ASPEN BALLET COMPANY.ASPEN BALLET COMPANY WHEELER OPERA HOUSE ASPEN, COLORADO MARCH 16-18, 2000 After four respectable seasons, Aspen Ballet Company has lost the awkwardness of youth. This season, its technique is both solid and diverse and the company is performing with a new depth. Spring's mixed bill--Shapiro & Smith's Square Dance, Balanchine's Sonatine, the troupe's first Paul Taylor work, Aureole aureole, in physics aureole (ôr`ēōl'), in physics, luminous circle seen when the sun or other bright light is observed through a diffuse medium, i.e., smoke, thin cloud, fog, haze, or mist. , and Trey McIntyre's jazzy Like a Samba--posed interesting stylistic challenges. The witty Square Dance, all about weight transfers and the negotiation of partners (who gets that girl?), had the insouciant in·sou·ci·ant adj. Marked by blithe unconcern; nonchalant. [French : in-, not (from Old French; see in-1) + souciant, present participle of soucier, Marissa Mackel returning to stake her claim and holding the men in thrall. Sam Chittenden, always a pleasant dancer before, now makes an entirely different impression; he seems to burn from within in the intense duet with Dawn Kopf. All eyes followed this magnetic pair. Balanchine's Sonatine, staged by former New York City Ballet New York City Ballet, one of the foremost American dance companies of the 20th cent. It was founded by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine as the Ballet Society in 1946. dancer Zippora Karz, was Aspen's third ballet by Mr. B, and it is the first at which the company really succeeds. Careful attention to the ballet's technical demands showed in the performance. Sonatine fit the dancers as if tailored for them. The work also revealed Aspen Ballet's first true partnership: Seth DelGrasso and Brooke Klinger. Their musicality (the Ravel score was performed by pianist Debra Ayers), complementary beauty and chemistry approach magic. Taylor's Aureole presented still different challenges to the company, although they were seemingly at home with the swooping, spiraling torsos, curving arms, and repeated hops, leaps and sidles. Staged by former Paul Taylor Dance Company Paul Taylor Dance Company, is a contemporary dance company, formed by Paul Taylor, an American choreographers of the 20th century. One of the early touring companies of American modern dance, the Company has "performed in more than 500 cities in 62 countries"[1] member Rachel Berman, this work was memorable for the Chittenden-Katie Dehler duet, Gentiana Hose's charmer charm·er n. 1. One that charms, especially a disarmingly attractive person. 2. One who casts spells; an enchanter or magician. Noun 1. of a solo, and two witty sections with the effervescent ef·fer·vesce intr.v. ef·fer·vesced, ef·fer·vesc·ing, ef·fer·vesc·es 1. To emit small bubbles of gas, as a carbonated or fermenting liquid. 2. To escape from a liquid as bubbles; bubble up. 3. Patrick Thompson opposite a trio of women (Dehler, Hose and Ferrell Alexander). The closing work on the program, Trey McIntyre's Like a Samba, topped everything that had come before. The jazzy, sexy suite on pointe, set to a half-dozen Brazilian pop songs sung by Astrud Gilberto, opened in silhouette. Then one dancer after another churned out a brief, furious phrase of hip pops, shimmies, leaps and spins. Samba then progressed through light and dark, heat (a torrid duet from DelGrasso and Klinger) and cool, to arrive at the ultimate appearance of the elusive, desirable "Girl from Ipanema," Gilberto's hit tune. Kopf, partnered here by Chittenden and Thompson, wrung wrung v. Past tense and past participle of wring. wrung Verb the past of wring wrung wring every slinky slink·y adj. slink·i·er, slink·i·est 1. Stealthy, furtive, and sneaking. 2. Informal Graceful, sinuous, and sleek: wore a slinky outfit to the party. nuance from this beguiling combination; she has never looked better. Like a Samba revealed best this company's strengths: their expressiveness, their growing technical skill and stylistic panache, their huge sense of fun. There is a vein of great enjoyment that runs through everything they dance--and that is infectious. |
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