This story was originally published by ArtsATL.
Asked for his personal “know before you go” advice regarding Atlanta Ballet’s 2024-25 season opener, “Fall Into Rhythm,” artistic director Gennadi Nedvigin suggested audiences set aside expectations about the three works on the bill based on their order in the program.
“Each of these dances should be accorded the same weight, and I hope the audience will be equally open to how each of them showcases the choreographer’s talent and the dancers’ strengths,” he said. Putting together a mixed bill that includes the premiere of a new work, he added — in this case, “Harmony of Opposite Tensions” by Pacific Northwest Ballet Associate Artistic Director Kiyon C. Ross — can be tricky.
Ross is a well-known neoclassical choreographer, and Atlanta Ballet already has one of his works, ”Sum Stravinsky” (2012), in its repertoire. For this commission, however, Ross said that he used his three weeks with the dancers in studio to try out a completely new — for him — choreographic process that pushed him into new artistic terrain.
ArtsATL saw opening night and the Saturday matinee performances of “Fall Into Rhythm” at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. For audiences as well as dancers, a world premiere is a special event. When that event also includes being present for a distinctive moment in a choreographer’s artistic trajectory, the experience is particularly significant. Ross, the Atlanta Ballet dancers and “Harmony of Opposite Tensions” did not disappoint.
Credit: Shoccara Marcus
Credit: Shoccara Marcus
“Over the years, I have developed a process for the fast turnaround often required when working on commissions, where I might have just two weeks with the dancers,” said Ross. That process involved developing most of the movement in advance, with his own body as the template, and then setting it on the dancers in accordance with what Ross likened to an “outline” structure he had in mind for the piece.
“This time,” he said, “I came in with nothing. I created the whole thing in real time with the dancers. It was terrifying and thrilling and encouraged me to go to spaces where I hadn’t been before.”
Nedvigin views a mixed bill as an opportunity to introduce audiences to something new while also giving everyone at least one work they will enjoy. “When I talk to people about which dance they like best on a particular program,” he explained, “it’s rare to have one come out clearly on top. Atlanta Ballet has a diverse audience with diverse tastes.” His idea for “Fall Into Rhythm” was to offer three examples of choreographers taking something old — art, music, fashion — and remaking it through contemporary dance.
That approach — and pairing “Harmony of Opposite Tensions” with ”Tu Tu” (2003) by Stanton Welch, currently artistic director at Houston Ballet, and ”Elemental Brubeck” (2005), by famed multidisciplinary choreographer Lar Lubovitch — most likely left Ross freer to take a new direction. It also meant he was working with a strong company already living with two distinctive movement styles active in their bodies, creating fertile ground for experimentation.
“Kiyon said he wanted to explore more emotional depth, and he kept himself vulnerable to explore that with the dancers,” Nedvigin said. “It was interesting to observe, and the work moved so effortlessly.”
As Ross explained in the trailer shown before his ballet, “Harmony of Opposite Tensions” has a loose narrative structure in which the female lead examines a set of memories or experiences tinged with strong emotions and unresolved conflict. He also encouraged the audience to see themselves in the dancers. In his interview, Ross described the piece as “the intricate dance of relationships that shape us as individuals and as a society.”
Narrative structure itself appeared to be the “something old” that Ross remade in a work that was refreshingly new musically, choreographically and aesthetically. Unlike “Tu Tu” and “Elemental Brubeck,” in which the audience watches the dancers from the perspective of a neutral observer — even a voyeur — in “Harmony of Opposite Tensions,” the female principal, performed Friday evening by Airi Igarashi and Saturday afternoon by Emily Carrico, acted as a narrative lens for the gaze. The audience saw from her perspective, even and especially when she was absent from the stage.
For example, the costume and stage design suggested the lead dancer’s continued presence within, and influence over, the narrative when she was out of sight in the wings. Pauline Smith, who has worked with Ross previously, designed flowing costumes in richly hued chiffon. Gauzy ruffles in shades of aubergine, royal blue or wine dark burgundy adorned every dancer. Even the masculine costumes had skirts, either actual skirts — for the duet in blue — or short overskirts on top of pants. Everyone in the mixed-gender quartet sported one shoulder top.
