Brazilian and Russian dance

Over the last couple of weeks, I've seen two very different dance performances, but both were wonderful. The first was at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, which is changing its name to honour its biggest patron. The program was Reflections, bringing together 6 ballerinas who trained with the Bolshoi Academy.  A few of them are now with other dance companies, while the rest perform with the Bolshoi.  The best known of these are Natalia Osipova, Polina Semionova and Maria Kochetkova. Four men who also trained with the Bolshoi joined them, including Ivan Vasiliev, the best known of the four.  Each of the women was able to choose a contemporary choreographer to work with on creating a new piece. The evening was completed with Remansos by Nacho Duato, Pas de Trois by Balanchine and a wonderful new piece by Mauro Bigonzetti. This program made for a very long evening.

I had different reactions to the various premieres, some I loved, others were not so strong, but the dancing was of such a high calibre by every dancer that it took your breath away. They have such complete and total control over their bodies that they make every move look easy and fluid. One of my favourite moments, though, came from Vasiliev. The men's roles in the program were mostly supporting, but he danced in the Pas de Trois, and when it came time for his solo passes, he brought such amazing elevation, it was like gravity had no pull on him. Of course, the audience went wild! He made sure that in this female-centric show he brought some attention to what strong male dancing can be.

And then for something completely different, Grupo Corpo, a Brazilian modern dance company came to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. I really didn't know what to expect from this group. I had read good things about them, and I figured, there would be at least some good Brazilian music.  Well they were a wonderful surprise. Their dancing is completely unique, absolutely Brazilian and not like any modern style I've seen. There was very little posing or falling, and the dancers were almost in constant motion. Groups would form out of the same 3 or 4 people on a stage just by changing who was doing the same choreography, and dancers came in and out of groups simply by changing what they were dancing. The dancing was very light and airy, not grounded and earthbound, with lots of turning, jumping, some martial arts-like movements mixed with very balletic steps. The costumes were very simple and body-revealing, and the stage was mostly set with lighting (changing colours in one piece, dramatic use of spotlights in the other).

They performed two pieces, both very compelling, but there was a strong similarity to both pieces which made me wonder about how different their various pieces might be.

The audience was filled with Brazilians. There was a lot of chatter in Portuguese during the interval and the audience definitely had a distinctive dress code, very different from the usual ballet crowd!