Tag: New Chamber Ballet

Miro Magloire’s NOCTURNE

Miro Magloire’s New Chamber Ballet have released NOCTURNE, a filmed ballet choreographed by Miro to the first and second movements of Johannes Brahms’ violin sonata No 1, opus 78. The dancers are Anabel Alpert, Megan Foley, Amber Neff, and Rachele Perla, and the score is performed by Doori Na (violin) and Sean Kennard (piano). Costumes are by Sarah Thea, assisted by Lauren Carmen. NOCTURNE was shot at Please Space, Brooklyn.

The film was directed by Emily Kikta and shot by Peter Walker; Emily and Peter, members of New York City Ballet, have together formed KW Creative. As dancers, they have a unique gift for capturing dance on film. After watching the ballet, be sure to watch the interview with Emily and Peter further down the link:

Watch NOCTURNE here.

Anyone who has ever attended a New Chamber Ballet performance knows that Miro always takes you as close to dance as you can possibly get; but with NOCTURNE, KW Creative will make you feel like you are dancing yourself. The brilliant camera work brings you right into the action, much as the film ‘Backstage at the Kirov’ makes you feel like a fifth cygnet. And, as music and dance are equally essential to New Chamber Ballet‘s artistic credo, I can enthusiastically heap praise on the excellent rendering of the Brahms score by Doori Na and Sean Kennard.

The eerily atmospheric setting of Please Space after dark lends an air of mystery to NOCTURNE. The ballet evokes a feeling of urban Wilis carrying on with their nightly rituals. And, as with GISELLE, the coming dawn signals the end of their mystic rites. Amber Neff (above), who had opened NOCTURNE emerging hesitantly to dance in the sacred space, returns to her safe haven. The ballet has a timeless feeling; one could imagine these sylphs gathering to dance each night at moonrise for ages to come.

Still photos by Miro.

October 28, 2020
Miro Magloire’s NOCTURNE

Miro Magloire’s New Chamber Ballet have released NOCTURNE, a filmed ballet choreographed by Miro to the first and second movements of Johannes Brahms’ violin sonata No 1, opus 78. The dancers are Anabel Alpert, Megan Foley, Amber Neff, and Rachele Perla, and the score is performed by Doori Na (violin) and Sean Kennard (piano). Costumes are by Sarah Thea, assisted by Lauren Carmen. NOCTURNE was shot at Please Space, Brooklyn.

The film was directed by Emily Kikta and shot by Peter Walker; Emily and Peter, members of New York City Ballet, have together formed KW Creative. As dancers, they have a unique gift for capturing dance on film. After watching the ballet, be sure to watch the interview with Emily and Peter further down the link:

Watch NOCTURNE here.

Anyone who has ever attended a New Chamber Ballet performance knows that Miro always takes you as close to dance as you can possibly get; but with NOCTURNE, KW Creative will make you feel like you are dancing yourself. The brilliant camera work brings you right into the action, much as the film ‘Backstage at the Kirov’ makes you feel like a fifth cygnet. And, as music and dance are equally essential to New Chamber Ballet‘s artistic credo, I can enthusiastically heap praise on the excellent rendering of the Brahms score by Doori Na and Sean Kennard.

The eerily atmospheric setting of Please Space after dark lends an air of mystery to NOCTURNE. The ballet evokes a feeling of urban Wilis carrying on with their nightly rituals. And, as with GISELLE, the coming dawn signals the end of their mystic rites. Amber Neff (above), who had opened NOCTURNE emerging hesitantly to dance in the sacred space, returns to her safe haven. The ballet has a timeless feeling; one could imagine these sylphs gathering to dance each night at moonrise for ages to come.

Still photos by Miro.

October 27, 2020
Doori Na: Rhapsody

Doori Na plays Jessie Montgomery’s Rhapsody #1 in an at-home performance during the pandemic. Watch and listen here.

Doori is the resident violinist of Miro Magloire’s New Chamber Ballet. During this period of isolation, Doori has been producing a series of Laid Bach Concerts: watch them here.

Read about composer Jessie Montgomery here.

