Pinnacle Performing Arts Center, Denver, CO
October 19 2012
By Jane Elliot.
On a Friday night in Northern Denver, Dawson/Wallace Dance Project—formerly known as David Taylor Dance Theatre—presented an ambitious evening of world premieres to a small, yet enthusiastic, audience at the Pinnacle Performing Arts Center. The show opened its 2012/2013 season and showcased a new generation of the Colorado-based company.
With a history dating all the way back to 1979, the current iteration of the company is the vision of its two artistic directors, James Wallace and Gregory Dawson, and features a roster filled with fresh faces—a company of individuals hailing from all over the country. It’s never an easy feat to bring together dancers from different training and backgrounds and produce new work in a short amount of time, but DWDP seems to embrace such a challenge with enthusiasm.
The evening opened with the world premiere of Wallace’s Before/3, which featured the entire company. Wallace utilized a lot of large ensemble, unison movement, especially in the beginning and the end of the work. Unfortunately, these were times when the newness of the company was evident; the dancers were often out of sync and some looked uncomfortable in the sexy movement.
Yet, there were defining moments in which some of the dancers found their own niche, making the movement their own. With limbs of steal and long, Amazonian lines, Jordan Drew powered through a challenging solo of pirouettes and sustained développés. She was precise and had an air of ease in everything she did. But, overall, many of the elements felt disconnected, like the suggestive costumes that included various removable skirts, the music, and a light exuding from off stage right which drew the dancers towards it. How all of the elements were connected was unclear.
A collection of more intimate works followed. Dawson had two ballets in this section of the program: Somewhere There is Light and Brahms Affectuoso. The first, another world premiere, was a solo for company dancer Alexandria Diaz DeFato. The piece highlighted DeFato’s strengths and command for the stage. But Dawson’s choreographic voice proved to be much fiercer when working with a couple. Brahms Affectuoso, a pas de duex for Jessica Wagner and Babatunji Johnson that premiered originally in 2007, was the strongest piece of the evening and, upon its conclusion, drew the most audible cries of approval from the audience.Wagner was like a sylph, mythical and lithe in her every gesture and movement, and Babatunji was there to support her every move. There were no great pyrotechnics or fireworks within the choreography, but that’s partly what made it work so well—the pure beauty of a man supporting a ballerina in a piqué arabesque. It was quiet elegance.
Next was another ballet by Wallace, Concerto Armonico. This quartet for four ladies was a draw back to neo-classicalism with a Balanchine-esque aesthetic and Baroque music (Vivaldi). Performed by Natalie Kitka, Jennifer Kuhn, Jennifer Aiken, and Colleen Saltys, it was an ornamental piece that rounded out the middle section of the program effectively.
The evening closed with the world premiere of Dawson’s A Deeper Love, which was considerably similar to Below/3. Alton San Giovanni’s music had an electronic vibe with a strong beat, giving the impression of dancers raving at a nightclub. The dancers were scantly clad in costumes of black mesh, bra tops, and edgy tights, splashed with hints of vibrant colors and dressed up every so often with flirty skirts. They moved through the space with pelvises thrust forward and brows lowered as they cast haughty gazes out to the audience.
It seems that both Dawson and Wallace show the greatest choreographic potential when they use less in their work: less theatrics, simpler costumes, less complexity. The company is perhaps on the cusp of new and exciting endeavors. Denver is lucky to have such a vast dance community and it will be interesting to see how DWDP continues to make its mark within that community.
Photo: Jennifer Begley of Dawson/Wallace Dance Project. Photo by Peter Strand.
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