Emilie Gerrity and Davide Riccardo performed in Ulysses Dove's dramatic "Red Angels" on Thursday night. (Photo by Erin Baiano) Since Jonathan Safford and Wendy Whelan took leadership of New York City Ballet, they have made a conscious effort to expand the company’s rather narrow range and vision by expanding its choreographers’ tent.
Bravo to that. But it can be unsettling to place new works from dancemakers outside the fold into the mix with pieces by geniuses like George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, as well as that of dance-making stars like Christopher Wheeldon and Justin Peck – whose works dazzle dance audience around the globe. Case in point was Thursday evening at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Peck’s 2017 “The Times Are Racing” and Ulysses Dove’s “Red Angels” from 1994 were balms at the all-contemporary program, mainly because the two new works, both SPAC premieres, did little to engender confidence in the company’s choreographic choices. Amy Garner Hall’s “Underneath, There is Light,” with music by Jonathan Dove, Michael Zev Gordon, Ottorino Respighi, Aldemaro Romero and William Grant Still, started off grand. It had an urban feel – like Robbins’ “Glass Pieces” ‑‑ but on steroids. The group of men, including the elegant Principal Chun Wai Chan, held the audience’s breath as they ran across the stage and soared en masse through tours en l’air. It was invigorating. Yet, the tone changed when the lights brightened and the women appeared in sparkling yellow gowns as if they were the sun. The men, now only in leotards, lifted the women to the heavens as if they all landed in Nirvana. While this half was pleasant, there was no transition and thus confusing. It left an impression that Hall’s dance was adrift. It was promising, but not quite there. Pam Tanowitz’s “Gustave Le Gray No. 1,” to piano music by Caroline Shaw, was more confusing and tedious. Pianist Stephen Gosling performed on stage while four women, in intriguing red costumes by Red Bartelme and Harriet Jung, milled about. Clearly, the dancers were connected to each other, glancing and watching each other, and frequently touching each other to move in unison. There was a humorous moment too when the dancers moved the piano to the other side of the stage as Gosling continued to play. But the interesting costumes and music could not make this “le gray” dance anything more than a failed experiment in the company’s outreach efforts. Back in the 1990s, the company did try to draw in new choreographers through the Diamonds Project. Many of those ballets never saw light after their premieres. However, “Red Angels” from that time period survived and rightly so. Danced on Thursday by Dominika Afanasenkov, Emilie Gerrity, Joseph Gordon and Davide Riccardo, the piece to Richard Einhorn’s electric violin score, “Maxwell’s Demon,” packed as much punch as it did at its premiere. Cast in red lighting, this is a bold work in which the dancers, placed under spotlights, looked to be shooting lightning through their stabbing arms and legs before they flew away into a vat of fire. Also wonderful was Peck’s “The Times Are Racing.” This sneaker ballet is not just a heart-stopper as it is a race, it’s also deep. It reminds us that we share a DNA sequence (the dancers make one with their bodies) and thus no matter how separate we feel or how high we rise above the crowd, we are one. Harrison Coll and Peter Walker are fantastic as the two men who aggressively square off and India Bradley and Taylor Stanley, who are equally dynamic, as the two who unite in a touching duet. There is so much to see in “The Times Are Racing,” that despite sitting through other works that are less than stellar, I would highly recommend it for Saturday night, the ballet’s last show this summer at SPAC.
1 Comment
Jay Rogoff
7/12/2024 09:48:00 am
Hi Wendy! We had exactly opposite takes, as you'll see in my review. I think Gustave is quite fine--a beautifully meditative & mysterious ritual in the midst of all the mindless hurtle & razzle of too much contemporary choreography. I liked the Garner piece EXCEPT for the opening, which I found had too much going on at too great a speed to be legible. But when it settled into solos, duets, & ensembles (especially when Miriam Miller was dancing!) it was quite good--until the men came out in their blue underwear. I find Red Angels rather dated & tired, though it's always enjoyable. And I think Justin's Times is too hectic without having a clear vision of what it wants to be about. The fabulous tap/softshoe/hip-hop duet for the two men is the best thing about it, & the pas for Stanley & Bradley has good things in it. My two bits.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Wendy
|