Cedar Lake Dance Ensemble
An upstart on the crowded New York dance scene, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet has elbowed its way into a choice location among Chelsea’s art galleries and is making itself heard above the din of competing attractions.
Reorganized in the fall of 2005, under the artistic direction of distinguished former Alvin Ailey principal Benoit-Swan Pouffer, the troupe presented its second showcase at its new home theater in January.
Pouffer’s mission is to generate new repertoire by inviting promising young choreographers to create dances around a common theme. Most of the performers are young and unproven. Like the choreographers, they were selected for their exciting potential.
Because Cedar Lake is in the research-and-development business, the outcome of its experiments will vary. Yet the troupe has a significant advantage. It receives eye-popping support from philanthropist Nancy Walton Laurie, a sincere and fabulously wealthy dance lover (thank you, God!), who bought a building, ordered the construction of the Cedar Lake theater and signs the checks that permit its artists to work under enviable conditions.
Cedar Lake hit pay dirt early, at the January program titled “Dream Collaborations,” featuring three dances inspired by “the dream as an escape from reality.” The opening piece, Lasting Imprint, by Nicolo Fonte, startled with the clarity of its formal design, yet also packed an emotional wallop. The dance suggested the psychic transformation of a protagonist who encounters different characters, possibly in his dreams. Like a dream (or real-life relationships), the piece evolved organically, its measured pace interrupted by sudden, unforeseen events.
As dancer Jason Kittelberger entered the empty space, alone and in silence, Fonte established a spare, oneiric atmosphere using nothing but the dancer’s twisted movements and dull, white light. A corps appeared dramatically, assembling the dance piece by piece, with dancers entering in blocks from different directions.
Another man, Christopher Adams, befriended Kittelberger, but Jessica Coleman Scott rushed in and clutched Kittelberger for herself. The choreographer established Scott’s importance again, later, when she lay twisted and immobile in a floor spot as the hero, upstage, devoured her with fascinated eyes. Their inevitable pas de deux ended in a stalemate, however, as both turned away and covered their faces. Music by Steve Reich, arriving late, heightened the emotional affect of the stage picture without contributing meaningfully to the dance’s structure. In a denouement rife with implication, Kittelberger smeared himself with paint and returned to Scott, yet she seemed perplexed and chillingly alarmed by what he had become.
The young dancers, who have made terrific progress since Cedar Lake’s debut, certainly deepened their understanding of movement dynamics and characterization through this encounter with Fonte’s work.
Though well crafted, neither of the other works on the program—Pouffer’s Between Here and Now, with its imaginative use of the upstage wall; and Emily Molnar’s dashing ensemble piece, 4 Flights down—registered the same impact.
Robert Johnson is reviews editor of Pointe and dance critic of Newark’s The Star-Ledger.
