 |
Andrew Brader and Ashley Mayeux in Amazing Grace;
Photo by Bill Hebert
|
Dance Affiliates presents
NextMove opened their new season at their new home, The Prince Theater in
Philadelphia, with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, the company founded
by former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dancers Dwight Rhoden and Desmond
Richardson.
It was an evening of diverse dance styles that both honored and
challenged traditional forms. The music traveled from Bach and Vivaldi to
Metallica, with stops along the way by Odetta, Prince, Jimmy Scott, and the
traditional “Amazing Grace.” By the end of the evening the audience was
thrilled and almost as exhausted as the dancers.
The evening begins
with Ballad Unto... in which seven couples swirl across the stage in pairs
and triplets. The Balanchine influence is apparent, classical line and
movements, and yet it is so not Balanchine, a total awareness of the dancer’s
body as anatomical sketch—all muscle and sinew and strength. The bare chested
men preen, the ballerinas primp, as they come together and part. This is
classical ballet and yet it isn’t. An awkward knee, a slight twist interrupts
the smooth flow and makes us pay attention.
While the first act
is classical, the second explores a variety of forms beginning with the modern
athleticism of Gone (dancers: Kelly Marsh IV, Greg Blackmon, and Timothy
Stickney) set to Odetta’s “He Had a Long Chain On.” The mood turns sultry in Cryin’
to Cry Out (dancers: Melissa Anduiza, Nehemiah Spencer, Jillian David, and
YoungSil Kim) to Jimmy Scott’s vocals, followed by Choke (dancers: Doug
Baum and Addison Ector) set to Vivaldi, then Terk Lewis Waters, who towers over
the other dancers when he is with the company, here, dressed in red, undulates
across the stage to a ballad by Prince. The act ends with an excerpt from Testament,
a dance of passionate longing set to “Amazing Grace.”
 |
| Group image from Strum; Photo by: Bill Hebert |
For the last act, Strum,
the dancers, clad in metallic silver, move mechanistically across the stage as
Timothy Stickney struts and stumbles around and through them to the seemingly
endless music of the heavy metal band Metallica. Whenever there is a lull, a
darkness with silence, the audience claps not realizing there is more to come. It’s
a compelling performance that leaves the dancers almost as breathless as the
dancers.
What makes this
program additionally special was that it marks the inaugural season for Dance Affiliates
in their new home. Founded in 1979 by Randy Swartz, Dance Affiliates started
out at the Walnut Street Theater, then, in 1983 moved to the Annenberg Center
for the Performing Arts, and now after 32 years it has relocated again to
Center City Philadelphia.
Swartz sees the
move as an opportunity for the company to be more “dance-centric,” now that they
no longer have to fit into the context of a performing arts center. This year
they will present eight companies giving 54 performances at the Prince Theater,
a 450 seat house which Swartz likens to the Joyce Theater in New York City.
Companies will now come in on Tuesday and stay through Sunday, allowing them to
do more performances and offer more talk back sessions and master classes.
The location, he
says, also makes getting to the theater easier, being located in the heart of
Philadelphia. “Access to dance is a critical element,” Swartz says, not only
for audiences but for the dance community as well. “Young choreographers see
what is being done,” he says, local companies can spot possible collaborators
or choreographers, students can find aesthetic inspiration for their own work.
Bringing in
well-known national companies is also a way to stimulate audience interest in
local companies. “Audiences don’t like to take risks,” he says. So seeing one
dance company they’ve heard about may encourage them to buy a ticket for a
local company as well.
Complexions Contemporary Ballet
Prince Theater, 1412 Chestnut Street. Prince Theater, 1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 (267) 239-2941. October 14-18, 2015
Founding Artistic Directors: Dwight Roden and Desmond Richardson
Resident Choreographer: Dwight Roden
Technical Director and Resident Lighting Designer: Michael Korsch
No comments:
Post a Comment