Oberon's Grove

Rehearsal: Jennifer Muller's LOVERS

Thursday April 26, 2012 - It's always a great pleasure to visit Jennifer Muller and her dancers at her unique studio space on West 24th Street. This afternoon I was invited to watch a rehearsal of LOVERS, a 1978 work that Jennifer is reviving. I asked photographer Brian Krontz to meet me at the studio; above, two of the excellent dancers of Jennifer Muller/the Works: Jen Peters and Duane Gosa.

Inspired by the paintings of Gustave Klimt, LOVERS presents a series of four duets which trace the development of a single relationship: infatuation, lust, trust, and finally deep and committed love. The score is by Keith Jarrett. Those are the facts, but the back-story about the evolution of the piece as Jennifer related it to me is fascinating.

She had commissioned a score from Keith Jarrett; she had the dancework completed but the composer wasn't sending her any music. He told her he wanted to see what she'd created so it was arranged that the dancers would run thru the entire piece while Keith improvised at the piano. The session was recorded and - miraculously - Jennifer had her score in one fell swoop. And what a great score it is, bursting with colour and rhythmic vitality.

Observing the rehearsal today, I could see how inspired Keith Jarrett must have been watching this choreography: the movement is spectacular, the partnering uncanny in its pacing and physicality. To be honest, I've seldom felt so blown away by the sheer dynamics of dance partnering: dancing at high-speed with incredible lifts and swirling motifs across the floor woven in, there's no room for even the slightest error. The dancers of Jennifer Muller/The Works have mastered her complex and ultra-demanding choreography and the result is truly breath-taking.

One of the best things about watching a studio rehearsal at Jennifer's is: the dancers go into full-performance mode. They fling themselves full-tilt into the choreography and immerse themselves in their characters, producing the same dramatic energy you'd experience in the theater: only here they are just inches away. Unfettered by any thought of restraint, these dancers - some of Gotham's most fascinating movers - give the viewer a sense of exhilaration.

With an eye to upcoming performances, the duets have been double- or even triple-cast. Once I saw the complexity of the partnering I could thoroughly appreciate the energy and dedication the dancers have put into learning this work.

Buddy Valdez and Olivia Jordan (above) opened the rehearsal with a joyously expressive duet celebrating the discovery of mutual attraction; ardently flirtatious, the dancers frequently open their arms in expansive gestures that indicate their love knows no bounds. The ecstatic energy of the piece was beautifully caught by the two youthful and attractive dancers, while the choreography covered the space with the restless, questing movement. I was hooked on LOVERS within seconds.

Olivia and Buddy, above. The rehearsal moved on, with various partnerships evolving from one duet to the next. The Jarrett score constantly matched the dance nuance for nuance, quite amazing considering the spontaniety of its creation.

Here are some of Brian's images from this series of duets:

Seiko Fugita and Eric Williams

Gen Hashimoto and Seiko Fugita

Gen and Seiko

Chellamar Bernard and Seiko Fugita

Chellamar and Seiko

Seiko and Chellamar

Duane Gosa and Jen Peters

Duane and Jen

Caroline Kehoe and Pascal Rekoert

Pascal and Caroline

Pascal and Caroline

LOVERS will be performed at the Katsbaan International Dance Center on May 5th, and will be in Jennifer Muller/The Works repertoire for the 2012-2013 season. I look forward to seeing (and hearing) it again.

All photos by Brian Krontz. Click on the individual images to enhance.

YAGP Makarova Gala 2012

Saturday August 28, 2012 - The concluding event of the 2012 Youth America Grand Prix was a gala evening celebrating the great ballerina Natalia Makarova. I'm not really a fan of ballet galas (my idea of a perfect gala would be SERENADE, FOUR TEMPERAMENTS and SYMPHONY IN C) but tonight's programme offered the chance to see so many dancers I love all in one place that I took advantage of the opportunity to attend. The audience were far better-behaved than at the previous night's gala (though I'm always annoyed by Russians sitting near me at the ballet or opera - they can't STFU for a moment, seemingly) and the performance (almost) started on time. There was still late seating, but less of it than on Friday evening.