August 26, 2020
Farewells @ New Chamber Ballet

Above: Elizabeth Brown and Sarah Atkins of New Chamber Ballet, photo by Kokyat

~ Author: Oberon

Saturday November 23rd, 2019 – While I felt happy to be part of New Chamber Ballet’s 15th anniversary season, tonight felt bittersweet as two dancers long associated with Miro Magloire’s company were giving their farewell performances: Elizabeth Brown (a founding member) and Sarah Atkins.

Over the years since I began following Miro’s work, his Company has undergone many changes in roster. Inevitably, with smaller dance troupes, one forms an attachment to individual dancers, and this is especially true of New Chamber Ballet as Miro has frequently invited to me rehearsals over the years, so that I’ve often felt like I’m a non-dancing member of the family. Watching Elizabeth and Sarah tonight brought back so many memories, not only of their own performances but of all the other women they have danced with thru the years. This kind of nostalgia is lovely in its way, but it also means we’re all getting older.

The evening’s program opened with Klavierstück, to solo piano music by Karlheinz Stockhausen. The grand piano had been rolled into the center of the space, where pianist Melody Fader deftly took in stride the composer’s demands. Danced by the evenings two honorees – Elizabeth Brown and Sarah Atkins – it’s a work in which the piano becomes an altar or shrine.

Above: Sarah Atkins, photo by Kokyat

Next came a solo, For Another Day, created by Miro specially for Sarah Atkins. With the piano now back in its usual place at the point of the seating diamond, Melody Fader played the sixth of Franz Schubert’s Moments musicaux to which Ms. Atkins danced with a deep sense of the music’s lyrical flow. Circling the space, the dancer made eye contact with audience members: a beautiful expression of leave-taking. To dance this gorgeously at one’s farewell speaks volumes for Sarah’s technique and artistry. As the solo ended, a tidal wave of vociferous applause cheers was unleashed; everyone stood up to salute the dancer, who had to bow many times.

For an excerpt from Miro’s full-length work Phantom, music of Wolfgang Rihm, which veers from dreamlike to dramatic, was marvelously played by Ms. Fader and the enormously talented violinist Doori Na. Here we must pause to praise the technical assurance of the fearlessly adventurous Melody and Doori, who tackle any score Miro sets before them with flair. Over the years, they – as much as the choreography and dancing – have made New Chamber Ballet so distinctive. A chance to peer over Doori’s shoulder at his illuminated score for the Rihm was a highlight of my evening.

The dancers – Amber Neff, Rachele Perla and NCB newcomers Anabel Alpert and Megan Foley – coped well with the choreography, which is often floor-oriented and includes demanding passages of the same-sex partnering that Miro has been developing in recent works. Tonight, in this gala setting, it seemed earthbound and over-long. Matters were not helped by the audience seating configuration, which feels like a airport boarding lounge when the flights have been delayed.

Above: Elizabeth Brown rehearsing Morning Star with violinist Doori Na, photo by Nir Arieli

This was my third viewing of Morning Song, the solo Miro made in 2017 for Elizabeth Brown to John Cage’s violin piece “Cheap Imitation”. A new costume for this ballet tonight was less to my liking than the original, but that became irrelevant during this sensational performance by Ms. Brown and Mr. Na.

Morning Star is one of Miro’s greatest creations, and my favorite among all his works. Elizabeth Brown is the inspirational force behind the solo’s success, with its feeling of timeless ritual and quiet ecstasy. It is a portrait of feminine power and mystique, and Ms. Brown dances it divinely. It ends as the dancer circles the space in hypnotically slow turns, finishing with an Isadora-like greeting of the dawn, arms upraised.

As a founding member of New Chamber Ballet, Elizabeth has been an superlative muse for Miro, and an inspiration for dance-lovers; her technical prowess, unique persona, and deep devotion to the art merit the highest praise.

During the mammoth applause that greeted her after Morning Song this evening, Elizabeth and Doori bowed deeply to one another, underscoring the intrinsic connection between music and dance that is Miro’s trademark.

To conclude the program, Miro offered a pièce d’occasion entitled As One. Set to Antonín Dvořák’s Romance for violin and piano – played with impeccable verve, charm, and joy by Melody Fader and Doori Na – the work is Miro’s hymn to all the dancers who have performed for him thru New Chamber Ballet’s 15-year history.

