[NEohioPAL] Berko review: Dance @ Inlet and Verbs, previews

[Roy Berko]

Dance, dance, dance, dance

Roy Berko

(Member, Dance Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News Times--Olmsted-Fairview 
Times

--coocleveland.com-

Over the past few weeks the dance scene in the area has exploded.  Four major 
concerts were scheduled…. Groundworks, Inlet Dance, Verb Ballets and Ohio Dance 
Theatre were all on stage.  Unfortunately, due to the horrific weather, I only 
got to see two of the programs.

INLET DANCE

Inlet's SURPISING.  INSPIRING. COLORFUL!, staged at the Chagrin Falls Performing 
Arts Center, featured revivals of past programs.  The company is blessed with a 
strong corps.  Joshua Brown and Justin Stentz are two of the most talented male 
dancers in the area.  The duo exudes physical power and movement skills.  
Wisely, the ever-creative choreographer, Bill Wade, builds pieces around his 
testosterone duo.  Inlet's females, Makaela Clark, Mackenzie Clevenger and 
Elizabeth Pollert are equally proficient.  Since the company is an educational 
as well as performance troop, the regular dancers are often blended with young 
emerging talents.  When this happens, as was obvious in ASCENSION, there is an 
obvious difference between the quality of the movements between the company 
members and the students.  But with their company mission, this is acceptable.

The highlights of the Chagrin program were:  SNOW, which found the dancers 
twirling, floating, doing smooth lifts and powerful moves, forming visual images 
of snow falling and moving;  A CLOSE SHAVE, which has emerged into a  signature 
piece, was delightful as Brown and Stentz displayed  gymnastic moves with power 
and physical control as they mirrored each other while performing morning 
rituals.  WONDEROUS BEASTS found the dancers transformed into creatures who 
hopped, jumped and made head thrusts while dressed in Kristin Wade's glorious 
costumes.  The three and five year olds sitting behind me expressed awe and 
wonder during this segment of the program.  IMPAIRED, a piece developed to 
illustrate life without sight, in which Brown and Mackenzie Clevenger perform 
the entire number while wearing blindfolds, brought positive audience reactions. 
 

I can only wonder why Wade chose to end the program with BEAUTY IN TENSION, 
which finds the dancers covered over by stretch material trying to escape from 
the anxiety ridden times in which we live, thus leaving the audience on a 
downer, a well-done performance, but a downer just the same, rather than with 
the cartoon pop art romp BALListic in which the dancers proficiently frolic with 
huge red exercise balls to the delight of viewers.

VERB BALLETS

Performing before a sold-out house at the Breen Center, Verb Ballets's OPEN YOUR 
IMAGINATION was an evening of premieres. 

Danced to throbbing sounds, TO HAVE AND TO HOLD, which was choreographed by 
Danial Shapiro and Joanie Smith, was dedicated to those who have loved and lost 
but are not forgotten.  It featured the cast flipping and vaulting over, sliding 
on and under three benches while they intertwined in symmetrical and 
asymmetrical groupings.  Unfortunately, the male dancers were not always in 
sync, which weakened the overall effect.

NOUNEMON MOBILUS, danced to atonal percussion music, found three dancers encased 
in stretch sacks of material creating visual images.  BREATH, choreographed by 
the talented Terence Greene, featured the entire company, plus students from 
Greene's classes at the Cleveland School of the Arts.  A powerful segment 
featured Brian Murphy and Terrence Greene.  AMBIGIUOUS DRIVES, choreographed by 
Tommie-Waheed Evans, which featured the wonderful Katie Gnagy, was a fine 
creation consisting of balletic movements and some compelling lifts.

I believe that Verb Ballets is at a crossroads.  The largest of the local dance 
companies, it continues to attract big audiences, but, if the comments I heard 
following the latest program are an indication, the sheen is wearing off.  The 
company membership remains stagnant.  They have an excellent corps of females 
dancers.  Brian Murphy is the only male dancer who has the finite ability to do 
both quality solo and corps work.  More effort needs to be made to attract 
proficient males.  A quality company cannot continue with dancers who are over 
the hill, or are not well trained and lacking in experience, or fill in with 
apprentices.  Verb's purpose is not as a training school.  It bills itself as 
Cleveland's National Repertory Dance Company.  Yes, proficient male dancers are 
hard to find, but if Groundworks and Inlet can succeed in finding them, why 
can't Verb? 

UPCOMING DANCE EVENTS

DANCING WHEELS--March 5, 2011, Night at the Races fundraising event at the 
Dancing Wheels Studio. Tickets and information--216-432-0306.

RIOULT DANCE COMPANY--Pascal Rioult and his acclaimed modern dance company will 
come to the Ohio Theatre on Saturday, April 2, 2011 at 8 p.m.  For tickets 
call216-241-6000 or go to playhousesquare.org.
Presented by DANCECleveland and PlayhouseSquare, Rioult Dance Company is known 
for intellectually and musically satisfying performances with wonderfully 
trained dancers who are a living extension of the Martha Graham technique.   The 
repertory for the Cleveland performance includes Bolero and Wien, set to Ravel's 
“La Valse,” in which the Viennese waltz serves as a symbol of a disintegrating 
society. The program will also include a newer work, Views of the Fleeting 
World, set to J.S. Bach's “The Art of the Fugue.” 
Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 
2011, 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 www.NeOHIOpal