Sirui Liu, Corps de Ballet dancer Photography: Peter Mueller

Excerpted Review: Ballet shows its depth in New Works

Written by David Lyman

Enquirer contributor Sep. 13, 2013 1:01 PM | cincinnati.com

Ana Gallardo, Apprentice Photography: Peter MuellerPerhaps it’s appropriate that, as Cincinnati Ballet begins its 50th season, there are ever-so-subtle signs of a generational shift starting to take place within the company.

It’s not a momentous shift. Not yet. But with the demands of a program like “The Kaplan New Works Series” – there are five ballets, four of them world premieres – new faces inevitably start to step away from the crowd. Younger dancers are called on to do new types of roles. And in the process, some of those dancers give us a glimpse of what this company may look like a few years down the road.

That’s not to say the days are numbered for the company’s most established dancers. No, I expect we have several more years to watch the likes of Cervilio Miguel Amador, Janessa Touchet and Sarah Hairston.

But “New Works” is about revelations. Not just choreographic revelations. But since they see these dancers in different ways, the guest choreographers who create these new works offer us revelations about the performers themselves.

“You Are Here” is the surprise of the program, though. At first, it seems it may be a rambling, aimless piece. But quickly, Patterson, artistic director of Austin’s VOICE Dance Company, kicks the work into a higher emotional gear. Forceful and swirling, it is as if she has somehow harnessed breath itself; gasping, panting, sighing. It is an endless series of surprises. The work includes several disarming duets, including one by Courtney Connor Jones and Samuel Jones. But it is the section by Gallardo and Frometa that is most memorable. Their dancing is refined and polished. But it is the small choreographic touches that give it this section a passion that is so extraordinary; a lift that lingers, a head resting gently on a partner’s back, a fleeting caress of a cheek. They are sincere and precious moments and help make this an unforgettable pas de deux.