Dance with an Edge
All around South Florida balletomanes were already humming Tchaikovsky, their eyes glazing over with dreams of the Sugarplum Fairy.
Meanwhile, on the stage of the Gusman Theater in downtown Miami, the autumn night took on a decidedly European chill as Marife Gimenez, quite a looker in a slinky white babydoll, hobbled around on precariously high heels. "Silent Night, Still We Dream," part of a Maximum Dance Company concert, had Alfred Schnittke's wickedly dissonant take on the title's Christmas carol urge this haunted lady up from the chair of solitude into exploration of her cloister - with troubling memories or uneasy expectations? Somewhere, you got the feeling, as her limbs flung off protests to the sawing violin, a juicy meal turned cold and that special wine lay corked.
Then she found a match. Douglas Gawriljuk, in white T-shirt and black pants, slid down a pole: a fine-figured fellow, all right, but with that cat-burglar skulking of his up to no good, probably. What a jolt when the high-heeled shoes became fetishistic toys for the couple ("Look what Santa brought you, sweetie... ") and their suspenseful interaction quirky lilts, arms at sharp angles - whirled into connivance. Arvo Part's soft but disquieting theme for strings repeated an ironically liberating mantra. The male companion took her place, and the eerie Rapunzel headed for escape.
Not your granny's kind of pas de deux, maybe. But, like most of the daring pieces from Maximum (a snappy collection of works by Mark Morris, Julia Adam, Paolo Mohovich, Nikolai Kabaniaev and that weaver of silky cat's-cradles, K.T. Nelson), it was an enticing flash from the edge.
What's bracing is not that this mischievous offer came from so far out but from so far in. After all, the choreographer; Daniel Roseel, resides artistically with the Royal Ballet of Flanders and Maximum's wonderful dancers spring from a supple classical base. As such they shake hands with Ballet Florida, which can also foray into the sharply contemporary, whether rollicking or ironic, with plenty of flair.
Respectability for the roguish, then. Not atypical in these dancing times when Mikhail Baryshnikov, once a prince of virtuosity, has found new vigor with White Oak Dance Project in rep from the rebellious 60s. Oh, those kids of New York's Judson Dance Theater! Back then, in sneakers and loose gear how they could telegraph big ideas, often with minimal movement. Glad you're still here, Deborah Hay, David Gordon, Yvonne Rainer and Steve Paxton (Big Daddy of contact improvisation, arguably the most significant development in post-modern dance). The grit all of you rubbed into the sensitive flesh of the academy now glows like a race pearl.
No wonder Misha was paired on the bill with Lake Worth restless spirit Demetrius Klein for Ocean Dance on Hollywood Beach last year. Success with site-specific performances and a taste for choreographic adventure served Klein well, And-in case you still think the fun, the thrill, even the affront of unconventional dance has to hit us from outside~ consider he has his share of artistic kin in this area. Dale Andree, a veteran of multi-skill presentations with her Mary Street Dance Theatre (see them sprint and slide... hear them huff and hurrah...), still clocks in with challenging works. Her alumna, Helena Thevenot has been basking in the rarefied light of Butoh. And, with pulsating appeal, Esaias Johnson has fashioned extended theatrical evenings in an effusively hybrid style, "pomo funk."
Others would answer this roll call, but don't just look around: glance back. In the 80s Mary Luft's performance art pieces turned a creaky hangar in the Grove into a repository of memories and her house on Tigertail into a temple of recondite rituals. As a presenter she has recently brought us the best choreographic explorers from Brazil and also local Brazilian Giovanni Luquini, who can meld the most athletic capoeira into multimedia meditations.
So, here we have a grounding for innovation. And when speaking about putting a novel spin on the body, don't leave out our venerable friend Balanchine. As much as he loved to play with the ballet jewels of Imperial Russia, he left a wealth of gems in his legacy that seem to have been cut yesterday. Just watch Miami City Ballet in the intricacies of "Agon" with its unparalleled black-and-white geometry. The title points to an earthly contest, but the action sparks divine entertainment - as if from very bold Olympians. Awesome, any ambitious young dancers would agree, wiping the sweat of trailblazing from their brow.