South Florida Classical Review

1. A stunningly original choreographic collage and a tribute to one of America’s greatest dance creators formed the nucleus of “American Choreographic Odyssey,” which opened a three-performance run on Friday night at the New World Center.

A joint production of the New World Symphony and Miami City Ballet, the program debuted “Choreographic Concerto,” a series of five short new ballets commissioned from five composers and choreographers.

Structured like an instrumental concerto with alternating fast and slow sections, the series. of dance premieres worked surprisingly well as an entity. “Iris” by composer Sarah Kirkland Snider opened the evening. The warmth and beauty of Snider’s sumptuous textures were matched by choreographer Claudia Schreier’s movements. Set for six dancers, Schreier gave the male dancers boldly athletic leaps while the women’s pointe work and partnering gave a nod to romantic ballet.

“Hollywood Version to Polymnia” by Michael Abels seemed almost minimalist in its intense rhythmic repetition and alliteration. The composer’s background in cinema composition came through in a sweeping theme that could have accompanied a western or adventure film.  Pam Tanowitz’s high energy dance moves were an appropriate visual embodiment of Abels’ music and were brilliantly performed by  seven Miami City Ballet dancers.

“Could we be Quiet” is a dance setting of Kevin Puts’ “Rosalie.” The finest new score of the evening, Puts’ lyrical rumination opens with a haunting English horn solo. Puts’ gorgeous, lyrical orchestral writing is richly textured. Choreographer Brian Brooks has conceived a sensual pas de deux that is more modernist than the other works on the program but perfectly embodies the beauty of Puts’ discourse. Macarena Jiménez and Chase Swatosh were a terrific duo, bringing the piece’s romantic impulse to vivid life. Stéphane Denève captured the tenderness of Puts’ inspired vignette, leading the New World fellows in a finely contoured reading.

“Lamentations” by Carlos Simon is music of mourning and sorrow, carried by a striking principal subject. Jamar Roberts’ movements for four male dancers were often slow and halting, reflecting grief. Sometimes bent over and falling to the floor, the dancers rose again as if struggling for a better ray of hope. Satoki Habuchi, Steven Loch, Jordan Martinez and Alexander Peters were remarkable, executing Roberts’ difficult dance configurations with skill and accuracy.

The dance concerto concluded with “Dance Measures” by Jennifer Higdon; one of America’s most performed contemporary composers. Replete with clipped phrases, rhythmic impetus and varied instrumental colors, Higdon’s piece is an orchestral tour de force in itself. Tiler Peck’s swift, dynamic motions brilliantly displayed the eight dancers at their best and are a perfect visualization of Higdon’s high voltage music.

Throughout all five works, Denève’s pacing was immaculate and well coordinated with the dancers. Stage and orchestra pit were totally en sync, buttressed by fine instrumental articulation.

The program’s second half was a tribute to Jerome Robbins. One of America’s greatest and most original choreographers, Robbins traversed the worlds of classical ballet and the Broadway stage. He was equally at home setting dance to Bach and Chopin or Jule Styne and Richard Rodgers.

The music of Morton Gould bookended the Robbins tribute. One of the great arrangers in the heyday of radio, Gould’s compositional voice veered from atonality to the populism of Copland and Bernstein. While not a composer of their stature, Gould’s scores were always skillfully crafted and highly listenable. “Free Play” from the ballet Interplay featured eight dancers from the St. Louis Ballet in both exhibitionistic and elegant mode to Gould’s jazzy musical backdrop.

Robbins’ music theater side was represented by excerpts from his West Side Story Suite (based on his choreography for that ground-breaking musical) and Gypsy. Brian Letendre did stylish vocal honors on “Something’s Coming” from the Bernstein classic and “All I Need Now is a Girl”  from Styne’s score for Gypsy. Harrison Coll (a member of New York City Ballet) radiated visceral excitement in a solo turn and the danger of coming gang violence was potently vivid in the ensemble’s footwork as the Jets and the Sharks. Letendre’s soft-shoe routine in the number from Gypsy was climaxed by the high-kicking verve of Zoe Middleton (of St. Louis Ballet).

A reluctant pas de deux between a sailor and a girl from Fancy Free, Robbins’ first big balletic hit, benefited from the sexy interplay of Jacquelyn Long and Connor Walsh (from the Houston Ballet) and the wail of authenticity in Bernstein’s bluesy excerpt. That same idiomatic fluency was evident in Denève and the ensemble’s iteration of Robert Prince’s writing for “Passage for Two” from NY Export – Opus Jazz, which was  played live to a film of New York City Ballet members Rachel Rutherford and Craig Hall dancing near a river with a cityscape in the distance. The introspective quality of Robbins’ creation was fully captured.

A film of Fred Astaire and partner formed the backdrop as three couples replicated their movements in the finale from I’m Old Fashioned – The Astaire Variations. Following a film of Robbins rehearsing dancers and explaining his working aesthetic, the program concluded with “Charleston” from the 1946 musical Billion Dollar Baby to a hot jazz romp by Gould. Depression era cops, flappers, gangsters and police filled the stage in a riotously colorful and virile production number. Staging by Robert LaFosse kept the pace lively.

For an encore of the final section, Denève joined the dancers onstage, attempting to equal their high-stepping verve before waving goodbye to the enthusiastic audience.

The program was dedicated to the memory of Joshua Robison, longtime manager and life partner of New World artistic director laureate Michael Tilson Thomas. Robison passed away earlier this year. A video of him with MTT and luminaries through the decades was presented.

New World Symphony and Miami City Ballet repeat American Choreographic Odyssey  8 p.m. Saturdayand 2 p.m. Sunday at the New World Center in Miami Beach.   nws.edu

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