The filmed presence of Makarova loomed over the stage almost ominously at times. Some of today's greatest dancers were not allowed even to bow after their dancing; they were hustled offstage in the dark while the enormous image of Makarova re-appeared on the screen, relating anecdotes from her career. This was particularly unfortunate following a sublime White Swan pas de deux danced by Yuan Yuan Tan and Friedermann Vogel; no sooner had they struck their poetic final pose than La Makarova came looming out of the darkness, chattering away. No chance for reverie.

Well, anyway, there was lots of superb dancing and everything was a highlight basically. This was my first Osipova Experience and she was remarkable in a pair of very strongly contrasted works (both danced with the excellent Ivan Vasiliev): the jaggedly contemporary and exciting Serenata by Mauro Bigonzetti and a spell-binding GISELLE pas de deux. Osipova made a glorious impression and I very much look forward to seeing her again soon at ABT.

Yuan Tuan Tan's silken sumptuousness as Odette (such a lovely filagree of rapid beats in those final slow supported turns) was enthralling, and Friedermann Vogel was a perfect cavalier for her. Later, in Black Swan, Ekaterina Kondaurova sizzled with dramatic fire and her dancing was on the grandest scale; she and Marcelo Gomes (at his most charismatic) had the chemistry going full-blast. A second couple (Tamara Rojo and Sergei Polunin) then took over, with Ms. Rojo unleashing a torrent of fouettes with some fascinating quadruples.

Veronika Part appeared all-too-briefly as Nikiya is the evening's opening piece, the encounter from BAYADERE where Gamzatti exposes the temple dancer's love for Solor. Ekaterina Kondaurova was the imperious princess, later switching gears impressively for a Forsythe solo from IN THE MIDDLE, SOMEWHAT ELEVATED. From the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, Catherine Hurlin paid tribute to one of Makarova's first solo roles, dancing Princess Florine's variation very prettily. Later in the evening, Ashley Bouder celebrated the Jerome Robbins/Makarova connection with a scintillating solo from OTHER DANCES. New York City Ballet's Tyler Angle and Maria Kowroski honored Makarova's Broadway triumph in ON YOUR TOES with Maria's mind-boggling extension gorgeously displayed.

A trio of romantic pas de deux reminded us of Makarova's flair for drama, and of her work with the 20th century's greatest choreographers: Tamara Rojo and Federco Bonelli from Ashton's A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, Diana Vishneva and Marcelo Gomes in MacMillan's MANON, and Alicia Amatriain and Friedermann Vogel in Cranko's ONEGIN. 

Tamara Rojo and Denis Matvienko commenced the evening's closing work, from the Kingdom of the Shades, saluting Makarova's glorious staging of BAYADERE for ABT which remains the best production in that Company's repertoire. The evening's final surprise came with the appearance of a seemingly last-minute addition to the casting: David Hallberg, who looked like a god in his simple white tights and tee-shirt. The audience welcomed him warmly and he was soon joined by the divine Kondaurova, a majestic Nikiya, also in white practice clothes. These two gave us a glimpse of Heaven on Earth, what more can be said?

As all the dancers made a final bow, Kevin McKenzie escorted Natalia Makarova onstage to a massive standing ovation. All the ballerinas laid their flowers at the Assoluta's feet, then Marcelo and David hoisted her into a high lift as a radiant sunburst-backdrop appeared.

YAGP GALA 2012

Friday April 27, 2012 - Winners from the 2012 Youth America Grand Prix competition joined a constellation of great dancers from the world's top companies for this gala evening at Lincoln Center. New ballets by Jiri Bubenicek, Marcelo Gomes and Justin Peck were premiered. Unfortunately, what could/should have been a memorable dance experience was marred by jarring flaws in the presentation and an audience who seemed to think they were at a basketball game. 

