Category: Dance

Balanchine/Stravinsky @ NYC Ballet

Thursday September 27, 2012 – The third programme in the New York City Ballet‘s 2012 Stravinsky festival included the first ballet that I ever saw the Company perform: BAISER DE LA FEE. This work of pure enchantment holds a special place in my heart and while the memory of Patricia McBride and Helgi Tomasson dancing the ballet’s principal roles on that first night roles stays strong in the memory, I was particulary keen to see tonight’s pairing of Tiler Peck and Gonzalo Garcia making their BAISER debuts.

But first a zesty appetizer: SCHERZO A LA RUSSE was performed by students from SAB. It’s always fun to see, with it’s unfinished sentence at the end.

BAISER with its intoxicating score (conducted by Jayce Ogren, who at the end of the evening gave us a delicious reading of FIREBIRD) always weaves its dreamy spell. And under that spell, Tiler Peck and Gonzalo Garcia danced superbly: Tiler’s pirouettes so swift, soft and fair, and Gonzalo brushing the floor with his fingertiips in his mysterious solo. Their artistry, individually and in unison, is thoroughly satisfying to experience. As the melody of ‘None but the lonely heart’ pulses in the orchestra, the dream ends – or does it go on? – as the lovers back away from one another, eyes heavenward. Alina Dronova and Faye Arthurs were very agile and lovely in their demi-soliste roles.

DANSES CONCERTANTES with its fussy Eugene Berman costumes, old fashioned ‘flats’ setting and entr’acte curtain, has a music hall flavour. It seems a bit dated, and the score – perfectly pleasant – is unmemorable in the long run. Brilliant dancing from Megan Fairchild, Andrew Veyette and a dozen premiere corps dancers (forming four colour-coded pas de trois) showed the ballet to its best advantage, but tonight it seemed longish and very much of a theatrical era that has vanished.

But FIREBIRD seemed like solid gold tonight, with its glowing score – Stravinsky’s most marvelous, in my view – and its ever-entrancing Chagall designs. For me this is a ballet that never ages. Teresa Reichlen is an elegant vision in her fiery tutu, and with her fluttering gestures, her lovely stretched-out leaps and the gentle hush of her Berceuse, she was perfect. Ask LaCour and Savannah Lowery as the prince and princess were likewise impressive. And to the gorgeous melodies of their ensemble, a dozen fetching ballerinas in their Chagall peasant-gowns wove a particularly enchanting spell: Anderson, Arthurs, Brown, Hankes, King, Laracey, LeCrone, Mann, Pazcoguin, Pollack, Smith and Wellington – a fine corps-watchers opportunity. If the girls take the whole thing a bit tongue-in-cheek, that actually makes it all the more fun. Thank you, my beauties.

SCHERZO À LA RUSSE: Students from the School of American Ballet

DIVERTIMENTO FROM ‘LE BAISER DE LA FÉE’: *T. Peck, *Garcia, Arthurs, Dronova

DANSES CONCERTANTES: M. Fairchild, Veyette

FIREBIRD: Reichlen, la Cour, Lowery, Scordato

September 27, 2012
Nomad Contemporary Ballet

Above: Eun Jung Jung and Eric Vlach in rehearsal for Nomad Contemporary Ballet.

Sunday September 23, 2012 matinee – Nomad Contemporary Ballet, under the artistic direction of Kristen McGrew, gave their debut performances in New York City this weekend at the Alvin Ailey Studios. I attended the second of two performances; there was a full and attentive house, an unbroken progression of successful and pleasingly contrasted danceworks, a troupe of very accomplished and appealing dancers, a fine array of music, nice costume designs, effective and uncomplicated lighting. In short, it was a very satisfying afternoon of dance.

Ursula Verduzco’s wonderfully animated THE GAME opened the performance with the dancers running in place. They wear colourful flannel tights embellished with constellations and galaxies, reminding me of a kid’s pajamas. To music by Dead Can Dance, the dancers swoop and leap about the space, forming mini-cliques and then going off on other tangents. A very good way to kick off the programme.

