Reviews

DANCE REVIEW: "Crosscurrents is a Breath of Fresh Air"

By Theodore Bale, Herald Correspondent, 4/14/2001

"Crosscurrents," recent works by Rebecca Rice, at Boston Ballet Thursday night. If you're interested in seeing new work by local choreographers, performed by some of the finest ballet dancers in town, chances are you've recently visited the Boston Ballet Grand Studio. On Thursday night, choreographer Rebecca Rice presented a program of her own works, aptly titled "Crosscurrents." It continued the excellence seen in other recent programs at Boston Ballet's 19 Clarendon St. studio, namely "Beyond Boundaries" and last month's "Dance on the Top Floor." Rice has a strong background in both modern dance and ballet, though the pieces she presented Thursday leaned toward the modern idiom. She studied at the Limon School, and sweeping phrasal rhythm, reminiscent of Jose Limon's style, was a common denominator. Two extraordinary solos were presented. The more exuberant of these was 1998's "Crosscurrents," set to an original score by Boston composer Grayson Hugh. This well-made, inspired piece was danced with passion by Isadora Wolfe. The other solo, "Blue Ivory," explored darker territory. Rice created the dance in 1999 for Jennifer Gelfand, and Nao Kusuzaki gave it a personal and bracing interpretation Thursday. Rice's familiarity with the Denishawn tradition might be one reason why she chose Erik Satie's enigmatic "Gnossiennes" as accompaniment, because it's often associated with a solo by dance pioneer Ted Shawn. Unfortunately, the delicate score was given a harsh performance by pianist Raht Ketusingha. Splendid ensemble works rounded out the program. "Paradigm," danced by seven women to a Bach concerto, was an impressive lexicon of Rice's style that also contained a fine array of inventive floor work. "Illuminations," from 1999, is a dance from the god realm, danced with youthful vigor and conviction by six women and four men. Rice has used Handel's "Concerti Grossi, Opus 6" to generate an explosive extravaganza in the tradition of Paul Taylor, with stunning solos for Kusuzaki and Boston Ballet corps member Nick Mishoe. The dances were interspersed with live piano performances by Robert Kelly and Morris Pleasure.