A ballet and tap mashup Texture Contemporary Ballet finds its ‘Unmeasured Rhythm’
The music coming from the rehearsal at Studio 19 Dance Complex in Adams was a mashup of Broadway, rock, disco and just about anything else under the sun. But that’s nothing new for Texture Contemporary Ballet, a company out to make ballet both current and relevant.
Now there was something else — tap sounds? At first they were heavy rhythms, the most relatable, perhaps, to ballet dancers who usually have little background in tap.
Yet there they were, 13 resident and guest dancers, all with tap shoes in place of their usual pointe shoes. It became apparent that this would not be a quick swipe at tap.
“Unmeasured Rhythm” opens Texture’s eighth season this week at the New Hazlett Theater on the North Side. The premieres include Annalee Traylor’s quirky “Sweet Rachmaninov” and “Grenada,” a Spanishflavored work co-choreographed by Kelsey Bartman and Alan Obuzor.
Mr. Obuzor’s first tap piece is “Gitchy Gitchy Ya Ya Tap Tap.” (Yes, “Lady Marmalade” is part of the mashup.) Ballet and tap don’t generally mix, but when they do, the results can be memorable, such as the stand-alone solo in Agnes de Mille’s “Rodeo” (1942).
Now MacArthur “genius grant” winner and tap choreographer Michelle Dorrance, who appeared here as part of the Pittsburgh Dance Council’s 2015-16 lineup, has been commissioned to do a premiere at New York City Ballet. NYCB choreographer Justin Peck, recently called “the ‘it’ boy of dance,” has been inserting tap into his videos, ballets and his current Broadwayhit, “Carousel.”
But a 30-minute strictly tap piece for ballet dancers? As it turns out, Mr. Obuzor has an extensive background in tap, which may account for his uncanny rhythmic acumen in ballet, both in solo work and partnering.
His tap journey began with Jacquelyn Harper at Larry Cervi’s studio in the North Hills. When he switched to Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in high school, Mr. Obuzor would shuffle over to the Civic Light Opera a couple of nights a week.
“I feel like tap has so many fun aspects,” he says.
Although his company can’t be considered tap dancers, he wanted to utilize technical tap along with the movement strengths he found there. He discovered the beginning of “GGYYTT” while poking around the internet, settling on a movie trailer featuring composing duo/
collective Two Steps From Hell (“Avengers,” “X-Men” and “The Help”). With a throbbing through line, it gave Mr. Obuzor what he wanted, something “big and epic and powerful.”
While exploring his considerable dance chops, he continues to surprise his audience. So “Unmeasured Rhythm” has comedic touches and a juicy section done a cappella, or without music. Perhaps in tribute to ballet, the dancers will occasionally pop up onto the tips of their tap shoes.
The choreographer slid chasses in among the paddle turns and uses classic time steps to punctuate some lyrical phrasing. Kelly Gallagher, an instructor at DancExplosion Arts Center and solo tap specialist for the number, notes that it “was always one of the dance forms where you don’t have to be super flexible.”
Resident dancer Madeline Kendall, who admits to taking tap for a couple of months when she was 4 or 5 years old, agrees — in a way. “You totally disregard everything you’ve been taught in ballet,” she jokes.
Maybe not everything. During one kick sequence, those high ballet extensions proved to be dangerous when one dancer smacked Ms. Bartman in the wrist. She left the rehearsal briefly and returned, her ever-present smile still on her face, although she was obviously nursing some pain.
After the tap rehearsal, Hannah Buggy and Allegra Golembiewski immediately put on their pointe shoes and rose to the tips, a seemingly more unnatural position than in tap shoes. How did it feel? “Actually better,” they said, laughing.