Cassi Abranches' "Traca (Braid)" was a gorgeous celebration of Brazilian dance and music. Pictured here are Mia Bermudez, Amir Baldwin and Arianna Carson. (Photo by Jamie Kraus)

Drop what you are doing tonight and head over to Jacob’s Pillow for the summer’s most dazzling showcase -- Ballet Hispanico New York.

Its dozen finely honed dancers are presenting a program of female choreographers that simmers and then sizzles in a 90-minute showcase that includes a salute to flamenco, a sentimental portrait of human relations and a rousing celebration of all things Brazilian.

Led by Eduardo Vilaro, this company seems capable of every style – fine balletic petit pointe work to the flying and fighting stances of capoeira. And they did it with precision and confidence that energized the rowdy patrons in Ted Shawn Theatre.

The evening opened with a Pillow co-commission from 2016, elegant “Linea Recta” choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. In it, she gathered flamenco’s props such as the frilled skirts and lacy fans and mannerisms to shape the artform into a living sculpture. In bold, arrogant stance, the slice of the arm or leg seared into the mind’s eye. She also toyed with what the profile of the dance could do if unleashed together or in pairs and trios.

The lines were stunning. And in the end, the dance’s legacy, pushed along by the flamenco sound of Eric Vaarzon Morel, was truly elevated.

“Otra Vez, Otra Vez, Otra Vez,” choreographed by Stephanie Martinez, depicted a community where the sun rises and sets on friends, lovers and loners. While some of the instrumental music she selected for the congregation was lovely, the encroaching gravelly vocals were annoying, tearing down some of the pensive allure.

Still, the look of the piece was gorgeous. The set and lighting design by Julie Ballard gave the piece a dreamy look – as if the audience were voyeurs for intimate encounters or bystanders to the world at-large. The women – in silky skirts designed by Holly Hynes – floated like feathers in and around their insistent, strong partners. Martinez beautifully crafted this work, ensuring it soon won’t be forgotten.

Finally, the evening’s favorite was Cassi Abranches’ “Tranca (Braid).” To music by Beto Villares, this piece was a full-out carnival – a parade of pulsating dancers who stepped and sambaed to the unrelenting beat.

They started out slow with their chests pumping and from there it grew into a cauldron of electrifying dances that vibrated. Coming and going, the dancers kept all eyes busy and minds in awe of the heart-throbbing thrill.
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Special mention goes out to Thierry Blannchard who stood out in all three dances.

Bravo, Ballet Hispanico.

Since Martha Graham’s death, her iconic company has had its ups and downs.

But one thing remained throughout, the 100-year-old mother of all modern dance companies remains defiant and relevant.

As seen on Wednesday night at Jacob’s Pillow, the Martha Graham Dance Company paid homage to its radical roots and also made certain that everyone understood it is taking on the tumultuous headwinds of today’s world. It was program that was both breathless, breathtaking and meaningful.

That’s true even when their newer dances, or at least one of them, aren’t up to the company’s standard. It’s not the fault of the dancers – oh no. They are rocks, so absorbed in Graham’s rigorous style that sometimes it requires a doubletake to make certain it’s not Graham herself up there dancing.

This was true of both historic works on the program – Graham’s startling “Night Journey” and her recently reconstructed solo “Immediate Tragedy.” In “Night Journey,” the retelling of Jocasta’s revelation and subsequent suicide when she realizes she married her son Oedipus, was classic. Xin Ying danced Jocasta opposite Lorenzo Pagano as her husband/son in a work that depicted both alluring erotica and devastating shame.

Ying related her guilt in twisted and tumbling solos while Pagano flaunted his powerful virility with his wide and hovering stance. The drama was elevated by Tiresias, the blind seer, who stomped about with his staff and the chorus of dancers or daughters of the night as led by the solid Leslie Andrea Williams. The final scene, rope wrapped around Jocasta’s neck, was chilling.

 “Immediate Tragedy,” from 1937, is dedicated to the women enduring the Spanish Civil War. Amazingly, this once lost work was restored after images on a photo contact sheet were discovered. As they showed the sequence of events, Artistic Director Janet Eilber expertly revived it.