Not to dwell on the negatives, but a 7:00 PM start time means you'd better have the curtain up no later than 7:07. It was 7:20 and we were still sitting there, twiddling our thumbs as the fashionably-late crowd drifted down the aisles to their seats. Women teetering past us hilariously in way-too-high heels looked absurd. But despite not starting til 7:25, there were still large numbers of even-later latecomers and they were all allowed to stagger around in the dark trying to find their seats.

Worse still were the idiotic couple -TV personalities (I use the term loosely) supposedly - who hosted the evening. Their lame jokes, inept reading of a prepared script, and complete lack of personal dignity or charm gave the evening an air of low-class entertainment that even the great dancers who appeared after the intermission could not thoroughly dispel. Ballet is one of the last bastions of beauty and civility; why reduce it to a crude reality show?

Then there was the audience with its large percentage of screaming, whooping adolescents blended with adults who chatted throughout and came and went from their seats at whim. A disastrous second late-seating took place after the break as they darkened the house lights and started Justin Peck's new ballet (the main reason I attended) long before the crowd were back in their seats. So, more distractions disrupted Justin's work and the excellent dancing of Teresa Reichlen and Robert Fairchild. Inexcusable.

With these distractions, the first half of the gala went for nought. Although the Competition winners who danced in Part I were announced, I mostly had no clue who I was watching. A couple of the boys made outstanding impressions, but the announcer referred to a solo from LA SYLPHIDE as being from LES SYLPHIDES. A beautiful ensemble piece by Choo San Goh marked the high point of Part I, along with a dazzling performance of the DON QUIXOTE variation by a Korean boy whose name I know not.

Furiant, Justin Peck's ballet to a beautiful Dvorak score (played live, and ravishingly) was rather lost in the shuffle of the post-intermission seating debacle, but I could tell it's another nice addition to Justin's catalog, and hopefully we can see it again under more favorable circumstances. Tess Reichlen and Rob Fairchild look wonderful together though I could have wished that Robbie had worn a fitted top rather than the billowy blouse. I continue to commend Justin Peck not only for his choreographic imagination but also for his inspired musical choices. So far, in my view, he hasn't made a single false creative move.

Tamara Rojo gave a luminous performance in the mysterious duet for woman and goldfish entitled Life Is A Dream (choreographed by Fei Bo). The ballerina begins seated in a pool of light; opposite her is a second light-pool with a fishbowl globe holding a single, swishing goldfish. Intrigued by the fish, the dancer moves about the space in a reverie. Really nice.

Herman Cornejo's marvelous dancing of his self-choreographed solo Tango Y Yo was a brilliant vignette, but Jose Manuel Carreno and his partner Karina Smirnoff couldn't match Herman for sheer artistry; their tango was a more gaudy, reality-show version. And at one point Jose seemed about to lose control of Karina.

Yolanda Correa Frias (Norwegian Ballet) and Yonah Acosta (English National Ballet) paired successfully in the CORSAIRE pas de deux, the bare-chested and handsome Jonah winning applause for every leap and pose; the ballerina has a lovely quality but what was with the rhythmic clapping during her solo? Disgusting.

Marcelo Gomes (would that he had danced!) choreographed a movement-rich duet for his ABT colleagues Misty Copeland and Alexandre Hammoudi. Entitled Toccare, the pas de deux is set to a colorful contemporary score by Ian Ng, played live by the adorable-punk violinist Charles Yang and pianist Dmitri Dover. Misty and Alexandre make a radiant pair, and the ballet was further enhanced by huge black-and-white still images of the two dancers projected on the back wall. The images, by Jade Young, were so striking that they might have over-shadowed the dancing; but Marcelo, Misty and Alexandre made sure the whole performance was finely integrated. Bravi tutti!

Alicia Amatriain and Friedermann Vogel from Stuttgart Ballet gave a spacious rendering of the Cranko Romeo and Juliet pas de deux. The dancers held the audience in the palms of their hands with their lovely lyricism, though I found myself thinking that Sean Lavery's version of this duet surpassses Cranko's as a distillation of an immortal love.