The costumes effectively marked the whole ensemble as part of the lead dancer’s feminine mindscape. Their interactions with her ranged from playful to slightly menacing. Sometimes the female lead danced in synchrony with the cast, sometimes she watched them and sometimes they watched her in return.
Credit: Shoccara Marcus
Credit: Shoccara Marcus
Ben Rawson’s lighting design included subtle shifts in the backdrop color and framing that were frequently cued to the lead’s entrances or exits. The directional overhead spotlights tended to follow her, illuminating areas in which she was dancing or upon which her attention was focused.
Ross’ choreographic vocabulary for “Harmony of Opposite Tensions” was recognizably neoclassical. Where “Sum Stravinsky” uses clever gestural quotation of other styles such as jazz alongside ballet, “Harmony of Opposite Tensions” fuses ballet with modern dance into a seamless whole.
The dancers’ arms and torsos were fluid. Pliés frequently involved a contraction through the upper body. Adagios included shared weight contact work. At the same time, the petit allegro was crisp. The grand allegro soared, and the pointe work was intricate and daring.
The entire ensemble on both Friday and Saturday demonstrated a lovely musicality, finding space even in the quick, up-tempo sections for exquisitely delineated and held positions. Igarashi and Carrico both delivered strong performances but took divergent approaches to the lead role. Carrico was poised and pensive, the embodiment of careful, thoughtful self-examination. Igarashi dove headlong into the current of the dream, taking control by letting herself dissolve into the narrative.
Other notable performances included Darian Kane and Denys Nedak as the pas de deux couple on Friday. Ángel Ramírez and Spencer Wetherington on Friday and Michael Caye and Anderson Souza on Saturday all were gorgeous dancing the mercurial duet that seemed to embody the lead’s idealized self-image, an ideal that at times inspired and at others seemed to discourage her.
“Harmony of Opposite Tensions” was last on the bill. “Fall Into Rhythm” opened with Welch’s “Tu Tu,” a gilded age fever dream of a ballet. Set to music by Maurice Ravel, the work features costumes inspired by the paintings of Gustav Klimt that are one part beach and one part “Barbarella.”
Here, too, Igarashi was a standout on Saturday, partnered by an equally dynamic Ramírez as the gold couple. Juliana Missano was magnetic as the red woman on Saturday. Sojung Lee, also on Saturday, and Carrico on Friday, excelled in the blue woman role. Lee was dreamy and introspective, while Carrico luxuriated in melancholy like a lovelorn poet. The Saturday afternoon cast was stronger overall when it came to contrasting the pop and sparkle of the faster sections with the sinuous flow of those that were slower.
In between “Tu Tu” and “Harmony of Opposite Tensions” was “Elemental Brubeck,” by Lubovitch. It is a technically difficult ballet disguised as a lighthearted, breezy tribute to Dave Brubeck’s music and mid-20th century social dance. On Friday, along with an indefatigable Jordan Leeper in the solo, Larissa Dal’Santo and Souza were clearly having a grand time; all three of them danced with a completely unaffected joy. Wetherington was also impressive in the solo on Saturday.
In addition to Ross’ new ballet, “Fall Into Rhythm” was also a debut for the company’s newest members, all of whom more than held their own in works where no one gets to hide in the back row. Speaking to ArtsATL after he joined the audience during the second intermission on Friday evening, new Atlanta Ballet member Paxton Speight said he was delighted when he learned that his professional debut would include “Elemental Brubeck,” while also acknowledging how challenging the work can be. “Rory [the company repetiteur for ‘Elemental Brubeck’] told us it’s a stamina piece. You can’t just power your way through — you have to learn how to relax into the music.” It is good advice that both casts clearly followed.
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Robin Wharton studied dance at the School of American Ballet and the Pacific Northwest Ballet School. As an undergraduate at Tulane University in New Orleans, she was a member of the Newcomb Dance Company. In addition to a Bachelor of Arts in English from Tulane, Robin holds a law degree and a Ph.D. in English, both from the University of Georgia.
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
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