With Anne Soder in the role, she used the Graham technique to take invisible gut punches that felled her to the floor. Her skirt, lined in red, showed that the fire within her never died. She remained courageous in the face of fascism – a lesson for today.

Of the two new works, Hope Boykin’s “En Masse,” had outstanding sharp choreography and lighting effects. But it went off the rails with her musical choices – Leonard Bernstein and Christopher Rountree. They were not compatible and seemed random. “En Masse” would win with a singular musical style as the dancing, particularly the solos, were knock outs.

The same could be said for Jamar Roberts’ “We the People.” His thoughtful silence solos were juxtaposed coolly to the vigorous group action set to the music by Rhiannon Giddens.
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Both of the newer works demonstrated the power of the people. But watching these masterful dancers, one also sees the power of Graham. Her legacy lives on.

San Francisco Ballet performed the heart-pounding "The Barre Project" by William Forsythe on Wednesday night at Jacob's Pillow. It was the company's first appearance there in 70 years. (Photo by Hannah Murphy)

Jacob’s Pillow marked a momentous occasion on Wednesday night with the return of San Francisco Ballet.

This wonderful company of artists, with the technical wherewithal to dance just about anything, hasn’t been to Terpsichore’s hallowed grounds since 1956. Thus, on its eagerly anticipated return, the company ensured it will not be soon forgotten. It blazed across the both the outdoor platform and the Ted Shawn Theatre stage with a hefty program of classics and contemporary works that demanded all eyes, at all times, and left every dance aficionado sated.

Also significant was the Pillow debut of the Albany Symphony Orchestra, which expertly accompanied the company playing selections from Ludwig van Beethoven, Ludwig Minkus, Alexander Glazunov and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Under the direction of David Alan Miller, few small city symphonies can master the range. As typical for them, they did.

But back to the amazing dancing on the stage. San Francisco Ballet is one of the oldest in America. Established in 1933 -- the same year as the Pillow -- the company is directed by Tamara Rojo who is keeping this singular west coast ballet ensemble in fine form.

Their week-long stay includes classical pas de deux from Petipa’s “Don Quixote” and “Raymonda” (the latter updated by Rojo) along with the sparkling royal pas de deux from George Balanchine’s “Diamonds.” Those are juxtaposed with an excerpt from Akram Khan’s devastating “Dust” and Hans van Manen’s sculpturally striking “Grosse Fuge.” And it all ended with a William Forsythe finale that merged “Prologue” and “The Barre Project” to show off some of the 31 dancers’ fleet and flashy talents.

Forsythe’s pieces, like all of his works, challenge the dancers and often the audience. They are shadowy, giving his dances a mysterious air. Yet the structure is like a bustling avenue – bodies coming and going, pivoting, sliding and swaying off-kilter into a shimmering, action-packed kaleidoscope.

While Forsythe keeps minds racing, Khan’s works always land an emotional punch. The dark duet from  "Dust,” danced by Dores Andre and Victor Prigent, portrays an anguished couple struggling with an unseen enemy. It’s harsh, painful and leaves no ambiguity on the boards. Once again, Khan proves to be an important voice in the dance world.

The classical duets were sharp and fascinated with their various styles. The “Don Quixote” pas de deux awed with technical feats, while this updated “Raymonda” elevates the romance between Raymonda and her beloved. The elegant “Diamonds” duet won with its nod to ballet’s courtly roots.

The van Manen opener to Beethoven was striking for its own reasons – mainly for the contrast of black and white costumes and the perfect symmetry of all eight dancers when they peopled the stage.

Though my least favorite of the night, it again underscored San Francisco Ballet's remarkable versatility.

"WITNESS:  dance across boundaries," created by Sondra Loring as a collaboration with those serving inside the Greene Correctional Facility in Coxsackie, expressed their joy in a uniting in creativity.

Often, what passes as extraordinary in today's dance world is technical pyrotechnics -- dance and dancers who dazzle with physical feats.

