Miami City Ballet dancers in Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room. (Photo by Gene Schiavone)
By Tara Mitton Catao
This past weekend, Miami City Ballet closed its second program of the 30th anniversary season with well-attended performances at the Kravis Center. The strong and varied program was nicely balanced, flowing smoothly from one work to the next as well as highlighting some new faces in the company. Saturday evening’s show unequivocally pleased its large audience.
La Source, a masterwork in Balanchine’s “pink ballet” genre, beautifully started off Program Two. It was followed by the company premiere of Barber Violin Concerto, a smaller work for four dancers choreographed in 1988 by Peter Martins, artistic director of New York City Ballet. The final work on the program was In the Upper Room, a rousing 39-minute work choreographed in 1986 by postmodern choreographer Twyla Tharp and set to an exhilaratingly driving score by American composer Philip Glass.
It was newcomer Simone Messmer (at right) who stole the show for me. Messmer, who recently joined MCB as principal dancer after dancing with American Ballet Theatre and San Francisco Ballet, was cast as the female ballet dancer in Martin’s Barber Violin Concerto, the centerpiece of the program. The work is composed of a ballet couple and a modern dance couple that first dance together and then exchange partners in four duets.
In the first one, which introduced the classical couple, the beautiful pairing of the exquisite Messmer with the handsome Ranier Krenstetter (another recent addition as principal dancer to the company) was quite breathtaking. The couple dressed in white epitomized ballet’s elegance and refinement in every way but they also gave it something more — a tangible sense of artistry. Messmer was beyond fluid and Krenstetter was the perfect partner.
The always engaging Nathalia Arja and Chase Swatosh, who has a natural affinity for contemporary movement, were the barefoot, modern dance couple. But it was the third duet with Messmer and Swatosh that really stood out. Though it was a little predictable choreographically, it was still totally absorbing as the lovely Messmer and the bare-chested Swatosh crossed the divide between their worlds in their sensual duet that culminated in Messmer letting her hair down — both figuratively and literally.
Martins used Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, which is a truly beautiful piece of music. The solo violin part was expertly played by Mei Mei Luo, and again I was reminded how fortunate it is to see these choreographic works performed to the music of an orchestra playing live.
Nathalia Arja and Rainer Krenstetter in Barber Violin Concerto. (Photo by Gene Schiavone)
La Source is considered Balanchine’s quintessential “pink ballet” and on Saturday night, it was a smart and beautifully danced curtain-opener. Balanchine used music from two of French composer Léo Delibes’ ballets, Naila and Sylvia. Renowned for his compositions for the dance, particularly Coppélia, Delibes’ music inspires the creation of movement. The Opus One Orchestra, under conductor Gary Sheldon, was once again in fine form.
In her debut as the lead ballerina, the strong and capable Tricia Albertson took on the demanding role with confidence. Though not particularly engaging in her musicality, her fluid port de bras and strong stage demeanor gave her performance the weight the role needed. As in many of Balanchine’s dances, the lead ballerina is highly featured together with her all female corps de ballet but in La Source, Albertson had several solo variations as well as two pas de deux to dance — quite a tour de force.
Renato Penteado was her able partner. With a very nice, natural stage presence, Penteado danced with a sense of ease that permeated his movement while his jumps just soared.
Tricia Albertson and Renato Penteado in George Balanchine’s La Source. (Photo by Gene Schiavone)
Corps de ballet member Ellen Grocki was enchanting in her soloist role debut with her high-spirited energy, quick front attitude prances and backward bourrées as she led the ensemble of eight women dressed in dark pink tutus.
Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room was a fast and furious dance from beginning to end. The continual layering of theme repetitions was integrated into the movement as well as into the music, the lights and the costumes. Coincidentally (or perhaps completely on purpose), this work also partnered classical dancers with modern dancers (this time in dance sneakers).
Fashion designer Norma Kamali’s fabulous color sense in her choice of black-and-white jail stripes with bold tomato red accents made the costumes a memorable addition to the work. In style magazines, a favorite feature is how to expand your wardrobe with a set of basic pieces that you rework creatively. With each entrance, the dancers‘ costumes changed or evolved. One couldn’t wait to see the next twist of fashion.
Miami City Ballet dancers in Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room. (Photo by Gene Schiavone)
I loved the pleated skirt dresses with the bright red pointe shoes and ankle socks worn by Nathalia Arja and Mayumi Enokibara (a new face and another Brazilian with lots of talent that has just joined the corps de ballet). These two petite spitfires were delightful to watch as they zipped around in the almost chaotic pace of the work. Also thoroughly enjoyable to watch throughout the work was the energized but mellow trio of Renan Cerdeiro, Shimon Ito and Kleber Rebello.
I first saw this work in the late 1980s and after seeing it again — though it had a defined ’80s flavor — it still very much worked. In the Upper Room made an enormous impact on me when I saw it performed sitting way up in the back of the balcony of the huge Civic Opera House in Chicago. I remember everything about it so naturally, I was eagerly anticipating seeing it again.
I especially loved the amazing lighting and theatrical effects of the dancers miraculously appearing and disappearing into the black backdrop. The famed lighting designer Jennifer Tipton had outdone herself. With a narrow band of dry ice smoke upstage in front of a slit backdrop, the illusion was sheer magic. But not so at the Kravis.
There was a general, gray haze of smoke over the whole stage that muted the vibrancy of color and diminished the mystery of the upstage. However the dancers were clearly having a blast, exerting an enormous amount of energy and demonstrating a lot of stamina and enthusiasm. Though not particularly clean or authentically Tharp-y in the loose quality of their trademark pelvis-initiated movements, the dancers deserved their enthusiastic standing ovation from the audience.
It is interesting to note that when Barber Violin Concerto was created in 1988, two dancers from the Paul Taylor Dance Company performed the roles of the modern dance couple in the New York City Ballet performances and that when I saw American Ballet Theatre perform In the Upper Room in Chicago in 1989, the roles of the modern dancers (a.k.a. the stompers) in In the Upper Room were performed by dancers from Tharp’s own company.
It was an era when ballet dancers and modern dancers were just starting to mix and cross the line drawn between them which really hadn’t happen before. In fact, at just about that same time, Twyla Tharp Dance actually merged with American Ballet Theatre.