Bad Boys of Dance…America's Hot New Dance Company
The all-male Bad Boys of Dance were real "bad" in their world premiere performances at Jacob's Pillow! Bad in the street sense of the word means extremely good - bad as the best and as cool as they come. For their debut at Jacob's Pillow, Thomas brought together an impressive cast of multi-cultural and multi-talented dancers -- Puerto Rican Bryan Arias from Complexions Contemporary Ballet, American Robbie Nicholson, a veteran of competition and Broadway stages, and Philipino Bennyroyce Royan, a recent Julliard graduate. In addition were guest artists Martin and Facundo Lombard, identical twin stars from Argentina. As Artistic Director, Thomas chose his choreographers wisely. All their works were world premieres with the exception of Marius Petipa's "Le Corsaire" and “Bumble Bee,” an ingenious humorous showpiece for Thomas by Vladimir Angelov after Milton Myers.
Royon's "Take 4," fast, rhythmic, at times techno and robotic-like, beginning and ending in stark squares of light, was danced by the Bad Boys quartet. Arias, Nicholson and Royon made and danced in "Figaro" to Mozart's music. Robert C. Jeffrey created beautifully lyrical "Heartbreak on Repeat" danced by all, but containing a solo by Thomas. Darrell Moultrie choreographed "Steel Visions," a fast-paced jazzy number for the company. Brandon Perry-Russell's "BBD Remix" was for the group. Adrienne Canterna explored the dancers’ personalities in her new “Finding O.” Canterna is also the company's associate artistic director and rehearsal director. The program had lighthearted flash, dazzle and spoof.
The Lombard twins created their own dances to music ranging from Bach and St. Matthew Passion in "Lombard's W," Duke Ellington and C Jam Blues in "Swinging & Improv" and Astor Piazzolla in "Tapngo." They performed a fluid hip hop and displayed superb bluesy tap improvisation with charm and humor, inviting the audience to clap some of the rhythms. Asked after their afternoon performance at the outdoor Inside/Out stage how they got everything so exactly identical, they said, "We worked it out the womb. You can't get it wrong if you follow the rhythm."
“Corsaire Intro”opened the Bad Boys of Dance concert as Thomas soared through the air with fine ballet technique and expression appropriate for the classical ballet, "Le Corsaire" pas de deux. Suddenly he stopped, perplexed. "Where's my partner?" he called out. Ella Baff, Jacob's Pillow Executive Director, walked onstage and gently reminded Rasta, "Tonight is the Bad Boys."
And so it was, as the men danced with urgent propulsive energy, balance and strength, some hip hop, B-boying (break dancing) with rocking (top rock is upper body movement, floor rock has shuffles, kick-outs and intricate steps), drops and freezes, booty shakin', poppin', shimmying and quickly shifting dynamics, some macho postures and cute gesture interspersed among the ballet pirouettes, corkscrew turns and leaps and modern dance. Thomas's exposure to a broad palette of dance is reflected in his company's medley of movement combined to unpredictable effect. Perry-Russell's "BBD Remix" even had dancers cutting loose in street-style moves and "mooning" the audience in briefs that spelled out “boys” in smudgy red letters.
Thomas's show helped to celebrate the Pillow's 75th anniversary by commemorating the vision and achievement of pioneer Ted Shawn, the "father" of modern dance. Shawn pursued a life-long crusade to claim dance as a respectable career for men, a tradition Thomas carries forward. In 1931 Shawn bought the Carter "Jacob's Pillow" family farm in Massachusetts's bucolic Berkshire Hills as a retreat. It became home to his new troupe, Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers, with Bruce Mumaw, formerly in the Denishawn Company that Ruth St. Denis and Shawn founded, and several physical education students from a men's school in nearby Springfield. Shawn forged a new boldly masculine style drawing on images of Pawnee braves, tiling sharecroppers and union machinists. At the farm, the dancers built new structures and gave performances.
"Steel Visions" Photo by: Maxwell Citizen Kepler
That was the last century. Rasta and his Bad Boys of Dance are pushing the boundaries of dance in the 21st century. "We call ourselves the 'Bad Boys' because we stray from the path of a tradition and break the rules of convention," said Rasta.
Baff recalls, “Thomas approached me with the idea of bringing Bad Boys of Dance to honor our 75th anniversary season. He was inspired by performing at the Pillow in the past, by our support for artists to try new things, and by Ted Shawn, our founder, who forged what was then radical territory for men dancers in the 20th century. I thought Rasta’s idea was lively and fit well into the season I’ve put together for the anniversary—full of debuts, premieres, and special programs that will happen nowhere else in the world.”
No stranger to the Pillow, Thomas in 2001 appeared in a collaborative project that put a new spin on the concept of the "Seven Deadly Sins." Each sin was portrayed in seven works by seven different choreographers. Thomas danced to wide acclaim, hailed as “a force of nature, a dance phenomenon” by the Hartford Courant.
Jacob's Pillow has become a vital cultural institution with global reach and perspective, and the first and only dance organization in the U.S. to achieve the honor of being named a National Historic Landmark. It features free and ticketed events with internationally renowned dancers, educational and internship programs, a rare archives, year-round community activities and creative development residency awards. Sitting on the 163 acres are 31 buildings, 3 stages (including Shawn's, the first theater in the U.S. built specifically for dance), 3 dance studios, restaurants, store, residential housing, administrative offices, a health center, gardens, trails and woodlands. See www Jacobs pillow.org.
A debut at Jacob's Pillow is no small feat. Thomas is in good company. Alvin Ailey, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Merce Cunningham, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Bill T. Jones, Carmen de Lavallade, Agnes de Mille, Paul Taylor, Antony Tudor, Twyla Tharp and Edward Villella are among the stellar artists who have performed at the Pillow.
The Bad Boys performed to standing ovations and sold out crowds. An unscheduled performance was added to meet the demand. BBD boasts an energetic athletic style, acrobatic and technical excitement, artistry, wit and accessibility to a broad range of viewers that was nothing short of thrilling. Not surprisingly, Thomas's musicality, intense focus, stage presence and effortless quick acrobatic feats seamlessly woven into the whole dance shown once again on the Pillow stage. Artistic satisfaction, entertainment and surprises -- what more could an audience ask for?
In January 2008, The Bad Boys of Dance performed at Kean University’s Wilkins Theatre in Union County, New Jersey, and at the Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park, Maryland. The company is still booking tour dates for their 2008-2009 season. Keep abreast about what these boys are up to at www.badboysofdance.com and www.myspace.com/ badboysofdance.