DANCE THEATER OF HARLEM

 Dance Theater of presented an electric performance at City Center.The company embraced contrast: striking colors, jazzy pointe work, classical sequences alongside pop-culture references, the iconic Firebird, and a DJ-ed afterparty. 

John Tara’s Firebird with set and costume design specifically for DTH by Geoffrey Holder, began with a red light dancing along a flowery, painted scrim until curtain rose, revealing a young man, Micah Bullard, swiftly joined by the Firebird, Ariana Dickerson. Her feathered, red tutu fluttered with each step,, rippling through her body. A single feather floated down, and she disappeared. A parade of maidens in flowing pink dresses ran out, focused intently on the Princess of Unreal Beauty, Delaney Washington, in blue. When Micha arrived, the maidens quickly shielded the princess, but despite historic pantomiming shouting to keep him away, the connection ultimately brought the two together. 

Their delicate partnering was interrupted abruptly as creatures emerged from the forest backdrop. Visually unsettling, they wore jester-style hats curled over their heads, and masks with long, drooping noses. The Prince of Evil, David Wright, challenged the young man. Chaos, distinguished by the flowing brown fabric of the evil characters, spread amidst the flowing tulle of the maidens, twirling through the contemporary, acrobatic movement of the minions. Micah lifted the feather of the Firebird and she emerged sending the evil away. Her powerful presence and birdlike variation, with passionate port de bras, soared across the stage.  A final portrait of happy people assembled in flowing gowns, the Firebird, suspended from above, was topped by a halo of feathers and golden spikes.

Artistic director Robert Garland presented Higher Ground and Nyman String Quartet No.2. In both pieces, Garland challenged traditional ballet landscapes. A striking section in “Higher Grounds”, set to Stevie Wonder songs, took place as the company came onstage with their phones. Selfies, phone calls, scrolling, searching. It was pop culture on a high art stage. Nyman, set to the classical score of the same name, received a punch of emotion in the middle in a solo by Kouadio Davis halting time. No matter the style or pace of musical accompaniment, the dancers matched the tone and enriched the scores, with jazzy, emotional, and uplifted movement. 

For Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, Ballard and Wright wore vibrant fuchsia biketards, and the women shocked the audience with chartreuse leotards (by Stephen Galloway) connected to flat, bouncy, circular tutus of the same shade. Colors aside, the artistic ability to turn every single note, in an increasingly quick score, into visual articulation showed off the legacy of DTH artists in their 57th season. With large sections of unison work, and the vibrancy of the costumes, this DTH performance was a musical and visual treat. 

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY – Emma Edy Morris