It was the duet ADRIFT, choreographed by Ms. McGrew, that introduced me to Nomad when it was performed recently as part of the Latin Choreographers Festival 2012. I loved it then and loved it even more today as it took on a new resonance by virtue of this brief program note: “Two people who love one another but are not lovers, bound together to a single person who they both loved and lost: his wife, her sister.” That single sentence threw a poignant light on the duet and it became a very moving piece to watch today…and just a bit harrowing in my current fragile state of mind. Dancing beautifully to Bach, Erin Ginn and Eric Vlach were so expressive that they left me with a lump in my throat.

Above: dancer Shannon Maynor photographed by Melissa Bartucci.

If ADRIFT was touching, the next work MIDNIGHT ABYSS made me feel suicidal…oh, it was very well-choreographed (by Adrienne Hurd) and danced, but that song – Jacques Brel’s ‘Ne me quitte pas’ – what a stab in the heart that is! Luckily there was no revolver or razor blade to hand. So I made myself focus on the two dancers who opened the piece: Shannon Maynor and J’Michea Walker. Excellent, both of them. The piece develops into a large work with some ritualistic unison phrases; on my playbill I scrawled ‘gorgeous ensemble’. Shannon is a really impressive dancer to watch; her dancing has both strength and beauty. It was a piece that matched my mood and thus took on a particular dark lustre of its own. I’d love to see it again.

Choreographer Janet Atallah turned to music of Philip Glass for her work SYNAPSE; some people think Glass has been over-used for dance but I say: the more Glass the better. I’ve yet to see a work set to his music that I actively disliked. Ms. Atallah’s piece unfolded pleasingly, on pointe and with lots of classic ballet vocabulary woven into fresh sentences and paragraphs. A solo for Shannon Maynor and her duet with J’Michea Waker were among the finest passages, as was an adagio for four women.

In a triple tour de force, Alexei Agoudine (of ABT) not only choreographed his ballet RUSTY ROMANCE but also wrote the music for it and designed the costumes. Witty and wistful, this story of the love of a spark plug for a fuel filter was a real charmer from start to finish. Joel Levy as the mechanic sets things in motion (later his own pirouettes drew a round of applause); there’s a quartet of on-pointe sparkplugs and then there’s the hapless fuel filter, played by Eric Vlach. The winsome and pretty Erin Ginn loses her heart to Eric and they have a love duet after which Erin’s energy has drained away. She pines for him as her sister-sparks make fun of her; but love conquers all and the ballet ends with a triumphant apotheosis.

Above: dancer Erin Ginn, photo by Melissa Bartucci.

Kristen McGrew’s RUA (‘Red’) ended the afternoon in fine fashion, the dancers in red and black moving fluently to music of Antonio Vivaldi. The piece is very astutely structured and the combinations are woven together with a sure hand, giving the dancers ample oppportunity to shine both as individuals and as an ensemble. A particularly lovely adagio for Eun Jung Jung and Eric Vlach gave the ballet its center. Kristen’s musical choices – Bach and Vivaldi in this programme – put her in alignment with me as to setting the creative energy on music that is worthy to be danced, especially when a work is on pointe. Music for dance needn’t be classical, but it does need to be classy.

In addition to the dancers named in the above paragraphs, Nomad Contemporary Ballet also gave us Khiara M Bridges, Alessandra Giambelli, Bethany Lange, Rebecca Ross, and Malik Warlick each of whom I was able to focus on in the course of the afternoon.

I’m hoping these calling-card performances will be the start of a prospering time for this Company which can offer performing opportunities for dancers steeped in classical ballet, and the possibility for choreographers to create new works in that genre. I congratulate Kristen and eveyone involved for this new beginning.