I'm not immune. But every once in a while a performance comes along where the dancers' physical abilities take a backseat and a performance emerges that is equally powerful, mainly for its honesty.

That's what audiences experienced on Tuesday night with "WITNESS: dance across boundaries" at Union College. This was a most unusual creation -- one that was inspired by creator Sondra Loring's time teaching at Greene Correction Facility in Coxsackie. There, through the power of movement and words, she unlocked a collective creativity. And in "WITNESS" she retells that life-changing journey she and the inmates made through dance, music and poetry.

The group of eight looked ragtag. Aside from a ribbon of red that adorned each outfit, they were dressed in street clothes, looking like anyone else you may meet walking down the street. Yet this octet was united in this stripped down depiction of their story.

It begins with the audience entering the college's dance studio. We see the eight at a table, writing. Every minute or so, they would switch seats, rotating in a chorus of musical chairs. 

After they stepped off stage, they returned, one by one, to stand behind a table and stare at the audience. They held their fists down into the table as if holding back an urge to flinch. And then two broke into a chorus asking "Will you harbor me?" with an answer of "Will I harbor you?"

Then Loring stepped up to talk about her experience entering the prison on her first day, the doors that slammed and locked behind her and finding a group of quiet and nervous students awaiting her in the gym. She told the audience she started with walking. The cast demonstrated, circling and calibrating as they went: fast and slow, backwards and forwards.

The cast, accompanied by soothing background sounds from Aidan Samp on the drums, read letters and poems. And they danced -- in solos and together, stopping to teach each other their fancy moves. There is laughing, support when another falls and questioning each other and the audience about fears, written down in composition notebooks.

The thing about "WITNESS" was it felt raw and real. And at a time when the world is so divided between us and them, the outside world versus the inside world, they merged with unrestrained respect. It was beautiful and moving. 
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It also sent an important message about the healing power of art. Why are we not supporting it more?

Lisa Goldsworthy of Circa Contemporary Circus shows her fangs in "Wolf" on Wednesday night at Jacob's Pillow. (Photo by Christopher Duggan)

​Circa Contemporary Circus went deep into the forest to draw out one of its most misunderstood and mystifying creatures – the wolf. And in its U.S. debut of “Wolf” at Jacob’s Pillow on Wednesday night, this Australian company of 10 acrobats astounded with strength and grace in a ferocious evening-length work.
 
Choreographed by Yaron Lifschitz in collaboration with the ensemble, “Wolf,” the audience is told is based on research on the canine in the wild. And what came across, was a clannish group that is playful, loyal, and sometimes cruel. And all of it – the depiction, the movement, and the accompanying sound design by Ori Lichtik – fascinated.
 
Set on a plain backdrop onto which color of any kind could be projected, the work began with a sole performer curled in a ball and suspended from aerial ropes. Another stood nearby at military-like attention, watching the horizon. As she rose and fell from the ropes – in movement both smooth and harrowing -- the other became engaged in what is a preview of “Wolf.”
 
It can be best described as dancers climbing on and falling into other performers to a constant momentum of a drum roll. And the variations of this never ceased to astonish.
 
While watching, those in the audience gasped at much of the action. But what I found intriguing was the relationships between the players as they depicted the wolves as they ran, played, hunted and most importantly, in the end, united in a coordinated pack.
 
In one section, wolves injected themselves between a mating couple – as it happens in the wild. In another, they bounced off each other in a unifying romp. And in the end, as they hunted, their shoulders rose and fell menacingly as if stalking prey.
 
The ensemble also built these human towers – performers standing on shoulders, standing on shoulders. At times, another would fly out of seeming nowhere to be caught midflight on this totem. Here, the wolves were seemingly seeking higher, safer ground.
 
While all of the performers were mountains of brawn and grit, one stood out. Barney Herrmann was the lone wolf – launching himself into the air and crashing down to the floor again and again. It was a punishing solo that emphasized loneliness does not equal weakness.
 
In the end, the wolves were all together, pulsating to a rhythm as they stared at the audience, telling them beware and respect.  
 
Circa Contemporary Circus certainly has earned that esteem.

