Category: Dance

Table of Silence 2015

Above: Christina Ilisije

Friday September 11th, 2015 – Table of Silence, choreographer Jacqulyn Buglisi’s commemoration of the events of September 11th, 2001 – and her gift of peace to the world – was performed this morning at Lincoln Center.

This year the Table of Silence seemed particularly moving for some reason; I cannot quite put my finger on it. Perhaps is is simply that, as time goes by, life becomes more and more precious to us. It was a morning to think of great friendships, including some that have been cast asunder. It was also a day to celebrate those we hold most dear, among them the one I almost lost; his recovery was nothing less than a miracle.

So despite the memories of that awful event fourteen years ago, on this day what I was feeling was mostly gratitude: for the people, the music, the dance, the beauty of the natural world, and the simple pleasures that fill my life…all of which – I have come to realize – we cannot take for granted.

“Let us live each day to the fullest, and never miss a chance to let those dearest to us know of our love for them.”

The sky was overcast for today’s Table of Silence, but I took lots of photos. Here are a few, despite a lack of clarity:

Kenny Corrigan

Lloyd Knight

Abdiel Cedric Jacobsen

There’s a Facebook album of images from today’s performance here.

September 10, 2015
Paul Taylor – Creative Domain

Above: Paul Taylor takes a bow with dancers Amy Young and Eran Bugge after a 2011 performance of CLOVEN KINGDOM; photo by Kokyat

Paul Taylor – Creative Domain, a documentary film about the great American choreographer, will open at Film Society of Lincoln Center on September 11th, 2015, with showings thru September 17th. Thereafter, the film – which centers on the creation of Taylor’s 133rd dancework, Three Dubious Memories (2010) – will be seen in cities across the USA.

The Lincoln Center showtimes may be viewed here.

August 28, 2015
The Current Sessions Volume V, Issue II

Sunday August 23rd, 2015 – I like everything about the CURRENT SESSIONS: I like the idea, I like the venue, I like like the relaxed yet attentive audience…and I’ve liked just about every work and dancer I’ve ever seen there. Alexis Convento and Allison Jones continue to put together strong programs and to offer their audience a chance to experience the work of new and mid-career choreographers in an intimate setting, with first-class lighting and sound.

In their presentations, the CURRENT SESSIONS particularly like to welcome mixed-media danceworks, and he first half of tonight’s program featured three such pieces, if one includes the lighting effects of the Niall Jones work. After the interval, pure dance took over. It was an evening of contrasting moods, with some very impressive individual performances.

In the opening work, Ashley Robicheaux & Artists offered Spaces Part II: “We, two”. My fascination with this piece began even before the dancing started, as Kane Mathis appeared and began to play his 21-string Mandinka harp. Mr. Mathis was within arm’s reach of me as he played, producing other-worldly sounds. A film commences, showing closeups of the hands and eyes of the two dancers – Ashley Robicheaux and Holly Sass. The two women emerge from the shadows, wary and seeking. They perform a mirror-image duet which evolves into intense partnering. One lifts and twirls the other; an emotional spasm is quietened. They rush about; an eventual embrace leads to the renewal of intense struggle. Passions ebb and flow, and in the end one girl pulls the other offstage as the music fades.

Joe Monteleone//Monteleone Dance‘s MK Ultra Sound derives its inspiration from Project MK Ultra, a covert CIA project involving mind control using psychotropic drugs which ran from 1953 til 1973. In the dancework, Mr. Monteleone and Shelley White dance a stylized duet against visual projections, including a woman’s face upside down. The soundscape ranges from static with a heavy beat, thru spoken ‘instructions’, fragments of song, the story of the IIlluminati. Complacency settles on the dancers: in a trance, they seem lulled into security. The movement then becomes more agile and expressive, finally calming to the sound of breathing. At last the woman seems to break down. In flickering light and shadows, the couple watch the ultrasound images of a fetus. Fleeting tenderness, then a fade to black.

