Choreography: Tiler Peck, Alonzo King, Michelle Dorrance, Jillian Myers and William Forsythe
New York City ballet star Tiler Peck doesn’t put a foot wrong in this short but incredible compilation of contemporary ballet and fusion dance, starring one of the most insanely talented ensembles anywhere in the world. From start to finish, it is a beautifully enthralling tribute to dance, dancers, and the power of movement.
Featuring two short and two longer pieces, the show runs the gamut from traditional ballet to tap to modern, hip-hop and everything in-between. Opening piece Thousandth Orange sets an almost art installation to Caroline Shaw’s music, adeptly performed by Shu-Wei Tseng, Sophia Prodanova, Max Mandel and Adrian Bradbury, as three sets of couples move in and out of one another’s orbits in dazzling displays. Next, Swift Arrow pits Peck against Roman Mejia, a man made near entirely of muscle, in a brief sequence depicting ‘the soul’s desire to merge into oneness’.
Following this is the entrancing and evening-highlight Time Spell, which brings together three female choreographers (Peck, Michelle Dorrance and Jillian Myers) in a spellbindingly hypnotic and joyful expression of tap, modern and ballet. Mixed with live looping and sound from Aaron Marcellus Sanders and Penelope Wendlat, it becomes a celebration of all art forms, with Dorrance’s tap finesse stealing the show. The dancers become percussive instruments, their tap forming the basis for other dance styles, and these styles blend together, ballet becoming tap becoming hip-hop becoming a tribute to the sheer power of beautiful bodies moving fluidly and with masterful ease. Finally, lockdown-choreographed The Barre Project, Blake Works II makes use of the barre as a pinpoint of movement, the dancers responding to it and each other.
Of course Peck is a star, an immensely talented dancer whose elegance, passion and perfection is evident, but the ensemble she has gathered around her match her step for step: Jovani Furlan, Christopher Grant, Lauren Lovette, Mira Nadon, Quinn Starner, KJ Takahashi, Roman Mejia, Lex Ishimoto and Byron Tittle each excel, both achieving perfection in a wide range of styles and moves but also looking as if they’re thoroughly enjoying themselves.
The pacing could be better: the decision to have the interval after Time Spell reduces the impact of Blake Works II as the magic has been broken; the bows go on a tad too long; a moment for hand choreography on film leaves the audience not knowing how to respond. But these are nitpicks. There is not a more beautiful, more moving, more excellently executed demonstration of the power of dance and collaboration on the stage today. Each aspect is perfect, from choreography to performance. Pure joy and talent; an hour and 40 minutes that could change a life.
Runs until 11 March 2023