As such, and in a celebratory move that seemed to take Elizabeth and Sarah by surprise, a bevy of former NCB dancers who had been seated randomly among the crowd suddenly rose and stepped into the dance space, performing an homage to the two departing stars whilst also celebrating the continuum of Miro’s tireless work, in which the dancers and the dance are one.

Above: Elizabeth and Sarah. Thanks for the memories, ladies…and please: keep on dancing!

~ Oberon

November 23, 2019
Miro On A Monday

Above: dancers from New Chamber Ballet and singers from Ekmeles in Miro Magloire’s SANCTUM; photo by Tom Schaefer

Author: Oberon

Monday February 18th, 2019 – Miro Magloire’s New Chamber Ballet normally give their performances on weekends, so I was surprised to be invited to see them on a Monday evening. Mondays are often quiet nights for me: neither the Philharmonic nor Chamber Music Society have Monday performances; nor – for that matter – does New York City Ballet. So it was nice to trek down to the City Center Studios on this clear, chilly evening to see Miro’s company, and to hear some incredible music, beautifully played…and sung. I must also say: the 7:30 PM start time was a big plus in my book.

The program opened with MORNING SONG, a solo dancework to music by John Cage that Miro made on his uniquely marvelous dancer, Elizabeth Brown. Doori Na, a violinist who can master the trickiest score and make it mean something, played Cage’s ‘Cheap Imitation‘ (1st movement) to perfection whilst the dancer moved about the space with lyrical authority: a priestess evoking the dawn.

With ecstatic gestures that recall the ground-breaking dances of Isadora Duncan, Elizabeth held the audience under a spell throughout the work’s duration. A very long pause, wherein she remains still, has a power if its own. Elizabeth’s slow circling of the space in calm, weighted/weightless stepping turns, was hypnotic. As dancer and violinist bowed to one another at the close of MORNING SONG, the return to reality was like awakening from a wonderful dream. All that is beautiful in music and dance seems to be distilled into this incredible work.

After only the briefest pause, New Chamber Ballet’s bevy of ballerinas – Sarah Atkins, Kristy Butler, Amber Neff, Rachele Perla, and Madeleine Williams – joined three singers from the Ekmeles vocal ensemble – Charlotte Mundy, Mary Elizabeth Mackenzie, and Elisa Sutherland – and pianist Melody Fader and violinist Doori Na, for the premiere of Miro’s SANCTUM. Vocal music by Kaja Saariaho (Changing Lights and From The Grammar Of Dreams) and Karin Rehnqvist (Davids Nimm) invites the singers to be part of the dance. Melody and Doori perform – luminously – Saariaho’s Nocturne, Calices, Prelude, Tocar, and Ballade, as well as Rehnqvist’s Dans.

SANCTUM has been in-progress for some time, in various guises, and I have seen parts of it in rehearsal or in performance over the past several months. Tonight, with the dancers and singers in Sarah Thea’s bone-white costumes, Miro wove all the elements into a 70-minute ballet.

SANCTUM opens with seated couples (dancers and singers) dreamily dependent on each other, rocking gently. The strikingly clear voice of Charlotte Mundy fills the space: this high, iridescent sound might be the voice we’ve been looking for for Berg’s Lulu. The dancing commences with a duet for two tall women: Kristy Butler and Madeleine Williams. Amber Neff and Rachele Perla, having donned toe shoes, join.

The music is spectacularly beautiful – Saariaho (along with Penderecki) is for me the most fascinating of contemporary composers – and Melody and Doori play it thrillingly: being seated immediately next to these two musicians, every nuance and demi-tint of the scores become tantalizing.

The dance continues to unfold, including Madeleine Williams in a solo that creates a stylistic link to the earlier-seen MORNING SONG. Amber Neff and Ms. Williams dance a duet in Miro’s trademark intense/entangled partnering mode; the music here features vertiginous piano scales which Ms. Fader played with intrinsic flair. Sarah Atkins, Rachele Perla, and Kristy Butler engage in a prancing trio, and Sarah also has a demanding, floor-oriented solo. The singers return, each pairing up with a dancer in a stop-and-start circular promenade. The ending of the ballet is not as powerful as one might hope: the women simply walk away, perhaps to carry on their antique rites in another part of the forest.

