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Lubovitch dancers deftly mix ballet, folk, modern

Karyn Saemann
Correspondent for The Capital Times  —  10/15/2008 7:10 am

It was deeply rooted in classical movement, but not really classically done.

New York City's Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, performing Tuesday night at Overture Hall, expertly melded the graceful fluidity of ballet with folk and modern movements -- and bare feet and work boots -- for a wonderfully diverse program.

The one-night show, which with two lengthy intermissions ran for nearly 2.5 hours, consisted of three pieces, which got progressively edgier and darker-themed as the evening wore on.

The company is celebrating its 40th season. Two of the three pieces premiered in the past year, while one dated to 2000.

The first piece, "Dvorak Serenade," was the most gentle of the three.

The costumes, with women in short baby doll dresses and loose hair and men in flowing tops, complemented the easy feel of the movements.

The 12 dancers entered together with the feel of a gently rolling ocean wave, and the dearth of hard edges continued throughout the piece.

But just as the ballet began to whisk you away, Lubovitch threw in a square knee and a parallel body line, a madly tossed head and a moment of skipping in circles, and it was a new, modern creation.

The second piece, "Jangle," was a collection of four Hungarian dances. The costumes gave the feel of early 20th century impoverished immigrants, with simple gray hues, work boots, caps and suspenders on the men and short dresses and ankle boots on the women.

There was decidedly ethnic stomping, finger snapping and clapping, with a bit more somber of a mood than "Dvorak" and a nod to youthful simplicity. There was palpable emotion in a lengthy series of beautiful, twisting partnered lifts.

Technically, the graceful, classical undertone remained, but the ethnic infusion gave it a new spin.

"Men's Stories" was darker, rooted more in a social message and much longer than the first two pieces. At about 45 minutes, it was, in fact, almost too long.

Danced by nine men, it was also the least dynamic of the evening's works.

That doesn't mean it wasn't well performed. On the contrary, its lithe soloists were frequently stunning, and its ensemble moments were deftly on cue.

But the choreography simply didn't provide the highs and lows of the other two works -- it was just a bit flatter.

The accompaniment for "Men's Stories" was also harsher than the other two pieces, with industrial noise, buzzing, a rattle that could have been a ticking clock and synthesizers. The stage was dark, with gray smoke, and the men wore gray and black suits. Occasionally, classical music interjected.

The movements were part classical, part square hands and part modern things like rolling on the floor.

Piped-in audio clips spoke of boys growing into men. Elements like a quick game of "rock, paper scissors," whistling through fingers, street fighting, musky jazz music and a child-like ventriloquist dummy contributed to the theme.

Ultimately, Lubovitch's company offered a marvelously enjoyable night, but one that was best early on and could have been shorter.

Karyn Saemann
Correspondent for The Capital Times  —  10/15/2008 7:10 am