Sunday November 14, 2010 - Works by five 'next-generation' choreographers were presented at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center. This venue is a thriving center for dance and I am spending increasing amounts of time there, all to the good. Today Kokyat and I spent the whole day at MMAC, first watching a studio rehearsal, then the dress rehearsal for the Showcase and finally the performance. Top photo: the five choreographers take a bow: Ja' Malik, Avi Scher, Justin Peck, Emery LeCrone and Zalman Grinberg. Click on the image to enlarge.
The evening opened with the work of a choreographer entirely new to me: Zalman Grinberg. In the past few days I'd been thinking how rarely we see new dance works set to Debussy and - voila! - Zali has given us a pas de deux to two piano works by the French composer, played live tonight by Felix Ventouras. Entitled Variations on Debussy, the pas de deux employs an unusual structure in that it opens with the female solo which melds directly into a duet, and ends - after a brief pause - with the male solo. Lauren King of New York City Ballet danced the opening variation with a beautiful freshness of style and a personal radiance that is so appealing. NYCB's Vincent Paradiso was her partner in the duet and they make a really attractive pairing; the partnering is tender and serene but steers clear of romantic cliches. Zalman showed his choreographic imagination by turning the thrice-familiar Clair de lune into a solo for Vincent. The solo, which veers from pensive to sensuous as an underlying restlessness comes into play, gave the dancer a full range of emotional colours to which Vincent brought a fusion of the masculine and the poetic. Being a big admirer of both Vincent and Lauren, I was thrilled to see them at close range today, both at the rehearsal and the performance. Photo above: pianist and dancers acknowledge the applause.
Ja' Malik's The Hour Before... brings two couples together: Paunika Jones and Leyland Simmons from Ballet Noir and Devon Tuescher and Jose Sebastian of ABT. Ja' uses music from Joby Talbot and Miguel Frasconi, with ripples of ominous thunder heard echoing in the opening passage. Leyland Simmons' dynamic dancing kicks off the work in which each of the four dancers have opportunities to shine; yet the work is not about mere virtuosity but instead brings the dancers' individual personalities into play. In the first of two duets, Paunika and Leyland spur one another on. At one point Paunika - an intriguing dramatic presence - allows the energy of the music to undulate twice thru her body. Their duet is restless and boldly danced. The tall dancers from ABT look super together and they excelled in the calming aspects of the work's adagio passage. Each of the four dancers has their own brand of intensity and Ja' channels their energy with dance that is ever-alert to the pulse of the music.
Justin Peck and Teresa Reichlen danced Justin's duet Enjoy Your Rabbit which premiered earlier this year at the Columbia Ballet Collaborative. In this pas de deux to music of Osso and Sufjan Stevens, Justin plays with the vocabulary of ballet partnering - it's all classically rooted but it all looks so contemporary. In one impressive motif, Tess takes flying leaps toward Justin who catches her with one arm creating an illusion of energy flowing in two directions at once. The duet is not romantic in a traditional sense but there are hints of intimacy, as when Tess subtly runs her fingers thru Justin's hair. As the music moves from spare to expansive, the dancing becomes ever more lush and intense.
Avi Scher's DreamScapes duet is destined to become part of a larger work. We'd seen this piece being built in the studio and all the signs were auspicious for a big success but just a couple of days ago David Prottas was forced to withdraw due to injury. Avi's been in this position before - of needing a miracle on short notice - and to the rescue came Tyler Angle who learned the piece literally in a day and gave a breath-taking performance that not only showed Avi's choreography off to best advantage but also gave us a chance to see Tyler's ever-impressive dancing and his personal intensity at close range. Ana Sophia Scheller, technician de luxe and gorgeous dancer that she is, was simply glorious and took the change of partner in stride, dancing with fascinating security and focus.
Cellist Andrew Yee's playing of the Ursula Kwong-Brown score for Emery LeCrone's Passacaglia had sonic richness and was emotionally charged. From New York City Ballet, Georgina Pazcoguin and Daniel Applebaum (above) created a ritualistic feeling as the energy flowed back and forth between them. Emery's choreography has a deep vein of mystique and both the dancers and the cellist drew us into their world. Laced with port de bras which seem to flow naturally on the music, this duet was evocative and soulful thanks to the expressive powers of the participating artists.
A standing-room-only crowd filled the hall and enthusiasm ran high for all the dancers, musicians and choreographers. Luminaries from the dance world were among the audience. Between the dress rehearsal and the performance, ABT's Craig Salstein gave company class for the dancers, and it was really good to catch up with Matt Murphy who was shooting at the dress rehearsal. Emery LeCrone, who masterminded the event, gave thankful praise to Manhattan Movement and Arts Center for their generosity in making the idea become a reality.
Photos by Kokyat; more of his images from this performance may be seen here.
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