Oberon's Grove: In the Studio with Sydney Skybetter: Dancing

Having been truly impressed by Sydney Skybetter's choreography at a recent Dance Theater Workshop performance, Kokyat and I really enjoyed this opportunity to watch Sydney and his dancers in the studio. Above: Bergen Wheeler, Sky, Jennifer Jones and Kristen Arnold. All photos: Kokyat. The images (most of them) will enhance if clicked on.

Parts of three works were rehearsed and then, after a break, were presented for a small audience of friends. Above: Jennifer, Kristen, Sky and Elliott Reiland. With the chamber ensemble GROUP THERAPY providing an especially glowing and full-bodied account of the Dvorak string quartet #12, we saw POTEMKIN PIECE. This was followed by part of Gorecki's Quasi Una Fantasia for the work entitled COLD HOUSE YOU KEPT: interestingly, this was the third setting of this music I have seen this year since it was used earlier by Benjamin Millepied for a New York City Ballet premiere and also by Lydia Johnson for her season at the Ailey. Finally, an excerpt from Skybetter's FUGUE STATE was shown, set to Shostakovich.

Sydney's choreography flows freely on the music, and his musical choices are impeccable. There is urgency without melodrama, and there are beautifully sustained lyric passages. The dancers, each with a unique personality shining thru the movement, have ample opportunity for personal expression and to revel in combinations which demand great energy but never appear strenuous. Partnered sequences have a nice sense of naturalness and in ensembles one feels each dancer's individuality underpinning the sense of unity. The more Skybetter I see, the more I like. And the presence of the musicians adds immeasurably to the beauty of what we experience: both ear and eye are constantly satisfied and sustained.