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Intense, highly rhythmic and strangely engrossing
Koresh Dance Company’s season opener
Gary L. Day
One of the disadvantages of being a critic is the risk of developing a “been there, done that” cynicism that can bias one toward unfairly harsh judgments. Fortunately, one of the ways to tell that one hasn’t become cynical is the joy that bubbles up in the gut when you witness something truly wonderful onstage.
I’d known of the Koresh Dance Company, but until last weekend I’d had no exposure to its work. However, this past Friday I trekked over to the Suzanne Roberts Theatre to see the opening of Koresh’s latest seasonal offering. I came away boggled and bedazzled by what I’m prepared to call a major work.
Up and coming
The first of the evening’s two pieces, choreographed by the company’s assistant artistic director Melissa Rector, featured the Koresh Youth Ensemble, a kind of subset of the main company consisting of talented up-and-coming teen dancers. If the program book hadn’t specified that this was the Youth Ensemble, I wouldn’t have guessed that these were kids. They were very good, and gave us a thrilling start.
Rector’s choreography consisted of a series of syncopated patterns set to highly rhythmic (and strangely engrossing) music. The piece as a whole was impressively accomplished and effective.
Urban apocalypse
The evening’s main piece revived Ronen Koresh’s Through the Skin, an episodic work consisting of 16 short pieces set to a variety of compelling music pieces by numerous artists. The overall feel was urban apocalyptic, with music and lighting that wouldn’t be out of place with a stage version of Terminator (and I mean that as a compliment).
Koresh’s choreography is best described as “strong” and “intense.” A dramatic emotionalism and urgency prevailed throughout, as if we were watching soldiers (or gangs) psyching themselves up for battle. Even the quieter, more graceful sections exuded a sense of rhythmic inertia that just wouldn’t let you go.
Nonconformist lighting
The dramatic music was abetted by an arresting and imaginative lighting scheme by Peter Jakubowski, who took an opposite approach from most lighting designers in dance by utilizing darkness and shadow as much as light, to dramatic effect.
The Koresh troupe clearly grasps all the elements that make up a performance, utilizing music and light as well as the dancers to maximize the theatricality of the choreography. The result this time was a thrilling joyride that didn’t let up from beginning to end.
The company is clearly a major cultural player in Philadelphia, and I’ll be on the lookout for their future work. You should be, too.
What, When, Where
Koresh Dance Company. Works by Melissa Rector and Ronan Koresh. November 15-17, 2013, at Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St. (at Lombard). (215) 985-0420 or www.koreshdance.org.
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