Here are some images from the actual performance; the photographer is Melissa Bartucci:

From THE GAME with dancer J’Michea Walker in the foreground

From ADRIFT; the dancers are Erin Ginn and Eric Vlach

The ensemble in MIDNIGHT ABYSS

Shannon Maynor and J’Michea Walker in SYNAPSE

Above: dancer Eun Jung Jung

Click on each of these images to enlarge.

September 23, 2012
CONTRASTS at Riverside Church

Above: Morales Dance rehearsal photo by Matt Murphy. The dancers are Leonel Linares and Nicole Corea.

Saturday September 22, 2012 – Tony Morales of Morales Dance is the driving force behind CONTRASTS, a programme of works by four choreographers presented at The Theater at Riverside Church. Tony’s guest choreographers are Lydia Johnson (Artistic
Director of Lydia Johnson Dance), Yesid Lopez (Director of DeMa Dance
Co) and Henning Rübsam (Artistic Director of SENSEDANCE).

I’d been looking forward to this alignment of dance and dancers for some time, and the evening came off very well indeed, with major kudos to Mike Riggs for his lighting designs that produced some striking images in the varied works.

Morales Dance presented three works on the programme, opening with the Spring-like freshness of SCENES. To music of Benedetto Marcello, the dancers are first seen kneeling in a circle in a pool of light. The opening sequence has a ritualistic feel which envolves into an airy and pleasing series of dances: an allegro duet for Nicole Corea (a guest dancer from Lar Lubovitch Dance Company) and MarieLorene Fichaux, a pas de trois for Alison Cook Beatty, Jerome Stigler and Leonel Linares. Kate Loh makes a lovely impression in her dancing here (and later, in AMOR BRUTAL), A solo for Alison Cook Beatty, danced in silence, forms a bridge to the concluding passages danced to Chopin. As the work moves to its finale, the dancers return to their opening circle of light.

Later in the evening we saw Tony Morales’ AMOR BRUTAL, a narrative work that I’ve watched being developed in the studio over time. In August, Matt Murphy produced some beautiful images at a rehearsal of the piece. Soft billows of smoke waft across the stage as singer Mary Ann Stewart and pianist Sandro Russo (performing live onstage) embark on the Manuel de Falla songs which provide the setting for this domestic drama. Nicole Corea and Leonel Linares have reached the point of no return in their marital conflict and now it’s a question of where the couple’s three daughters will set their allegiance. Nicole, dancing with her ever-radiant personal commitment, naturally assumes that her girls will be in her camp. But it’s the n’er-do-well father, danced with easy charm by Leonel, who has his daughters in the palm of his hand. The work ends with Nicole completely marginalized; the sisters (Kate Loh, Alison Cook Beatty, MarieLorene Fichaux) turn their backs on her and her husband slips out of the picture entirely. Adding a last personal touch to this work, the concluding song Amor Brutal is performed on a recording by Tony Morales’ father, who passed away earlier this year.

Three duets comprise the final Morales work on the programme: PIANO PIECES: the first danced by Kate Loh and Alison Cook Beatty to a waltz tune, the second performed by MarieLorene Fichaux and Jerome Stigler to Scriabin, and the third danced by Nicole Corea and Leonel Linares to Scarlatti.

The opening image of Lydia Johnson’s CHANGE OF HEART, enhanced by Mike Riggs’ lighting, caused me to gasp for breath momentarily: this work- which I have watched being created over the past several months – and these dancers have a special significance to me. Some people close to me know of my unhappy Summer and of the rift between me and my cherished friend who should have been with me tonight watching Lydia’s work. However, sometimes the very things that remind us of past happiness also reassure us as we try to move on. Between the Bach music and the sheer expressive beauty of Lydia’s troupe of dancers, the experience was uplifting.

