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Ballet X at Live Arts/Philly Fringe Festival
The ballet dancers you thought you knew
LEWIS WHITTINGTON
Finnish choreographer Jorma Elo danced with such influential contemporary choreographers as William Forsythe, Jiri Kilian and Ohad Naharin before he became a much-in-demand choreographer himself and resident dance maker for the Boston Ballet.
In “Scenes View 2,” Elo’s clean architectural dancer lines, laced with pyrotechnic ballet steps, play very well on Ballet X’s dancers, all of whom are artistically moonlighting from Pennsylvania Ballet.
Elo bookends “Scenes” with a silly setup in which the dancers repeat stage directions that lead to flowing movement scenarios, scored to Bach. The seven dancers attack Elo’s configurations with precision and amplitude: Windmill arms freeze in gorgeously etched arabesques, and lifts keeps evolving from air positions to precarious landings. Francis Veyette and Jermel Johnson wowed with huge aerial layouts and thrilling tours en l’ air.
“Broke Apart,” scored to bittersweet ballads by Martha Wainwright, Joanna Newsom and Cyndi Lauper, probably was a choreographic doodle for Matthew Neenan, who produces large ballets for Pennsylvania Ballet. But even Neenan’s chamber pieces pulse with rich ideas. Neenan and Ballet X co-director Christine Cox both danced in this program.
Amy Aldridge and James Ihde start in a literal choreographic box, a square made from four portable ballet barres that confine them. The troupe of eight dancers fly through Neenan’s unpredictable duets as well as his airy transitional classical phrasing. Neenan likes to break out of the classical box, but he doesn’t deconstruct ballet— he just uses the lexicon as another wrench in his toolbox.
The breakout solos were laced with gymnastic feats, using the barre as balance beams or parallel bars. At one point Jermel Johnson froze in a bent one-arm handstand atop the barre with his torso and legs splayed out in a pose was nothing less than Olympic. Neenan exploits the raw athleticism of the dancers that is usually hidden in ballet.
LEWIS WHITTINGTON
Finnish choreographer Jorma Elo danced with such influential contemporary choreographers as William Forsythe, Jiri Kilian and Ohad Naharin before he became a much-in-demand choreographer himself and resident dance maker for the Boston Ballet.
In “Scenes View 2,” Elo’s clean architectural dancer lines, laced with pyrotechnic ballet steps, play very well on Ballet X’s dancers, all of whom are artistically moonlighting from Pennsylvania Ballet.
Elo bookends “Scenes” with a silly setup in which the dancers repeat stage directions that lead to flowing movement scenarios, scored to Bach. The seven dancers attack Elo’s configurations with precision and amplitude: Windmill arms freeze in gorgeously etched arabesques, and lifts keeps evolving from air positions to precarious landings. Francis Veyette and Jermel Johnson wowed with huge aerial layouts and thrilling tours en l’ air.
“Broke Apart,” scored to bittersweet ballads by Martha Wainwright, Joanna Newsom and Cyndi Lauper, probably was a choreographic doodle for Matthew Neenan, who produces large ballets for Pennsylvania Ballet. But even Neenan’s chamber pieces pulse with rich ideas. Neenan and Ballet X co-director Christine Cox both danced in this program.
Amy Aldridge and James Ihde start in a literal choreographic box, a square made from four portable ballet barres that confine them. The troupe of eight dancers fly through Neenan’s unpredictable duets as well as his airy transitional classical phrasing. Neenan likes to break out of the classical box, but he doesn’t deconstruct ballet— he just uses the lexicon as another wrench in his toolbox.
The breakout solos were laced with gymnastic feats, using the barre as balance beams or parallel bars. At one point Jermel Johnson froze in a bent one-arm handstand atop the barre with his torso and legs splayed out in a pose was nothing less than Olympic. Neenan exploits the raw athleticism of the dancers that is usually hidden in ballet.
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