Pretty Package

"Morphoses," "Vicissitude," "Propeller," "Satie Stud," "Slingerland Pas de Deux," "Mesmerics"
Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company
New York City Center
New York, NY
October 21, 2007

By Lisa Rinehart
copyright 2007 by Lisa Rinehart

Christopher Wheeldon is keen on the glossy package, and Program Two of his highly anticipated Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company is no exception. The dancers are gorgeous -- otherworldly specimens borrowed from New York City Ballet, the Royal Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, Ballet Boyz and National Ballet of Canada. The music is choice, ranging from Vivaldi and Schubert to Ligeti and Glass. I Pod-esque graphics portentously announce each piece on a large film screen. Indeed, the offerings in the program's middle section are proceeded by a lushly filmed preview of coming attractions, but more about that later. The lighting is beautiful, the stage design is elegant -- sometimes even breathtaking, as when the curtain rises on eight cello players spanning the back of the stage on a raised platform; their instruments aglow. And Wheeldon's cleverly symmetrical choreography is as inventive and athletic as ever, with the gleam and liquidity of a late Henry Moore. So what's the problem?

The problem is that Wheeldon, a choreographer who can work anywhere in the world with essentially carte blanche, purports to want to widen the ballet audience (he's oft been quoted as wanting to make ballet "sexy and young"), but has launched his own company before figuring out what he wants to say as a choreographer, or as an impresario. While it's an honest goal to get more firmly formed derriers in the seats, audiences of any age will tire of monochromatic programming and dances heavy with slick visuals.

But let's back up. Wheeldon's "Morphoses" opens the program with an abstract creature feature of two couples linking and unlinking with the divine symmetry of a flower. They break into pairs and take on the predatory inclinations of the insect world. Wendy Whelan is fearsome, bending her long legs into a creepy arachnid like crouch and crawling from one pointe shoe tip to the next, and she and Sterling Hyltin fold themselves around the waists of Craig Hall and Edwaard Liang with the fluttering abandon of moths striking a window. Nonetheless, "Morphoses" feels faceless, and weirdly unmemorable, especially given the strong performances and Wheeldon's knack for creating interesting sculptural forms with bodies.

The aforementioned middle section is more engaging; offering three pas de deux by Liang, Liv Lorent, and William Forsythe, as well as a solo by Michael Clark. Each piece is place carded by projected titles followed by film clips from rehearsals. The film work itself is moody beauty slow mo, but the premise is annoying. Presumably, we are meant to get a glimpse of the process, a little back lot tour so to speak, but the live dancers are left to compete with a level of intimacy impossible to replicate on a proscenium stage. The exception is Lorent's "Propeller," a stunning portrait of an obsessive relationship. By the time the dancers get to the sequence we've watched on film, we know what to look for, and it's just as good the second time round. Oxana Panchenko and Michael Nunn are exquisite in every awkward wobble and ungainly promenade Lorent gives them. At one point, Panchenko lays prone as Nunn supports his weight with his arms, and balances atop her; his legs are in the air, his forehead is pressed to her abdomen. This unlikely, and admittedly, dangerously circusy moment illustrates a depth of interdependence only dance could manage. It is truly spellbinding and Wheeldon made a good choice to include it. One hopes to see more of Lorent's work elsewhere.

"Vicissitude," Liang's duet for Maria Kowroski and Tyler Angle, looks better on film than onstage, but is generally pleasing. Liang's steps are simple and rely heavily on Kowroski's limitless leg extensions, but Kowroski and Angle are sweet and tender. William Trevitt is to be commended for managing the aptly named, "Satie Stud," Clark's glaringly spare solo of one-legged balances and quivering Denishawn poses in little more than a towel. And Forsythe's "Slingerland Pas de Duex," a relatively benign duet from 2000, is a beautiful vehicle for Aesha Ash and Gonzalo Garcia. Garcia is dynamic and Ash's dusky beauty and strength almost make us forget about the unfortunate Pringle chip skirt Forsythe has saddled her with.

Wheeldon's "Mesmerics," set to a collection of Philip Glass pieces, is the more satisfying Wheeldon piece on the program. The eight cellos make an engaging backdrop for six dancers although Angela Kostritzky's red and black unitards with little asymmetric black skirts for the women are unappealing and distracting. The movement is fast, sinuous and demanding, and Wheeldon plays with canons and repeat motifs that meld nicely with the Glass.

As for transforming the world of ballet, however, not yet. The package on view at City Center is appealing and the content isn't bad, but even Wheeldon admits in a Time Out New York interview with Gia Kourlas, that the company is " only a fraction of what we hope to be." Wheeldon needs to think long and hard about whether he will focus on creating new work for his company, or if he will build an adventurous ballet company that happens to feature his choreography. Neither one of these scenarios is what Wheeldon has presented at City Center, and for what he professes Morphoses to currently be; "a very high level pickup group of dancers." If Morphoses is to become truly transformative, Wheeldon's backers will need to give him the freedom to engage choreographers who are less than safe, and Wheeldon will have to have the guts to create and present work that is more than beautiful.

Copyright 2007 by Lisa Rinehart

Photos:
Top: Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall in "Morphoses" Photo: Erin Baiano
Bottom: Adrian Danchig-Waring, Michael Nunn, William Trevitt in "Mesmerics" Photo: Erin Baiano