Ballet Austin
Ballet Austin concluded its New York debut at The Joyce Theater on October 9. The program included two award-winning pieces and a première, all choreographed by Artistic Director Stephen Mills.
Mills’ style calls for dancers who are equally comfortable in both modern and classical techniques—women for whom a pointe shoe and bare foot are one and the same and men who have expert partnering skills. The two styles blend together, with a hint of Kylián and Forsythe here and a flash of Swan Lake there, creating a unique vocabulary. The dancers deliver, baring their souls and dancing to their limits, but the choreography, while intriguing, becomes repetitive over the course of the evening.
One/The Body’s Grace, danced to arias by Handel, Gluck and Bach, uses three pas de deux to depict different stages of relationships. The first couple, Allisyn Paino and Eric Midgley, appeared young and playful, cavorting in love’s early high. Lisa Washburn and Anthony Casati illustrated a more tumultuous liaison and finally separated. A passionate duet for Gina Patterson and Jim Stein, with a distinct Odette reference of quick bourrées and fluttering swan arms, portrayed a deep and enduring union. In all three duets, acrobatic lifts sometimes broke the flow of movement.
Ashes, to music by Arvo Pärt, was excerpted from a full-length work, Light/The Holocaust and Humanity Project. From a line against the backdrop, the dancers—barefoot and dressed in nude-colored undergarments—came forward, one by one, entering a circle of light where each solo projected rage and yearning. Some haunting images linger. The dancers formed a pile of lifeless bodies, and two women were dragged across the stage while others traveled around them as if searching for lost loved ones. At the end of the piece, Paino sat drained of hope, unable to rise from the floor even with help. Finally, she was left alone in the circle of light, circling slowly with arms reaching upward longingly.
The première of Desire and Three Movements concluded the evening. A soothing pas de deux for Patterson and Midgley, again to music by Pärt, led the piece. Supported in attitude devant on pointe, she was gently dipped to the floor in a visually striking image that created a sense of tranquility. The remainder of the ballet, for five other couples, was danced to an upbeat Steve Reich score. It was a whirlwind of activity with quick, intricate pointe work and tricky partnering, the complex patterns shifting effortlessly. The dancers related to the audience in a flashy, Broadway style, discreetly accented by the sequins on their costumes. The connection between the initial pas de deux and the second half was not clear, but the latter made me hold my breath.
Ballet Austin should return to New York with one of Mills’ evening-length works or with ballets by various choreographers to give a better sense of the dancers’ range. Based on this visit, the invitation should come soon.
Karin Ellis-Wentz dances with American Ballet Theatre.