For musicality and fine structuring, few people currently choreographing in the New York dance scene can compare with Lydia Johnson. There is thought, passion and tenderness in her work, and a depth of musical resonance that is very satisfying to behold. Yet for all that, in the end it’s the dancers whose ‘speaking’ of a choreographer’s unique dialect will make a dancework meaningful or not.

This evening Lydia’s ensemble was led by two of her core dancers: Jessica Sand and Laura DiOrio. Having watched these two young women countless times in the studio or in performance, it is still and always a moving experience to see them rendering Lydia’s choreography with such clarity and grace. Reed Luplau (guest dancer from Lar Lubovitch Dance Company) created a remarkable impression in Lydia’s SUMMER HOUSE earlier this year; he wears Lydia’s style like a second skin. Katie Martin, Natalia Wodnicka and Min Seon Kim have been dancing for Lydia for the past few months and are blending well into the ensemble, each with her own distinctive signature. The newest comers to Lydia’s work – Lauren Perry, Christopher Bloom and Eric Williams – already look more than at home here, and Ms. Perry with her fresh face and feel put me in mind of a favorite dancer from the past: Kate Johnson of the Paul Taylor Dance Company.

Rehearsal image: Laura DiOrio, Eric Williams, Jessica Sand.

And so this particular collective of dancers worked beautifully together to develop the flowing patterns of CHANGE OF HEART: solo moments, duets and ensembles sweep graciously by on the Bach score. A pas de trois for Laura, Reed and Eric, a duet for Jessica and Reed, a men’s trio…these are some of the moments that stood out. But it’s not really a work of highlights but rather a tapestry in which each thread seems richly colourful and alive.

The evening was entitled CONTRASTS, and so something really dark and wild was bound to crop up along the way. Henning Rubsam’s HALF-LIFE is set to a thunderously propulsive score by Laibach. With the ever-vibrant Temple Kemezis and Jacqueline Stewart on pointe, this non-stop dark revel of contemporary ballet style came lke a jolt. Paul Oisin Monaghan, one of Gotham’s most intriguing dancers, always captures the eye. And the astounding power and presence of Max van der Sterre was electrifying. Musically disturbing and on-the-edge in its movement, HALF-LIFE has a life of its own. Mike Riggs’ lighting made a big impression here.

The one choreographer with whose work I was unfamiliar, Yesid Lopez, offered a really appealing work for four girls entitled STRINGS. The costumes – corset-like bodices and gauzy soft-hued pantalooons – were especially lovely and the music (Chopin, Nyman, Dvorak) was matched by the atmospheric glow of Mike Riggs’ lighting. Jessica Black was featured in a solo passage, and the work made me want to see more of Mr. Lopez’s choreography.

September 22, 2012
Rehearsal: John-Mark Owen’s REQUIEM

Dancer Josh Christopher (above) takes a central role in John-Mark Owen’s REQUIEM.

Wednesday August 29, 2012 – Today I went over to the 92nd Street Y where choreographer John-Mark Owen was rehearsing for his upcoming presentation of REQUIEM. The performances are scheduled for September 13th thru 15th at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center. Ticket information here.

Taking on the Mozart REQUIEM from a choreographic standpoint is a major project, and John-Mark has risen to the task in this ensemble work which avoids a literal interpretation of the sacred texts and favours instead a painterly approach. Each ‘frame’ of the ballet becomes part of a living gallery; John-Mark applies a dramatic subtext but he isn’t a slave to it. The sculptural feeling of certain passages, as well as the unison ‘choral’ phrases of walking or marching, respond to the architecture of the music with its sense of ritual.

John-Mark has assembled a strong cast, with particularly vivid performances by Aaron Mattocks (above) as a sinister and even brutal dark angel…

…and the intense lyricism of John Christopher (above). Kerry Shea and Amy Brandt have the principal female roles.