Kloe Walker soars in Tiler Peck's "Symphonie Espagnole" at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Friday afternoon. (Photo by Erin Baiano)

New York City Ballet’s summer stay at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center is all about Tiler Peck.
 
Her performance in George Balanchine’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” was inspired. She gave a pre-performance talk, she signed copies of her book, “XO Ballerina Big Sis.” And her ambitious “Symphonie Espagnole,” to Edouard Lalo’s violin concerto, made its SPAC premiere on Friday afternoon.
 
Peck deserves all the attention as she stands out as one of the company’s biggest talents. She is a draw whose charms onstage translate off. And as “Symphonie Espagnole” shows she is also not afraid to tackle the big and bold, creating a work that explores Spanish-infused themes to create splashy variations for her fellow dancers.
 
However, it’s a shame that it had to premiere at a matinee. At SPAC, matinees are always disappointing as the lighting, so essential to a ballet’s mood, is lost.
 
Friday opened with another perfect Balanchine ballet, “Serenade.” Sadly, the moonlight that bathes the dancers in the first movement of the Tchaikovsky ballet is unseen. And the ascension to the heavens, the ballet’s glorious end, just doesn’t read as it should.
 
Daytime also weakened Jerome Robbins’ “Opus 19/The Dreamer.” In it, Joseph Gordon is a man plagued by a restlessness that haunts him in dreams. But again, the open-air amphitheater, that cannot darken, dispels the nightmare’s power and diminishes the subsequent relief Gordon finds with Alexa Maxwell.
 
Still, the cast for both ballets was good, but one laments losing lighting by Mark Stanley (“Serenade”) and Ronald Bates (“Opus 19/The Dreamer”).
 
Consequently, in Peck’s piece, the potential spark is misplaced. The playful first movement with Emma Von Enck and David Gabriel, the daring dances in the second and third with Kloe Walker and Roman Mejia and finally the romance of the fourth with Mira Nadon and Ryan Tomash are vibrant, but lack the sense of progression that lighting by Brandon Stirling Baker likely provides.

It is clear that Peck’s work was well-constructed. She designed the dance beautifully with lines of corps de ballet dancers – upstage and near the wings -- defining the space. Throughout, she sprinkled Spanish spice. Finger snaps and hand claps evoked flamenco while the red, chocolate and icy blue costumes by Robert Perdziola aroused a feeling of toreadors and dark-eyed flirtatious senoritas.
 
Mejia stole the show and hearts with his flashy smile and the ease of his endless turns. Backed by eight other men, Mejia and crew asserted their vigor, prompting some in the audience to surely swoon.
 
All three ballets will be repeated on Saturday night, where they will be seen as intended – in the glow of evening’s light.

Tiler Peck with Chun Wai Chan were divine in Balachine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" on Wednesday night at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. (Photo by Paul Kolnik)

​Choreographer George Balanchine created hundreds of ballets – a handful of which are deemed perfect. Among those that reached perfection was his rendering of Mendelssohn’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
 
And 60 years ago, this magical ballet – full of fairies and fireflies -- raised the curtain as the first performance at the newly constructed Saratoga Performing Arts Center. At the center’s anniversary this summer, this exquisite masterpiece has returned. And on opening night Wednesday, the enchanting music and dance once again enthralled.
 
Much could be attributed to the cast – Unity Phelan as Titania, Daniel Ulbricht as Oberon, Taylor Stanley as Puck and Emily Kikta as Hippolyta. But the highlight came in the second act with Tiler Peck and Chun Wai Chan dancing the post-wedding divertissement. Peck was stunning. In the adagio sections of this seemingly promenade through the Theseus’s palace gardens, Peck glowed. She elevated every step with a naturalism that radiated charm and confidence that was so rare it was, indeed, wonderful.
 
Just seeing those two, she en pointe, walking and wheeling their arms was a revelation. Being there for that moment sparked a hunger to see more. But Balanchine ended their pas de deux at the right time. It was sublime.
 
