Watching dance is my passion, but watching dance emerge from the pandemic is a privilege. There has been an explosion of live performances, which created a traffic jam of sorts. So, although it’s somewhat late, I will be writing about them, beginning today.
I first immersed myself at Point Park University’s Contemporary Choreographers program. Like taking a plunge into an unfamiliar mountain pool, I approached it with a combination of excitement and trepidation.
It turned out to be a matter of trust, since Point Park checked proof of vaccination, along with photo identification. Everyone wore masks. Those thoughts eased my mind as I was sandwiched in between two students at the George Rowland White Performance Center (GRWPC).
It was hard to know who was more enthusiastic — the performers who were able to dance without masks or the audience watching them (100% with masks). Suffice it to say that there were four standing ovations, a well-deserved response to the quartet of works riddled with passion.
Each had its own strengths. Jessica’s Lang’s “A Solo in Nine Parts” was laced with a playful quality, the perfect opener for this program. Lang is best known as a ballet choreographer, but seemed to be inspired by Paul Taylor here, perhaps his “Esplanade.” The spinning, the runs in curvilinear patterns, surprising twists and turns as the dancers were shuffled, then unshuffled like a deck of cards, yet never losing its balletic overlay. Certainly one of Point Park’s best ballets over the years.
Al Blackstone, too, “played” with perception in “Margot.” In a series of scenarios, we wondered over the weight of a garbage container and exactly what was in it. He parlayed that into a string of ideas, parlaying it into an environmental theme, with garbage scattered around the stage. “Margot” revealed Blackstone to be a choreographer with a never-ending cavalcade of images that keep the viewer intrigued, although some judicious editing would sharpen the focus.
Teena Marie Custer capitalized on the street sense of her student cast in “Nightshades,” highlighting their own improvisational skills for a power-driven result. So the new moves came fast and furious, enhanced by a hula hoop and a whistle, with the cast heavily invested in the moment. One of Point Park’s signature finales.
However, Norbert de la Cruz III turned out to be the surprise of the evening. “Reintegrate,” while reminiscent of current choreographic darling Crystal Pite for its morphing, bird-like formations, had its own emotional voice, filled, as it was, with a liquid love in the pop-up relationships. And he did it with enormous sophistication in a highly complex work with 17 dancers and 6 ever-moving benches. Cruz is definitely an emerging choreographer to watch. But which trend-setting company will be the first to snap him up?
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