Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet
Why was the audience response so tepid on opening night of the winter season of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet? With all those gorgeous dancers filling the stage, why no bravos, hoots and hollers that one often hears at lesser presentations? The answer, I am afraid, lies in the quality of the work—the three pieces by three relatively unknown (to New York) choreographers just didn’t impress the audience all that much. Given the exquisite stage of the Cedar Lake Theater in the new Chelsea area of New York, a company of expressive dancers any choreographer would covet, and ample funding providing more than adequate space and time for rehearsal, the results should have been more gratifying.
Jacopo Godani opened the program with “Symptoms of Development,” a rather robotic piece that relied on a hideous sound score composed by Ulrich Muller and Siegfried Rossert. No fun for the viewer. It was an admirable feat for the dancers just to respond to the “music” cues and be in the right place at the right time.
Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet performs "Symptoms of Development" by Jacopo Godani Photo by: Julietta Cervantes
“I am not responsible” was one of many esoteric comments voiced by one of the dancers into a hand-mike. Neither was the audience though they were made to fidget while the choreography unfolded. There is virtually nothing these dancers cannot do and do well even when fighting against gimmicky lighting effects, thundering drums, and having to grunt or breathe heavily into mikes. In one instance, Ebony Williams crunches her tee shirt beneath her breasts, hold it, then lets it drop back in place, a non-event given to an exquisite dancer.
Canadian-born Crystal Pite is a choreographer with an impressive resume. As a contributor to “Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal” her work was seen in their last visit to New York. For the Cedar Lake program she set a new work, “Ten Duets On a Theme of Rescue” a group of vignettes performed within a circle of high stanchions probably simulating streetlights. There are duets that again show off the amazing technique of the dancers, their acrobatic control, and the absolute facility each one possesses. But again the lighting far overshadowed the substance of the choreography, more repetitive than original. She has done better, and she will do better in the future.
I liked “Rite” best of all, maybe because it was a witty “take” on music that has been seen and done by every company from Bejart to Marie Chouinard to Glen Tetley, the reigning master of the story and of the daring Stravinsky score. Belgian choreographer Stijn Celis wisely chose Acacia Schachte to lead it off. Was she also to be the Chosen One? I bet on it. But instead of being the sacrificial lamb she was left perched on a large green rectangle set piece, shattered and shaking in quite a rare moment of repose. Schachte is the pillar around which this company functions. She has that amazing “specialness” that distinguishes her from just a good dancer to an artist. Costumed in the strangest summer print take-offs on a tutu, she delivered a mesmerizing performance despite the obtuse dynamics of the choreography.
Artistic Director Benoit-Swan Pouffer (I assume) did the choosing of choreographers for this mini-winter season. His intent is to bring artists from Europe and Canada, mount their work for a New York audience, and to give the Cedar Lake Company an opportunity to experience new work was praiseworthy if not altogether satisfying.
But none of the above pieces can compare to the “Decadance” program performed in the summer of 2007and repeated at the end of this series. Ohad Naharin, the choreographer, and his assistants had settled in at the theater for three months prior to performance to teach his Gaga technique to the Cedar Lake dancers. It showed. Not only was the choreography (and his musical selections) a grand prize winner, the dancers had absorbed this thoroughly new and different way of moving, were confident, and gave it everything needed to make it a great success.
Win some! Lose some! But what is not lost in a trip down to the trend setting neighborhood of new galleries and restaurants, is the opportunity to watch this supremely gifted ensemble of dancers that can and will do everything put before them with commitment. They are risk-takers challenging every confrontation of movement to make their individual performances polished and pure and their contribution to the group-- perfect.