“Agon”, “When Love”, “Far But Close”, “Return”
Dance Theatre of Harlem – Program 2
Harman Hall
Washington , DC
October 18, 2013
by George Jackson
copyright 2013 by George Jackson
At last! Harlem’s ballet company is blossoming again. Fresh, precise, elegant dancing and demeanors hinting at pride marked Friday’s performance. The program began with the challenging “Agon” - a ballet about art and life. Is it? Isn’t “Agon” abstract, an exercise in timing and honing movement, a test of dance technique that ought not to be burdened by extraneous meanings? Different companies at different times have told George Balanchine’s “Agon” in distinct ways. As staged by Richard Tanner and delivered by Harlem, the four men we see initially seem to move and stop moving with soldierly cohesion. Nonetheless, they aren’t interchangeable but emerge as distinct individuals. The first trio’s man, Taurean Green, guides his women confidently yet courteously, not like a harem autocrat. As the woman of the second trio, Chrystyn Fentroy definitely knows what is her due from her pair of male companions. She does not, though, rule the roost as might a polyandrous matriarch. The duo that climaxes “Agon” can become the encounter between a mistress and her servant lover. He kneels to partner her and when she bends down to him, he abases himself even more. However, Gabrielle Salvatto just makes the passing suggestion that being pampered by Fredrick Davis is something she enjoys. Such signs of personality, of temperament, together with the tensions and easings of Stravinsky’s referentially rich music, suffice to give “Agon” human dimensions.
Dance Theatre of Harlem – Program 2
Harman Hall
Washington , DC
October 18, 2013
by George Jackson
copyright 2013 by George Jackson
At last! Harlem’s ballet company is blossoming again. Fresh, precise, elegant dancing and demeanors hinting at pride marked Friday’s performance. The program began with the challenging “Agon” - a ballet about art and life. Is it? Isn’t “Agon” abstract, an exercise in timing and honing movement, a test of dance technique that ought not to be burdened by extraneous meanings? Different companies at different times have told George Balanchine’s “Agon” in distinct ways. As staged by Richard Tanner and delivered by Harlem, the four men we see initially seem to move and stop moving with soldierly cohesion. Nonetheless, they aren’t interchangeable but emerge as distinct individuals. The first trio’s man, Taurean Green, guides his women confidently yet courteously, not like a harem autocrat. As the woman of the second trio, Chrystyn Fentroy definitely knows what is her due from her pair of male companions. She does not, though, rule the roost as might a polyandrous matriarch. The duo that climaxes “Agon” can become the encounter between a mistress and her servant lover. He kneels to partner her and when she bends down to him, he abases himself even more. However, Gabrielle Salvatto just makes the passing suggestion that being pampered by Fredrick Davis is something she enjoys. Such signs of personality, of temperament, together with the tensions and easings of Stravinsky’s referentially rich music, suffice to give “Agon” human dimensions.
There were more than hints of love relationships in Helen Pickett’s duo, “When Love”, and in John Alleyne’s quartet, “Far But Close”. The dancing together that Pickett assembled for her pair of lovers was sprightly and freely classical. In the female role, Emiko Flanagan hovered delightfully between girlhood and womanhood. Dustin James, as the man, engaged the audience’s sympathy with his eagerness. Sorry to say, though, Pickett’s program note about the timelessness of experiencing love remained on the printed page. Brief solos for each of the protagonists hadn’t the spontaneity of the joint passages. Still, what won out was Pickett’s facility in making the encounter flow. Philip Glass’s music (from “Einstein on the Beach”) helped to vary the action.
Love and dance become endurance tests in Alleyne’s “Far But Close”. A persistent question the choreographer asks is how long couples can stay coupled. The obstacles they face are time, others and themselves. A sort of answer lies in the dancing. It starts with two distinct pairs doing partnering. Each of the four wears somewhat different clothing and is a somewhat different body type. The movement is balletic but incorporates commonplace motions and acrobatic exercising. Overall, it has an improvised air at first. Gradually the partnering transforms from improv to more rehearsed maneuvers. Despite separations, isolations and switches, ultimately it is the original pairings that persist. Along the long course to the end of “Far But Close”, the partnering of the two pairs seemed imperceptibly to acquire polish. Is Alleyne’s message that smooth sailing lies ahead for those marriages that last? Street wise talk (text by Daniel Beaty) and stringent music (by Daniel Bernard Roumain) helped Alleyne to keep the movement from becoming repetitious, at least for a while.
Often served as favorite desert on Harlem programs is resident choreographer Robert Garland’s “Return”. In this 1999 work, jazz and other forms of popular dancing are injected with ballet technique. The result energizes both the classical and the vernacular movement. Watching the piece repeatedly remains an adventure because the choreography gives the cast opportunities to frolic, and Harlem’s disciplined dancers do so fabulously.
Love and dance become endurance tests in Alleyne’s “Far But Close”. A persistent question the choreographer asks is how long couples can stay coupled. The obstacles they face are time, others and themselves. A sort of answer lies in the dancing. It starts with two distinct pairs doing partnering. Each of the four wears somewhat different clothing and is a somewhat different body type. The movement is balletic but incorporates commonplace motions and acrobatic exercising. Overall, it has an improvised air at first. Gradually the partnering transforms from improv to more rehearsed maneuvers. Despite separations, isolations and switches, ultimately it is the original pairings that persist. Along the long course to the end of “Far But Close”, the partnering of the two pairs seemed imperceptibly to acquire polish. Is Alleyne’s message that smooth sailing lies ahead for those marriages that last? Street wise talk (text by Daniel Beaty) and stringent music (by Daniel Bernard Roumain) helped Alleyne to keep the movement from becoming repetitious, at least for a while.
Often served as favorite desert on Harlem programs is resident choreographer Robert Garland’s “Return”. In this 1999 work, jazz and other forms of popular dancing are injected with ballet technique. The result energizes both the classical and the vernacular movement. Watching the piece repeatedly remains an adventure because the choreography gives the cast opportunities to frolic, and Harlem’s disciplined dancers do so fabulously.