BWW Reviews: JUILLIARD DANCES REPERTORY Shines at The Peter Jay Sharp Theater

Juilliard Dances Repertory artistic director Lawrence Rhodes fused together an evocative evening, a masterful juxtaposition of opposites, ruminating on the perennial themes of tradition and modernity through dance.

Dark Meadow, by the eminent Martha Graham, sparked the performance with an inimitable atavistic flourishing. Her awesome vocabulary of bodily movement shone through the fine tunings of adventure and mystery.

Personifying Ate, the Greek goddess of delusional mischief and foolhardy ruin, lead dancers Hope Dougherty, Jesse Obremski, Leslie Williams provoked an animation of the indigenous and ancient, as they have transformed and revivified through modern art on the world stage.

To the live performance of compositions by Carlos Chavez, as inspired by the native folklore of Mexico, Graham's stunning choreography and costuming proved unmistakable in the virtuosic hands of the Juilliard Dances Repertory.

Then, BIPED flipped the ultimate switch. Modernity, in the soul-shattering style of Merce Cunningham, was donned in full regalia. His choreography enticed the audience to the edge of their seats, as the lighting of Aaron Copp energized seventeen dancers.

Virtual projections of the human form splayed numinously before the eyes of the spectators, as the free harmonies of the digital age lay exposed within each breathtaking moment of the neo-classic oeuvre.

Free improvisation pioneer and new music composer Gavin Bryars offered a high, electric ambiance within the jaw-gaping chorus of waving, human forms.

The vision of the Juilliard Dances Repertory, to showcase classic works, has mounted the shoulders of the giants with a provident grace. Truly, there is no other company that so welcomingly envisions the place of young artists at center stage.

Photo credit: Rosalie O'Connor

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