"Ballet Up Close"
The Providence Journal
By Bryan Rourke

PROVIDENCE

"Soledad 4,” performed by Leticia Guerrero
and Alexander Akulov at the Festival Ballet
in Providence. -Thomas Nola-Rion

 

Up Close, on Hope has hit its stride.
Festival Ballet Providence’s show of shorter, contemporary works, which opened last weekend at its studio, is decidedly good, with eclectic choreography and plenty of polished performances.

The two-act, 90-minute show, which continues this weekend, features seven works, including five premieres. However, the strongest piece in the program is the oldest, “Soledad,” choreographed in 1996 by Mihailo Djuric, Festival’s artistic director.

The piece involves 10 dancers and five chairs, which, at times, serve as partners. They’re leaned on, turned on and stood on. But generally, people dance with people. There are five couples, although for one pair the connection is brief and elusive.

At the center of the story is a woman in black, Leticia Guerrero, an outsider and loner who watches others connect through music and movement. But she’s without a partner, and physically and psychically distant and despondent. Then her partner appears, Alexander Akulov, also in black. And they dance boldly, but briefly, in a style more ballroom than ballet. Then Akulov exits as suddenly as he entered. And Guerrero, who masterfully alternates the lyric and dynamic aspects of her dance, is alone again.

Festival last performed “Soledad” in 2004 and is presenting it now in preparation for a tour to Venezuela later this month, the company’s first outside the country.

“Mujeres,” choreographed by Luis Fuente, features traditional Spanish music. At first the dance seems a dud, but it’s not. It just has a long fuse. Five dancers — Carolyn Dellinger, Erica Chipp, Courtney Fraga, Lauren Kennedy and Lauren Menger — wear big black skirts with red lining. So you expect to see some feisty Spanish dancing. But you must wait. The women stand, gesture and perform restrained movements. The music picks up; so do the movements. Finally the dance delivers, letting loose, with Dellinger in the lead, projecting pizzazz where none existed before.

A premiere by Viktor Plotnikov was untitled until after the show when, from dozens of audience-written suggestions, “Viktorations,” was chosen. The title is apt; Plotnikov has a colorful and unorthodox style of choreography, presented here in variations. The music is Mozart, but the movements are distinctly Plotnikov. Three couples playfully gesture (chopping at the air, among other things) and move (for instance pulling a dancer across the stage as though waterskiing). Yet it looks perfectly fine. Music doesn’t mandate movement, Plotnikov shows with mild amusement.

Other interesting aspects of the show include “Playing by Ear,” choreographed by Djuric. It features music by Bach and dancing by Jennifer Ricci and, most notably, Gleb Lyamenkoff, who’s blindfolded, but moves as though he’s not. “Gracias a la Vida,” a duet choreographed by Gianni Di Marco, blends Spanish music, contemporary and modern movement. “Let it Go for a While,” choreographed by Mark Harootian and performed by him and Chipp merges contemporary music and clothing with classical movement in a piece that exudes strong and convincing emotion. And in “Gopak,” taken from the ballet Taras Bulba, soloist Henry Montilla athletically leaps and slaps his feet in traditional and exhausting Russian fashion.

Up Close, on Hope at Festival Ballet’s studio, 825 Hope St., Providence, continues this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 6 p.m. For tickets, $40, which includes intermission wine and hors d’oeuvres, call (401) 353-1129 or e-mail info@festivalballet.com.