Monday November 14, 2011 - Works by five choreographers - Kimi Nikaidoh, Nicola Curry, Emery LeCrone, Troy Schumacher and Daniel Mantei - were presented tonight at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center. Above: Matt Murphy's photo of Emery LeCrone, artistic director of the Young Choreographer's Showcase. This was Emery's second year presenting the Showcase and it was a strong programme of fresh and inventive choreography, excellently varied musical choices, and top-level dancing.
Troy Schumacher's THREE MOMENTS was the spectacularly-danced opening work tonight. Four New York City Ballet dancers who are concurrently part of Troy's Satellite Ballet ensemble performed to live music from pianist Nick Jaina and violinist Nathan Langston; the two musicians share the musical composition credit with Amanda Lawrence.
I think we sometimes take the technical wizardry and personal magnetism of the New York City Ballet dancers for granted; it was really exciting to see them at close range tonight and be reminded of their sheer perfection. THREE MOMENTS opens with a solo passage danced by Ashley Laracey, observed by Teresa Reichlen. Tess then dances the first of two pas de deux with Sam Greenberg. The willowy ballerina's lustrous lyricism takes on a contemporary edge in Troy's demanding movement style while her partner displayed the energy, charisma and space-filling authority that to me says 'star in the making'. Beautiful concluding moment: after so much passionate movement, Sam sweeps into a deep backbend as Tess strikes an exultant pose.
In the second duet, a prickly theme on the violin propels Ashley Laracey and Troy Schumacher into a fast-paced dance that is playful but blessedly never cute. They are youthful and vibrantly alive, the pace is brisk, their musicality shines.
After a slight pause, the mood of the evening turns darkish as Max van der Sterre appears in a pool of golden light to dance Emery LeCrone's solo UNTITLED TRANSIENT. Wearing simple black trousers, Max's sculptured torso takes on a glowing quality as he moves to the pensive, moody music of Kim Malmquist. On the surface, this solo seems a testimony to the quiet power of the male dancer; yet there is a underlying restlessness where we think of a caged animal, nearly resigned to his fate but still with an impulse to break free. Max, both here and last week dancing with SenseDance, looked magnificent. Happy birthday, Max!
In her finely-crafted ALL THINGS NEW, Kimi Nikaidoh's choreographic voice spoke to us most persuasively. For her three-movement duet, Kimi turned to music of the Baroque masters and then went about creating movement that was both worthy of the music and extremely satisfying to watch. There was a slight feeling of Paul Taylor in the piece, mainly in the clarity and conviction with which the dance flows forward as well as in the reationship established between the two dancers.
Kimi, an exotic beauty, and her handsome partner Harry Feril were superbly in-sync as they moved thru the spacious combinations of the opening section, set to soul-stirring music of Arcangelo Corelli. In a brilliant stroke, Kimi used the melodically simple but emotionally rapt Giordani love-aria "Caro mio ben" for her tender but never maudlin central pas de deux. It looked for a moment like the work might end on a note of romantic calm, but instead the dancers veered into a joyous allegro finale to Bach.
After the intermission, choreographers and dancers from ABT took over the stage in two works, the first created by Nicola Curry, the ravishing dark-haired beauty, on two of her ABT colleagues: Nicole Graniero and Eric Tamm. To music of Max Richter, Ms. Curry crafted a neo-classical pas de deux that led off with beautifully modulated port de bras from her two attractive dancers. Nicole Graniero caught the mysterious atmosphere of the plushly romantic score, her dancing refined and sophisticated. Kokyat and I are big admirers of Eric Tamm, with his handsome presence and polished partnering skills.
Daniel Mantei of the ABT corps de ballet danced in his own choreographed work, ARMAMENTS, along with five colleagues from the Company. A Tchaikovsky piano trio was played live by Jorge Avila (violin), Katherne Cherbin (cello) and Emily Wong (piano). Mr. Mantei's choreography moved beyond predictable responses to Tchaikovsky's lush and poignant score, using contemporary movement motifs in fresh combinations: the boys literally pluck the girls out of the air, and in a pair of pas de trois - the first for men and the second for women - he makes innovative use of the music. The work seems to end on a question mark. Excellent dancing from all: Mr. Mantei along with Nicole Graniero, Kelley Potter, Cassandra Trenary, Sean Stewart and Grant DeLong.
On arriving at the theater, we were greeted by a lovely ensemble of dancers - including Victoria North, Erin Arbuckle, Maddie Deavenport, Lauren Toole and Caitlin Dieck: Emery LeCrone really knows how to put on an evening of dance right down to having a bevy of ballerinas as ushers and stagehands. So nice to see them all, along with Erin Fogarty, Deborah Wingert, Claudia Schreier, Juan Camilo Aguirre Acosta, and the inimitable Albert Evans.