pentheus who were sent to shut down their celebrations and bring order out of chaos. The women, using only sticks, were able to fend off the armed guards thru the fervour of their passionate loyalty to Dionysus. In an ensemble, the woman swipe and flourish their sticks thru the air, moving to the swooshing sounds in aggressive stances.

In the opening scene, standing on the sounding platform which is a central element of the work, flautist Erin Lesser (above) evokes the shifting winds of time as she breathes and even speaks across the mouthpiece of her enormous contrabass flute. Throughout this long ‘aria’, Ms. Lesser’s energies and technical skills seemed to re-double from one passage to the next…

…while in the final scene, she re-appears playing her silver flute as Agave/Gabrielle ponders her violent act.

Luca Veggetti and his collegues have crafted a work that is unlike any other, a unique and evocative summoning of an ancient tale that speaks clearly to us of the vanity of gods and the fervor of their followers which can so often go to extremes. Very apt for today’s world.

More of Kokyat’s images from this production appear here.

I felt it was of tremendous benefit to my enjoyment of the evening that I took the time to read the Euripides play before attending. The ballet, which lasts a little over an hour, seemed too short in a way; I wanted more.

So good to see Arlene Cooper, Giorgia Bovo, Emery LeCrone and Justin Peck among the audience this evening.

Synopsis of the dancework:

“Dionysus, the god of wine, prophecy, religious ecstasy, and fertility returns to his birthplace in Thebes in order to clear his mother’s name and punish the insolent city-state for refusing to allow people to worship him.

King Pentheus of Thebes has declared illegal the Bacchic rituals initiated by his cousin Dionysus. As these rituals represent a threat to social order, King Pentheus orders his soldiers to violently suppress them.

Dionysus begins the long process of trapping Pentheus, leading him to his death. He convinces the intrigued and excited king to witness the rituals and volunteers to help him clandestinely observe the highly secretive all-female gatherings.

Dionysus, manipulating the situation, orders the Bacchic worshippers, including the king’s mother Agave, to attack the now vulnerable ruler. As he falls, Pentheus reaches for his mother’s face but Agave, driven mad by Dionysus, proceeds to rip her son limb from limb.”

MORPHOSES dancers:

Sarah Atkins

Yusha-Marie Sorzano

Brittany Fridenstine-Keefe

Frances Chiaverini

Gabrielle Lamb

Emma Pfaeffle

Christopher Bordenave

Brandon Cournay

Adrian Danchig-Waring

Willy Laury

Morgan Lugo

Watch an brief BACCHAE video here.

Kokyat and I have followed the creation of BACCHAE from the audition process thru a preview evening (where the mystical ‘sound platform’ was introduced) to a recent studio rehearsal. Luca Veggetti and MORPHOSES artistic director Lourdes Lopez have graciously given us an insider’s look at their creative process, and the dancers have been so kind and generous as we eavesdropped on their work.

October 26, 2011
Nicole Corea

Over the past few months, Kokyat has had the opportunity to photograph some of the most beautiful and expressive dancers in our City. One for whom he and I share a special affection and admiration is Nicole Corea, a member of the prestigious Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. Nicole recently danced a solo created on her by choreographer Ursula Verduzco; entitled Nothing to Hide, the solo is set to music of Yann Tiersen. These images by Kokyat are from a rehearsal of the piece on October 18th, 2011.

We’re looking forward to seeing Nicole performing with the Lubovitch Company during their season at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, November 9th thru the 20th. Ticket information here.

October 23, 2011
Rehearsal: Janusphere Dance Company

Thursday September 29, 2011 – On October 7th and 8th, Janusphere Dance Company will present DEVELOPING HORIZONS at the Ellen Stewart Theatre (aka LaMaMa), 66 East 4th Street. Ticket information here. Works choreographed by Darion Smith (the Company’s director), Selina Chau and Danielle Genest will be performed. Since Kokyat and I are unable to attend the performances, Darion very kindly arranged for us to watch a rehearsal tonight at the DANY studios. Above: Marie Lorena Fichaux and Milan Misko.

It’s always nice to walk into a studio and see people we know: Milan Misko, Leyland Simmons, Selina Chau and Luke Manley. The dancers new to us each all made excellent individual impressions and we’ll look forward to seeing them again. Darion’s choreography is demanding both in terms of technique and partnering; the dancers worked tirelessly throughout the three hour rehearsal while Kokyat recorded their work with his two cameras.

