A diamond-oriented square of seats create the center space for the dancers.At first the violinist is in one corner of the square while the piano and pianist are opposite.
Artistic Director and Choreographer Miro Magloire introduces the first work, excerpts from Sea, with a commissioned score by Richard Carrick, which Magloire explains is rooted in Korean folk music.When the five dancers emerge into the center space and begin to perform, our proximity to the action is almost startling, taking our breath away.The elegant dancers seem to be coming to life from an exquisite painting. At one point the violinist’s person hovers near the dancers much as his notes do. The pianist—clad in colors similar to the dancers— later reaches into her instrument to create chords and rhythm.The dancers move from en pointe to graceful turns on the floor. They have a refrain gesture of pivoting their hands to make them twirl like screw patterns.They remind of swans stretching their feathers.When the music turns to a more frenzied feel the dancers’ pace quickens.Four of the dancers become a frame for more acrobatic moves by the dancer in the center.
This is music and performance that when it ends makes you hear the silence and the still.
New Chamber Ballet is Intimate
From this first piece, Sea, to a duet by two retiring dancers (Megan Foley and Anabel Alpert) commemorating their long tenure with the troupe (Vox Solos, composed by Elizabeth Gartman), to the finale Amity (danced to a Mozart violin sonata)— we are close to the dancers in a way we have never been before.At several points in Amity we could have even outstretched an arm to quickly tag the dancers before they quickly turned and changed course. We are so close, in fact, that we feel like we are part of the action.
The dancers float. They are flawless— even when one dancerhas an unfortunate trip she never loses her aroma of grace, and instead seems to catapult up to the next steps without missing a beat.
To be this close to the dancers is to channel Degas’ unceasing fascination with the dance world.He never tired of painting dancers.A New Chamber Ballet performance suggests why.
The musicians and new chamber compositions are just as much a part of the action, though you too might have trouble looking beyond the mesmerizing up-close intimate dance to give these musicians their due.Next time….
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
