On March 10, the Houston Ballet opened their Winter Mixed Repertory Program at the Wortham Center with captivating triple bill of geometrically simple contradictions, minimalistic mythology and an iconic American musical.
The program began with the breathtaking and modern Dyad 1929 by British choreographer Wayne McGregor, transporting us into a perfectly arranged geometrical world where the bodies of the bicolored, simply dressed dancers perform unnaturally beautiful, smooth and sharp movement. Dedicated to the memory of modern dance legend Merce Cunningham, the intensely physical partnership and expanded elasticity of the executions by the double sextet give the audience the sense of receiving a message through calligraphic signs in moving bodies that provide the only articulated element in the scene.
The richness and intensity of the visual information given throughout the piece renders the switching from pointe shoes to soft sole shoes by the female dancers unnoticeable to the audience, while lights, bright spots and a horizontal neon-yellow tube that rises and lowers at the front of the stage play an important role by adding elements of attraction and rejection into the dance.
The centerpiece of the night, Wings of Wax by Prague native Jirí Kylián, was brilliantly performed by eight dancers, four men and four women, perfectly filling the sounds and silences with elongated movements under the canopy of an upside-down hanging tree. The title refers to the Greek mythology's Icarus, who, ecstatic with the ability to fly, forgot his father's warnings and plunged to his death in the sea after flying too near the sun on wings of feathers and wax. Dressed in simple, tight, dark-colored costumes, the dancers start their movements over the melting sound of a string, which slowly evolves into haunting pieces of music, by von Biber, Cage, Glass and Bach. The use of the spaces, formations and translation throughout the stage, as well as the delicate quality of the different duets, give the audience a sense of witnessing real flying, enforced by the beginning of the second piece of music, where the female dancers perform a series of contained, on-the-spot, slow-motion movements in contrast with the sharp, highly traveled organic phrases, turns and leaps performed around them by the male dancers. Those dynamic encounters lead to an extraordinarily even-executed pas de trois of the male figures on stage. Next, the duet gives the audience the delight of profound enjoyment of the long classical pirouettes and arabesques, mixed with twitches and sharp angular movements, often in surprising positions of the body and with unexpected body parts.
The stage is configured in an avant-garde minimalistic approach with not just one curtain at the back, but also black curtains on each side, delimiting a squared stage. A spotlight circles the tree as an ever present reminder of the sun, while providing an ever changing ambience with its shadows and lights. But only at the end of the last piece of musical movement does the audience become aware of these elements surrounding the dancers, which were always there, but somehow made invisible under the bright saturation of a masterful choreography.
The program grand finale arrives with the last and most celebrated piece of the night, the Houston Ballet premiere of West Side Story Suite by the world renowned ballet, theater, film and television choreographer Jerome Robbins. Premiered on Broadway in 1957 as a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story electrified audiences and went on to become an iconic musical. In 1995, it was re-staged by Mr. Robbins for New York City Ballet as a 30-minute suite of seven cherished selections, five of which include singing. The Houston Ballet's talented, classically trained dancers singing and acting places this piece in a different category and provides an unexpected surprise for the expectant audience.
The dancing component of West Side Story Suite was as full of energy, clean jazzy lines and soft lyrical executions as anyone would have expected, though some meaningful details distracted the attention and reminded the audience they were witnessing ballet dancers singing and acting, not musical theater performers. While performing as Riff, the leader of the Jets, demi-soloist Rhodes Elliott’s microphone was on when he was trying to catch his breath before starting his singing, and at the beginning of his song, the microphone’s volume had to be turned up as his voice was too soft and low to be heard over the music. But once the volume was right, his singing was spot-on.
The dancers transitioned elegantly from the dancing to the acting segments, showcasing their ability to really perform in a natural “real people” pedestrian way, individually or as a well-rehearsed ensemble, as brilliantly demonstrated by principal dancer Connor Walsh as Tony and demi-soloist Brian Waldrep as Bernardo. Principal dancer Melody Mennite, who harks from a musical family, shined as a highly energetic, well voice-trained and clean technical dancer in the part of Anita, although she fell short of portraying her as a more sensual and strong-willed Puerto Rican woman. Likewise, Kaleigh Courts as Maria presented the audience with a facially unexpressive teenager in full control of her dancing technique and soft movements.
Throughout the Suite and especially during the key iconic last moments of “Somewhere,” the audience interacted with the characters and sounds of “ah!”, “oh!” and giggles were heard in the theatre, making evident the closeness, familiarity and enjoyment the performers of Houston Ballet shared with the audience.
The opening night of the thrilling Houston Ballet Winter Mixed Repertory Program ended with the standing ovation of an audience who was kept inspired for more than two hours, and the clear sense of satisfaction filled the air.
Performances continue through March 20. For more information visit https://www.houstonballet.org/
