When Garrett Ammon arrived as artistic director of Ballet Nouveau Colorado in August 2007, he brought his ample if still-maturing talents as a choreographer in addition to his skills as a company builder and leader.
The Broomfield-based troupe is showcasing Ammon’s dancemaking abilities with an audience-pleasing program of rock ballets that continues for three more performances this weekend in the Pinnacle Events Center at 1001 W. 84th Ave.
Although two of the offerings debuted at different times in 2007 and the third is a premiere, they clearly fit together as a loosely integrated triptych, with certain shared themes and choreographic motifs and a common up-energy vibe.
They are billed as ballets, and they do contain balletic elements (excluding, notably, point work), but they draw primarily from modern dance and show dancing. If many of the individual movements, especially in the ensemble sections, are not especially original, Ammon has found ways to recontextualize them in fresh, interesting ways.
All three selections (reviewed Sunday afternoon) could use some further editing and they contain their share of other flaws, but their strengths outshine their weaknesses. Displaying a keen responsiveness to the flow, beat and mood of the music he used for each piece, Ammon managed to give all three pieces a distinctive identity.
Ammon’s particular strength is creating compelling, cohesive duets, which can be found in all three works. A good example is his wittily quirky pas de deux from the second section of “An Occasional Dream,” the program’s culminating premiere.
In this scene, David Barbour tries to grab a valise — the work’s central property — while a controlling Meredith Strathmeyer keeps it away from him. At one point, she licks her hand and pats down his hair; at another, she pulls him up with a hand defiantly under his chin.
“An Occasional Dream,” set to music by David Bowie, is the longest and most complex of the three offerings. It contains some inventive theatrical devices, such as Strathmeyer’s finger clicks, which, like a slide projector, produce a black-out and instant scene change.
Making inventive use of props, especially in the perky opening duet, and smartly deploying multiple poles of action, Ammon created the most inventive and compositionally sophisticated choreography of the program in the early portions of this work.
But unfortunately, that inventiveness breaks down and much of the rest of the work, especially the repetitive ensemble sections, begins to feel derivative of what was seen earlier on the program.
All three of these pieces possess loose narratives. As suggested by the recurrence of apples and other clues, this work draws on the biblical story of Adam and Eve. But the exact story line that Ammon is trying to convey remains frustratingly elusive.
Narrative ambiguity also hurts the evening’s opening work, “Mediate,” set to the music of INXS. About two-thirds of the way through, all six dancers undress to their underwear for reasons that are not clear. The piece ends oddly with a duet between Elizabeth Towles and James Joyner, their underwear hardly flattering their movement.
While the theme of love runs through all these pieces, it is most evident in the darkest of the evening’s offerings, “Love of My Life,” set to the music of Queen. If the work’s basic narrative thrust is clear, it nonetheless runs a bit long.
Whatever strikes there might be against the choreography, it is impossible not to be impressed by Ballet Nouveau’s 12 dancers. This company has made enormous strides in the little more than a year since Ammon’s arrival.
Five new dancers have been added in 2007 and 2008. They have clearly raised the technical proficiency and athleticism of the company, especially Jason Franklin, who has a central role in “Love of My Life,” and Megan Coatney, who makes her presence felt in “An Occasional Dream.”
What just a few years ago was a largely ignored, peripheral company is emerging in Denver as an increasingly viable competitor to the Colorado Ballet.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
