THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 9, 1995 TAG: 9503090459
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: DANCE REVIEW
SOURCE: BY SUE SMALLWOOD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Combining the grace and discipline of classical ballet with the liberated expression of modern dance, Canada's most traveled cultural export, Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, presented a dazzling performance Wednesday evening in Hampton.
``Sweet Surrender,'' the opening work set to an original score by Francois Bourassa, launched the program's dynamic tone. The piece opened quietly with mellifluous partnering, then accelerated as the entire troupe took the stage in a sassy corps segment. Undulating hip and shoulder movements, angular ports de bras and canted arabesques underscored the playful, seductive mood.
The evening's highlight was ``Lovers,'' a versatile study of romantic relationships for four pairs set to a Keith Jarrett piano score. Scantily clad in fiery orange, Nathalie Huot and Edgar Zendejas illustrated love's pulse-quickening beginnings with flirty, give-and-take partnering.
Hua Fang Zhang, Les Ballets Jazz's standout female dancer, and Eric Miles portrayed pure sensuality, their bodies wrapping around each other like vines. Their lifts were dramatic, with Zhang unfolding into unusual, seemingly gravity-defying poses.
Susan Gaudreau and Mario Marcil depicted committed love through loaded gestures: Gaudreau slowly reaching for, then falling back upon Marcil; the pair's motions interlocking. Nina Goldman partnered by Robert Rubinger reflected a mature and mellowed love, their tandem movements slower and more sustained.
The final work, ``Fungus Amongus,'' set to a handful of jazz pieces varying in atmosphere and tempo, was a colorful amalgam of kinetic troupe work and pairs dancing vibrant scenes of streetwise seduction. ILLUSTRATION: DANCE REVIEW
Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal Wednesday night at Ogden Hall in
Hampton.
by CNB