Francis Patrelle stayed true to his mission with this program for Dances Patrelle at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College over the weekend. That mission, published prominently in the Kayebill program, included to realize the interdisciplinary relationship between dance, music, and drama and to promote the relationship through dance and to provide maturing dancers the opportunity to expand their art through new choreographic works. But as far as living up to the branding tag line of Reinventing Dramatic Dance - not exactly the case.
Murder at the Masque, with choreography by Patrelle to an original score by Patrick Soluri with impressive sets by Gillian Bradshaw-Smith was more than delightful with good dramatic dance performances by Matthew Dibble and Alex Brady. In a dance world that is constantly seeking its next 16 year old to promote as the must-see-of-the-century, both of these dancers were a tribute to the value of spending a couple of decades stockpiling experiences that enabled them to make the most of this dance drama.
Haglund's only gripe: the Edgar Allen Poe-inspired story line was a bit thin and could have benefited from the murder occurring earlier in the evening. The musical score was well integrated into the drama and choreography. Soluri provided lovely, hummable melodies to dance to and appropriate discordant moments for the drama. Patrelle's choreography for Dibble exhibited the dancer's strong yet pure style of movement. The choreography for the masses was at times a bit of a challenge for some of the ladies.
The second half of the evening was Come Rain / Come Shine which depicted three couples in sparring pas de deux to a selection of Judy Garland tunes. It premiered in 1986 at The Riverside Church Dance Festival. Haglund's friend finely articulated the problem with this piece. She observed that Judy Garland's singing success, like Frank Sinatra's and others, was the result of delivering the same formula over and over again. It's great in small and even medium doses, but a big dose becomes a bit tiring. And so it went with the choreography. Patrelle fell into a formula that perfectly matched the music, but also became a bit tiring after a half hour.
That said, Haglund now wishes to rave endlessly about his beloved American Ballet Theatre guest dancers who spectacularly embraced this opportunity and each other.
First of all, the responsibility for the staging was left to Cynthia Gregory, who was pictured in the Kayebill performing the piece with Donald Williams in 1989. Whenever and wherever there is an opportunity to have Cynthia Gregory hovering over Kristi Boone in a rehearsal studio, it's a good thing. Hopefully during rehearsal breaks, they huddled together in a corner where Cynthia imparted wisdom and detail with regard to differentiating between Odette and Odile. Was there ever a black swan with more hiss and spit than Cynthia Gregory? Never. And one of the few things that keeps old Haglund in this world is the desire to see Kristi Boone debut in Swan Lake.
Kristi with Isaac Stappas, Maria Riccetto, Marcelo Gomes, Roman Zhurbin, and Gemma Bond delivered high entertainment, uninhibited sex appeal, and super dancing with each Judy Garland song. Imagine Haglund's shock when Maria - the fragile, wholesome, delicate, newly-minted Giselle - came flaunting down the aisle with a sense of bump-and-grind with Marcelo in hot pursuit. Needless to say, she was in complete control of this relationship and won every argument - hands down. No contest.
One of Haglund's favorite dancers is Roman Zhurbin. Whether he is picking up Giselle on his shoulder at the festival or juggling a coconut in Petrushka or kneeling as a bereaved parent in Dark Elegies, he transports you into the moment, the era, the world on the stage. It was a delight to see him rise to the challenge of some not undifficult technical passages. Clearly, he is working very hard these days with impressive results.
Gemma Bond has pretty much stayed under Haglund's radar since she arrived. She stepped out for some fine dancing last year in Benjamin Millepied's Danses Concertantes at The Joyce Theater. Last night she scored high in all departments, particulary in her rapport with Roman. Very, very likable.
Marcelo and Isaac drove the drama in this piece - each with seemingly limitless dramatic gifts and intuitive abilities to up the ante and challenge the other players to bring more to the table. Both are masters at creating confrontation, so it was a no-brainer for Francis to invite them to be in this revival. Bravo to both.
Haglund had some difficulty coming up with the appropriate Pump Bump Award for this performance, but he thinks this Ferragamo 1938 creation for Judy Garland says it all:
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