New Wave

REVIEW: BalletX

by Janet Anderson

	print	email	reply	rss feed

Published: Nov 23, 2009

Bill Hebert BalletX

BalletX wound up its fall 2009 season at the Wilma with three exquisite original works of choreography, demonstrating not only the wide range of the Xers' talents, but exactly why they'll be back in the spring playing to more full houses.

Retired Pennsylvania Ballet dancer Meredith Rainey may no longer be performing, but he definitely knows how to put together a dance. His new ballet, They Break, was inspired by a Chris Armstrong oil painting of waves crashing on the shore. Moving to the contemporary sounds of David Lang, the dancers slowly undulated forward and back as occasional performers leapt out of the wings. Then they ebbed again, occasionally hitting a sandbar or rock and spurting up into grand, lusty moves. All the dancers were terrific, yet Tara Keating and Eric Otto gave extra ripple and punch.

Guest choreographer Alex Ketley, an independent dance-maker from San Francisco, created Silt for the Xers, using a musical collage of Chris Clark, Giovanni Pergolesi and Arvo Pärt. The rubbing together of these disparate sounds perfectly suited the dancers' movements, which were so soft and considered, they conjured up images of slow erosion. The dancers' hands slowly rose, then dropped. They sat down with hands on knees, then stood up, repeating the quiet gesture. But it took human feet to pound out the staccato beat on the floor, and loosely jointed arms to slash and fling. Bradley Schlagheck and Anitra Keegan made this experimental work look polished.

Last of the Year, from co-founder/co-artistic director Matthew Neenan, appropriately concluded the program. With the classical sounds of Borodin, Vivaldi and Schubert setting the pace, Neenan scrambled his crew across the stage in a busy, complex work using all the gestures and quick movements this innovator seems to gravitate toward. It was something of a Neenan retrospective, with hands cupped and held near a partner's face, dancers holding up a partner then dropping them, or dragging someone along the floor. With many dancers wearing blue jeans, this piece had a spontaneous feel, as though the choreographer and dancers were exulting in what they were able to communicate with their bodies. Nov. 19, Wilma Theater.

Anything Goes
Anne Carson
The :nv:s:ble Play
Tom Judd: Evidence of a Collected Past
Marcel Wanders: DAYDREAMS
Sweetness and Light
Kaleidoscope
Upcycle: Sk8lamps