BalletX, the dynamite ensemble of versatile dancers from Philadelphia, ushered in the beginning of the Palm Beach dance season by launching the popular Friday Modern Dance Series at the Duncan Theatre at Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth on January 16.
Impressive in many ways, the small contemporary ballet company of 15 dancers blew in into South Florida and blew the audience away with their unstoppable energy and technical expertise.
For a ballet company, one could say that BalletX is a bit of a hodgepodge but in the most wonderful of ways. The dancers are of all different ethnicities with different body types and different training who have come together and created a strong sense of artistic unity. They are known for working collaboratively with their guest choreographers in the studio and the vibrant gender-bending works commissioned by the company are just as diverse as the dancers themselves and the three works presented on the program were jam-packed with skilled and athletic dancing.
Starting off the program with flair was a campy work choreographed by Australian dancer and choreographer Loughlan Prior, who is also known for his theater, film and multimedia projects. Prior, who is currently the choreographer in residence at the Royal New Zealand Ballet, created a dance work for BalletX that visits a little-known part of queer history, and he named it Macaroni. In the 18th century, calling someone a “macaroni” was a way of ridiculing an effeminate character.
The cast, consisting of eight dancers, were dressed in electric green stenciled unitards layered with purple coattail jackets that were topped off with a minimized version of the popular hairstyle of the time of structured side rolls of hair dyed the same bright electric green. Designed by Emma Kingsbury, the costumes set the tone of the work allowing to dancers to let it rip as they preened, pranced and gestured with floppy hands and at times flourished matching green ostrich feathers a way to distinguish themselves as a dandy.
Originally listed second in the program but performed first, Macaroni served as a fun introduction to 18th-century British queer-coding as well as the company’s energy and style. Eli Alford was memorable not only in his strong athletic solo but each time he made an entrance. At one exaggerated moment, Jonathan Montepara, another central character, arrived in a towering wig as phrases such as “absolutely marvelous,” “smashing” and “how peculiar” were heard and a fanfare of ostrich feathers framed him like a peacock’s tail. At a quiet moment in the work, Alford and Ben Schwarz gave a sensitive performance in their intimate duet depicting the more private side of the life of a macaroni.
Set to an original composition by Claire Cowan that blends contemporary beats with classical sounds, starting with a Latin version of a deconstructed “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” the upbeat score also includes AI-generated voices. Isolated in a downward spotlight, three characters stood and mouthed recorded polite phrases as they mimed sipping tea at a tea party. An operatic aria and electric guitar, blues and a tango melody were also included in the score, which morphed into the beat of high-energy club music by the ending.
The following work, Become a Mountain, was choreographed by Justin Peck, former dancer and now resident choreographer of the New York City Ballet, who has set numerous works on Miami City Ballet. Originally, it was created for the Juilliard School’s senior class of 2022 for its Juilliard Dance for New Dances program. In the choreographer’s note in the program, Peck wrote that the dance simulated the arc of a mountain climb, unfolding in three parts: “A climb to a summit, the emboldened feeling of reaching the peak and finally, the adrenaline rush of sliding down the other side.”
Even with this introduction, one would not have imagined that this was the inspiration for the work. The costumes by Benjamin Burton were somewhat bland everyday street clothes which were intentionally androgynous, with both the men and women wearing skirts as well as pants. Not exactly what one thinks of for a mountain climb.
The curtain opened to the bare bones of a stage. With no side drapes or backdrop and lighting fixtures, rigging and stands exposed, it was a vacant space. A single dancer began to fill the void. Wearing white sneakers that squeaked on contact on with the dance floor, Ashley Simpson moved through her phrases in her solo introspectively as if she was selecting the ones that worked for her. Simpson (who is originally from West Palm Beach and trained at Dreyfoos High School of the Arts and the School of Ballet Arts) was soon joined by the other 14 dancers, all wearing the same white squeaking sneakers, which added another dimension to Dan Deacon’s unusual electronic score, which was layered with lyrics and titled Become A Mountain Sites I-IV.
A standout was Ben Schwarz, dressed in a blue pleated skirt, whose beautiful and fulfilled movement quality caught my eye as did that of João Pedro Silva. Perhaps it was wearing sneakers that gave the ensemble’s dancing such a sense of buoyancy as they rushed in to fill the stage. In that aspect, they certainly captured that sense of euphoria and serenity that one feels after achieving the goal of climbing to the summit of a mountain.
Peck’s intricate yet accessible choreography was woven together with the electronic score’s evolving intensity as it crescendoed to the final image, where the now-stilled dancers’ arms pulsed to the fading score. It reminded me of that moment of how one’s heartbeat pounds as it recovers after a demanding athletic workout.
Closing the program was Big Wig, by the Irish choreographer Marguerite Donlon. The 26-minute work is a reflection on traditional Irish dance but is filled with the most unexpected visuals that were apparently pulled from a box of props that Donlon brought into the first day of rehearsal — according to the story shared by dancer Alford in the post-performance talk. He added that he quickly grabbed the tutu.
Donlon, who started her dancing by learning traditional Irish dance but moved on to study ballet and later contemporary dance, wanted to re-explore her Irish roots and together with the dancers of BalletX created Big Wig — a title that could be interpreted as a little derogatory. The predominant prop that all the dancers “wear” is the signature shoulder-length, curly wig that girls wear for Irish dancing competitions. There is a section towards the end of the dance where all 15 performers are onstage at the same time — frantically dancing — with their wigs first attached to different body parts like an unwanted appendage and then ripped off and flung in the air. This is undoubtedly a rather strange and humorous take on Donlon’s look back at her Irish heritage.
Big Wig is beautifully packaged with an amber-colored lighting design by Michael Korsch and minimal costumes by Silke Fischer of skin-toned trunks and bandeau tops with ivory sheer flowing shirts that glowed in the lights. The music is by Paul Calderone, a Canadian freelance dancer and composer working in Germany, that blends traditional Irish tunes with industrial techno beats. It all made for a satisfying background to the continuous returns of the bouncing red curls of the wigs. I am sure that these zany images will linger in my mind for a long time.
Also highlighted in Big Wig was the beautiful pointe work and lines of the women as well as the clean unison ensemble sections and the impressive partnering skills — whether it was male partnering male, female partnering female or male partnering female as demonstrated in the outstanding duets by Alford and Jerard Palazo, Lanie Jackson and Itzkan Barbosa, and Montepara and Minori Sakita. Additionally, there were the well-performed solos by Montepara and Skyler Lubin (a former Miami City Ballet dancer). The overall excellence of the performance was rounded out by fellow company members Savannah Green, Jared Kelly, Eileen Kim, Mathis Joubet and Peter Weil.
A short documentary film by BalletX’s resident filmmaker, Daniel Madoff, was shown before each of the three works presented, which was a successful way to draw the audience into the creative process of the works that they were about to see.
BalletX is quite remarkable in how well it survived the hardships that the COVID pandemic imposed on performing artists. During that time, the company stayed busy by redirected its artistic energy into making films about the process of creating the dances in their vast repertory. Impressively, the company not only survived but came out of this difficult time strong and vital, and ready to take on where they left off.
At the post-performance talk, I learned from Executive Director Christine Cox that the company, which is celebrating its 20th year, has commissioned 140 premieres by more than 80 choreographers from all over the world and the dancers have an impressive 52-week contract with an unheard of six weeks of paid vacation. This performance at the Duncan Theatre demonstrated in how many ways BalletX is impressive. It is undoubtedly a company that you want to keep coming back to see time and time again.