Saturday September 7th, 2014 - Annmaria Mazzini, the sensational star of the Paul Taylor Dance Company who retired from PTDC in 2011, started her fledgling Mazzini Dance Collective soon thereafter. Originally called Annmaria Mazzini & Dancers, the Collective gave their calling-card performance in December 2012. Ms. Mazzini then took time off to give birth to a son. Now she has come soaring back onto the Gotham dance scene: Mazzini Dance Collective made their official New York City debut as Ailey Citigroup tonight. Annmaria, looking more glamourously fit than the proverbial fiddle, not only danced with her accustomed magnetism but choreographed three of the works presented. Two works by her former Taylor colleague Orion Duckstein were also shown, and Orion partnered Annmaria in his duet WHEN WE RISE. Current Taylor heartthrobs Robert Kleinendorst and Francisco Graciano made guest appearances, re-kindling their partnerships with Annmaria.
A sold-out house, including many members of the extended 'Taylor family', greeted each work with genuine enthusiasm. It was a well-constructed programme, beautifully produced.
Above: from a studio rehearsal of PLAYING WITH ANGELS; photo courtesy Robert Paterson
Opening the evening, Annmaria Mazzini's PLAYING WITH ANGELS, set to Elegy for Two Bassoons and Piano by Robert Paterson, is an atmospheric blue ballet. Having the music played live onstage - by pianist Carol Ann Aicher and bassoonists William Short and William Hestand - was a definitive plus in the presentation. Mr. Paterson's score makes the most of the entwining voices of the two bassoons; moving from a stately tread of baroque-styled elegance to a more animated tempo and onward to a rhapsodic passage, the music was expertly rendered by the three musicians. Andy Jacobs is the central male figure, surrounded by a female quartet; Audra Bailey, Elizabeth Bragg, Sara Mulry, and Samantha Silvers. The choreography flows naturally on the music, with some interesting partnering motifs and a touch of Isadora in some of the passages for the girls. This was in fact my favorite work on the programme tonight.
Ms. Mazzini's first appearance of the evening came next in a striking duet WHEN WE RISE which was choreographed by Orion Duckstein who was also Annmaria's partner in the piece. To a percolating score by Zoe Keating, the dancers move with compelling unity of energy in a duet that is restlessly evocative of a deeper relationship. In a stunning final phrase, Annmaria stands on the slumped-over Orion's back and he slowly straightens up. How they managed it is a secret only great dancers would know.
A darkly agitated three-movement ballet, TOWER, was created by Annmaria Mazzini in 2013. Set to Pierre Jalbert's quirky Visual Abstract 1-3, this work showed the choreographer's gift for structure. The stylization of the movement was well-captured by two tall boys - Andy Jacobs and Johnny Vorsteg - and a very strong quartet of women: Audra Bailey (who made a beautiful impression all evening), Sylvana Tapia, Samantha Silvers, and Megan Cohl.
The rest of the evening was then given over to two larger-scale works. Orion Duckstein's commentary on 1950s-60s housewifery in the USA was set forth in INTRODUCING MRS. STEPHEN P. BAXTER, to music by the renowned Les Baxter. The striking Rachel Holmes led a female contingent of ten, each dressed in a satin frock of a different colour and wearing a strand of pearls. Their menfolk were always heading either to the office or the golf course, with the ladies expected to stay home, cooking, cleaning, and having no aspirations of their own. De rigeur: hubby's cocktail must be ready when he walks in the door after a hard day at work. All the dancers entered into the spirit of the piece, the wives even distributing home-made cookies to audience members. Witty on the surface, this dancework (so expertly using the familiar Baxter tunes) seemed like a last hurrah before the rise of feminism. Despite great progress, the equality battle is still not over.
CRIMINAL COMMONERS, with music by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, St. Vincent, Phantogram, Cold War Kids, Pulp, and Goldfrapp, and featuring an original piece by Damian Eckstein, finds Ms. Mazzini at her most smouldering in an opening duet with Francisco Graciano. The ensemble dancers pose and preen. A second duet, danced by Annamaria with Robert Kleinendorst, seemed familiar to me...and sure enough, it was originally performed as a free-standing duet for Evelyn Wheeler and Yon Burke back in 2012. It's contentious and even a bit scary. COMMONERS then proceeds to a segment featuring Ms. Tapia and then to a solo of epic male sexiness danced by the dynamic Fracisco Graciano. A trio for Ms. Tapia, Audra Bailey and Andy Jacobs scored a hit for these three fine dancers. And then Ms. Mazzini, now dressed in white, found true love in the form of King Kong in a hilarious laugh-out-loud finale set to 'Monster Love'. As Annmaria and her beastly boyfriend strolled off into the sunset, the audience erupted in a round of cheers and applause.
Dancers: Annmara Mazzini, Audra Bailey, Elizabeth Bragg, Megan Cohl, Emily D'Angelo, Jake Deibert, Rachel Holmes, Andy Jacobs, Sara Mulry, Corinna Nicholson, Samantha Silvers, Sasha Smith, Sylvana Tapia, Kristi Tornga, and Johnny Vorsteg. Special guets Francisco Graciano and Robert Kleinendorst (both courtesy of the Paul Taylor Dance Company), Orion Duckstein (former Taylor principal), and Rob Sedgwick; and musicians Carol Ann Aicher, William Short, and William Hestand.