Dancer Noel Genet sets the stage for his solo Solitude and Excess Features, choreographed by guest artist Niall Jones. Wearing trousers and a lace shirt, Mr. Genet first performs a spastic solo in place to the sound of silence. In a mélange of movement, the dancer reclines, rises, collapses, is weighted down, dances in the dark, writhes on the floor, jogs in place, crawls and shimmies, dances with his shadow, and concludes with an oddly graceful solo. Mr. Genet, utterly self-absorbed, gave a compelling performance; his sense of deadly earnest was soon evoking laughter from the audience. This quirky piece seemed at times like improv, but clearly it had all been thoroughly mapped out. The low-key levity of Mr. Genet’s performance sent the audience forth for intermission drinks in a congenial mood.

A deep throbbing hum heralds the arrival of Jeff Docimo//Isodoc Dance Group for an excerpt from Mr. Docimo’s Cut Crawlers. Clad in black, the five dancers crawl furtively into the space, which they explore with wary curiosity. The piece seems wrapped in shadow, with ominous thunder underscoring the mystery of this lost tribe. Amara Barner’s solo is outstanding, as is Mr. Docimo’s – which has breakdance elements impressively woven in. These two later have a duet, showing off the choreographer’s athleticism. Throughout this work, a sense of structure was amply evident: both in movement and emotional resonance, Cut Crawlers was impressive.

For her solo Bonjour Tristesse, Marissa Brown//Lone King turns with compelling rightness to the poignant music of Frédéric Chopin. Ms. Brown is seated in a folding chair, her eyes gazing intently at an unoccupied antique armchair across the diagonal from her. As the comely Ms. Brown rises from her reverie, her dancing is contemplatively physical, making excellent use of the space as movement and stillness alternate. At last, overcome by the music, she returns to her seat and to her obsession with the armchair: who had sat there? Where has that person gone? What has the dancer lost in losing that person? A beautiful and resonant work, expressively danced.

LoudHoundMovement (guest artist) closed the program with Brendan Duggan’s trio A Rib Where Her Voice Had Been, performed by Matthew Ortner, Holly Sass, and Shelby Terrell. First one woman and then the other vocalize softly. One woman dances a solo whilst the second dances a slow, almost imperceptible waltz with the man. The stage brightens, and to the sound of a big heartbeat motif, the dancers engage in a brisk trio, grasping and eluding one another and sometime lapsing into stand-still plastique. There’s a passage of 2-female partnering, with lifts and carryings; then they speak to each other in sign language as the man reclines. After he awakens, with a breakish solo, the women revert to their soft singing and then all evaporates into silence.

August 23, 2015
Graham Deconstructed: EMBATTLED GARDEN

Above: Isamu Noguchi at Versailles in the 1950s

Wednesday August 19th, 2015 – Martha Graham’s Embattled Garden (1958) is the choreographer’s re-telling of events in the Garden of Eden. The ballet is performed to a score by Carlos Surinach, with a set designed by Isamu Noguchi and costumes by Ms. Graham herself.

This evening, as part of the Martha Graham Dance Company‘s series Graham Deconstructed, a full performance of the work was given in the intimate setting of the Graham Studios at Westbeth on Bethune Street. The heat in the theatre-space seemed stifling at first, but once the dancing started such earthly concerns were forgotten.

As audience members arrived, a film of the original cast of EMBATTLED GARDEN was being shown. In her opening remarks, Janet Eilber, ever the gracious danceworld-hostess, told us that the film had been shot between a matinee and an evening performance: a time when the dancers are normally resting, eating, and gathering their strength for the second show. Thus some of the dancing is sketched in rather than full-out. Still, it’s quite a document.

Ms. Eilber spoke of the exotic characteristics of this ballet: the tropical colours of the Noguchi set, the subtle ‘Spanish’ effects of the Carlos Surinach score (to which Graham’s choreography at one point responds with a flamenco motif), and the costuming details which evoke Iberia: the two men wear toreador-style trousers and Lilith’s tortoise-shell comb looks like a peineta (the supportive part of a classic mantilla). Although Biblical references to Eden are avoided in EMBATTLED GARDEN, Lilith’s rich-red fan has always symbolized The Apple for me.