Here are some images from the rehearsal and of the individual dancers involved:

The ensemble

Josh Christopher and John-Mark Owen

Aaron Mattocks, Amy Brandt

Ensemble

Josh Christopher, Aaron Mattocks

Jason Stotz, Nadezhna Vostrikov

JoVonna Parks, Oisin Monaghan

Kelsey Coventry

Alfredo Solivan

Kristen Deiss, Kelsey Coventry

Kerry Shea

Josh Christopher

Nadezhna Vostrikov

Kelsey Coventry, Jason Stotz

Oisin Monaghan, Matt Van

John-Mark Owen

August 29, 2012
Continuum Contemporary/Ballet @ The Pillow

Donna Salgado’s Continuum Contemporary/Ballet appeared at Jacob’s Pillow earlier this summer as part of the festival’s Inside/Out series. Photographer Michael Darling provides these images from the Company’s performance. Click on each picture to enlarge.

Laura DiOrio

Sarah Atkins

Eric Williams

Virginia Horne & Eric Williams

Laura DiOrio & Eric Williams

Ensemble

August 24, 2012
Alison Cook Beatty for Ballet Next

Friday August 17, 2012 – Alison Cook Beatty (with Michele Wiles and Jason Reilly in the above photo by Paul B Goode) is choreographing a new work for Ballet Next; entitled TINTINNABULI, the ballet is set to Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa. Today I stopped in at the DANY studios to have a look at this new creation, which will have its premiere during Ballet Next‘s upcoming season at The Joyce.

The dancers were having a breather when I arrived but after a few minutes they gathered their energies (they’d already been rehearsing for 2 hours) and ran thru the new ballet’s completed first section and the nearly-finished second part.

TINTINNABULI begins with the women on a diagonal (watch a rehearsal sample here ) which evolves into a solo for Michele Wiles – stylized, mystical movement but highly emotive in expression. Her solo is observed by Jason Reilly – principal dancer from Stuttgart Ballet, guesting with Ballet Next this season – a charismatic dancer and excellent partner. As their pas de deux commences, there’s a nice chemistry between Jason and Michele Wiles, even though for the longest time they don’t actually touch. But when they do, it’s luminous. Jason has a dynamic solo passage of his own.

Alison Cook Beatty, Michele Wiles and Jason Reilly in a Paul B Goode photo, above.

The quartet of soloists form chains with joined hands; they crouch is a circle. Their linked, ritualistic movements evoke images of Matisse and Balanchine as they move along the diagonal. The girls of the ensemble – Lily Balogh, Lily Di Piazza, Kristie Latham, Tiffany Mangulabnan and Erin Arbuckle – each bring a distinctive element to the work while functioning as a unit.

Michele and Jason resume their duet, really gorgeously set on the music, and they give it a strong emotional context even though it’s just a rehearsal. A brief flurry of virtuosity follows.

Alison went on from the finished passages, exploring possible phrases as the ballet moves to a conclusion. I’ll have to go back one of these days and find out how she resolves things.

Charles Askegard is a wonderful presence in the studio, supportive of the young choreographer and offering meaningful suggestions without intruding on the process. At one point, a lift was being pondered and Charles suddenly swept Alison overhead with the signature effortlessness of a prince among cavaliers.

Really nice atmosphere in the studio, and I look forward to seeing Alison’s ballet costumed and lit at The Joyce. My special thanks to Paul Goode for his evocative rehearsal images.

You can catch Ballet Next at the 92nd Street Y in the Fridays at Noon series: Friday October 19th at 12:00 noon. It’s free!

August 20, 2012
tomgolddance: Off to Spain!

Likolani Brown and Russell Janzen rehearsing The Man I Love for tomgolddance; photo by Brian Krontz.

tomgolddance are heading to Spain to perform at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao on August 1st. Photographer Brian Krontz and I stopped by at the City Center Studio to take a look at the dances Tom’s taking across the Atlantic. When we arrived, they’d just finished running thru Tom’s Faure Fantasy which will open the programme in Bilbao. Brian found his corner from which to shoot and the White Swan pas de deux commenced.