Jiri Bubenicek's Gentle Memories brought the great Mariinsky ballerina Ekaterina Kondaurova to the stage. This woman made such a stunning impression when she danced here in Gotham at the Mariinsky's last visit (time for an encore, dear Russians!).  Looking splendid in a long deep-rose gown, La Kondaurova held the center of this ballet as three men (Islam Baimuradov, Otto Bubenicek, and Jon Vallejo) vied for her favor. Yet in the end it was the pianist Simon Mulligan who won her heart. Mr. Mulligan played Karen LeFrak's melodious yet very au courant score impeccably. This ballet and these performers generated a unique atmosphere; I'd love to see this piece again - and Justin's and Marcelo's as well. A single viewing of a new ballet is never enough. 

Tamara Rojo and Sergei Polunin were announced to be dancing Esmerelda but they certainly looked like Diana and Acteon to me. Ms. Rojo seemed a bit out of focus early on but by the time she reached her uncanny set of fouettes she was back on the gold standard. Mr. Polunin danced quite grandly and together they brought the gala to a rousing conclusion.

"Amour, viens rendre a mon ame!"

Shirley Verrett sings the great bravura aria "Amour, viens rendre a mon ame!" from ORPHEE ET EURYDICE.

"Love, fill my soul with your most ardent flame!

For this love, I shall brave even Death.

Though Hell should stand in my way,

The monsters of Tartanus hold no terrors for me.

I feel love's power in my breast,

and for this love I shall brave Death itself"

Ballet Next: Choreographic Exhibition

Above: Michele Wiles and Kristi Boone in Mauro Bigonzetti's LA FOLLIA, photo by Paul B Goode. Click on the image to enlarge.

Wednesday April 25, 2012 - "You'll be close enough to see us sweat and breathe," said ballerina Michele Wiles in a brief film shown at the start of this evening's presentation by Ballet Next. She was right, and there's nothing more beautiful - for me at least - than watching dancers dance, especially at close range. Some dance-goers want to see an effortless sheen of 'artistry' which masks the physicality of the dance; myself, I love to see the body working, the minute flickerings of facial expression as the dancer 'edits' herself, the sense of stretch as the muscles respond, and the mechanics of delivering a triple pirouette. In a large theatrical setting, you're at a remove from all of this. Tonight at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, the dancers exposed themselves to our keenest scrutiny. They looked superb.

Michele Wiles and Charles Askegard created Ballet Next as a continuation of their top-flight dance careers after they 'retired' from ABT and New York City Ballet respectively. They certainly don't look like any retirees I know; their vitality and their eagerness to share their excitement about Ballet Next with an ever-broadening audience are infectious. Michele and Charles have set forth to bring us classic and new choreography danced by ballet's greatest talents to live music. So far they've been succeeding admirably.

Tonight's programme delivered four works, each created especially for Ballet Next. The Company's music director Elad Kabilio and his troupe of gallant young musicians delivered inspired playing of works by Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Satie and Vivaldi. Setting their musical barre very high gives Ballet Next an added lustre in my view; the better music you use, the better your choreography and dancing will look. It's that simple. 

And so we started with Stravinsky, violinist Hajnal Karman Pivnick and pianist Ben Laude treating us to shimmering suite of music from Baiser de la Fee. I have a special love for this music since Balanchine's gorgeous setting of the score was the first work I ever saw danced by New York City Ballet (by Patricia McBride and Helgi Tomasson, no less...)

Charles Askegard entitles his duet to this music simply DIVERTIMENTO. Danced with teriffic flair by Charles and NYCB's Georgina Pazcoguin, his choreography is witty and wonderful with some very inventive partnering motifs threading thru the music. Physically demanding, the dance evoked genuine enthusiasm from the packed house. Ms Pazcoguin, always a dancer to lure the opera glasses when she's on the big stage, is a fascinating technician and personality to experience in this more intimate setting. Charles, one of the ballet world's most valuable partners, doesn't give himself any easy breaks in his own choreography. DIVERTIMENTO is a pure pleasure in every regard.