Once the capacity audience had settled in, Ms. Eilber asked the four dancers to demonstrate some of the signature passages that define their respective roles. There was then a brief pause, and the ballet was shown in its full, sensual glory.

Of the cast, only Mariya Dashkina Maddux as Eve had previously danced her role. Masha, as she is affectionately known, has recently become a mother and she returns to performing with that indefinable added glow which new-motherhood often imparts. One of the Company’s most lyrical movers, Masha as Eve found a perfect balance of pride and vulnerability.

The three dancers debuting in this ballet are Lloyd Mayor (Adam), Lauren Newman (Lilith), and Lorenzo Pagano (The Stranger); each made a vivid individual impression, and they are already putting their personal stamps on these iconic Graham roles

Lauren Newman and Lorenzo Pagano make a wonderfully conspiratorial couple: it’s all in the eyes – they seemed to be in constant visual contact no matter where they were on the stage at a given moment. Ms. Newman was seductive and self-assured, whilst Mr. Pagano looked dazzling in the athletic choreography; his Renaissance handsomeness could shift from angelic to demonic in the twinkling of an eye.

Lloyd Mayor is probably getting tired of being referred to as ‘boyishly handsome’ but…there it is. As he takes on new Graham roles, his expressiveness finds new depths. His performance as Adam was passionate, physically alluring, and lushly resonant.

This international cast – American, Italian, Ukrainian, and Swiss – were given a most enthusiastic salute of applause and cheers at the close of their performance. They had danced under sultry conditions which – as Ms. Eilber pointed out – were very suitable to the ballet’s steamy content.

I felt that many in the crowd were seeing EMBATTLED GARDEN for the first time. And some may even have been having their first-ever Graham experience: I have no doubt they will be back for more.

August 19, 2015
Claudia Schreier & Company @ Ailey Citigroup

Above: Amber Neff and Drew Grant dancing with Claudia Schreier & Company at Ailey Citigroup Theatre; photo by Nir Arieli

Saturday August 8th, 2015 – Exactly one year ago tonight, Claudia Schreier won the Breaking Glass Project’s competition for female choreographers with her brilliant ballet, HARMONIC. Her prize was to present a full evening of her own work at Ailey Citigroup Theatre, and that prize was claimed tonight as five of Claudia’s works were performed by an array dancers drawn together specially for the occasion.

The evening was an unalloyed triumph for all concerned, including two contemporary composers whose works were choreographed by Claudia (Jeff Beal and Douwe Eisenga – both of them were present and took a bow at the end); the choral group Tapestry who performed live for the ballet VIGIL; a chamber quartet playing Jeff Beal’s score for ALMOST MORNING live, and – of course – the superb ensemble of dancers.

Above: the chamber musicians, with dancers Amber Neff and Drew Grant, in ALMOST MORNING

When we first started watching House of Cards, my partner and I were very much taken with Jeff Beal’s score: “…this music would make a great ballet!” And now it’s come to pass: ALMOST MORNING is set to an original score composed for Ms. Schreier by the multi-Emmy Award-winning Mr.Beal. Six dancers appear in a series of overlapping duets interspersed among ensemble passages. The music pulses and percolates, but can also turn moody or melodious along the way. The musicians – Kieran Ledwidge (violin), Tia Allen (viola), Kirin McElwain (cello) and Ta-Wei Yu (piano) – delivered the score with propulsive assurance.

The choreographer responds to this music with movement that has a broad overall sweep but also features countless felicitous and original touches. Amber Neff is thrice tossed into the air, spiraling before being caught by her partner Drew Grant; the blondes – Kaitlyn Gilliland and Elizabeth Claire Walker – dance in tandem; and a sustained duo for Ms. Walker and Mr. Grant is particularly striking. A pas de trois for Ms. Neff, Francis Lawrence, and Da’Von Doane progresses to a pensive solo danced by the incomparable Kaitlyn Gilliland. There are stretches of visual polyphony; the dancers form a circle before sweeping into a triple pas de deux set to the score’s most lyrical theme. Then the dancers rush off in the end, leaving the stage to the musicians.