Above: Simone Messmer in the White Swan pas de deux

Earlier this year, I was at an ABT SWAN LAKE in which Simone Messmer appeared in the Spanish dance at the court festivities. I found myself constantly drawn to her, even when she was simply standing on the sidelines, observing. I kept thinking: What a Swan Queen she would be! Today, that thought became a reality as Simone danced Odette, with New York City Ballet‘s Jared Angle as her prince.

In their practice clothes and making mini-corrections along the way, Simone and Jared (aboove) created a distinctive impression in this familiar pas de deux. Simone’s lyricism, coloured by a restless energy pulsing beneath the surface, finds a perfect compliment in Jared’s noble bearing and poetic expression: he’s ardent without being fussy or melodramatic. Such an intriguing experience to watch this partnership; now if we could just find a way to have them dance the whole ballet together.

Amanda Hankes in SHANTI.

SHANTI is Tom Gold’s colourful ensemble ballet set to an exotic-sounding John Zorn score; it will close the programme in Bilbao. Tom gives all the dancers in this piece ample chance to shine, with high-energy combinations for Devin Alberda and Russell Janzen and some sinuous moves for Amanda Hankes and Likolani Brown; Amanda also has a nice and zesty fouette combination. Abi Stafford, Simone Messmer and Jared Angle weave in and out of the ensemble in skillfully-managed partnering passages while Tom gives himself some virtuosic feats to pull off.

Tom Gold

Russell Janzen and Devin Alberda

Whenever I’m watching New York City Ballet I always find myself thinking that the dancers in the corps de ballet could step into principal roles with ease. We had a glimpse of that today as Likolani Brown and Russell Janzen (above) danced The Man I Love from Balanchine’s WHO CARES?

Likolani is a beautiful dancer, someone I love to keep an eye on in the corps and who always makes the most of her demi-soliste roles; she has a warm, Springtime quality and she’s a sophisticated mover. Russell, one of the tallest men in the NYCB family, has the partnering well in hand. Together they brought a young-love feeling to this classic Balanchine duet.

Abi Stafford and Jared Angle (above) in the Act II pas de deux from Balanchine’s MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, one of the choreographer’s most ravishing creations. Bringing to mind their intoxicating partnership in Emeralds, Abi and Jared have the clarity of technique and the gentle combination of courtliness and romance to give this duet its special perfume: there’s really nothing else quite like it in the Balanchine canon.

All photos by Brian Krontz; an additional gallery of images from this rehearsal will be found here.

The Bilbao audience are in for a treat with this programme; and tomgolddance have another exciting tour stop on their itinerary: in October, the will dance in Cuba!

July 29, 2012
tomgolddance: Rehearsal Gallery

More images by Brian Krontz from the July 27th, 2012 studio rehearsal of tomgolddance; read about the session here. Above: Jared Angle and Abi Stafford.

Russell Janzen

Flying thru Tom Gold’s SHANTI

Russell Janzen, Abi Stafford, Devin Alberda in SHANTI

Tom Gold, Abi Stafford

Simone Messmer and Jared Angle: White Swan

Simone and Jared

Simone and Jared

Likolani Brown and Russell Janzen: The Man I Love

Likolani and Russell

Abi Stafford and Jared Angle: Midsummer Night’s Dream

Jared and Abi

All photos by Brian Krontz.

July 29, 2012
Boylston/Simkin SWAN LAKE @ ABT

Wednesday June 27, 2012 matinee – Alas that the performance I most wanted to see during ABT‘s week of SWAN LAKEs fell on a Wednesday matinee. I knew it would be a bad audience experience and I was right about that; actually, considering the vast number of children in the audience it wasn’t as bad as it might have been. But of course seated right behind us were a mother and her three kids who whispered and squirmed and ate and drank their way through the matinee. Eventually I gave up my excellent seat and moved to the balcony boxes so I could concentrate.

