Part of the promise of New York City Center’s Fall for Dance festival, now in its 20th season, has been to attract new audiences to dance. In that spirit, Michael Rosenberg, the theater’s new president and chief executive, has been delivering curtain speeches before this year’s performances, encouraging first timers in the audience to make some noise and celebrating their exuberant response as the sound of the future of live performance.
I also celebrate that sound. By keeping ticket prices low ($20 these days), the festival continues to bring in crowds. However, upon watching the first two of this year’s five programs, I was disappointed by the quality of the performances. This is not the first time this has happened. While the festival offers a variety of styles, the sampler programs have always been a frustrating mix of high and low quality. Looking back over the years, I remember many great performances and delightful discoveries, but I have yet to see a program that was consistently great from start to finish.
A defining characteristic of Fall for Dance audiences is their indiscriminate enthusiasm. So why can’t the festival organizers be more selective? If the audience is going to love everything, why not give them more that is truly good? This year’s choices seem lazier than usual, with the principles of selection appearing more mysterious.
Inviting Ballet BC to open the first program with Crystal Pite’s “The Statement” (2016) makes sense, considering Pite’s international following. In this piece, the dancers exhibit twitchy, glitchy movements akin to bobblehead dolls while a radio drama plays in the background. The story revolves around a corporate cover-up and a power struggle in the boardroom, with the choreography enhancing the cynical and cartoonish nature of the text.
Personally, I find Pite’s spin to be misleading and hollow, much like its subject matter. However, the composition skill and provocative ideas at least make the work somewhat appealing, albeit falsely. Côté Danse’s “X (Dix)”, which opened the second program, lacks any distinct appeal. It is a contemporary piece by the Canadian ballet dancer Guillaume Côté, accompanied by gritty and lively music by Son Lux. However, the work falls into an insipid contemporary mode that relies on strobe lights instead of kinetic excitement. Contemporary ballet can be stylish, urgent, and current, but this piece is a poor substitute.
The closing acts are no better. Sonya Tayeh’s “Oh Courage!” on Program 1, performed by Gibney Company, receives some lively energy from the recorded music by indie-folk duo the Bengsons, but the flashes of innovation in the choreography get submerged in sentimental emotion. Why not choose something that is genuinely stirring?
To close Program 2, Sergio Bernal Dance Company from Spain presents a shallow fusion of ballet and flamenco. In a Spanish-infused duet with American Ballet Theater veteran Herman Cornejo, Bernal incorporates standard ballet jumps and turns, which is impressive but gratuitous. However, his flamenco solo lacks passion and rhythm, despite the excellent accompaniment of guitarist Daniel Jurado and vocalist Roberto Lorente (though they were unfortunately replaced by recorded music for three of the Bernal company’s lackluster numbers). Fall for Dance audiences deserve better flamenco than this.
Fortunately, each program had a standout performance by a Fall for Dance regular. Sara Mearns, the daring star of New York City Ballet, joined the exceptional bass-baritone Davóne Tines for the New York premiere of “Mass.” The score, a small-scale interpretation by Caroline Shaw of the traditional mass text that Tines has used in previous recitals, is slight and short on its own. The choreography by Bobbi Jene Smith is simple, evoking a heartfelt, modern-dance style. However, Mearns and Tines are exceptional artists, and witnessing her graceful arabesque as he intones “Credo” is truly inspiring.
Talent and unpretentious charm are what pianist Conrad Tao and tap dancer Caleb Teicher bring in their interpretation of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Tao masterfully plays the well-known composition, while Teicher infuses it with vaudevillian comedy reminiscent of Bill Irwin and Ray Bolger. He adeptly responds to the varying moods of the music with a series of lively and impromptu movements, including a frantic Charleston and triumphant splits that earn applause. Despite the humorous elements, Teicher never loses his musicality.
This may not be groundbreaking, but it is undeniably good and enjoys widespread popularity. There is no reason why all of Fall for Dance couldn’t reach that level of quality.
Fall for Dance
Through Oct. 8 at New York City Center; nycitycenter.org.