Meanwhile, the two musicians have found a path into our subconscious with this other-worldly music. Over the course of the ballet, their playing has created a separate, almost alien, world. And at some point along the way, I realized that this particular work of Miro’s is not best-experienced in a fully-lit, in-the-round studio setting.

As we observe the grace and power of the dancing, we must also face our mere-mortal counterparts seated across from us: fidgeting, reading their programs, even nodding off. The music continuously draws us away from the everyday to a mythic place of feminine mystique and magic; but the ordinariness of the studio setting keeps jarringly pulling us back to reality.

I feel that, in a darkened theater with imaginative lighting, SANCTUM could be as compelling visually as it is musically.

~ Oberon

February 18, 2019
Miro’s New Wolfgang Rihm Ballet

Above photo by Arnaud Falchier

~ Author: Oberon

Saturday September 22nd, 2018 – A new ballet choreographed by Miro Magloire to music by Wolfgang Rihm was presented as part of New Chamber Ballet‘s 2018-2019 season opener tonight at City Center Studios. Also on the program were three works from the NCB repertory: AMITY (from 2017, to music of Mozart), MEMORIES (JS Bach), and THE LETTER (a narrative work, set to Haydn).

Just before heading out to Miro’s, I received some bad news on the family front. I thought briefly of just staying home, but then: what could I do at home but brood helplessly? Better to be where there is music and dancing.

The music of Bach is ever an antidote to daily cares. Pianist Melody Fader’s playing of the selections from The Well-Tempered Klavier that form the score of Miro’s ballet MEMORIES had both spirit and grace. Four dancers – Elizabeth Brown, Kristine Butler, Amber Neff, and Madeleine Williams – appear in Sarah Thea’s sleek, colour-vision costumes.

Above: Kristine Butler in MEMORIES, photo by Arnaud Falchier

In the opening moments of this ballet, varying trios of women seem to shut out the fourth. A solo for Elizabeth Brown highlights this dancer’s beautiful arms and hands. Amber Neff and Kristy Butler have an animated duet that evolves into a slow, stretchy, intimate partnership. Elizabeth and Madeleine dance in sync, then Elizabeth and Amber team up.

The tall women – Kristy and Madeleine – dance fast, followed by a vivid solo from Amber Neff. In this, Amber’s striking port de bras, and a hint that her ‘character’ might be wounded, give a narrative feeling. A floor-based trio for Amber, Kristy, and Madeleine follows, and then another solo passage from Elizabeth shows her special gift for illuminating the music. The foursome bring the ballet to an allegro finish.

Earlier this Summer, I spent two afternoons watching and re-watching a DVD of Rihm’s opera OEDIPUS, which I found quite engrossing. Yet even with that preparation, I was totally unprepared for the effect the composer’s Über die Linie VII, as played by Doori Na, would have on me. This made for an unusual experience: the music came to increasingly dominate my mind – to the extent that the dancing seemed more like an accompanying dream.

The ballet, entitled FEEL YOUR FALL, danced by Amber Neff, Madeleine Williams, and Rachele Perla, is rather floor-oriented, with the girls leaning upon one another in encircling embraces, their bodies and spirits enmeshed and entwined. As they rise and dance, one captivating motif stood out: a repeated gathering gesture from the dark-eyed, lovely Ms. Perla which created for me a link to Isadora’s port de bras language.

“So enthralled by the music!” I scrawled across my notes. From tonal depths of passion to hair’s-breath pianissimi, Doori gave a truly compelling performance of this long and demanding piece. I’ve come to think of Doori as a violinist who can play anything, and this evening his remarkable playing served as confirmation. He called his preparation of the piece “a journey”, and he repays his listeners by taking us on a journey of our own. Simply extraordinary.

I did have two thoughts on the overall effect of this ballet: I feel it could benefit from having more dancers involved – if for no other reason than that they could dance to this music, which must be a revelation. And I think darker, more dramatic costumes would be fantastic: this actually could be a proverbial ‘black’ ballet. But these are simply idle thoughts: FEEL YOUR FALL is fine just as it stands.

