SAB Student Choreography Workshop -- October 11, 2014

The Student Choreography Workshop at the School of American Ballet is one of our favorite events in the SAB calendar.  We attended this year's workshop on Saturday, October 11th.

Shortly after the Winter Term began, students in most advanced levels were invited to submit applications to participate in this year’s Workshop. 

Kaitlyn Casey working with her dancers, Eliza Blutt, Rachel Costin, Eric Beckham & Marc LaPierre on her work.
Photo by Rosalie O'Connor for SAB

Ballets cannot exceed five minutes or use more than five dancers.  The students select their own music (with advice from Jeff Middleton, the School’s music teacher, if requested) and chose their own dancers from among their peers.  Costumes are practice clothes, often color coordinated, but always simple.  

Participants in prior years have included Justin Peck and Troy Schumacher.  Justin and Troy both created new ballets for New York City Ballet's Opening Night Gala this past September.  Justin is City Ballet's Choreographer in Residence.  Troy is a founder of BalletCollective.  Both are City Ballet dancers as well.

Student choreographers began rehearsing their works on September 23rd.  Each choreographer was allotted 15 hours of rehearsal time.  The choreographers were responsible for scheduling rehearsals in the time and space allotted.  The first performances took place less than three weeks later on October 11th.  The audience for the first performances is always the School's faculty and staff, the student's families, fellow students and SAB volunteers (that's how George and I got in).  Next week there will be performances as part of an evening for young patrons and another evening for major donors.

There were 14 works created this year (it seems to me that in prior years there were just 12) and they used 52 dancers.  Each work was introduced by its choreographer always covering the same points: 

• their name, 
• the number of years they've studied at SAB, 
• the number of times they've choreographed before, 
• title and composer of the music they've used, and 
• names of their dancers.  

Some of them added a thank you to the School for the opportunity (and I silently thank Nancy Norman Lassalle who generously endowed the Workshop beginning in 1996).

In prior years some of the choreographers have spoken about why they selected the music and what it means to them.  I wish a few of them would do it this year, since it adds to the audience's understanding of the choreographer's creative process.

I am always astounded at the very high quality of all of the works presented.  This year, some were more derivative, some seemed to use the special qualities of their dancers better, some made especially good use of their music.

The music chosen by the choreographers ranged from Bach and Vivaldi through Ravel, Prokofiev and Shostakovitch on to Samuel Barber and Philip Glass.  A surprising number of pieces were by contemporary composers who were unfamiliar to me.  Obviously, these students are far more attuned to contemporary music and are able to select and use these scores as the basis for often amazing results.

Here are a few general suggestions for the choreographers (you'll know who you are):

• First, if you're going to use a phrase in canon, make sure that the canonical section lasts long enough that the viewers aren't left with the impression that the dancers just lost track of the count and that they are really meant to be dancing the phrase sequentially (for their dancers this means attacking the phrase with self-confidence when their turn comes).
• Second, when there are several dancers 'on stage' place them closer to each other so that the audience doesn't feel like they're watching a tennis match attempting to take in the entire piece.  It's not like watching a ballet from the fourth ring at State Theater.  
• Third, avoid false endings and anticlimaxes that either lead to disruptive applause in the middle of the work or leave the viewers guessing whether it's really over.  
• Finally, work out the bows and include a bow for yourself. 

Here are a few of my greatest favorites in no particular order and with my apologies to those not included:

• Christopher D'Ariano's work to 'Tomorrow's Song' by Olafur Arnalds used just two well-matched dancers, Marie Millard and Alec Knight, to create intense after images for me.  There were beautifully controlled unison passages and well-executed, intricate partnering moves.  It was clear that the work had been carefully thought out and then perfected in rehearsal.

  

  Alec Knight & Marie Millard in Christopher D'Ariano's work.  Photo by Rosalie O'Connor for SAB

• Alec Knight returned the favor with 'Do you like Rock?' from Gaetano Siino using four dancers:  Christina Clark, Miriam Miller, Kennard Henson and Chris D'Ariano.  Like his dancers, Alec's work was sleek and utilized their strengths and sense of confidence.  And the music had nothing to do with rock that I could discern.

  

  Christina Clark, Miriam Miller, Kennard Henson & Chritsopher  D'Ariano in Alec Knight's work.
  Photo by Rosalie O'Connor for SAB

• Courtney Nitting's choreography for Larisa Nugent, Dammiel Cruz, and Christopher Grant to 'Harde Puntjes' from the album 'Downtown Illusions' (by Chiel Meijering) was quirky and assured.  Courtney's use of a motif of hands crossed behind the dancers' backs was clever and memorable.

  

  Larisa Nugent, Dammiel Cruz and Christopher Grant in Courtney Nitting's work.
  Photo by Rosalie O'Connor for SAB

• Rachel Hutsell used the Renaissance inflections of 'Arioso' by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson to effectively set her work for five dancers apart.  I think that the work would benefit from even more assured references to Renaissance dance movement.  Rachel's dancers were Isabella Carroll, Lucia Connolly, Ana Maria Delmar, Sasonah Huttenback, and Josiah Cook.

  

  Three advanced students in Rachel Hutsell's work.  Photo by Rosalie O'Connor for SAB

   

• Saxon Wood made effective use of the contrast between a single woman, Lillian Casscells, and four men -- Sam Ainley, Darius Black, Luke Potgieter and Xhosa Scott -- in his piece to Marc-Andre Hamelin's 'Etude #3: After Paganini-Liszt'.  Some of Saxon's partnering moves seemed a bit too complicated for his dancers to perfect in the short rehearsal window which occasionally made them appear more terrified than confident.

  

  Lillian Casscells with Darius Black in Saxon Wood's work.  Photo by Rosalie O'Connor for SAB

With 14 works using 14 unfamiliar scores and 52 dancers, it's hard for me to keep track of all of them.  There were certainly other worthy works and performances that go unmentioned here.  They were all part of an extraordinary outpouring of talent.  I commend the School and every participant for the astonishing result.

The School's Facebook page has a complete set of 26 photos by Rosalie O'Connor here:
https://www.facebook.com/SABNYC/photos/a.10152447249938870.1073741846.36603863869/10152447250043870/?type=1&theater