Of course, the story, all told in the first act, keeps one smiling. The Shakespearean tale centers on antics of Puck whom Oberon directs to work out the romantic entanglements of Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius. Meanwhile, the enchanted jester plays a trick on a thespian, Bottom, turning him into a donkey, and prompts Titania to fall desperately in love with him.
 
Oberon, performed with strength and gusto by the incomparable Ulbricht, straightens it all out in the end. And the lovers, and Hippolyta and Theseus head for a lavish royal wedding.
 
Not only is “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” a work of perfection, it’s also ideal for SPAC. Surrounded by tall trees, the amphitheater inspires the sense that we can separate from the concrete world of worries. Furthermore, SPAC was designed with Balanchine’s input – including a demand for lush acoustics.
 
The New York City Ballet Orchestra, under the baton of Andrew Litton, along with Albany Pro Musica singers, soared.
 
In 60 years, however, things have changed. The ballet’s stay, once four weeks, is now four days. And the once accompanying museums and schools the company inspired are now shuttered. Gone are the days of one section full of ballet students screaming.
 
But what hasn’t changed is the spell “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” casts. It is glorious and will be repeated on Thursday and Friday night. I highly recommend dance lovers, go because at the end of the day, it’s up to the audience to keep Balanchine’s dream alive.

To Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, “SCAT!” is personal. A love letter to her parents, it takes a deep dive into her ancestors’ struggles and joys gaining freedom in the south and their migration north to Kansas City. And what they found was poverty, racial battles and ultimately riches in the form of music, dance, barbecue and the people who formed a bond of mutual care and respect.
 
But “SCAT! … the Complex Lives of Al & Dot and Dot & Al Zollar” has its own struggles. For one thing, the evening-length show now onstage at the Ted Shawn Theatre at Jacob’s Pillow, carries on a bit too long. Moreover, its initial showing on Wednesday night during the festival’s second week looked a little under rehearsed, a surprise for the inimitable 42-year-old Urban Bush Women.
 
 “SCAT!” still lands a punch, mainly for the music. The sound is the heart of the piece.  As composed by Craig Harris with a story by Talvin Wilks, this work should be a production on Broadway, not the dance stage. Truly dance took a backseat to the six outstanding singers that kept the episodic tale of Al and Dot moving.
 
Vocalists Milton Suggs, Brianna Thomas and Charenee Wade along with what was dubbed the “Story Folks” who danced and sang, Du’Bois A’Keen, Stephanie Battle and Courtney J. Cook, wove the narrative with sass and mystery. And while it was clear that much of their story was lost to history, what they offered was expressed with honesty and love.
 
Broken in chapters, the highlight was the sultry depiction of “Missus Wrong” with Wade at the microphone.
 
Zollar herself played a part, telling a tale of her family of “dreamers and schemers” who came to her in a dream. The ancestors, known and unknown, were dining at the table on the sea. The food and the table, as they were swallowed up in the ocean, told her topursue her dream. And that dream, she tells the audience in the end, was Urban Bush Women.
 
The company has gone far by creating important works exploring the untold stories of Black Americans. The Great Migration, with her parents as its center, is a worthy idea for any stage. But “SCAT!” needs a bit of polishing. Once refined, “SCAT!” will blow the walls off any theater.

James Whiteside and Hee Seo dance the roles of Onegin and Tatiana in American Ballet Theatre's production of the Tchaikovsky ballet. (Photo by Rosalie O'Connor Photography)  

In the ballet world, eternal reverence is paid to only a handful of choreographers. But one who deserves it and is often dropped off that list (at least in America) is John Cranko – ballet’s most talented storyteller.
 
American Ballet Theatre reminded audiences of his immense gifts this week with a staging of his magnum opus, “Onegin.” With music by Tchaikovsky, which was originally composed as an opera, this romantic and tragic story is told by Cranko swiftly and deftly – without any unnecessary decoration that draws one away from the heart of the tale.
 
The story centers on Onegin, an arrogant aristocrat, who spurns the attentions of the bookish Tatiana, kills his friend Lensky in a duel and comes to regret it all. The production is one that reels the senses back to Imperial Russia when rank defines society and a country girl like Tatiana would not likely have a chance to elevate her station.
 
