Having missed the era of Stanton Welch as a dancer with Houston Ballet, I have only my own bias as dancer from a different time in that company's stature, while I am still on its adult faculty. I will offer here no comment on his work, but will send kudos to him for his selection of the work of others. Having hobbled over to Miller to see some of the repertoire I couldn't get to this year, I experienced a delightful evening of dance in the usual cool of a May night in Houston! A brief entry of my thoughts of that night....
Having been in a book club, where we seem to be reading the first book of authors whose second and third books were even better, I was struck by the similarity of seeing the first work of Nacho Duarte. Interesting to see the seeds of movement vocabulary, his resonance with music solidly identified with country, and the weightedness that eventually moved over the balletically trained sextet of dancers. Houston Ballet has beautifully trained and nuanced professionals, and while Emily Bowen is exploding all over the map, and Kelly Myernick handles the material maturely,both are sharp tools in the dance-maker's pocket. The partnering and men's work was also seamless. The choreography was grounded in this earthy, bird-like, and tool yielding shapes, fenced in agrarian landscape. Lovely promise in that work of the better yet to come, indeed!
Then there's Twyla....man, that lady can craft! Saw this work "in the upper room" with her company and on ABT, although hearing Phillip Glass back then was a bit tedious, our ears have gotten used to its landscape and the context for pure movement it allows. This ballet not only stands the test of time, its innovations stills seems fresh and exciting. . In particular the work horses of Ms. Myernick and company, whose stamina astounds...this piece has got to be like running a marathon, and the exhilirating climax had me shouting. When exhaustion make guys pull in for 5 pirouettes, because technique kicks in with relaxation--- standouts were Oliver H. and Simon B.---its transcendence exemplified. That Twyla swing of the arms, and shake of the shoulder (due to her boxing phase) ain't so easy to look natural, and the attitude in the face and shrug of the shoulders should be a bit smug....those guys aced it! Hats off to you! Signature Twyla stuff--the jogging forward and backward, the tennis shoed set vs. the quick footed pointe shoe birds, flitting through, the lifts and the reversals and the insouciant nonchalance, all had their moments with this cast. Still an awe inspiring work even if it's as old as some dancing it.