Matt Van Buskirk

Anne-Sophie Rodriguez and Marie Lorena Fichaux

Leyland Simmons

Misei Daimaru and Luke Manley

Marie Lorena Fichaux and Milan Misko

Choreographer Selina Chau with dancer So Young An. Selina has created an expressive solo entitled Ashley on this lovely young dancer. They worked together on developing the gestural nuances that are the key to the solo.

So Young An

So Young An in Selina Chau’s Ashley

Anne-Sophie Rodriguez, Milan Misko

Eun Jung Jung, Luke Manley

Milan Misko, Marie Lorena Fichaux

Luke Manley, Misei Daimaru

Milan Misko, Marie Lorena Fichaux

Darion Smith

All photos by Kokyat.

September 29, 2011
UNION JACK @ NYC Ballet

Tuesday September 27, 2011 – When I think of my ‘top 25’ ballets by George Balanchine, UNION JACK is not on the list. I like to see it once in a while (mainly because you get to see so many dancers we love all in one fell swoop) but it doesn’t compare to things like SERENADE, FOUR TEMPERAMENTS or SYMPHONY IN C mainly because the musical score is just a melange of sea shanties, British naval themes and folk tunes strung together with filler by Hershy Kay. But it suits Balanchine’s purposes well for this ballet, inspired by the military tattoo he saw in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Tonight, serving as the second half of a programme which opened with the new OCEAN’S KINGDOM, UNION JACK seemed like the most fantastic bloody masterpiece ever made. A lineup of superstar principal dancers led the various regiments onto the stage in Balanchine’s superbly crafted processional in which seemingly every available corps de ballet member and most of the soloists are pressed into kilts to fill the stage.

One after another, beloved dancers marched into view: Joaquin de Luz, Charles Askegard, Abi Stafford, Jared Angle, Janie Taylor, Wendy Whelan and Maria Kowroski. Corny as it may sound, I simply loved seeing them all onstage together: these are people who have given me so many fantastic nights of dancing over the years. I love them both as artists and as personalities. As they stepped out in the ensuing solos and duets, the lingering gloom induced by OCEAN’S KINGDOM vanished. We were back with our Company and all seemed right with the world again.

Later, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Veyette appeared in the dance hall interlude as the Pearly King and his Queen. They were sweet, silly and sly…and meanwhile they both danced very well too.

In the final segment, super-soloists Adam Hendrickson and Sean Suozzi joined Wendy Whelan for some loose-limbed high-jinx. Joaquin flirted with Abi and Janie and the three of them whisked about the stage with efffortless comic bravura. Jared and Chuck looked terrific, and then Mrs. Harvey (aka Maria K) came strutting along the quarterdeck as a high-kicking Wren.

UNION JACK might not be the greatest Balanchine ballet but as an antidote to the evening’s earlier offering it was sheer perfection. Several people around me stood up to cheer at the end as the NYCB all-stars came before the curtain to bow.

September 27, 2011
The Dancers of BalaSole’s SPECTRE

Above: Julie Halpin, one of the dancers who appeared in BalaSole‘s SPECTRE which was presented at Ailey Citigroup Theater. Kokyat photographed the participating artists at the dress rehearsal on September 24th. Details of this programme, which gathered dancers from diverse backgrounds, will be found here.

Here are some of Kokyat’s images of the individual dancers:

Lauren Putty

Ellena Takos

Daisuke Omiya

Jasmine Domfort

Allison Kimmel

Gierre Godley

Cailin Murtha

Ren Xin Lee

Peter Mills

Courtney J Cook

Roberto Villanueva

All photos by Kokyat. Visit a Facebook gallery of his dance images here.

September 24, 2011
BalaSole @ Ailey Citigroup Theater

Saturday September 24, 2011 – Earlier this year we discovered BalaSole, the brainchild of dancer/choreographer Roberto Villanueva. In a series of concerts, Roberto brings together dance artists of varied backgrounds and provides them with a platform to show their work both as creators and dancers. For his July 2011 presentation, Roberto had assembled a very interesting mix of dancers and styles; for tonight’s showing, entitled SPECTRE, an equally fine line-up came together in a very appealing programme. A large and attentive audience at Ailey Citigroup Theater clearly enjoyed this well-paced and finely lit production.

Click on the images to enhance.

The participating dancers in BalaSole’s concerts win their spots in the programme thru an audition process. Entrants come from all over and they spend a week here in NYC preparing for the performances. Each BalaSole production opens and closes with an ensemble piece put together by the dancers and supervised by Roberto Villanueva. The creation of these two pieces turns a group of solo artists into a collective.

