The three pieces that comprise Pacific Northwest Ballet’s (PNB) New Works program provide not only a pleasing contrast to classical ballet, they also point out the endless permutations that contemporary dance encompasses. Beginning with the transitional “A Million Kisses to my Skin” to the stylized but emotional “Cylindrical Shadows” and ending with the world premiere ballet-hip hop fusion of “Mating Theory”, this year’s New Works once again delivers on PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal’s promise to expand Northwest audience experience beyond Balanchine.
David Dawson’s “A Million Kisses to my Skin” is his self-styled “goodbye to my classical career” and a celebration of the joy of dance. The women are en pointe and the movement is based on classical ballet but with greater speed, power and extension of the limbs. Dancers democratically weave in and out of solos, pairings, triplings without the exigencies of soloist/chorus roles. Dawson turns ballet’s synchronized sequences into a sort of visual ragtime with multiple pairs of dancers performing similar precise movements slightly off-time or viewed by the audience from varying angles. Rare moments of stillness interject surprise into this otherwise high energy, nearly constant flow of movement. In one particularly beautiful moment, a cluster of dancers opens like the petals of a rose in bloom. Simply costumed by Yumiko Takeshima in pale blue leotards, the dancers’ precision is highly visible against a white backdrop, bathed in the pure brightness of Bert Dalhuysen’s lighting design. Adding to the pleasure (and challenge) of the work is live performance of the Johann Sebastian Bach accompaniment.
Inspired by a personal tragedy, the sudden and untimely death of a dancer and personal friend, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s “Cylindrical Shadows” premiered last year in Seattle performed by Whim W’Him and featuring several PNB dancers. With some choreographic alterations and a re-staging by Olivier Wevers for the larger venue of the Opera House, “Cylindrical Shadows” displays ballet, modern dance and jazz influences. The somewhat static opening features dancers performing body isolation movements iconic of modern dance, with an occasional breakout by a single dancer. Things liven up in the jazz influenced second movement as the male dancers, each dressed in a different rainbow hue, draw together to create graceful, sculptural compositions, then break apart in a delicate chain reaction. The final movement features an elegiac pas de deux movingly performed by Lucien Postlewaite and Kaori Nakamura before an increasingly shadowy forest backdrop dramatically lit by Michael Mazzola.
Victor Quijada’s choreography for “Mating Theory” reflects his unique experiences as a dancer, beginning as an eight year-old break dancer, then studying classical ballet, performing in modern dance icon Twyla Tharp’s company and with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal. “Mating Theory” combines classical, contemporary and street dance ethos to create a unique style that required Quijada to train the PNB dancers in his technique prior to beginning rehearsals. The postures are rounded, defensive and street smart, the dancing more grounded than is typical of ballet, but the dancers maintain balletic precision and control while appearing to perform the popping, locking and breaking of hip-hop. Competitive turntablist Jasper Gahunia combines DJ techniques with classical orchestral pieces for a compelling musical accompaniment as the boys and girls band together, show off, mingle, not quite touching but still connecting in this depiction of the defensiveness of early courtship. Costumes by Mark Zappone are urban streetwear reconstructed to accommodate the dancers’ extension.
Prior to the opening night’s performance, it was announced that the Joyce Theater Foundation has honored PNB with the Rudolf Nureyev Prize for New Dance, a $25,000 commissioning grant for creating new works. PNB will use the award to create a new work by Alejandro Cerrudo, the resident choreographer for the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
PNB’s New Works runs for seven performances only through March 24.
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