Nadine Lavi’s Dance Notes

Morphoses at Central Park’s Summerstage 2009 in NY

Last night, Christopher Wheeldon’s The Morphoses Company held an encore performance of its debut the previous night in Central Park's free Summerstage 2009 series. Special musical guest indie songstress Martha Wainwright played the guitar and sang while the dancers performed, and performed several songs in between the dancers' numbers. Wainwright’s vocals recall the singer, Jewel, sometimes as tender, sometimes with a raspier sound. Her voice set the stage for the theme of the evening: intimate, titillating, even jarring, and sometimes with a questionable note, but always capturing the audience’s attention. Her songs of love and pain were echoed by Wheeldon’s jazzy, ground-defying lifts and myriad entrances and exits, and pas de deux and other pairings—in triples and groups, that showcased each leading female dancer’s strengths. The evening explored Wheeldon’s signature style, which is a mix of softness and angularity punctuated by unique and eye-catching lifts and transitions, and which seem to showcase each ballerina’s individual strengths.

The most subtle yet eye-catching performance of the evening began early in the program, with the exceptionally talented and versatile Wendy Whelan being partnered by Edward Watson in Wheeldon’s Whither Must I Wander. Whelan continues to astonish and delight, showing a great ability to adapt to different choreographers, and something that is unique to her, to capture the tone, mood, and essence of a ballet in its entirety. In what may seem contrary to reality, Whelan seems to actually be able to “alter” her physicality in order to embody or channel the mood and theme of a ballet. In Peter Martin’s often angular choreography for NYCB for example, in which she is often cast as the leading female, her musculature seems to take on a more sinewy appearance, as if she has literally “become” the angular movements of the ballet and is portraying it to the audience in a sleek, charged, modern, high-tech manner.

But when she is dancing a ballet like Whither I Must Wander, the impression that Whelan gives is one of tender softness, romantic visions, and subtlety. The softly curving bird-like arches of her pointes and a delicate energy coursing through her body are what enchant; she is seemingly all curves, languid, stretching though space, delicate and composed. When she rose on pointe in an open 4^th position, feet placed far apart in parallel on a diagonal, a step that was repeated at the beginning and the end of the ballet like a theme, she did so with subtlety and lightness, as if her tender feelings rose up through her body and into a loving, surrounding space above her and her lover. This was followed by a lift that had her wrapped around her partner’s body, which retained that sense of longing and a touch of loss, it seemed, for what would or would not be. Robert Louis Stevenson’s words, sung by Wainwright, added a soft intensity to the ballet. Whelan’s performance and Wheeldon’s choreography were such that the mood of this ballet and images of her dancing still linger.

Her performance in this pas de deux suggests that Whelan has a range that is perhaps, still as yet undetermined in terms of limitations, and that alone, in addition to the ingenious fluidity of her movements, a complete lack of effort that translates into an incredible lightness, and her clarity of technique, makes her remarkable; the effect is the giving of a pleasure that is rare when it comes to dance.

This was followed by a sweet and cute ballet by Edwaard Liang showcasing Teresa Reichlen’s ponytailed coquette weaving in and out of four men in Bleeding All Over You as they leaped and pirouetted in four corners of the stage. Reichlen’s powerful jumps thrilled—her grand jete was so high and sure it seemed like it would burst right into the audience, and her easy command of technique and playfulness made her a pleasure to watch.

In Love Is A Stranger, Tiler Peck and Gonzalo Garcia danced to lyrics and music by Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. In this ballet, Wheeldon pushes the limits of the phrase “pas de deux,” for Peck was held upside down in a split, horizontally with legs in arabesque, and vertically in various poses and moves that demonstrated an energetic and fun way with movement that seems to be part of Wheeldon’s work. Peck is another dancer who seems to have a lot going on inside and a lot that is waiting to come out, whether in terms of technique or artistic expression, that should add even more to her already considerable command of both technique and the stage.

Fool's paradise with music by Joy Talbot featured Beatrix Stix-Brunell, Maria Kowroski, Teresa Reichlen, Tiler Peck, Rory Hohenstein, Gonzalo Garcia, Marcelo Gomes, Edwaard Liang, and Adrian Danchig-Waring in an interesting series of pas de deux, and “triplings” showcasing each groups abilities. In this ballet, it seems that Wheeldon really made use of his dancers’ personalities and individual strengths. Part of what makes Morphoses an unusual company is that it does not have a true corps de ballet, only soloists and principal dancers who come to the company with a personality and style that is already developed and which Wheeldon makes very effective use of. This is true even of the youngest member of the company, Beatriz Stix-Brunell, who at only 16, is already a ballerina, polished, fluid, elegant, energetic, poised and cosmopolitan in her manner and bearing.