By way of contrast, Brian Reeder's summer-shadowy PICNIC proved to be a small jewel of a narrative ballet. Drawing inspiration from the film PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, the choreographer turns to Shostakovich's Cello Sonata in D Minor with its alternating currents of pensive and slightly ominous feeling, and shows us three schoolgirls in white frocks setting out on that fatal picnic from which two of them never returned. Michele Wiles, Kristi Boone and Misty Copeland comprised a stellar trio, each (like the girls in the film) with her own unique little quirks. Kissing, chaste but inquisitive, delicately projects the Sapphic undercurrents found in the film. Meanwhile, Charles Askegard, perhaps drawing on his incredible portrayal of the death figure in Robbins' IN MEMORY OF...seems silently to draw Misty and Kristi into his thrall, leaving Michele to awaken, alone and mystified. Cellist Elad Kabilio and pianist Ben Laude supported the dancers with a poetic rendering of the Shostakovitch.

Following an intermission during which we were up-dated as to the success of the evening's live- streaming (people tuning in worldwide), Margo Sappington spoke briefly about her creation of ENTWINED for Ballet Next. I've seen this ballet evolve from a single, sensuous duet thru the addition of a pas de trois and a solo (for Michele Wiles); Margo revealed she has one more idea up her sleeve, a duet for two women; then ENTWINED will be complete. Or, she might even go on from there.

What she has crafted to date is an atmospheric piece set to Satie Gnossiennes (played by Ben Laude) which opens with a pas de trois danced by Charles Askegard, Georgina Pazcoguin and Ana Sophia Scheller. The choreography here flows thru a misty setting, as in a dream. Images of sleep and wakefulness drift by. The solo for Michele Wiles (beautifully danced, of course) evolves seamlessly from the pas de trois and this in turn floats into the pas de deux danced by Misty Copeland and Charles Askegard. By turns sculptural and steamy, this duet borders on the erotic, temptingly lush in its signature choreographic entwining of two bodies. Misty looked gorgeous.

(My only tiny complaint about the evening was that we didn't get to see more of Ana Sophia Scheller; a ballerina in my super-top echelon of favorites, she danced gloriously in ENTWINED...and we did have the delightful experience of watching her warm up before the performance. Major beauty.)

Mauro Bigonzetti's LA FOLLIA is a grand finale for a Ballet Next presentation. I've seen this duet now four times and it's just incredible. The two women - Michele Wiles and ABT's fantastic Kristi Boone - nailed the complex in-sync steps and launched their complex solos with real bravado. This is dancing that's taxing to the max, and the girls gave it a splendid energy. Meanwhile the excellent quartet of musicians (violinist Francesca Anderegg joining Ms. Pivnick and Mssers. Kabilio and Laude) played the dazzling Vivaldi theme and variations for all it was worth. This brought the evening to a truly exciting close.

So glad I ran into my young dancer-friend Alejandro Herrera whose easy, outgoing personality helped me overcome my innate shyness for once. Chatting with Chuck Askegard,  Amanda Hankes, Rebecca Krohn, Adam Hendrickson, Sterling Hyltin, Gina Pazcoguin and Kristi Boone was a pleasure, while MMAC's Erin Fogarty let a couple of cats out of the bag for what is sure to be a grand night of Dancing Against Cancer at MMAC on May 7th (Matt Murphy will photograph that dress rehearsal for me). 

As for Ballet Next, the future looks bright indeed with a season scheduled for The Joyce this Autumn and plans for growth and development running apace. Michele and Charles are not only great artists but great people who have a real passion for ballet and who have the connections in the dance world to make Ballet Next a truly dynamic force. I look forward to following their every step.

Lydia Johnson's Bach-In-Progress: Gallery

A gallery of more of Kokyat's images from a rehearsal of Lydia Johnson's new work-in-progress, set to music of J.S. Bach. Read about our visit to Lydia's studio here. Above: Kaitlin Accetta.

Kaitlin Accetta

Lauren Jaeger, Min-Seon Kim

Blake Hennessy-York, Attila Joey Csiki

Laura Di Orio

Lauren Jaeger

Katie Martin

Laura Di Orio, Katie Martin

Lisa Iannacito McBride

Sarah Pon, Blake Hennessy-York

Min-Seon Kim

Min-Seon, Laura and Lauren

Lisa Iannacito McBride

Lisa, Attila

Lauren Jaeger

Photos by Kokyat.

