Tulsa Ballet rode into Gotham City last night and sunk its formidable spurs into a meaty program that was both delicious and nutritious. A gutsy, handsome company just shy of thirty dancers, Tulsa Ballet opened its run at the Joyce Theater in Chelsea with a strong showing of Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations, then proceeded forward through a stunning performance of Nacho Duato’s Por Vos Muero, and closed with an inventive dance theater piece by Young Soon Hue called This Is Your Life. We see a lot of MacMillan in these here parts, but Haglund can’t recall Elite Syncopations ever showing up around town. It’s a festive piece to the rag time music of Scott Joplin and others. Set in a dance hall atmosphere, there is little scenery - a half circle of chairs for the dancers to sit on as the audience for others who are performing - but the costumes are wonderfully ostentatious with the dancers’ bodies vibrantly adorned with artwork and sew-ons. Based on the costumes alone, Elite Syncopations is sure to become Chelsea’s new official dance anthem. MacMillan choreographed Elite Syncopations during the same year that he created Manon. The pas de deuxs in Elite Syncopations display the genius MacMillan lexicon and imaginative partnering that are part of Manon, Romeo and Juliet, Mayerling, etc., but the morphemic details of the choreography create a tone and perception that is 180 degrees from MacMillan’s better known tragedies. Tulsa Ballet dancers dazzled their ways through ten rags with charm and pizzazz. Karina Gonzalez and Alfonso Martin were sensational in the Bethena Waltz as were Ashley Blade-Martin and Ma Cong in The Golden Hours. But the theater animal in the group was Mugan Kazama. Costumed in an orange color that only appears in Chelsea on Halloween, Kazama razzle-dazzled his way from one end of the stage to the other with consummate technique and charm. Nacho Duato’s Por Vos Muero was the highlight of the evening with its glorious Spanish music from the XV and XVI centuries and unattributed poetry. The Playbill did not include a translation of the poetry which was unfortunate, but the reader’s voice conveyed the smoky, earthy, spiritual tone of the choreography. Like MacMillan, Duato is a choreographic genius with a unique and strong voice and a commitment to dance as theater. One doesn’t always understand what Duato is trying to convey, but that doesn’t prevent one from hanging on for dear life to every curve, sweep, start and stop that he employs to bring the audience into his world. He transports you, but you don’t always know to where. All of the dancers performed Por Vos Muero like it was in their DNA. Again, superb theatrical outputs by Ma Cong, Alfonso Martin, Mugen Kazama, and Wang Yi. But the eyes were continually drawn to Serena Chu who seemed to embody the spirit of the piece. There was a strength and a sadness to her spirituality that seemed so real life, so old soul, so beautiful. The final element of the program was Young Soon Hue’s This Is Your Life, based loosely on the popular TV program from the 1950‘s - 1960’s with a concoction of music from Astor Piazzolla to Henry Mancini. What a trip. Maybe the choreography was more Broadway-inspired than expected, but the whole package was delightful. The piece began with the dancers seated in a row of chairs downstage facing the audience as though in a TV studio. The master of ceremonies, the TV show’s Ralph Edwards, was Joshua Trader who went down the line interviewing each guest about his or her particular life’s tragedy. Ma Cong dramatically described in Chinese that needed no translation how his heart had been set on being an actor but his family had forced him to become a businessman. Obviously, his resentment had been building up throughout his life until it culminated in an explosion of extraordinary dancing with a number of other equally unfulfilled Businessmen and again in a driving Chair Dance where the men stripped off their business suits and put on the women’s black petticoats. Ricardo Graziano, in orange wig with hairclips and ponytail, was a struggling gay hairdresser who used his moment in Joshua Trader’s spotlight to hilariously pitch his beauty salon’s services, including bikini waxing, to the audience. His Beauty Salon dance with Ashley Blade-Martin, Hanae Seki and Serena Chu recalled the hairstyles, makeup, wardrobe, and mannerisms of the 1950’s-60's with acute detail that was embarrassing to those of us who actually lived those years. Throughout the evening the Tulsa dancers committed to their characters wholeheartedly and danced up a storm that left dust in the teeth of many other companies that visit these here parts with contemporary ballet programs. Articulate feet, strong batterie, lovely unaffected port de bras, courageous jumps, engaging and individualistic – Tulsa Ballet is a delight and makes one reconsider what Tulsa, the city, might have to offer. The company is in season at the Joyce through Saturday, August 15th. Haglund awards this dazzling rhinestoned Pump Bump for Tulsa Ballet's fine opening night performance: Copyright © 2009
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