While all the dancers are exciting to watch, it must be noted that Stix-Brunell has a unique placement and epaulement, the result of her French ballet training with ballet master, Fabrice Herrault. There is something very exciting going on--an aliveness in her upper body, that contrasts with the absence of energy and expression and a kind of “blankness” that is often seen in many dancers in this area. The soft, compelling quality of her epaulement recalls the quiet yet vibrant energy captured in the marble busts of the nobility of a previous era—with head, neck, shoulders and chest poised and very sure. Whereas one might prefer to look at other dancers’ feet or legs, or at particular step that the dancer is doing, with Stix-Brunell, what one first sees, and continues to see, is this delightful aliveness of her upper body via her epaulement, which translates like a quiet coursing energy throughout the rest of her body for a beauteous whole. It sets her apart, and it enervates her entire body, so that one does not want to look at anyone else when she is dancing. There is something of the ingénue in her, yet there is a sophistication as well, and these seemingly contradictory aspects blended into one dancer who also possesses a beautifully seamless technique that is effortless--alternately soft and strong when necessary, is fascinating.

Marcelo Gomes, new to the company’s roster, graced the stage with his commanding depth of technique and dramatic intensity. Gomes is one of the most remarkable male dancers on the stage today, as a result of what appears to be a recent leap in artistic and technical growth and development. While he was always interesting and charming, making him fun to watch, Gomes has, this past spring season with ABT, become so compelling that one wants to look at him to see what is driving him on the stage—what themes are motivating his characterization, making for a rich inner life that is translated into steps that are full of fire and intensity. He has reached a level of artistry, sophistication and intensity on so many different levels that one balks at trying to analyze his talent in terms of separate aspects, so completely has he melded his gifts to become a unique and compelling force on the stage. When he dances, he directs all of his energies into and towards a role so that he becomes it completely.

In this ballet, even though he did not have much to do beyond partner, whatever he did was exciting and thrilling because of what he invested in the steps, the care, concern, energy and intensity, which made even a simple step downstage mesmerizing.

Reichlen, Peck and the other dancers were all exciting to watch in their various pas de deux, and the entrances and exits that are part of this work give it an up-to-the-minute modern feel, as opposed to having the same tired old exits offstage; this is another nice aspect of Wheeldon’s work, that he is innovative when it comes to such details. Seeing Maria Kowrowski dance in this ballet was exciting for the sheer energy and power she possesses. All of the women exhibit different aspects of strength and ability, but Kowrowski is in a different category when it comes to command and sheer impact. She seemed freer and larger–than-life, devouring space on the stage. The final pose of the ballet, a pyramid-like tableau of the dancers, captured the image of a kind of “paradise” with all of the bodies melded into one unit.

In the world premiere of Tears of St. Lawrence, Wheeldon’s collaborative effort with Edwaard Liang, the theme was inspired by a meteor shower. The sudden entrances and exits of different dancers in pairs and in triples and dramatic lifts seemed to echo the idea of a meteor's random yet powerful trajectories and descents, for a satisfying interpretation of that theme. All the dancers showcased an aspect of their personalities that Wheeldon seemed to want to accent, whether elegance, sleekness, softness, subtlety, or power.

Stix-Brunell was a delight, Reichlen impressed, Peck caught the eye, and the men impressed too, particularly with the jumps, for example in an intriguing kind of Italian sauté de chat that turned in the air.

Maria Kowrowski, who danced for much of this ballet and did the final pas de deux, showed the unique power and Amazonian command of the stage that is hers. Her flexibility and control was used to great effect by Wheeldon; she seems able to do anything, and his choreography virtually asks for that. From attitudes, to pirouettes, to lifts, to vertical splits, the operative images were power, skill, and freedom. Kowrowski is another very versatile ballerina who is at the top of her game--contrast this strong performance with her very seductive turn in Slaughter on Tenth Avenue with NYCB, and one can only marvel at her gifts.

Morphoses is lucky to have her, as well as all of the other dancers, who make a great group of talent for Wheeldon to create upon. The audience seemed to agree, as they burst into overwhelming applause at the end. One can only look forward to Morphoses’ next NY engagement at City Center, October 29- November 1^st, to see Wheeldon’s new ballets and these exciting dancers again.

Nadine's past blogs:

Nadine Lavi's Dance Notes "The Latin Choreographers Festival 2009: An Evening of Dance and Theater"

Nadine Lavi's Dance Notes "Beatriz Stix-Brunell: First-class dancing from a young dancer on the rise

Nadine Lavi's Dance Notes "Highlights of ABT's Spring Season"

Nadine Lavi's Dance Notes "In Appreciation: Fabrice Herrault: Ballet Ma ster Extraordinaire"

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