It took a few minutes for me to return to Earth from this cosmic experience. As a diversion, Melody Fader played Haydn for THE LETTER, a ballet in which Elizabeth Brown and Traci Finch might be viewed as mistress and maid. It has its comic aspects, but the mystery remains to the end: we never learn the contents of the letter.

The evening concluded with AMITY, Miro’s graceful, golden ballet set to Mozart’s violin sonata K. 296 which Doori and Melody played with distinction. Mlles. Butler, Finch, Neff, and Williams floated and flitted about the space, dancing Miro’s combinations with joyous abandon, so close we could almost reach out and touch them. AMITY was commissioned by dance-lover Edward Petrou in memory of his wife Rachel; this evening, Miro added a further dedication: to the great Arthur Mitchell, who passed away on September 19th.

~ Oberon

September 23, 2018
Miro’s New Wolfgang Rihm Ballet

Above photo by Arnaud Falchier

~ Author: Oberon

Saturday September 22nd, 2018 – A new ballet choreographed by Miro Magloire to music by Wolfgang Rihm was presented as part of New Chamber Ballet‘s 2018-2019 season opener tonight at City Center Studios. Also on the program were three works from the NCB repertory: AMITY (from 2017, to music of Mozart), MEMORIES (JS Bach), and THE LETTER (a narrative work, set to Haydn).

Just before heading out to Miro’s, I received some bad news on the family front. I thought briefly of just staying home, but then: what could I do at home but brood helplessly? Better to be where there is music and dancing.

The music of Bach is ever an antidote to daily cares. Pianist Melody Fader’s playing of the selections from The Well-Tempered Klavier that form the score of Miro’s ballet MEMORIES had both spirit and grace. Four dancers – Elizabeth Brown, Kristine Butler, Amber Neff, and Madeleine Williams – appear in Sarah Thea’s sleek, colour-vision costumes.

Above: Kristine Butler in MEMORIES, photo by Arnaud Falchier

In the opening moments of this ballet, varying trios of women seem to shut out the fourth. A solo for Elizabeth Brown highlights this dancer’s beautiful arms and hands. Amber Neff and Kristy Butler have an animated duet that evolves into a slow, stretchy, intimate partnership. Elizabeth and Madeleine dance in sync, then Elizabeth and Amber team up.

The tall women – Kristy and Madeleine – dance fast, followed by a vivid solo from Amber Neff. In this, Amber’s striking port de bras, and a hint that her ‘character’ might be wounded, give a narrative feeling. A floor-based trio for Amber, Kristy, and Madeleine follows, and then another solo passage from Elizabeth shows her special gift for illuminating the music. The foursome bring the ballet to an allegro finish.

Earlier this Summer, I spent two afternoons watching and re-watching a DVD of Rihm’s opera OEDIPUS, which I found quite engrossing. Yet even with that preparation, I was totally unprepared for the effect the composer’s Über die Linie VII, as played by Doori Na, would have on me. This made for an unusual experience: the music came to increasingly dominate my mind – to the extent that the dancing seemed more like an accompanying dream.

The ballet, entitled FEEL YOUR FALL, danced by Amber Neff, Madeleine Williams, and Rachele Perla, is rather floor-oriented, with the girls leaning upon one another in encircling embraces, their bodies and spirits enmeshed and entwined. As they rise and dance, one captivating motif stood out: a repeated gathering gesture from the dark-eyed, lovely Ms. Perla which created for me a link to Isadora’s port de bras language.

“So enthralled by the music!” I scrawled across my notes. From tonal depths of passion to hair’s-breath pianissimi, Doori gave a truly compelling performance of this long and demanding piece. I’ve come to think of Doori as a violinist who can play anything, and this evening his remarkable playing served as confirmation. He called his preparation of the piece “a journey”, and he repays his listeners by taking us on a journey of our own. Simply extraordinary.

I did have two thoughts on the overall effect of this ballet: I feel it could benefit from having more dancers involved – if for no other reason than that they could dance to this music, which must be a revelation. And I think darker, more dramatic costumes would be fantastic: this actually could be a proverbial ‘black’ ballet. But these are simply idle thoughts: FEEL YOUR FALL is fine just as it stands.

