Thursday November 11, 2010 - Georgina Pazcoguin is one of the most distinctive and fascinating dancers on the New York City Ballet roster. And in recent seasons Daniel Applebaum has been making a vivid impression in several ballets at NYCB - he recently danced at the New York Choreographic Institute's tenth anniversary performances to striking effect. When Emery LeCrone told me she was creating a duet for these two dancers for the upcoming Young Choreographers Showcase I was very curious to see what she would come up with. And so I was excited when she invited Kokyat and me to have a sneak peak of this new work in a preview at her studio rehearsal this evening.
A small invited audience assembled and the two dancers, at the end of a long rehearsal day at NYC Ballet, began a run-thru of the piece. Anyone who has seen Georgina Pazcoguin dance is aware of her inherent dramatic qualities; she and Daniel are beautifully matched here, Daniel's partnering is strong and assured. The duet is neither romantic nor edgy but rather takes on a spiritual quality which stems naturally from the soulful playing of the Ursula Kwong-Brown score by cellist Andrew Yee.
I met Andrew Yee when he worked with me briefly at Tower a few years ago. He currently plays with the Attacca Quartet. His playing at the rehearsal today had an emotional richness that the dancers immediately picked up on.
Emery, Andrew and the dancers worked smoothly as a team with tempo suggestions, spacing and partnering ideas all in the mix of getting the piece looking its best. At the end of an hour, a second run thru had the duet looking and sounding performance-ready.
Here are some of Kokyat's images from this rehearsal:
The Young Choreographers Showcase programme will be presented on Sunday November 14th at 8:00 PM at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, 248 West 60th Street. For ticket information, call 212-868-4444. Or visit SmartTix.
My god, they are so beautiful!
Posted by: MarieMusique | November 12, 2010 at 10:07 AM