When it comes to duets – what’s not to love? Put eight or ten dancers on a stage and their relationship to each other often comes down to nothing more compelling than geometry. A duet is immediately comprehensible. It’s just two people, each exploring their connection to the other. It’s human, essential, and as simple or complex as human relationships are allowed to be. Whether it’s romantic or tragic or confrontational it is, at its best, a pure expression of that emotion, enhanced by the immediacy of physicality. It is the form that allows for, and actually invites, our emotional transference, giving us a personal, almost visceral connection to the performers. You might not understand or even like “dance”, but if you’ve got a single romantic bone in your body, you gotta love a great duet.
On this evening, Convergence Ballet gave us three memorable duets. I’m cheating a bit here because, Mythologies: Aphrodite, was a full ballet program, complete with an ensemble and multiple movements. One of those movements was an extended duet, isolated from the ensemble. For my purposes, I am considering that section, and the two dancers who performed it, on its own.
Program: Mythologies: Aphrodite (partial)
Choreographer: Lainie Seretis
Performers: Elijah Evans, Mariana Perez
This piece placed us unmistakably in the world of formal ballet, Mariana Perez on pointe, Elijah Evans with classic footwork.
There was a formality in their opening movement, gestures mirrored – unconsciously graceful, yet precise, suggesting an invisible connection, a demonstration of synchronicity to which they remained finely attuned throughout the piece.
Perez was a sprite of a thing, who could float across the stage on pointe. Her diminutive stature was offset by the glow she brought to the stage. She managed to shine, even against an ensemble composed entirely of bright lights.
She was a fairy dancer, practically designed to make partners look good – her lifts manageable even by slight male counterparts. However, that advantage was lost on Evans whose sturdy frame make the already easy seem effortless. I was ready to be impressed, and it took only moments. Almost immediately, he lifted her straight overhead, his arms extended, her back arched, and paraded her across the stage. Even more impressive than the lift was the release, slowly lowering her, with great control, inching her back to the ground before they resumed. If that demonstration weren’t enough, moments later, when he is bent over, arms arched like some fearsome bird, his shoulders rippling, it was immediately clear to me that Perez was in good hands.
If I seem unnaturally fixated on the performers’ ability to do impressive lifts, let me explain. A duet without a few great lifts is just couple dancing. Becoming airborne is THE defining act of a duet, it’s the take-your-breath-away surprising moment that transforms special into spectacle. It’s the thing we can only experience in the theater and only with dancers who have the ability to leave us a little awestruck. I have spent too much time suffering the less-talented to be generous about mediocre attempts. I came to this piece with great expectations, and Perez and Evans did not disappoint.
That is not to say I didn’t also appreciate the traditional balletic motifs – Evans circumnavigating Perez on pointe like a classic courtier, demonstrations of flexibility and uncanny symmetry from both. All of this accentuated their grace and paid homage to ballet’s artistic tradition. But it was their connections, lifts so fluid they seemed thoughtless – the toss, the carries, the captured fall, that were truly captivating. I may not fully understand ballet, but I recognize beauty, and they were lovely together.
Program: Sharing
Choreographer: Kevin Jenkins
Performers: Alexander Patrick-Rolando, Julie Zukatis
I liked this piece instantly, but it took me a minute to figure out why. From the opening, the two dancers, leaning forcibly into each other, were supporting each other’s weight, neck to neck, shoulder to shoulder. This was breaking the mold and I knew we were in for something different. The subsequent movement in this composition, tender and beautifully paced, was over before I knew it, leaving me wondering – what did I just see?
This was one of those artisan, gourmet dishes, the smallest of portions, served elegantly arranged at the very center of the plate – not meant to be consumed but appreciated, savored, bite by bite. I had to rethink this piece, attempt to remember each element and surmise the serious intention with which it was constructed.
So, back to the beginning.
The opening wasn’t just still, it was stasis. The dancers leaning into each other – two opposing forces in equilibrium. The equality here wasn’t just a nicety, it was necessary. It required a dancer of Julie Zukatis’ physical stature to pair with Alexander Patrick-Rolando – (Alex’s), tall frame to achieve the necessary balance. Beyond that, the sweeping, romantic movements that characterized this work presumed an element of elegance. We expect a prima donna to be elegant, and Zukatis, with her unaffected poise and slow, graceful articulations, was mesmerizing to watch. Unfortunately, that isn’t a given for male dancers – unless, of course, it’s Alex. Alex can do “elegant” like some ballet dancers can do a plie – it’s automatic and comes with the package. (I’m not actually qualified to use ballet similes – but you get the idea.) Together, they absolutely looked the part, and I’m sure a still-frame of the opening was exactly what the choreographer had in mind.
