[NEohioPAL] Berko review: VERB BALLETS--80 YEARS OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE

[Roy Berko]

Varied Verbs program on
pointe!
 
Roy Berko
 
(Member, Dance Critics
Association)
 
--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--
 
Lorain County
Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times  
 
--coocleveland.com—
 
For its latest offering
Verb Ballets, Cleveland’s “National Repertory Dance Company,” celebrated 80
years of contemporary dance.  The
results, showcased at the new Breen Center for the Performing Arts on the St.
Ignatius High School campus, were very positive.
 
The program was
introduced with a mini-lecture by Dr, Margaret Carlson, Verbs’ Chief Executive
and Artistic Officer, concerning the development of contemporary dance  and the founders of the movement.  
 
Following the
well-presented introduction, the dance segment opened with a fascinating
interpretation of ‘LAMENTATION,’ Martha Graham’s 1930 ballet, which finds a
solo dancer seated on a  bench,
enclosed in a long tube of material stretching and pushing the textile to its
boundaries of elasticity.  Katie
Gnagy, emotionally moved within the boundaries of the fabric to show the
frustration of the confinement and its resulting grief and emotion.
 
‘CROSS CURRENTS,’ a
company premiere of a 1964 Merce Cunningham dance, was danced to the atonal
piano music of Conlon Nancarrow.  Using stylistic moves, in a robotic pattern, the controlled bodies of
the dancers were a vision of pure abstraction.  The overall effect was excellent, thanks to Ashley Cohen and
Katie Gnagy who were in total control of their moves.  Unfortunately, Antwon Duncan seemed uncomfortable, tentative
and had difficulty holding the necessary freezes.  
 
Ian Horvath was the
cofounder of Cleveland Ballet.  One
of his high point choreographic creations is the 1975 ‘LAURA’S WOMEN,’ based on
the music of Laura Nyro’s “Poverty Train.”  An excerpt from the ballet was presented with a restaging by
Carlson.  Erin Conway Lewis gave an absorbing interpretation to an
exploration of Schizophrenia.   
 
A company standard, Heinz
Poll’s ‘DUET,’ was again danced by the company’s strong male dancer, Brain
Murphy, but with a new partner.  Due to an injury, Andrea Blankstein, a member of the Ballet Theatre of
Ohio, stepped in.  The result was a
different, but charming interpretation.  Blankstein added a delicate presence.  Her toe work, smooth movements and partnering skills were
all on pointe.   The lifts and
carries were well executed.  Blankstein and Murphy made the work look effortless and were in perfect
sync with each other and the music.
 
‘SLEEP STUDY,’ David
Parson’s 1987 choreographed piece to the music “High Wire,” was restaged by
Carlson.  Costumed in pajamas, the
dancers rolled on the floor, sometimes along side each other, sometimes onto
someone, sometimes in tandem with other sleepers.  The overall effect of everyday sleeping movements,
well-timed to music, was totally enjoyable.
 
Heinz Poll’s brilliant
1996 creation,  ‘BOLERO,’ was
mesmerizing.  The enveloping
Maurice Ravel score lends itself to a well-disciplined corps of dancers.  And, in the main, Amy Miller’s
restaging developed the needed patterned movements.  A fusion of Indian and Spanish movements, the precision
piece concluded to screams of pleasure from the audience.
 
Combine martial arts with
music and the results can be compelling, as demonstrated by ‘TAI-QI KUNG FU FAN
FORM,’ a piece developed for the 2008 Chinese-hosted Olympics.  Having been in China shortly before
those games, I saw groups of people in the parks in various cities doing this
“routine.”  Little did I realize that
it would some day be included in a contemporary dance program.  Using fans to create both visual
illusions and a strong snapping sound, the piece required precision.  In general, most of the company was
capable of creating the right illusions.  
 
‘THE GATHERING,’
choreographed by Terence Green, who, among other credits, has worked with students
at the Cleveland School of the Arts, received its world premiere as the closing
number on Verbs’ program.  The four
movement composition about vision of community and belonging, centered its
movements around, on and under ten chairs and a table.  The dancers often vaulted off and
balanced on the set pieces, to enthusiastic reaction.  
 
Verbs’ evening of dance
was audience pleasing.  However,
they still need to find male dancers to accompany the always excellent Brian
Murphy.  Their latest applicants
don’t totally fill their needs.  Antwon Duncan often moves without enthusiasm and precision.  Gary Lenington seems well disciplined,
but his fullback build seems to limit his freedom of movement.  Nehemia Spencer and Lloyd Amir Boyd
III, both students at the Cleveland School of the Arts, have great potential,
but need more training and experience.  So, the search should go on for males to balance the excellent females
in the company.
 
Capsule judgement:   Verbs’ ’80 YEARS OF CONTEMPORARY
DANCE,’ was a bravo evening of dance.  It passed the difficult test of holding the rapt attention of a large
contingent of students from the Cleveland School of the Arts, who even stopped
texting long enough to be an appreciative audience.  Well done!
 
The company’s next local performance will be ‘WINTER 2010
AT VERB BALLETS, presented at the Breen Center for the Performing Arts, on the
campus of St. Ignatius High School on January 17, 2010.
  Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 2009, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info

His reviews can also be found on www.coolcleveland.com and NeOHIOpal (to subscribe visit http://mailman.listserve.com/listmanager/listinfo/neohiopal.)