Upping the Ante and Hitting the Jackpot

Verb Ballets has a way of upping the ante and hitting the jackpot almost every time they perform. Their upcoming concert at Saint Ignatius' new Breen Center for the Performing Arts is unusually ambitious and interesting, but even with one injured dancer and another on maternity leave it looks like they'll pull it off again.

Taking as their theme "80 years of contemporary dance," Verb serves up a recent acquisition, George Balanchine's "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux" (1960), along with the company premieres of Martha Graham's solo masterpiece, "Lamentation" (1930), and a Merce Cunningham trio, "Cross Currents" (1964), in addition to more contemporary works in the Verb repertoire - Heinz Poll's "Bolero" (1996), the Chinese "Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan Form"; Ian Horvath's "Poverty Train" section from "Laura's Women" (1975), and the premiere of a current collaboration, "The Gathering," with dancers from the Cleveland School of the Arts. The program spans 8 decades.

"The (first) 3 pieces focus on the development of style," explained Verb Chief Executive and Artistic Officer Dr. Margaret Carlson in a recent phone interview. "Then in the 90's," she continued, "there was a fusion of different styles, and that's exemplified in this program by the revival of Heinz Poll's "Bolero," which blends flamenco, Indian, and modern dance styles from a German perspective."

"The other dance on the program which exemplifies fusion of styles was developed in China leading up to the Beijing Olympics; it's choreographed martial arts, a tai chi / dance / martial arts fusion, officially titled "Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan Form." Like a lot of things out of China, it was choreographed by committee."

In what promises to be an exciting world premiere, Verb's dancers are collaborating with dancers from Cleveland School of the Arts Dance Department in a new dance, "The Gathering," choreographed by CSA's Dance Department Head, Terence Greene. Whenever we've seen Greene's work with CSA we've been positively impressed by the theatricality of his choreography and by how well prepared his students are.

This program was originally to include "Vespers" but an injury to one of the dancers necessitated the cancellation of that demanding dance. Replacing "Vespers" is the "Poverty Train" section from "Laura's Women". With choreography by Cleveland Ballet's Ian Horvath, music by Laura Nyro, and lighting by Jennifer Tipton, it's a piece of Verb rep that's well worth seeing.

Early in Verb's existence, former Artistic Director Hernando Cortez expressed his ambition to include ballets by Balanchine in the repertoire. At the time, we chalked that up to wishful thinking but we hear that Verb's "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux" is well danced by Jennifer Moll Safonovs and Robert Wesner.

In order to see why we're so excited about seeing this dance live, go to YouTube.com and search for "Ballet du Capitol de Toulouse Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux" or, better yet, "Edward Villella on Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux." Both performances bear out Villella's description of this dance as "a bravura test for 2 superb technicians with none of the heavy Bolshoi ornaments." Villella assures us that "It's done with western restraint, Balanchinian taste invested with wonderful floating lyricism. A mood of tenderness. Romantic, but not emotional." Presented in partnership with Neos Dance Theatre by permission of The George Balanchine Trust, it's an excellent example of cooperation between local dance companies.

Cleveland resident and Graham stalwart Diane Gray (Regisseur Gray pictured here with dancer Katie Gnagy, photo by Verb dancer Antwon Duncan) supervised the reconstruction of "Lamentations," a dance that can be seen as a profoundly emotional meditation on grief or as homage to New York skyscrapers.

As interested as we are by the content of this program, we're also interested to see the new Breen Center. Carlson was enthusiastic. "They really did it the right way, with massive consideration for the backstage. It has a sprung stage floor. Acoustically it's completely adjustable, from a rock band to a solo flute. Everything is state of the art, push button. Tons of lighting. And a perfect size with 500 seats."

Sounds good but we'll wait to see how we like the sight lines and the side lighting, both so important to dance.

Verb Ballets performs at 8PM on Sat 10/10 at Breen Center of the Performing Arts, 2008 W 30th St, 44113. Advanced reserve seats are $25 and $20. Ask about special prices for Students and Seniors. 216-961-2560. A benefit package for $100 includes dinner prior to the show at The Flying Fig, ticket to the concert, and a post-show champagne reception to meet the dancers and tour the theater. 216-397-3757 for reserved tickets.

From Cool Cleveland contributors Elsa Johnson and Victor Lucas. Elsa and Vic are both longtime Clevelanders. Elsa is a landscape designer. She studied ballet as an avocation for 2 decades. Vic has been a dancer and dance teacher for most of his working life, performing in a number of dance companies in NYC and Cleveland. They write about dance as a way to learn more and keep in touch with the dance community. E-mail them at vicnelsaATearthlink.net.