By Walter Rutledge
BalletX returned to the Joyce Theater September 25 thru September 29 for a second consecutive New York City season. The Philadelphia based contemporary ballet company offered an aesthetically satisfying concert highlighted by technically proficient performers and focused direction. The company presented a diverse program consisting of three ballets by choreographers Jodie Gates, Loughlan Prior and Takehiro Ueyama.
Jodie Gates credits composer Ryan Lott, lighting designer Michael Korsch and costume designer Martha Chamberlain as key collaborators on Beautiful Once, which is described as a homage to community, inclusion, and divine resilience. The work opened with a solo dancer walking into a centerstage down pool of light, then the work quickly became an ensemble adagio movement.
The initial visual imagery was an effective blend of supple and expressive upper body movement that softened the steely articulate technical legs and feet. This juxtaposition produced a confident and assured partnering. At one point early in the work two duets were performed simultaneously, but thankfully were not relegated to unison. The duets complimented each other and provided an interesting musical/movement counterpoint.
The dancer’s strong technique and commitment to the choreography helped offset the ballet’s protracted length. The longer the ballet the greater the risk of relying on cliché movement and predictable formatting. Attention choreographers! There in nothing wrong with brevity.
Loughlan Prior offered the evening’s statement piece entitled Macaroni. The work explained the obscure origins of the derogatory term macaroni, the song Yankee Doodle Dandy and their correlation to 18th century queer phobia. The works heavy reliance on dance theatre, acting and mime helped to create a humorous yet poignant abstract narrative. Costume designer Emma Kingsbury’s minimal offering produced an effective modern twist, giving Macaroni a 18th century queer camp façade. Prior’s use of humor and the performers lip-syncing to the dialog in the audio tracks enhanced the storyline, which effectively took us from overt to introspection.
The program closed with Heroes. The abstract narrative ensemble work for 13 dancers choreographed by Takehiro Ueyama was the evening’s best example of focused form and theme development. The work also displayed the strongest and most successful use of multiple choreographic devices.
White wooden chairs lined the stage right quarter mark creating a line of demarcation that at times sequestered the ensemble cast to a narrow strip of stage. This prop was rearranged around the stage throughout the work, which often redefined the stage boundaries. Dancers seated unobtrusively framing the primary action or walking in tandem on a “bridge” of chairs in a mechanized manner, and when a dancer ran across a corridor of three chairs and leaped into the arms of a waiting dancer this personified Ueyama’s clever use of level and dynamics.
BalletX is an impressive contemporary ballet company. Strong dancers, great production value, and inventive choreography are the right formula for successful artistry. Throughout the entire evening lighting designer Michael Korsch enhanced the three works without competing with the choreography. Korsch (and Christopher Ham, the co-lighting designer for Heroes) provided a subtle supportive element that presented the dancers in their best light (no pun intended).
Photo Credit:
1. Logo
2. Minori Sakita and Ashley Simpson- Ballet: Beautiful Once
3. Ashley Simpson, Francesca Forcella, Lanie Jackson- Ballet: Macaroni
4. Skyler Lubin, Mathis Joubert- Ballet: Heroes
Photographer: Christopher Duggan for BalletX