It took a few minutes for me to return to Earth from this cosmic experience. As a diversion, Melody Fader played Haydn for THE LETTER, a ballet in which Elizabeth Brown and Traci Finch might be viewed as mistress and maid. It has its comic aspects, but the mystery remains to the end: we never learn the contents of the letter.

The evening concluded with AMITY, Miro’s graceful, golden ballet set to Mozart’s violin sonata K. 296 which Doori and Melody played with distinction. Mlles. Butler, Finch, Neff, and Williams floated and flitted about the space, dancing Miro’s combinations with joyous abandon, so close we could almost reach out and touch them. AMITY was commissioned by dance-lover Edward Petrou in memory of his wife Rachel; this evening, Miro added a further dedication: to the great Arthur Mitchell, who passed away on September 19th.

~ Oberon

September 22, 2018
Rehearsal: Miro Magloire’s New Saariaho Ballet

Above: dancers and singers unite in Miro Magloire’s new ballet, “I AM“

~ Author: Oberon

Monday February 12th, 2018 – Since I am unable to attend this weekend’s New Chamber Ballet performances, the Company’s director, Miro Magloire, invited me to a studio rehearsal this morning of his newest creation: “I Am” set to music by Kaija Saariaho and Karin Rehnqvist.

When I arrived this morning, the Saariaho portion of “I Am” was being rehearsed, with dancers Kristine Butler, Traci Finch, and Amber Neff; members of the vocal ensemble Ekmeles (Charlotte Mundy, Mary Mackenzie, and Elisa Sutherland) not only sing but participate in the choreography, and NCB’s violinist Doori Na and pianist Melody Fader were on hand to play the magical music of Ms. Saariaho.

Here are some images from today’s rehearsal of “I Am“:

Mary Mackenzie, Kristine Butler

Amber Neff, Charlotte Mundy

Amber & Charlotte

Elisa Sutherland, Traci Finch

Elisa, Charlotte, Mary, and Kristine

Traci, Amber, and Elisa

Elisa and Charlotte face-off

Elisa Sutherland

Elisa encircled

Mary & Kristine

Kristine Butler

Traci Finch, Amber Neff

Traci & Amber

Charlotte Mundy

The second part of “I Am” is set to music by Karin Rehnqvist: “Davids Nimm“, a vocal trio based on Swedish shepherdess’s calls.

Between the two parts of “I Am“, the Company will show a new ballet danced to selections from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. This was being rehearsed today, with Melody Fader at the piano and dancers Sarah Atkins, Elizabeth Brown, Kristine Butler, and Amber Neff:

Elizabeth Brown

Sarah Atkins, Elizabeth Brown

Amber Neff, Kristine Butler

Amber Neff, Elizabeth Brown

Kristine Butler, Sarah Atkins

Kristine Butler with Elizabeth, Amber, and Sarah

The performances will be February 16th and 17th, 2018 at the City Center Studios. For tickets, go here.

~ Oberon

February 12, 2018
New Chamber Ballet: From Bach to Beat

Above: Elizabeth Brown of New Chamber Ballet

Friday September 22nd, 2017 – Kicking off their 2017-2018 season, Miro Magloire’s New Chamber Ballet offered an evening of five ballets choreographed by Miro to music by J S Bach, W A Mozart, Luciano Berio, Beat Furrer, and the choreographer himself. Pianist Melody Fader and violinist Doori Na performed these stylistically varied scores to perfection: their playing illuminated the evening in a very special way. Miro’s five ballerinas – Sarah Atkins, Elizabeth Brown, Kristine Butler, Traci Finch, and Amber Neff – rose to every challenge the choreographer handed them, from brisk allegro combinations to extremes of partnering.

Miro has recently altered the seating configuration for his City Center Studio presentations: the audience now sit on all four borders of the performing space, with the piano in a permanent place at the far end of the hall. This worked exceptionally well. I chose a seat right next to the musicians which proved wonderfully congenial.