Roberto chose a setting of the familar ‘White Swan’ theme from the Tchaikovsky masterpiece for the opening and closing dances tonight; at first rendered on the celesta, the music then goes into a rather grandiose disco beat: off-putting? Not in the least…actually I thought it was a lot of fun. It gave us an opportunity to see all the dancers – clad in long black skirts – before the solo presentations started. In Kokyat’s photo above: Gierre Godley and Ellena Takos.

Following a brief pause so she could slip into costume, Lauren Putty (above) opened the procession of soloists with a space-filling solo set to a song by Sade. As with almost all the dancers, Ms. Putty’s solo was self-choreographed. Laced with vivid leaps and showing the dancer’s strong dramatic presence, this piece – entitled Reflections – got the evening off to a fine start.

Her tutu-like skirt tied in the back with a large black bow gave Ellena Takos (above) a Degas feeling but her style was contemporary, well-suited to her choice of an Alicia Keys song. I Love You, I Love You Not shows a woman in a romantic quandry, sometimes collapsing to the stage like a crushed marionette.

Daisuke Omiya from Japan has a long resume of experience as a tap dancer but now he’s working on developing a broader style of modern dance. Using an industrial-sounding track from Aphex Twin, the slender danseur moved fluently – but with an edge – in the gritty solo Life Sound which made me think at times of Marco Goecke’s contemporary classic Mopey.

Beautiful and exotic, with luminous eyes, Jasmine Domfort (above) rose from a pool of light to dance Counter Existence, set to Arvo Part’s quietly radiant Spiegel im Spiegel played by Angele Dubeau and La Pieta. Using her hands and even her hair as expressive tools, she created a highly personal atmosphere.

Allison Kimmel (above) began her solo Pursuit with a slow backbend. Dancing to music by Max Richter (excellent choice: a first-rate exponent of the contemporary-classic genre), Ms. Kimmel let the music lead her from pensive to animated as she seemed on a quest for someone or something that eluded her. We saw Allison earlier this year at TAKE Dance‘s summer intensive; we love seeing dancers we’ve seen before…

…which was another reason we were so entranced by Gierre Godley’s performance of Kept? We first saw Gierre (above) in November 2010 dancing with Eryc Taylor Dance. For Kept?, Gierre also used a Max Richter score and he danced it with an intense air of mystery. Drawing his shirt up over his face, a shroud-like image gave the work an ominous feeling; throughout, Gierre’s hands were spell-binding.

Following a brief intermission, Cailin Murtha’s solo Corner of Your Heart had a lamenting quality. Using music of Kurt Bestor and Sam Carlson, the dancer in a simple black dress conveyed an aura of regret and resignation.

Ren Xin Lee (above), dancing an excerpt from Somewhere…We Hear choreographed by Kuik Swee Boon to music of David Darling, conveyed the anxious vulnerability of a traveler in a strange land. With her heavy suitcase in tow, the dancer reminded us of the uncertainty of immigrants searching for a new life.

With his slender form clad in ripped blue-jeans, Peter Mills looked very much an au courant young man, but his solo actually had a timeless quality, greatly enhanced by the music of Dario Marianelli in which instruments from cello to musette were heard. Moving into an agitated state, the dancer’s trembling form confronted the audience directly as From Behind ended.

M.E.A.N. is a solo by Courtney J Cook in which the dancer, in dark trousers and a white shirt, fidgets nervously and paces about restlessly as she deals with a romantic breakdown. “It’s over,” says singer Jill Scott succintly. As evening falls, Ms. Cook lights up another cigarette to sooth her nerves.

Julie Halpin’s solo Alone begins with the dancer seated in a straight-back chair and wrapped in a red scarf. Music by Fire Horse propels the dancer into activity but she eventually resigns herself to her lonely vigil. For what or whom is she waiting?

Percussive fanfares precede a ritualistic yet lyrical solo danced by Roberto Villanueva in white briefs and a long sheer white veil. Set surprisingly to Chopin, this work (entitled Be) evoked images of some of Isadora Duncan’s mythic solos. Roberto danced this in a state of serene contemplation…

…kneeling silently as the drums marked the end of the rite.

All the dancers returned for a Tchaikovsky finale: a fantasy of black swans who have wandered far from the lake.

Final curtain call.

All images by Kokyat. Photos of the individual dancers here.

September 24, 2011