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REVIEW: Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
Published: 4/16/2009 10:24 PM
Last Modified: 4/16/2009 10:24 PM

If the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet had come to town and performed only “Red Sweet” by Jorma Elo, the show would have been worth the price of admission.

This was the second of three works the company – which spends more of the year on the road than in either of its titular home cities – presented during its two performance Tuesday and Wednesday at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, courtesy of Choregus Productions.

Elo, the resident choreographer for Boston Ballet, has become one of the most sought-after choreographers working today, whose style melds the rigor and precision of classical dance with the fluid grace and startling juxtapositions of contemporary dance, performed with a kind of controlled abandon.

“Red Sweet,” set to Baroque music by Vivaldi and Biber, was enthralling from start to finish. What struck one most about Elo’s choreography is that he uses stillness as artfully as he does movement – the pauses pack as much of an impact as any of the athletic, unconventional steps or the intricately demanding partnering.

And through it all was a very strong sense of playfulness – small visual jokes that popped like little firecrackers now and then that kept your jaw from sagging in amazement for too long.

The dancers of the ASFB company gave an exceptional performance of this work. It was a piece created for them, and they danced it with a unique pride of ownership and a full-out enthusiasm that was thrilling to watch.

The evening closed with another work created for the company, Moses Pendleton’s “Noir Blanc.” Pendleton was one of the founders of Pilobolus and created the group MOMIX – two ensembles that create what might be better termed three-dimensional visual art out of the medium of dance.

“Noir Blanc” certainly fit that description. Dancers in full-body black and white outfits illuminated by black lights formed a series of vaguely human figures engaging in all sorts of impossible activities – leaning at unreal angles, levitating off the ground – as images of moons and planets were projected around and behind them and New Agey music pulsed through the sound system.

It is an impressive thing to see, at least for the first five minutes or so – which is about how long it takes to suss out how the illusions are created. The problem with “Noir Blanc” is that the skill and physical control and dexterity required to present it go nowhere, only repeat with subtle variations until it almost becomes tiring, even passé, by the time the end rolls around.

Still, it was greatly enjoyed by the crowd in the Williams Theater (which, we were very pleased to see, was about three-quarters full), who gave it the most vigorous ovation of the evening.

The opening piece was Twyla Tharp’s “Sweet Fields,” which uses Shaker hymns and other a cappella religious songs as its score. Everything we’ve seen of Tharp has been impressively athletic, imaginative constructed, yet emotionally distant.

There are moments in this work where one can imagine that last characteristic not applying: the opening ensembles, for example, when a group of five men or five women suddenly become quartets, as if one of their number is literally “called away.” This culminates in a sequence in which four men carry the stiff form of a fifth over their head, and in their slow progression across the stage, each man takes his turn as the “corpse” in this stylized funeral, with the last one being tossed and spun like a two-by-four.

But after that, “Sweet Fields” seemed to lose its focus, as did the dancers, who at times seemed to be dancing not so much with the music as reasonably close to it. Maybe that was Tharp’s point – by having the dancers slightly out of sync with the music, it’s her way of sending up the idea of faith, that any religious belief is out of sync with life as she sees it. In any case, “Sweet Fields” left you cold.





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ARTS

James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

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