New Chamber Ballet

By Tim Martin

"Miro Magloire’s presentations, given in the elegant studios of New York’s City Center, feature finely- crafted choreography, excellent musicians, some compositions written expressly for the evening’s dances, simple, tasteful costuming, and well- trained dancers. It’s as though Magloire is not just a composer or a choreographer (he’s both), but an impresario, a Diaghilev in miniature. With his unique, diamond-shaped cravats and his informative and humorous remarks, he doesn’t just assemble the elements of a show, but, rather, serves them to us like an elegantly arranged dish.

In his remarks he joked that some have accused him of megalomania, that he composes music so he can then choreograph to it, thereby controlling nearly the entire production. Not so, he said: after struggling over a composition for so long, the last thing he wanted was to hear it played over and over during dance rehearsals. So he has a rule that he does not choreograph to his own compositions, but - as is the way with rules - there’s usually an exception. The music he composed was meant to leave room for the dance, so much so that, if one were to hear the music without seeing the dance, it would feel like something was missing.

Pas de... was this work and, to my eye, the highlight of the evening. Virtuoso pianist Melody Fader sends out Magloire’s generously-spaced chords, impelling dancer Emery LeCrone to fill the long silences with movement. Each dance phrase runs its course until, like a pause between breaths, the next piano burst sets her to moving again. Dancers Victoria North and Amy Brandt are introduced and the music gets fuller, cascading into repetitions that create a surreal atmosphere. This trio of women slides into a unison formation of deep lunges where they pause and then unexpectedly bob up and down with little heel raises. Later, LeCrone poses with arms overhead while her hands, like small animals, seem to dart and wiggle on their own. This is quirky, high quality work which will no doubt grow into the larger audience it deserves."

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