The conclusion of the ballet triggered the first of the evening’s enthusiastic ovations: having observed ALMOST MORNING in a keen state of silence, the audience demonstrated their approval for both the music and the dancing in no uncertain terms. And this was only the beginning.

The evening continued on its soaring trajectory with HARMONIC, the ballet to Douwe Eisenga’s stimulating score which clinched the prize for Claudia Schreier at last year’s Breaking Glass competition. HARMONIC was originally created by Ms. Schreier in 2013 for the Columbia Ballet Collaborative, and was subsequently re-staged for Craig Salstein’s Intermezzo Dance Company, who performed it at Vassar College in March 2014. Inspired by Mr. Eisenga’s magical score, HARMONIC is a contemporary ballet that seems built to last.

Tonight HARMONIC received a mesmerizing performance, with ABT’s entrancing Stephanie Williams displaying marvelous technique and a particularly attractive presence. Earlier this month, Stephanie danced – splendidly – for Joshua Beamish at The Joyce. The principal male role here was taken by Dance Theatre of Harlem’s intrepid Da’Von Doane; Da’Von danced in four ballets tonight and, after a long day of tech/dress/performance, he seemed totally fresh at the end of the evening and looked ready to repeat the whole programme. Strength and stamina are essential, but when you add Da’Von’s stunning physique, impeccable partnering, generosity of spirit, and his intangible gift for making everything seem right with the world, you have a paragon.

Da’Von’s dancing with Ms. Williams (above) was electrifying to behold, for they are well-matched in terms of both daring and allure.

One could say there are no supporting roles in Claudia Schreier’s ballets: she puts demands on everyone involved in a given work and then rewards them with opportunities to shine. Thus tonight in HARMONIC, Amber Neff and Elinor Hitt were utterly essential; they danced their hearts out, and basked beautifully in those passages of being partnered by Da’Von. Again, the audience response was thunderous.

More images from HARMONIC:

Elinor Hitt

Stephanie Williams

A new production of Ms. Schreier’s 2009 ballet ANOMIE is imbued with a striking atmosphere of lyricism and poetry. Set to the heartfelt beauty of César Franck’s Prelude, Fugue and Variation…

…ANOMIE opens (above) with New York City Ballet’s distinctive Lydia Wellington posed in Daniel Applebaum’s arms in a pool of light; Lydia slowly unfolds and the ballet begins its beautiful flight. In addition to the abounding artistry of this wonderfully simpatico City Ballet duo, we could also savor the ever-vivid clarity of Amber Neff’s dancing, the aristocratic face and silken line of Elizabeth Claire Walker, and the handsomely assured presence of Drew Grant.

Elizabeth Claire Walker (above) with Drew Grant…

Elizabeth Claire Walker and Daniel Applebaum

All five dancers appear in a diagonal, with a canonic dramatic port de bras motif, before Lydia Wellington and Daniel Applebaum meet again to end the ballet as in a fading dream.

I can’t resist sharing more of Nir Arieli’s images from ANOMIE:

Daniel Applebaum and Elizabeth Claire Walker

Lydia Wellington, aloft

Daniel Appebaum and Elizabeth Claire Walker: a most congenial partnership

Daniel Applebaum and Lydia Wellington

Lydia Wellington and Daniel Applebaum

Following the interval, the atmosphere became spiritual as Vigil, a pas de deux danced by Elinor Hitt and Da’Von Doane to sacred choral music by Tomás Luis de Victoria and Sergei Rachmaninoff which was performed live onstage by the 20-member choir Tapestry. The singers, clad in black, arranged themselves in a semi-circle around the dance-space; they are a wonderful, physically diverse group of musicians and they harmonized with a kind of gentle intensity that created an atmosphere of both reverence and hope.

Above from VIGIL, danced by Elinor Hitt and Da’Von Doane

Ms. Hitt was one of the revelations of the evening; her jazzy dancing in HARMONIC made us think of her as an extroverted allegro dancer, yet in VIGIL she displayed a poignantly expressive adagio style that put me in mind of Sara Mearns’ elegiac luminosity. It almost goes without saying that Da’Von Doane achieved another miracle of control, strength, and grace here; the partnership had a gorgeous flow and resonance, so finely attuned to the music. The dancers seemed angel-like in their white costumes, and their shaping of Ms. Schreier’s port de bras and the heavenly quality of the duet’s numerous lifts really cast a spell. The performance moved me to tears.