ABT‘s SWAN LAKE is overall rather dull; the ‘traditional’ parts – especially the first lakeside scene – are of course quite lovely but there’s a whole catalog of tedious bits that detract from the focus of the narrative. Nonetheless, it serves ABT‘s purpose as a producton into which each principal ballerina and danseur can be plugged for their annual go at Odette/Odile and her Prince. Today, though, the casting was fresh: soloists Isabella Boylston and Daniil Simkin (photo above) tackled these iconic roles for the first time at The Met and scored a resounding success.

Daniil, point blank, is a dancer I love. Although I don’t go to ABT all that frequently, I am always happy to find Daniil dancing on a day that I am there. And so when he was listed for his first Siegfried, I immediately put this matinee on my calendar. Having seen many 30-to-40 year old Siegfrieds over the years (not that I’m complaining: they’ve been wonderful!) it was really refreshing to witness Daniil’s youthful elegance in the role. Carrying himself with inborn dignity, Daniil brought a sense of true innocence to the ballet. Heart on sleeve, he went bravely into the uncharted territory of first love; that his passion would lead to his eventual doom never entered his mind. Throughout the performance, his boyish figure and expressive face kept us strongly focused on Siegfried’s story. Daniil’s dancing was fleet-footed, immaculate and supremely musical.

Isabella Boylston’s Odette/Odile was a lovely creation, beautifully danced. She hasn’t quite found the quality of mystery that will eventually make her Odette truly impressive, but her interpretation is already well-formed and she is quite a sparklingly powerful Odile. Boylston had the crowd with her from the start, reaping a burst of cheers for her fouettes and a huge shout of approval at her solo bow.

Jared Matthews was superb in Rothbart’s ‘hypnotic’ solo – an unnecessary passage, but Jared made it eminently worthwile. Kristi Boone and Karen Uphoff were luxuriant as the leading swans, but the idea of casting three soloists among the four cygnets didn’t come off: each ballerina seemed to be in her own world and the result was lack of coordination and a rather bumpy traversal of the space. The Act I pas de trois was finely danced by Joseph Gorak, Devon Teuscher and Christine Schevchenko.

In the Black Swan act, the national dances are lamely choreographed but I did very much like Simone Messmer in Spanish and thought – watching her watching the proceedings with her own personal mystique in play – what a fascinating Swan Queen she would be.

Simkin and Boylston taking their bows here.

June 29, 2012
Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance: Gallery

Above: Eric Williams and Sarah Bek in Cherylyn Lavagnino’s Ménage. Photo by Kokyat.

Since we weren’t able to attend their performances at St Mark’s Church on these final days of June 2012, Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance very kindly invited Kokyat and me to watch/photograph their dress rehearsal. The performance space at St. Mark’s is really impressive: the high ceiling, the polished floor, the wrap-around mezzanine, the stained glass windows.

The three danceworks were beautifully lit and the overall atmosphere was tranquil, well-suited to the lyricsm of Ms. Lavagnino’s choreographic style.

The opening work, Ménage has a Degas feeling; it is set to music by Scott Killian, Jacob Lawson and Jane Chung.

Here is a series of Kokyat’s images from Ménage:

Selina Chau, Sarah Bek, Laura Mead, Claire Westby

sarah Bek, Claire Westby

Eric Williams, Justin Flores

Eric Williams

Selina Chau, Eric Williams

Laura Mead, Justin Flores

Laura Mead, Justin Flores

Sarah Bek

Eric Williams, Sarah Bek

Laura Mead, Josh Palmer

Josh Palmer and Laura Mead in Ménage.

The pas de deux entitled Deux en Peu was created to the Andante con moto from Franz Schubert’s Trio in E-flat major. In the photos below, the dancers are Selina Chau and Josh Palmer.

All photos by Kokyat. A second gallery featuring images from Cherylyn Lavagnino’s Triptych (a premiere) appears here.

June 29, 2012