Houston Ballet.

Houston Ballet Wortham Theater Center, Houston, TX September 7-17, 2006

The grief that propelled Glen Tetley to create Voluntaries for John Cranko's Stuttgart Ballet just after Cranko's death remains palpable in Houston Ballet's production. Angst radiates from the dancers' torsos. They bow their chests and heads, then press forward, arching their heads back. Often ballet dancers fail to achieve the gravity required of modern-dance-like undulations, but HB's grounded themselves. Barbara Bears and Andrew Murphy captured sadness most deeply. Grief grew from Bears' innermost cavity, its escape causing her to unfold, then wrap across Murphy's longer frame.

In another cast, Sara Webb and Connor Walsh's speed tinted sadness with anger. Francis Poulenc's imposing organ chords assault the ear, and Webb's piercing legs and arms paralleled their force. Voluntaries does not only echo with sadness; it depicts a world pushing forward despite pain. As six men circle the stage with huge cabrioles, their flight resounds with hopeful power.

Though program notes suggested Hans Van Manen's Grosse Fuge as equalizing gender differences, Houston's dominant men overpowered the cast's women. Dressed in black, skirtlike pants, the men first slide across the stage ominously. As four women answer in movement, the frozen men still overpower the stage, a magnetic force that draws the women closer. At the ballet's midpoint, the men strip to biker shorts and thick black belts, repeatedly straddling the women, who clutch the belts and are dragged along the floor. Here the ballet moves from mysterious to confusing. When all the dancers commune on the floor, their unison rolling bodies finally suggest equality between the sexes. But the men's domination of the women throughout the rest of the ballet makes the shift to community too abrupt to be believable.

The clarity and sprightliness of Brigade, artistic director Stanton Welch's premiere, make it Gross Fuge's opposite. Welch highlights his dancers' classical technique, providing the pleasure of watching their long, lean legs slide into perfect fifth. While most of the work, especially a bouncy male solo perfect for the highflying Randy Herrera, takes a quick, happy tone, the most interesting choreography comes in the pas de deux called "Canzonetta" (a musical term that defines the light, airy song that accompanies this section). Romantic and slow, both casts--Barbara Bears and Ian Casady, and Mireille Hassenboehler and Sergio Torrado--float along, often traveling backward. The man ultimately pulls the woman into the familiar fish dive, exiting by walking backward. The reverse motion throughout marks the lovely pas de deux with a hint of sadness. The two are beautiful, yet always threatening to disappear.

Despite the complexity of "Canzonetta," Brigade grew wearying, not presenting anything new or innovative. It felt superficial, particularly as a program closer. Voluntaries showcased Houston's dancers as both artists and technicians; Brigade does only the latter. See www.houstonballet.org.