More of Nir Arieli’s images from VIGIL:

PULSE, a driving full-company work, is set to Dutch composer Douwe Eisenga‘s marvelous Piano Concerto: I. With her customary flair for visualizing the music, Claudia Schreier molded the Eisenga score into another fascinating dancework: as exciting as HARMONIC, but bigger and splashier. In its dynamic thrust, PULSE reminded me at times of Robbins’s GLASS PIECES.

Claudia’s full contingent of dancers took the stage for this impressively-structured ballet, and there were some dancers in the cast we hadn’t seen earlier in the evening, including New York City Ballet soloist Lauren King (above); always a welcome sight onstage, Lauren danced with her trademark mixture of lyricism and edge: a combination that always makes her so exciting to watch. Also appearing in PULSE were Nayara Lopes and Craig Wasserman, vivid dancers who I wish we could have seen more of over the course of the evening.

Da’Von Doane’s opening solo in PULSE showed yet another facet of this dancer…a dancer to whom the word “amazing” can most truly be applied. The solo becomes an echo-duet for Da’Von and Craig Wasserman…

…with motifs later taken up by the male ensemble (above): Da’Von, Craig, Daniel,and Francis.

PULSE plunges forward, Claudia Schreier’s choreography ever-attentive to the nuances of the Eisenga score. At one moment, an air of mystery pervades only to surrender to the inevitable forward impetus of the music. There’s a buildup as waves of dancers enter…

…and then suddenly we are lured into a solo passage for Kaitlyn Gilliland (above), dancing with goddess-like authority. Lines of dancers along a right-angle converge…

…and then Lauren King and Da’Von Doane (above) meet up for a duet, followed by other fleeting episodes. The women dance as a group, and then the men, and then everyone, as PULSE sprints to the finish line: a perfect finale for a grand evening of dance.

Amber Neff and Da’Von Doane in PULSE: “We could have danced all night…in fact, we did!” To the dancers, one and all, heaps of roses and buckets of iced champagne.

The performance ended with a colossal standing ovation and a din of cheers; the enthusiasm poured out into the lobby where the audience seemed reluctant to take leave after such an extraordinary evening. Although I have been following Claudia Schreier’s work for a few seasons, I must say that experiencing a full programme of her choreography surpassed my expectations, which were very high indeed. In addition to her enviable ability to choose just the right music and fill it with meaningful movement, her work is blessedly free of gimmicks or self-indulgence. Claudia knows the value of not over-extending her ideas, so that after each piece we are left wanting more.

All photo by Nir Arieli, with my sincere thanks for his patience and his artistry.

August 9, 2015
Upcoming: Joshua Beamish/MOVE: the company

Above: Joshua Beamish, photo by David Cooper

Joshua Beamish/Move: the company will be at The Joyce August 4th and 5th, 2015; the performances are part of The Joyce’s Ballet Festival 2015.

Joshua, who recently appeared as one of Wendy Whelan’s choreographer/partners for her RESTLESS CREATURE project, brings a diverse program to The Joyce. Featured works are the U.S. premiere of burrow, a duet for Royal Ballet dancers Matthew Ball and Nicol Edmonds, and the world premiere of Surface Properties, an ensemble work performed by ten dancers from American Ballet Theatre to a score by Mark Mellits and Michael Gordon. Also on the program are excerpts from Pierced, Beamish’s 2013 piece exploring the darker side of love.

On July 30th, Joshua invited me down to the Martha Graham studios on Bethune Street where he showed me a run-thru of Surface Properties. This was only the second time that the dancers went thru the entire piece; it’s a big-scale and very active ballet, and the Mellits/Gordon score is propulsive and wonderfully danceable. Alternating full-ensemble passages with a series of fleeting solos and pas de deux, trois, et quatre, the work sustains our interest in its complex and sometimes whimsical partnering, unexpected match-ups of dancers, stylized port de bras elements, and unabashed physicality.

