CENTERblog

Alaska Dance Theatre Winter Repertory Concert
by Ally Landis - South High School/Alaska Pacific University

Alaska Dance Theatre’s Winter Repertory Concert started off strong with a piece called Winter, choreographed by James Sewell and with music from Antonio Vivaldi’s Winter from The Four Seasons. The dancers wore winter hats and scarves as they leaped, twirled, and jumped their way across the stage. This was one of my favorite pieces because the dancers looked as though they could have been playing in the snow and even mimicked slipping on ice, but did it through graceful ballet movements. The dancers had beautiful lines and even though the synchronization was a bit off at times, the piece kept me captivated. The choreography was done beautifully and the dance evoked feelings of energy and fun.

The next piece, Call to Prayer, choreographed by Troy Powell and with music from Beethoven, Bach, and Karl Jenkins was disappointing at first because there wasn’t any of the dance elements I loved watching so much in the first piece. There was too much standing still with just hand movements. I also was not a fan of the cathedral music. Luckily there was a major highlight to this piece. A duet between two dancers was breathtaking as the girl would balance on the boy’s back and he would lift her up. But my favorite part of the night came when he put her in between his legs and then let go with his hand, letting her twist and then catching her with his legs.

One Voice, One Drum was the first act after intermission and was made to help celebrate Alaska’s 50th Anniversary. The choreographer was Alice Bassler Sullivan, who received help from Phillip Blanchett in infusing traditional Yup’ik movement with classical ballet. The result was a one hundred percent original piece, with dancers moving their bodies to the beat of the drums. It was nice to see something different, and I enjoyed being able to see the native Alaskan dance movements mixed in with the ballet.

The dancer in the red dress, or Nicole Maple, captivated the audience once again in her solo piece, Take It Back, choreographed by Courtland Weaver. She did an excellent job carrying out the choreography and exemplified what I love about watching ballet.

The last piece, There’s So Much To Do was a little much for me. Dancers ran across the stage as one group was doing their piece and there was never one thing going on the stage at once. It was hard to find where you were supposed to be watching and a little bit distracting. There were some slow parts, but it ended with fast beats and high energy.

Winter Repertory
Alaska Dance Theatre
February 27, 2009 at 7:30 P.M.
Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, Discovery Theatre