Saturday, September 19, 2015

OKC BALLET'S
EXURGENCY: A
TRIPLE BILL
EXCITING

By Nancy Condit
Review



     Exciting is the word that described Oklahoma City Ballet's add-on opener Exurgency: A Triple Bill
last night at Oklahoma City Community College's Visual & Performing Arts Center Theatre.  The
program will be repeated at 8:00 p.m. tonight Saturday, September 19th.

     Artistic director Robert Mills' well chosen program of contemporary and classical ballets was performed by a physically flexible company equally able to perform works from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

     One of the nicest additions was the live performance of cellist and composer Zoe Keating, composer of Exurgency. Her layering of her recorded live music from her computer was visually apparent, while she joined her selections, making it sound like an orchestra. Matthew Neenan choreographed the contemporary pointe ballet for its premiere performance with the OKC Ballet on February 7, 2014, and was restaged by OKC Ballet's ballet master Jacob Sparso. Please see my review in the post of February 14, 2014 for the
very nice ballet that received a standing o.

     Choreographer Brian Enos' Speaking in Spheres was also enthusiastically received by the full house. Enos very effectively used the women in the pointe ballet in second position on point with hands sharply pointed down to give angles to the single women. The men in the contemporary point ballet were full of undirected energy until one by one the men and women joined and walked through the the door at the back of the stage.

     Yui Sato made a very nice debut as choreographer of Ambiguous, particularly in the first section of the contemporary ballet.

     Miki Kawamura was outstanding for her ability to be lifted and remain horizontal to the stage in Exurgency. Ronnie Underwood and Sato were also very good.

     Milena Garcia and Julio Concepcion made a nice debut in the 19th century Don Quixote, pas de deux from Act III, to Petipa's choreography, in glorious costumes courtesy of the Louisville Ballet.

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