TURN IT OUT WITH TILER PECK & FRIENDS

Review by Celia Ipiotis

All photos by Christopher Duggan

A brilliant dancer, Tiler Peck has charted a career that inexplicably revolves around a world-class position as Principal Dancer with NYC Ballet, choreographer, director and curator of projects that tour here and abroad. City Center invited Peck to present an evening of contemporary choreography featuring top tier dancers in an array of works by William Forsythe, Tiler Peck, Alonzo King, Michelle Dorrance, and Jillian Meyers.

Taut and compelling, Forsythe’s The Barre Project, Blake Works II to a slamming sound score by Blake thrust the confident dancers–Peck, Lex Ishimoto, Roman Mejia, and Jeffrey Cirio into paroxysms of off-kilter leg lifts, and torso plunges. A ballet barre, the ritual home where dancers hone their art, was illuminated (Brandon Sterling Baker) against a black background.

One after another, dancers placed one hand on the barre and jump started their endlessly compelling solos and duets. The bare legged Peck flicked her hands and snapped her legs piercing the space like balletic shrapnel. Charged with dance adrenalin, the dancers focused the blindingly fast whipping turns and leg beats.

Unlike traditional port de bras. Forsythe’s distinctive arms slashed the air swinging up and down, propelling dancers into reels of combinations that showed off their tenacity and versatility. Each dancer brought a personal edge to the work; Peck’s uncanny musicality, Mejia’s flair and technical oomph, Cirio’s  fluidity and Ishimoto’s exuberance.

Tiler Peck’s Thousandth Orange (2019) drew on the music of the great Caroline Shaw to forge a well-constructed ballet for India Bradley, Chun Wai Chan, Christopher Grant, Mira Nadon, Quinn, Starner and Ryan Tomash. Performed by the Bergamot Quartet, the patterns formed upright balletic positions that peeled down to the floor. Lithesome Mira Nadon floated overhead in the arms of Tomash and Bradley flashed her technical precision. Skillfully constructed, Peck ‘s forms eased into a playful engagement.

Showcasing the most excellent Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia, Alonzo King constructed a duet, Swift Arrow (2021) to a score by the lauded jazz pianist and curator Jason Moran played live by Sequoia Snyder. Sleek and taut, dancers at the top of their game sinuously folded into and out of each other’s bodies — Peck’s bare legs, Mejia’s bare chest.  The score’s angularity was reflected in the geometric choreographic shapes like Mejia’s long lunge holding Peck’s arms in a tilted arabesque. They fit together.

For the grand finale, Peck engaged the talents of tap dancer Michelle Dorrance, and Jillian Myers along with herself to create a work called  Time Spell (2022). A feel good piece, it drew smiles from all the audience members –a wonderful sight these days.

Ballet dancers met up with tap dancers exchanging steps and kinetic glee. On stage was a miked wooden platform that amplified the tap sounds, and became the meeting ground for the tapping sections that were artfully blended with the modern ballet choreography.

Of course, Dorrance’s lanky, extroverted tapping was a highlight along with the scintillating duet between Peck and Dorrance buoyed by the music of Aaron Marcellus and Penelope Wendtlandt.

After the shouts and applause dissipated, a seasoned dance-going audience member told me he’d “never had more fun at a dance performance in his life.”

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Celia Ipiotis