Sunday May 5th, 2013 - JANUSPHERE DANCE COMPANY (photo above by Rachel Neville; the dancers are Darion Smith and Milan Misko) presented a studio showing of choreographic works by Darion Smith, the Company's artistic director, this evening at City Center's Ballet Arts studio.
Last August, Janusphere performed Darion's Heart on a Dirty Platform, a real New York story, at Baruch College. This made me curious to see what the Company have been working on since.
The showing tonight opened with part of A Dancer's Life, a work-in-progress in which the diverse group of Janusphere dancers first appear in practice clothes, doing classroom pliés and tendus, and working on partnering. In an audition scene, the dancers vie fiercely for available work...and then comes the anguish of waiting for a callback. When all but one dancer - Marie Zvosec - are called, there's relief and rejoicing. Marie breaks into a tempestuous solo, her own private mad scene, protesting her dismissal.
In sleek pale blue body body tights, four dancers - So Young An, Misei Daimaru, Michael Fernandez and Matt Van - performed Darion's ethereal 2011 ballet Core. To a score by Jonathan Melville Pratt the dancers move thru the lyrical duets as their shadows are cast on the white wall. Misei has a sustained and expressive solo performed mostly on the floor. This abstract work, with its suggestions of tenderness, longing and evasion, made a dreamlike impression.
From the title KinderPlatz (Children's Place) I was expecting a juvenile ballet, with romping choreography and comic vignettes; but this work-in-progress is quite the opposite. A darkish, at times ominous score by Adyo and Deepbass sets the dancers, clad in soft creamy outfits, in a series of ensembles and duets. The dancers from Core are joined by Grace Song and Jason Jordan. A triple pas de deux is particularly fine, with a sculptural quality. The dancers later run, slide and halt across the space, or stand still waving their arms in unison windmill patterns; in these motifs the illusions of children's games are expresssed, but the mood remains distinctly serious. Perhaps these adults are remembering their playground days in a wistful daydream.
This summer at the IATI Theater, Janusphere will participate in the multidisciplinary festival PAM (Performing Arts Marathon). The festival runs from July 17 – August 11, 2013; the specific details and Janusphere's performance dates will be forthcoming.