The dancers, who rarely have a chance to do anything like this at ABT, leapt enthusiastically into this fresh experience, embracing the non-stop movement with technical brilliance and affording an opportunity to savor both their dancing and their personalities at close range. They are a super bunch: Zhongjing Fang, Isadora Loyola, Luciana Paris, Lauren Post, Cassandra Trenary, Stephanie Williams, Sterling Baca, Grayson Davis, Jose Sebastian, and Roman Zhurbin.

I look forward to seeing Surface Properties, costumed and lit, on The Joyce stage.

July 30, 2015
Lydia Johnson’s WHAT COUNTS on Vimeo

Above: Blake Hennessy-York and Sarah Pon of Lydia Johnson Dance rehearsing WHAT COUNTS

A hit at its New York City premiere performances in June, 2015, choreographer Lydia Johnson’s WHAT COUNTS is now available for watching on Vimeo. Tune in here.

The jazzy score comes to us from The Bad Plus, and the ballet is performed by a quintet of Lydia Johnson Dance’s distinctive dancers: Sarah Pon, Blake Hennessy-York, Laura DiOrio, Katie Martin-Lohiya, and Chazz Fenner-McBride.

July 30, 2015
Lydia Johnson’s WHAT COUNTS on Vimeo

Above: Blake Hennessy-York and Sarah Pon of Lydia Johnson Dance rehearsing WHAT COUNTS

A hit at its New York City premiere performances in June, 2015, choreographer Lydia Johnson’s WHAT COUNTS is now available for watching on Vimeo. Tune in here.

The jazzy score comes to us from The Bad Plus, and the ballet is performed by a quintet of Lydia Johnson Dance’s distinctive dancers: Sarah Pon, Blake Hennessy-York, Laura DiOrio, Katie Martin-Lohiya, and Chazz Fenner-McBride.

July 29, 2015
CMS: Summer Evenings III
Above: violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky and pianist Wu Qian, featured performers at tonight’s Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center concert

Wednesday July 22nd, 2015 – Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center‘s inaugural Summer Series wrapped up this evening with a most impressive and enjoyable programme. The formula for these Summer concerts (as for all of the Society’s concerts, really) was a simple one: great music played in a wonderful space by first-rate musicians. That the series was a genuine success came as no surprise to me; and the best news is, planning for a Summer Series 2016 at CMS seems already to be in the works as I write this.

The Society draws from an A-list roster of musical artists, sometimes featuring established ensembles – such as the Amphion String Quartet who headlined the second concert in the Summer Series – and sometimes gathering together players from diverse musical backgrounds to illuminate a particular convergence of works. For tonight’s programme, pianist Wu Qian and violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky were the central figures; this husband-and-wife team (who make up two-thirds of The Sitkovetsky Trio) played in all three works. Joining them were the delightful young violinist Danbi Um, viola paragon Richard O’Neill, and the distinguished veteran cellist Laurence Lesser.

Antonín Dvořák’s Bagatelles for Two Violins, Cello, and Keyboard, Op. 47, opened the evening; this series of miniatures alternates spirited dance rhythms with soulful slower movements, all drawing upon the folk music which so often inspired the composer. Plucking cello, rhapsodic violins, and flowing piano motifs are among the attractions of these five small wonders. Wu Qian was at the keyboard, with the two violinists and Mr. Lesser’s amiable cello assuring a most appealing exploration of the unfolding thematic material which abounds in these charming, deftly scored bagatelles.

Robert Schumann’s Sonata in D minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 121 was given a remarkable performance by Mr. Sitkovetsky and Wu Qian. Although stationed in a way that seemed to preclude eye contact, the two developed an extraordinary telepathic rapport. Mr. Sitkovetsky had removed his white dinner jacket and, all in black, he proved as fascinating to watch as to hear, with expressive body English and moving in an almost choreographic response to the music.