Lydia Johnson's Bach-In-Progress

Sunday August 22, 2012 - Kokyat and I stopped in at Lydia Johnson's rehearsal at Battery Dance on this dreary, rainy day where guest artist Attila Joey Csiki (above) of the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company was rehearsing with Lydia's company for the first time. 

For her latest creation, a work for large ensemble, Lydia turns to the music of J. S. Bach. The piece is already well-developed choreographically and despite the fact that this was Attila's first day working with Lydia, he's already thoroughly at ease with the style; in fact his signature musicality and the silken flow of his dancing are a natural compliment to Lydia's beautifully expressive motifs of movement. 

A central passage in this new dancework is a duet for Attila and Blake Hennessy-York (above). The boys have already mastered the structure of this duet and they ran thru it a few times, working out details of placement and trying various elements of partnering to achieve the desired smoothness.

Attila and Blake, above.

In a second duet, Attila dances with Lisa Innacito McBride (above).

This duet culminates with Attila falling into a beautiful swoon...

...and then re-awakening. 

Kokyat was silently moving around the studio to capture the many different elements of this ballet; above, Laura DOrio and Lisa Iannacito McBride. Since we were seeing it for the first time there was a lot to take in, often with multiple things happening - apropos of Bach - at the same time. In addition to Laura and Lisa, the dancers include:

Kaitlin Accetta

Blake Hennessy-York and Sarah Pon

Lauren Jaeger

Min-Seon Kim...

...and Katie Martin. 

It's always exciting to see the evolution of a new dancework and as always we felt very grateful to Lydia and the dancers for sharing their creative endeavor with us.

Lydia Johnson Dance will perform at Peridance on June 23rd and 24th, 2012 in a programme which will feature the premiere of the new Bach piece as well as ballets sent to music of Philip Glass and Osvaldo Golijov. In addition to the dancers pictured above, Jessica Sand and Kerry Shea will be dancing. Reed Luplau appears as a guest along with his Lubovitch colleague Attila Joey Csiki. Max van der Steere will also be guesting with Lydia's company. Ticket information here.

All photographes by Kokyat, with more images here.

From Justin Peck

While anticipating the premiere of a new Justin Peck pas de deux scheduled to be danced on Friday April 27th at the Youth American Grand Prix gala by New York City Ballet principal dancers Teresa Reichlen and Robert Fairchild, a new filmed miniature from Justin has come my way. Watch it here.

The film is Justin's second creation in collaboration with The Block magazine. The dancers are Janie Taylor, Emilie Gerrity, Robert Fairchild and Justin Peck. Above, a Tom Allen still from the film.

Emery LeCrone's UNCHAINED MELODIES

Friday April 20, 2012 - Choreographer Emery LeCrone is on a roll this Spring; having premiered her ballet ARCHETYPES at Colorado Ballet she then devised a superb duet for dancers Lauren Alpert and Dan Pahl for the recent Columbia Ballet Collaborative performances. She's also in the midst of a year-long creative grant from New York's City Center. 

Today Emery (above) seemed to be breaking fresh ground when she gave Kokyat and me a sneak peek at her latest creation for the Barnard Dance Department's upcoming performances. This latest creation will premiere at the Barnard University Dance Department on April 27th @ 7pm and April, 28th @ 2pm & @7pm.  The piece, entitled Unchained Melodies features music by Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison, Ray Charles and Dusty Springfield. The evening also includes danceworks by Larry Keigwin, Ana Keilson, and Karla Wolfangle.

Kokyat and I arrived at the studio to hear Stand By Your Man blasting while seven young dancers worked on a synchronized passage. Seven chairs stood in a row, with a pair of high heels tucked under each chair. The chairs and the pumps (Audrey Crabtree-Hannigan, above) become part of the choreography. 