The revival of Lace provided a stunning showcase for violinist Doori Na: his playing of Luciano Berio’s Sequenza VIII was simply spine-tinglingly sensational. To revel in the exceptional clarity of Doori’s playing – the music’s fleet edginess, intensity, and wide dynamic range all captured to perfection – made for a perfect start to the evening. The choreography creates a sense of ritual as the three ballerinas – Sarah Atkins, Elizabeth Brown, and Traci Finch – seem to personify priestesses in the service of some ancient, long-forgotten goddess. Each dancer has solo passages while the other two sit or kneel, striking poses of reverence or ecstasy. The contrast between agitation and reverence creates an engrossing atmosphere.

Pianist Melody Fader brought a hypnotic, quiet radiance to the music of Beat Furrer for Voicelessness, a duet inspired by a poem of Sylvia Plath’s and danced by Kristine Butler and Amber Neff. Melody’s control of the music’s piano/pianissimo gradations was so atmospheric. The two dancers moved with intense assurance thru some very demanding partnering sequences; in this and other recent ballets, Miro has created a new mode of same-sex partnering.

The revival of 104 Fahrenheit, to Magloire’s own score, made me stop to think: have I seen any other ballets choreographed by their composer before? I can’t think of any. The ballet begins languidly, with Melody Fader again setting the mood with her refined playing. Traci Finch has the first solo passage: a danced agitato with cunning pauses. Kristine Butler’s slower solo reflects the sense of stillness in the music. Skittering motifs from the piano signal Elizabeth Brown’s space-filling solo, a vividly-danced montage of athleticism and repose in which the dancer’s hands create their own visual poetry. Throughout, Melody Fader’s inspired playing gave wing to the exceptional dancing.

The world premiere of a new duet to music from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier has a simple working title for now: Bach. Commissioned by longtime friends of New Chamber Ballet, Leslie and Richard Curtis, the duet is lovely as it stands; but Miro already has plans to enlarge on it.

Wearing Sarah Thea’s frothy pastel frocks, Amber Neff and Kristine Butler drew inspiration from Melody Fader’s spot-on playing of the Bach prelude and fugue #14 in F-sharp minor. The two dancers move from joyous bounciness thru some stretchy give-and-take partnering, and lovely, ecstatic back-bends. It’ll be interesting to see how Miro develops this piece, and whether additional dancers might be included.

Amity is set to Mozart’s violin sonata in C Major K.296, and what a wonderful performance of that piece we heard this evening from Melody Fader and Doori Na. Sitting so close to these music-makers, I could really feel their resonance – Doori’s lower register had a nice contralto depth – while Melody’s choice of tempos seemed perfect.

Above: Amity dress rehearsal image by Nir Arieli.

Wearing Sarah Thea’s gossamer-gold costumes, dancers Sarah Atkins, Kristine Butler, Traci Finch, and Amber Neff affirmed the sense of joy in dancing to Mozart’s music with airy grace. From time to time, Miro has them fall to the floor: an unexpected move that at first seemed accidental. These little touches occur frequently throughout Miro’s choreography, and they keep things fresh.

September 22, 2017
Upcoming: A New Season @ New Chamber Ballet

Above: dancers Amber Neff and Kristine Butler of New Chamber Ballet

Monday September 18th, 2017 – Today I stopped by at the Ballet Hispanico studios to visit some of my favorite people from the dance world: Miro Magloire and the ballerinas of his New Chamber Ballet. They are presently in rehearsal for the opening performances of their 2017-2018 season, which will take place on September 22nd and 23rd, 2017, at the City Center Studios. Tickets and more information about the performances here.

The all-Magloire program for the opening performances features a new ballet commissioned by Richard and Leslie Curtis to music by J S Bach. The other composers represented will be Luciano Berio, Beat Furrer, and Miro Magloire. The dancers are Sarah Atkins, Elizabeth Brown, Kristine Butler, Traci Finch, and Amber Neff. In keeping with New Chamber Ballet’s time-honoured tradition, all of the musical scores will be performed live by pianist Melody Fader and violinist Doori Na.

The overcast sky and a recalcitrant camera kept me from getting any really good images today, but here are some of Amber and Kristine rehearsing the new Bach piece and Voicelessness, the Beat Furrer ballet:

Kristine Butler is the newest member of New Chamber Ballet

September 17, 2017