Following a passionate, slashing start, Mr. Sitkovetsky intoned a heartfelt solo passage before the eruption of energy that propels the sonata’s first movement. The violinist’s playing is wonderfully rich, plumbing the depths of feeling with his resonant tone. For the energetic opening of the second movement, the violin/piano collaboration was rhythmically driven, though lapsing at one point into a melodious interlude.

A mandolin-like plucking motif opens the third movement, which evolves into a haunting theme: here Mr. Sitkovetsky’s Olde World sound and his ability to transform melody into poetry was at its most moving. In the final movement’s expansive variety of themes and energies, violinist and pianist were simply thrilling, causing the audience to celebrate their joint artistry with prolonged applause and calling the duo out for a second bow.

Danbi Um, in a glamorous deep emerald gown with a diamond clasp, looks as elegant as she plays. She took the first chair for the evening’s concluding Brahms (the Quintet in F minor for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 34) and, with her ravishing ascents to the upper range, graced the music at every moment. The big singing themes of this work were delivered with striking lushness by the players – Mr. Sitkovetsky and Wu Qian, violist Richard O’Neill, and cellist Laurence Lesser joining Ms. Um; they sometimes created the sonic illusion of a much larger ensemble with their plush tone.

The performance was brimming with marvelous moments, including (in the first movement) a lovely violin/viola ‘conversation’ and a luminous moment when Ms. Um, with her refined tone, passed the melody to Mr. Lesser who took it up with achingly beautiful expressiveness.

The somewhat hesitant opening of the second movement – with Mr. Lesser’s subtle plucking motif – took a few moments to bloom into melody. Mr. O’Neill, a player we can admire as much for his artistry as for his humanitarian and charitable work, had a deeply moving theme with which to entice; then Mr. Lesser’s cello took a series of ever-deepening plunges. At the piano Wu Qian’s gently lilting playing underscored the ensuing rise of the string voices. In a moment of sheer perfection, Ms. Um and Mr. O’Neill jointly tapered the movement’s final note til it vanished into the air.

After some treading in a minor key, the third movement bursts forth; the pianist continually sounds a heraldry of march-like calls to action. Later, Wu Qian’s piano segues into a more lyrical passage where she is met by the Mr. Lesser’s genial cello…but their encounter is fleeting before another onrush of almost military vigor. Things calm down again momentarily, only to surge forward again with a triumphant feeling.

A pensive – almost eerie – feeling pervades the opening of the quintet’s finale. In music that is passionate and harmonically rich, we experience a mixture of vivid dance themes and passages of almost tragic-sounding lyricism.

As our estimable ensemble of players drew the evening to its close, the audience hailed them with sincere appreciation and affection. The evening was perhaps best summarized by a remark the man seated behind me made to his wife just as the house lights went down for the Brahms: “This is the place to be!”

The Repertory:
- Dvořák Bagatelles for Two Violins, Cello, and Keyboard, Op. 47 (1878)
- Schumann Sonata in D minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 121 (1851)
- Brahms Quintet in F minor for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 34 (1862)
The Participating Artists:
Wu Qian , piano

Alexander Sitkovetsky , violin

Danbi Um , violin
Richard O’Neill , viola

Laurence Lesser , cello
July 22, 2015
BalaSole Presents SALMAGUNDI

Above: Alexandra Jacob, a guest soloist in tonight’s performance by BalaSole Dance Company.

Friday July 17th, 2015 – The word “salmagundi” refers to a type of salad, but also to any kind of assortment, medley, or montage. Celebrating their fifth anniversary season tonight at Ailey Citigroup, Roberto Villanueva’s Balasole Dance Company offered a smorgasbord of dance, with a tasty array of solos – everything from tap to toe shoes – in a skillfully arranged and nicely lit production.

As is the custom at BalaSole performances, the evening opened and closed with ensemble works which are prepared and danced by all the participating soloists and emerging artists in the week leading up to the show. Roberto often uses baroque music for these group dances, but this time around he chose contemporary music with a seductive throb; the dancers seemed very much at home in this milieu.

LAURA ASSANTE was the first soloist; her piece entitled “Cancelled Stamp” was danced to the voice of the inimitable Nina Simone singing her classic “Love me or leave me”. Ms. Assante, a lively blonde with a great range of facial expressions, filled the song – which has a long piano riff midway thru – with energy and charm.

