Morphoses Program B

“Continuum,” “Softly as I Leave You,” “Rhapsody Fantaisie”
Morphoses
New York City Center
New York
October 30, 2009

By Lisa Rinehart

Copyright © 2009 by Lisa Rinehart

Christopher Wheeldon’s three-year-old company, Morphoses, is a collision of big ambitions and questionable choices. Luxe visuals, live music and top-notch dancers – most borrowed from other companies – make the troupe interchangeable with many world-class ensembles. But pre-show chats in front of the curtain (nice touch, but not revolutionary) and filmed pop-ups before each ballet are unnecessary annoyances. This season, footage from the company’s residency on Martha’s Vineyard feels like an appeal for the “Save the Dancers Fund.” And fundraising aside, Wheeldon doesn’t need the outreach efforts. The Morphoses audience is already pretty well informed. They want what most ballet audiences want – an evening of beautiful bodies doing beautiful things that are sometimes quite profound. And on this point anyway, Wheeldon’s Program B delivers.

Wheeldon’s “Continuum,” set to eleven short Ligeti compositions for piano and/or harpsichord, is a stunner. Created in 2002 for San Francisco Ballet and buoyed by Natasha Katz’s artful lighting design, “Continuum” jumps from where Balanchine left off. In simple green leotards, four couples move through rigorously structured quartets, duets and solos with icy precision. Paired with Ligeti’s cerebral sound, there’s playfulness, sensuality and sometimes, quiet tragedy in Wheeldon’s expert use of the neo-classical vocabulary. Flexible spines and firmly stretched legs are everywhere without straying into hyper-extended vulgarity. A duet for Edwaard Liang and the exceptionally appealing Danielle Rowe is a leggy sparring match, while another, for Matthew Prescott and Wendy Whelan, is an exquisite study in restraint. Aside from moments of “look at me” enthusiasm from the dancers, “Continuum” is Wheeldon in top form.

“Softly as I Leave You,” a newly commissioned work from team Lightfoot León of the Netherlands Dance Theater, is the weak link on an otherwise elegant program. Set to Bach and Arvo Pärt (can someone please tell choreographers to get past the Top Ten Masterpieces of Classical Music for their inspiration), the three part duet is an unorganized cliché of chest clutching angst. There are a few good moments such as when the statuesque Drew Jacoby folds herself into a rectangular box like a Klimpt goddess, but neither Jacoby nor the equally gifted Rubinald Pronk can elevate “Softly as I Leave You” above sappiness.

Wheeldon’s newest work, “Rhapsody Fantaisie,” is set to selected piano suites by Sergei Rachmaninoff. It is a co-commission between New York City Center and Sadler’s Wells Theater meaning last month’s London premiere featured one set while here in New York we got an oddly whimsical backdrop of windsocks by Los Carpinteros. Bathed in blood red light by Mary Louise Geiger and costumed in equally obvious crimson by Francisco Costa, “Rhapsody Fantaisie” tries to capture the rush of Rachmaninoff’s cascading notes, but the dance washes past in a haze of flesh and flowing polyester. One remarkable exception is a lingering duet for Whelan and Andrew Crawford resonating with the intensity of a Hitchcock close-up. Whelan, after walking through her duties during NYCB’s spring season, is three-dimensional and luminous here as she reaches outward, dependant on, but oblivious of her partner. The duet shows that Wheeldon is most powerful when forced to slow down and cherry pick from his bountiful supply of movement ideas.

Which brings me to a bigger issue; why would a talented choreographer want to squander energy running a newly formed ballet company -- meaning fundraising 24/7? It’s hell for the big players, let alone for a small ballet group aspiring to collaborate with other accomplished artists. It’s a question only Wheeldon can answer, but it would be a shame if his duties as Artistic Director of Morphoses overshadow his creative talents -- especially because choreographers who know what to do with today’s phenomenally skilled ballet dancers can be counted on one hand. So far he’s hanging in there, but Wheeldon is at his best when he’s not trying to please and that’s a challenge when your eye’s on the bottom line.                  

Copyright © 2009 by Lisa Rinehart

Photos by Erin Baiano:

Top:  “Continuum”
Bottom: “Rhapsody Fantaisie.”