BWW Reviews: Fall For Dance Final Evening

Fall for Dance at New York City Center wrapped up last weekend with a program featuring four companies, thrilling in their differences. Three of the four are uniquely American in their artistry, whereas one hails from England, led by a choreographer with roots all over the globe. One company debuted a near half-century ago in New York City, while another is in its infancy in Los Angeles. Yet another almost defies description as a company comprised of all male dancers who perform full length classical ballets on pointe. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui/Sadler's Wells London, BODYTRAFFIC, Les Ballet Trockadero De Monte Carlo, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre shared the stage on October 5, for an evening rich in texture and artistic achievement.

Cherkaoui's Faun opened the evening with a male dancer slouched comfortably center stage as the unmistakeable lazy flute of Debussy's Prelude to Afternoon of a Faun filled the theatre. The piece instantly recalled Nijinsky's famous solo, but lacked the heavy sexuality. The quality seemed to play more into fawn-with-a-W, than the half-man, half-goat, creature of mythology with an insatiable appetite for women. Nevertheless, once the female dancer who piques the Faun's interest entered, there were a fair amount of interesting moments between them. Both dancers moved with an otherworldly fluidity, and the most pleasing moments came when their pure physicality was exploited. Daisy Phillips in particular had a signature shape in which she turned out her arms and interlocked her fingers far behind her head, effectively causing her shoulder joints to disappear. The eye relished in these moment of extreme gesture. Much of the partner work seemed cursory, which was personally disappointing as two such capable dancers could have been utilized far past the vocabulary of "I touch your arm and it moves forward, I touch your foot and you take a step."

To get a better sense of the overall aesthetic of the featured companies, I was hoping for more than solos and duets. Luckily, the rest presented group numbers. BODYTRAFFIC performed 02JOY, a quintet choreographed by Richard Siegal. Set to plucky jazz standards that conjure up nostalgia for a time before any of the dancers were even close to being born, this falls squarely into the "Feel Good" camp of contemporary dance performances - a niche not often explored by career choreographers. Siegal's movement really shined with quirky, twitching feet and articulated hands set precisely to the often intricate syncopation employed by Billie Holiday and Glenn Miller. Highlights included the hilarious Tina Finkelman Berkett (a company founder) in her solo and stealing the scene from audience favorite, Andrew Wojtal. Ella Fitzgerald's "All of Me" was given new life with his expert lip synching, and Berkett's perfectly outlandish turn as an overly ambitious back up dancer.

New York City Center would not host a dance festival without a representation of classical ballet, and that's where Les Ballets Trockadero De Montreal comes in. A company that utilizes all male dancers to perform fully realized classical ballet, the athleticism and artistry is matched only by their famous sense of humor. This evening it was the Swan Lake Pas De Deux, as choreographed by Marius Petipa (although probably not exactly how he envisioned it.) It is not often that dance is at once laugh out loud funny as well as visually striking, but The Trocks make that achievement look easy. The danseur portraying Odile even performed the ballerina's requisite 32 fouette turns en pointe with aplomb. But the image that stays in my head days later is the look on his face when he would not even allow Odette out on to the stage for the company bow - it was all the delicious drama of ballet wrapped up in a moment.

New York City Center's home team, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre took the stage for the final performance of the evening in a dynamic group number, Home, choreographed by Rennie Harris. It's impossible to watch this company perform in a large scale without referring to Ailey's iconic Revelations. It is possible that my vision colored in similarities where there were none given the company's legacy, but I believe they were striking. Movement culled from celebrations in every day life? Hand gestures invoking spiritual praise? Costumes derived from the dress of "regular people"? Check, check and check. The company seems to attempt to re-stage this cultural revolution every season at the hands of a different choreographer, and I'm not sure it ever translates successfully. There is no denying the brilliant execution of Ailey dancers as they are often the best in the world. Unfortunately, the audience has come to expect brilliance in the performance, and are waiting for the same from the choreography.

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