Competing choreographers make ballet audience the winner
One ticket, one evening, three world premieres, the excitement of a competition, and a chance for the audience to pick a favorite — all in all, a really good deal.
The Milwaukee Ballet put three premieres on stage at the Pabst Theater on Thursday evening, as part of the company’s international Genesis choreographic competition.
Thursday’s program (all of the weekend’s performances will present the pieces in a different order) opened with Scottish choreographer Kenneth Tindall’s “Beyond the Break,” an abstract work inspired by the idea of beach pebbles and the far-away rocks from which they were splintered.
Opening with dancers Josiah Cook, Randy Crespo, Christina Dennis, Garrett Glassman, Alana Griffith, Marie Harrison-Collins, Kristen Marshall and Barry Molina moving in a tight cluster, “Beyond the Break” sent the dancers out into the “world” of the stage on their own, creating constantly shifting smaller ensemble and solo moments. They brought physical and emotional power to the piece, moving as though they were creating and severing personal connections.
Spanish choreographer Aleix Mane’s “ExiliO” followed, with dancers Annia Hidalgo, Luis Mondragon, Timothy O’Donnell, Isaac Sharratt, Nicole Teague-Howell, Lahna Vanderbush, Jessica Lopes and Davit Hovhannisyan offering a stirring depiction of the thousands of Spanish families forced to leave their homeland following the 1939 Spanish Civil War.
Full of longing, yearning and separations, the piece was costumed in 1930s street clothes. Poignantly danced, it transcended its obvious era to evoke heartbreaking, current-day images of refugees and mass migrations.
The program closed with Australian choreographer Cass Mortimer Eipper’s abstract “Spur,” danced by Parker Brasser-Vos, Marize Fumero, Elizabeth Harrison, Itzel Hernandez, Patrick Howell, Erik Johnson, Lizzie Tripp and Ransom Wilkes-Davis.
Inspired by the idea of where we as humans have come from and where we’re going, the highly physical energetic work created angular, physical sculptures, full of connections and disconnections, in constant, surging motion. Dancers brought pathos and human connections to the piece.
Although just one choreographer will win, all three go home with some serious street cred of the competition and performances to add to their resumes.