Unchained Melodies seems to take place in a country-Western dance club late at night. These women are on their own; they end up waltzing together or with imaginary partners (Audrey Crabtree-Hannigan, Margaret Cowie and Lauren Alpert, above). But there's a lot of dancing leading up to the moment when the house lights come on and the bar's about to close. Emery's choreography is by turns witty and wistful...

...with a particularly inventive setting of Patsy Cline's classic I Go Out Walkin' in which the seated girls let their high-heeled feet do the talkin'. 

I've seen an awful lots of dance being created in the past few years but I can't recall a more purely entertaining studio session; the way Emery used these classic country tunes and the genuine response to both music and choreography from the seven girls was really refreshing to watch.

Here are some of Kokyat's images from this rehearsal:

Delaney Wing

Chelsea Keys

Nicole Cerutti, Lauren Alpert

Eleanor Barisser

Chelsea Keys

Audrey Crabtree-Hannigan

Nicole Cerutti

Chelsea, Lauren, Delaney

Nicole, Eleanor

All photography by Kokyat.

Open Rehearsal: RIOULT

Thursday April 19, 2012 - This evening we attended an open rehearsal at the Gibney Dance Center for RIOULT's upcoming season at the Gerald W Lynch Theater at John Jay College. The Company will perform there from May 10th thru 13th. Above, one of Kokyat's rehearsal images. Click on the photo to enlarge.

For this studio presentation, the RIOULT dancers took over the huge new studio at Gibney with its exposed brick walls. Pascal Rioult (above) is one of today's most compelling dancemakers; with his superb musical taste, his luminous choreographic visions and his keen eye for choosing dancers who are both physically and emotionally engaging, watching his work is always a moving and eminently satisfying experience.

This season, inspired by the TS Eliot poem The Waste Land, Pascal Rioult collaborates with composer Joan Tower for his newest creation. Composer and choreographer talked about their joint effort in a pre-showing dialogue (above). Mr. Rioult spoke of working with his dancers without referencing the score; large paragraphs of dance were created, with improvisational elements from the dancers being part of the process. Then he played the music for his dancers and they began the task of crafting the steps and gestures to the score. The dancers talked about this process and revealed how much they loved the music on first hearing: understandably, since it is a darkly radiant and at times almost desolate piece for cello and piano.

A sustained passage from the ballet was then shown, and Ms. Tower revealed that she was seeing Pascal's setting of her music for the very first time. The underlying structure of the work stems from the dancers continually crossing the space, walking at various speeds. They pause, meet, partner, form shapes and clusters, diverge, silently emote, even kiss. It all has a mystical and rather hypnotic quality; it has a somewhat formal feel yet in fact passions seem to be alive below the surface.

Here are some of Kokyat's images from the new Tower/Rioult collaboration:

Marianna Tsartolia, Jere Hunt, Charis Haines

Holt Walborn, Charis Haines

Jere Hunt, Anastasia Soroczynski

Michael Spencer Phillips

Jane Sato, Sara Elizabeth Seger, Josiah Guitian

Charis Haines, Jere Hunt

Jane Sato, Anastasia Soroczynski

The RIOULT dancers looked great in the Tower piece which is something of a stylistic departure for them. By way of contrast, Pascal then showed two sections of his Bach ballet CELESTIAL TIDINGS with displays his more familiar full-blown lyrical style:

Jere Hunt, Jane Sato in CELESTIAL TIDES

Jere Hunt, Jane Sato, Josiah Guitian, Anastasia Soroczynski

Jere Hunt, Jane Sato

Jane Sato, Jere Hunt

Michael Spencer Phillips (foreground)

Josiah Guitian, Brian Flynn

Josiah Guitian

Charis Haines, Brian Flynn

Jane Sato, Anastasia Soroczynski

Jere Hunt, Michael Spencer Phillips

Jane Sato, Anastasia Soroczynski

Jere Hunt, Michael Spencer Phillips

Jere Hunt

For the upcoming performances, these two well-contrasted works share the bill with Pascal's 2003 setting of FIREBIRD. It promises to be an exciting event and one I'm very much looking forward to.

All rehearsal images by Kokyat.