I think the defining characteristic of this piece was indicated in the title, Sharing. The couple were frequently sharing weight, sharing connections. It was often linear and momentarily still, with invisible magnets that that allowed them to connect at improbable angles. In tension, leaning back, holding each other’s arms – and compression, leaning into each other for support. The urge for, and dependency on, their connection was a physical reality.
These intersections, these abstract moments composed of static lines and angles – were then interspersed with some of the loveliest of free-flowing connections, all accompanied by a delicate, romantic score. It felt mature and measured, their movement thoughtful, their connections sincere. This is going to come out wrong, but I don’t know how else to say it. There was something so organic in Zukatis’ movement that it didn’t feel like an orchestrated ballet. It was pure flow, and Alex, for his part, flowed with her – guiding her turns, elevating her effortlessly, and supporting her when she surrendered the arch of her back.
The final two moves – a seamless, swirling lift to the shoulder, resolving to a version of the opening, their two bodies leaning into each other, was a complete summary of their dance. It was genuinely lovely. And all too soon, it was over.
Program: Dreaming of You
Choreographer: Elijah Evans
Performers: Sebastian Martinez, Cecelia Smith
If Sharing was all angles and points of connection and stately reserve between the dancers, Dreaming of You, began in entanglement and proceeded to a slow, measured chaos. It was all curves and invisible elastic – a bond between Ceclia Smith and Sebastian Martinez that would only stretch so far before flinging them back together bodily, a sequence that could turn separation into a flying leap into an embrace.
I don’t know if it was Smith’s simple, unassuming costume or her bearing, but there was something about her stage presence – she exuded a visceral, earthy quality that electrified and animated her character, which certainly served this choreography well. She didn’t dance with her partner as much as she confronted and complimented and rejected him repeatedly – surrendering to his embraces and lifts, then abandoning him on the floor. The tension in the connections and disconnections in this piece was a thing to behold. There was attraction, passion and something entirely else.
Martinez, for his part, continually presented her with a gravitational center that she could not resist. His lifts were often a series of fluid aerial connections and carries. He proved himself a complete partner, though it was never entirely clear if it was meant to represent attraction or survival. At various points, they alternately attracted, rejected and saved each other – an unpredictable series of escape, pursuit, engagement, collapse and resurrection.
There was a brief period where the music dropped out. It was a hold-your-breath moment where only Smith was moving. It seemed like what proceeded was less a solo than gathering herself in isolation before approaching Martinez again in a final sequence that found them both supine, embracing each other on the floor before rising in one, last, tentative engagement.
Whatever that was on stage, for Martinez and Smith, it mattered deeply. And because of that, we were also fully engaged. It was compelling.
Conclusion
I have to preface my conclusion with an observation:
In the formula for duets,1+1=magic, male dancers are, sadly, the weak link. Sometimes that is literal, with men who are better at pirouettes than bench presses and struggle visibly to lift and carry their partner. Other times, it’s just an awkwardness – born, I assume, of inexperience or lack of practice with the specific move. The grimace, the silent grunt, the hesitation, the added oomph – are all painfully visible from the audience and can really kill the moment. These are the times I find myself muttering under my breath, “You don’t have to be a great dancer – you just have to make HER look great. You had one job! ONE job!”
There is, regrettably, a shortage of great male dancers locally. Even established companies struggle to find and retain a single, qualified, male with the necessary versatility and charisma to be a true leading man. With Mixed Repertory, Convergence was able to field three that easily fit that definition. I don’t know if I was more impressed or relieved.
What made this collection of duets so interesting for me wasn’t just the talent of the Convergence dancers or the quality of the performances, it was the impressive range the program managed to present in this same, minimalistic format.
In its essential form – a duet is just two people engaging, disconnecting and reengaging. And there are only so many basic motions you can utilize to accomplish these connections. Yet, somehow, the choreography for each of these presentations managed to be absolutely distinctive in style and substance. It seemed like an evolution from formal to abstract to freeform – a characterization that probably only works in my head but gave me a framework to consider the unique qualities of each.
And, finally, the thing that elevates this series of duets to art – they each managed to create a different color temperature for the same, universal, human emotion – this often problematic, but irresistible, yearning for the other.
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