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NY City Center
Fall for Dance – Program V
Tero Saarinen Company
www.terosaarinen.com/en
Dresden Semperoper Ballet
www.semperoper.de/en/ballett/aktuell.html
American Ballet Theatre
www.abt.org
Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company
www.evidencedance.com
At New York City Center
www.nycitycenter.org
Arlene Schuler, President & CEO
Mark Litvin, Sr. VP & Managing Director
Jed Wheeler, Artistic Advisor
Wendy Perron, Artistic Advisor
Clifton Taylor, Festival Lighting Director
Leon Rothenberg, Festival Sound Supervisor
Press: Helene Davis Public Relations
Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
October 8, 2010
Tero Saarinen Company
Man in a Room (2000, US Premiere): Choreography by
Carolyn Carlson, Music by Gavin Bryars and Apocalyptica,
Set Design by Carolyn Carlson, Costumes by Rachel Quarmby,
Original Lighting by Mikki Kunttu, adapted for Fall for
Dance by Ville Konttinen, Technical manager, Ville Konttinen,
Performed by Tero Saarinen.
Tero Saarinen’s Man in a Room, a US Premiere, was
another work that grew on me after viewing it, but only
slightly. Having seen the play Red, about Mark Rothko,
I was especially drawn to the psyche of the artist, as Tero
Saarinen, himself, sits on an artist’s stool, plunging his
brush into bright red paint and lavishing the paint onto
his neck and chest. There’s much ado about changing of clothes,
as various materials that could be thrown on are pinned
to his artist canvas. He paints himself, as he envisions
the world, with a depressive, then hyper shift in motion.
The score is bizarre, an instructional tape on playing cards,
with a methodical, one-dimensional male voice moving through
that unrelated process. It magnified the artist’s isolation
and frenzy. This is a work I would not wish to see again,
and the level of required dance talent is slim. In fact,
as the performer is the choreographer, this work could also
be somewhat improvisational from performance to performance,
with no awareness of the audience.
Dresden Semperoper Ballett
The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude 1996): Choreography
by William Forsythe, Music by Franz Schubert, Staged by
Laura Graham, Scenery by William Forsythe, Costumes by Stephen
Galloway, Lighting by William Forsythe, Performed by Anna
Merkulova, Leslie Heylmann, Chantelle Kerr, Maximilian Genov,
Jon Vallejo.
In stiff green tutus, three female ballerinas are partnered
by two males, all members of the Dresden Semperoper Ballett
from Germany. These are very expressive, skillful, and charismatic
performers, and I liked the William Forsythe piece, The
Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, much more than on
last viewing, which shows how much a work is appreciated
in the context of the entire program. Tonight, it was a
thrilling and most welcome addition. Schubert’s Allegro
Vivace Symphony No. 8 in C major enhanced the crisp
clarity of the choreography. Jon Vallejo and Maximilian
Genov were outstanding soloists and partners in this potpourri
of balletic styles and shapes. Anna Merkulova was the featured
ballerina, and her gravity-defying extensions were remarkable.
I’d very much like to see more of this Company.
American Ballet Theatre
Thaïs Pas de Deux (1971): Choreography by Frederick
Ashton, Music by Jules Massenet, “meditation” from Thaïs,
Staged by Grant Coyle, Costumes by Anthony Dowell, Performed
by Hee Seo and Jared Matthews.
When Hee Seo and Jared Matthews of ABT appeared for Ashton’s
Thaïs Pas de Deux, I knew tonight would be the most
sumptuous Fall for Dance program all around. Ms. Seo arrives
silently en pointe, tiny fast steps, to Massenet’s pure
strings, her head in a golden veil, evocative of the nymph
in Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun. Mr. Matthews is
entranced, lifting and carrying her, but the communication
between the two is all visual, ethereal, surreal. The audience
was visibly absorbed and enthralled, a tribute to the professional
virtuosity of these two ABT soloists. Every moment of this
all too brief Pas de Deux was exciting and emotionally energizing,
as their partnered chemistry was palpable throughout. Ms.
Seo was so light in her steps that she almost flew mid-air.
I’ve seen this piece several times, and occasionally with
this duo, but tonight was quite special, for them and for
us.
Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company
Grace (1999): Choreography by Ronald K. Brown, Music
by Duke Ellington, “Come Sunday”, Roy Davis Jr., and Fela
Anikulapo Kuti, Costumes by Omotayo Wunmi Olaiya, Original
Lighting by William H. Grant III, Lighting Redesign by Brenda
Gray, Technical Director: Dalila Kee, Performed by Ronald
K. Brown and the Company.
I had seen Ronald K. Brown’s Grace performed by the
Ailey Company, but he danced with his own Company tonight,
Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company. This was a gorgeous
finale to a very mixed bill of five programs on five nights.
The music, excerpted from Ellington, Fela Kuti, and Roy
Davis, Jr., is inspirational and full of life. One dancer
after another appears in a measured background stage light,
and then the eight dancers, plus Mr. Brown dance full force,
with a fusion of Modern, African, Caribbean styling. The
cultural motif, mixed with the percussive pulse, as well
as studied, still entrances and exits, gave this work an
edge as one of the finest contributions to the City Center
2010 Fall for Dance series. Kudos to Arlene Schuler, New
York City Center President & CEO, for her organizational
feat and her artistic prowess.
DRESDEN SEMPEROPER BALLETT
Leslie Heylmann, Maximilian Genov
Courtesy of Costin Radu
RONALD K. BROWN/EVIDENCE, A DANCE COMPANY
Ronald K. Brown
Courtesy of Julieta Cervantes
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