ANNA CUFFARI performed a pensive, searching solo entitled “Maktub“. She awakens in a pool of light to the sound of a harp. As the music expands into a passionate romantic theme, the dancer made excellent use of the space with her questing movement and expressive face and hands.

FREDRICK DAVIS (from Dance Theatre of Harlem, making a guest appearance tonight) displayed his striking classic technique in an excerpt from “Undisputed Love“. Set to the celestial sounds of Arvo Part’s “Fratres”, the danseur, in tights and a white shirt, seemed like a contemporary Albrecht lamenting his lost Giselle. Fredrick’s dancing had a fine sense of nobility and quiet ecstasy.

The comely ANDREA SAMONILOVA appeared next, reciting poetry for her solo entitled “Možná Jednou” (translation: ‘Maybe One Day’). Meshed with the spoken words is the sound of water flowing. The sad poetess seems like a lost soul as she stares into the audience, in search of someone. A winsome melody evokes memories of another time and place to which she cannot return. This solo, and Ms. Samonilova’s dancing of it, was both moving and mysterious.

XAVIER TOWNSEND made remarkable moves in his solo “Return”, including some risky B-boy passages that had the audience gasping. Running in place and enmeshed in a struggle for self-expression, the lithe and handsome dancer was able to combine his explosive energy with more lyrical moments to make his solo a big hit with the crowd.

CAMILLE SCHMOEKER performed a tap solo “Gilgal“, to an arrangement of the old gospel song “Joshua Fit The Battle of Jericho”. Using subtle shifts in the speed and volume of her tapping, the dancer, in a simple country frock, sometimes evoked line dancing in this solo which had a taste of Americana as well as a feeling of personal narrative.

The powerful physique of ELIJAH LAURANT made a commanding impression in “Delimited Connection“; music from Kangding Ray underscored the dancing with a pounding beat, but the dancer steered clear of literalism and held our interest with his unfolding, expressive moves and the strength of his technique.

ALEXANDRA JACOB, a guest soloist, was for a decade a star of Dance Theatre of Harlem. Tonight, she performed “Anástasis” (translation: ‘Resurrection’), choreographed on her by Roberto Villanueva. Clad in midnight blue and with her hair flowing free, Ms. Jacob’s on-pointe dancing showed a luminous quality as she moved among pools of light. Music by Olafur Arnalds, rather ominous of mood, set the dancer on her path: a restless feeling imbued with lyricism, and a gorgeous ability to communicate directly with the audience thru the poetry of movement.

BRIANA BUTLER enters in silence; on the ground, she pulls herself into a circle of light. Her solo, “Unstoppable“, is danced to music that is alternately mystical and thunderous. Ms. Butler’s strength and control developed the solo with propulsive energy, and she added some impressive gymnastic elements along the way before things settled again into silence.

ROBERTO VILLANUEVA always dances the closing solo at all BalaSole performances, and invariably his solos are highlights of the show. Today, his ‘awakening’ solo, “Air”, was danced to music by Max Richter. Roberto’s solos have an improvisational air but they are always carried off with the polished artistry and committed musicality of a born mover.

Prior to the show I watched the dress rehearsal, hoping to get some useful photos of all the participants; but that did not go so well for me and my camera today. I include a few here, but it’s totally random and I’m sorry to say not all the dancers are represented in their solos.

Above: the soloists, lined up in performance order – Assante, Cuffari, Davis, Samonilova, Townsend, Schmoeker, Laurent, Jacob, Butler, Villanueva

Above: the emerging/re-emerging artists – these dancers appeared in the ensemble works at the start and end of the performance. They are (left to right) Gabriella Perez, Sasha Smith, Laurel Higa, and Ezra Goh.

Above: Laura Assante

Above: Anna Cuffari

Above: Camille Schmoeker

Above: Elijah Laurant

Above: Briana Butler

Above: Roberto Villanueva

Above: the guest artists, Alexandra Jacob and Fredrick Davis, taking a bow

July 17, 2015