Dance highlights of 2011 in Cleveland

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Dance highlights of 2011 in Cleveland
Dance highlights of 2011 in Cleveland
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Dance highlights of 2011 in Cleveland
GroundWorks DanceTheater: David Shimotakahara's modern-dance company can be counted on to come
up with new and intriguing ideas in motion. Two works stood out in 2011: Shimotakahara's sensitive
adaptation of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" and Lynne Taylor-Corbett's "Hindsight," a tribute to Akron
rocker Chrissie Hynde and her band, the Pretenders. The former condensed the beloved tale into a sweet
and sweeping narrative. The latter used Hynde songs to evoke scenes of cheeky fun and poetic intensity.
Inlet Dance Theatre: The Cleveland dance company led by Bill Wade celebrated its 10th birthday in
November with a program of revivals and a fine world premiere, "Let Go." To music by Ryan Lott, Wade's
frequent collaborator, the piece explores issues of alienation and acceptance through a series of intimate
and ensemble episodes. The work runs only 10 minutes, but its impact is powerful. The program included
Wade's "Stone by Stone," a touching study of the need to connect and make a difference.
Joffre
Ballet: The noted Chicago dance company made its third summer appearance with the Cleveland
Orchestra at Blossom Music Center in works by Julia Adam, Lar Lubovitch, Christopher Wheeldon and
George Balanchine, whose "Stravinsky Violin Concerto" was particularly admired by freelance writer Mark
Satola: "Balanchine's understanding of Stravinsky's playful and emotionally complex score resulted in a
finale that was delightfully contrapuntal and, in the two pas de deux, profoundly moving."
Rioult: The New York dance company made
a winning Cleveland debut in April in works
set to music by Ravel and Bach. Artistic
director Pascal Rioult's version of "Wien"
(danced to Ravel's "La Valse") is a dark,
expressionistic glimpse into a society on the
verge of collapse, while his take on Ravel's
"Bolero" treats the dancers as robots pining
for liberation. States of nature are
suggested in "Views of the Fleet World," a
series of inventive pieces set to music from
Bach's "The Art of the Fugue" that showed
the Rioult dancers at their gleaming best.
Basil C hilde rs
Me m be rs of the Ne w York dance com pany R ioult pe rform e d
artistic dire ctor Pascal R ioult's "W ie n," se t to Maurice R ave l's "La
Valse ," during the ir C le ve land de but in April.
Verb Ballets: The Cleveland modern-dance
company had an exciting year in 2011,
including the move to its first permanent home (Christ Episcopal Church in Shaker Heights). On the premiere
front, Verb presented Antonio Brown's buoyant "Continuum" and Ginger Thatcher's feisty update of "Billy
the Kid." The latter shared an American program with excellent revivals of Martha Graham's "Appalachian
Spring" (set to music by Aaron Copland, also composer of "Billy the Kid") and Hernando Cortez's "Chichester
Psalms" (with music by Leonard Bernstein).
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