Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Dance roundup: ONE DANCE reboots traditional Korean dance & Ballet Theatre concludes its Met season with a restrained ROMEO & JULIET

• By drediman
• July 24, 2023
• No Comments

This past weekend, the Lincoln Center campus was abuzz with a pair of high profile dance performances, both of which playing to packed houses. Here are my thoughts on them.

ONE DANCE
Seoul Metropolitan Dance Theatre
David H. Koch Theater

This weekend at the David H. Koch Theatre, I caught a sold out performance of Seoul Metropolitan Dance Theatre’s production of One Dance (RECOMMENDED). Perhaps the centerpiece of Lincoln Center’s Korean Arts Week, the evening length dance piece – which has been masterminded by director Kuho Jung – takes its inspiration from traditional Korean ceremonial dance. Unfolding over the course of just over an hour, One Dance is a seamless progression of four acts that reboots the ancient dance vocabulary (characterized by repetitive gestural choreography performed in unison), gradually introducing modern dance elements into the mix. As such, the work is a hypnotic, slow burn that ultimately catches fire in a captivating final act that comes alive with its own choreographic aesthetic. It’s a large scale work that’s visually striking to behold, from the spectacle of the precisely formed geometric configurations of the choreography to the stylish fashion-backward/forward costume design.

ROMEO AND JULIET
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House

Then playing just next door at the glamorous Metropolitan Opera House, I had the opportunity of attending the closing production of American Ballet Theatre’s summer season – the company’s faintly dusty warhorse production of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s sure-fire staging of Romeo and Juliet (RECOMMENDED). As the famously doomed lovers, principals Herman Cornejo and Cassandra Trenary took to the roles with tasteful restraint. In their hands, their tragic story took on a human-scale that threatened to get swallowed by the pageantry around it. It’s a valid and fascinating take leans in realism rather than operatic emotions. Throughout, Cornejo and Trenary exhibited easy, believable chemistry, even if I missed some of the sizzling sensuality of other pairings. Suffice to say, as terrific technicians, both danced the parts beautifully. The rest of the production was in largely good shape, even if the street scenes could have used some tightening up. Nevertheless, the the dramatic trajectory of Shakespeare’s tragedy remains potently intact. Nearly stealing the show as Mercutio was Jake Roxander, who danced with spectacular abandon and style.