Category: Dance

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.