Yet that was hardly on her mind when Tatiana met and fell in love with the haughty Onegin, after meeting him at a party at her family’s estate.
 
At Saturday’s matinee, Hee Seo embodied the sweet, earnest Tatiana beautifully. Seo, already one of the most delicate of dancers, was ideal – first as her heart tumbled for Onegin that led her to dash off a missive of love to him and then what followed, rejection, anguish, and ultimately her rejection of him.
 
In it, of course with Cranko’s precision choreography, the audience witnessed Tatiana grow through Seo. The push and pull of her emotions and final triumph appeared real – so much so that Seo looked emotionally exhausted at her curtain call.
 
James Whiteside played the conceited Onegin, whose character evolved from chest-out superiority to bent-over broken despair – for killing his friend and losing the love of the regal and honorable Tatiana.
 
In addition to Seo and Whiteside, the cast was beautifully filled out by Skylar Brandt as Tatiana’s sister Olga and Carlos Gonzales as her betrothed Lensky. The cast of revelers – both in the countryside and in the palace – were a joy to watch as they swirled through their ensemble dances.
 
American Ballet Theatre’s version is also gorgeous. The sets were magnificent and so too were the costumes, especially the women’s skirts which moved with them with the grace of silk.
 
But as I left the matinee, I was also grateful to Cranko. At a time when speed and technical fireworks are often confused for brilliant choreography, Cranko tells us that story is the most powerful thing of all. And one well-told will survive the ages.

​Nature, in all of its terrifying, exhilarating, and divine magnificence, blazed across the stage on Thursday night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
 
No, this was not one of the amphitheater’s storms that occasionally strikes on steamy summer nights. This was BalletX in an ode to our world of flowers, trees, ice and bees.
 
This exceptionally ambitious company from Philadelphia performed its “The Four Seasons Reimagined.” The new work is based on Vivaldi’s iconic score that electronic composer Dan Deacon shuffled and re-blossomed. And at the first SPAC show of the season, Deacon performed at the base of the stage with his computer and an accompanying octet of woodwinds, horns and strings.
 
Elevating the nuances of his music on stage was a dozen glorious dancers from the Philadelphia ensemble who embodied the seasons – starting with summer and ending in spring. Though a departure from Vivaldi’s original order – from spring to winter – Deacon and BalletX made it make sense, ending on an uplifting note that regardless of what is going on, we can all be reborn.
 
In another departure from other ballet renderings of Vivaldi’s music, each season was choreographed by a different dancemaker: Morgann Runacre-Temple (Summer), Penny Saunders (Fall), Jamar Roberts (Winter), and Trey McIntyre (Spring). And in each, to Deacon’s emotive soundscape, the dancers became the natural wonders of the season. Consequently, it brought to mind the episodic glories and harshness of the living in the Northeast where we are blessed with all four environments.
 
With each season, the intensity of the work grew. Temple’s “Summer” was slow in temperament with dancers greeting each other with enthusiasm fueled by an unseen brilliant sun. Their gestures signaled warm weather and rituals like outdoor gatherings, swimming, and harvests.
 
Saunders’ “Fall” rolled in like a strong wind – with dancers now wearing autumnal colors –tossing about like leaves tumbling from trees. Here, the music warns of wild days ahead but also heats with its tones, portraying the dancers as strong oaks. They bend but never break.
 
Roberts’ “Winter” was among my favorites as its movement was a metaphor for ice and snow. A group of women tiptoe en pointe as if trying to avoid slush and ice. Then the men enter, shooting straight into the air like icicles – strong and glowing. As “Winter” proceeds, it dancers stiffen and then melt away.
 
Finally, McIntyre’s “Spring” is bright and jolly. The dancers first appear in a tight bundle with their hands wavering above their heads. Then they are in full bloom, extending their fingers to the sun and the insects and reaching down to draw water and nutrients from the soil. In the end, they redeploy int this grouping and reach for sky.
 
It is a beautiful work that also showed off BalletX’s grit. This small ensemble danced each section with speed, zest and perfection. It was astounding and a grateful SPAC audience exploded in applause.