For dance fans who prefer pure movement to storytelling and novelty over tradition, the Colorado Ballet’s annual showcase of world premieres and recent classics is always the most anticipated event of the company’s season.
This year’s edition of “The Repertory Series,” which opened Saturday and continues for six more performances through March 21, offers an abundance of high-voltage dancing and some fascinating choreography. But, overall, it fails to equal the impact of recent installments.
The main drawback is the comparative lack of variety. All three of the offerings are set to classical music, all feature significant doses of dancing on point and all are overtly rooted in ballet, however updated it might be.
This is a far cry from some previous years, when certain selections strayed far from classical ballet and lineups offered sharp contrasts in look and approach. In 2005, for example, the three sharply divergent works were based in neoclassicism, hip-hop and salsa.
Such diversity accentuates the distinctive identity of each offering and enhances its appeal. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true, as the two overly similar premieres heading this program make clear, however strong they might be on their own or in a different context.
Leading off is Edwaard Liang’s “Feast of the Gods,” with its sculptural forms and mix of delicate intimacy and high- energy athleticism.
A key ingredient in this work is its unusual patterns and alignments, but that said, there were still times Saturday when dancers appeared off axis and incorrectly spaced.
This work offers an array of strong performances, including a sleek, technically challenging duet between Chandra Kuykendall and Alexei Tyukov. Also deserving mention are a spunky solo by Sharon Wehner and her subsequent duo with Jesse Marks.
Amy Seiwert’s “Things Left Unsaid,” set to Felix Mendelssohn’s “Songs Without Words,” opens with a series of striking visual effects — movements that ripple across the 13-member ensemble and groups of men and women which converge and blend into each other.
Seiwert’s musically responsive choreography is firmly rooted in classical ballet, but she puts her own contemporary twist on it, with unexpected motifs, such as a spin in which the man grasps the point shoe on the woman’s upstretched leg.
Like Liang, Seiwert puts an emphasis on sculptural poses, sometimes with offsetting hand positions and interlocking bodies, and stresses precise, often geometric arm alignments.
Highlights include a nicely variegated trio with Koichi Kubo, Dana Benton and Asuka Sasaki, as well as an inventive, wonderfully humorous duo with Caitlin Valentine and the always dynamic Sean Omandam.
Rounding out the program is famed choreographer Twyla Tharp’s “In the Upper Room,” a kind of contemporary classic which debuted in 1986 and is performed regularly worldwide.
Set on a fog-shrouded stage, on which the performers seem to emerge and recede, the piece offsets a group of ballet dancers with others in workout attire whose movements are inspired by an aerobics class.
Tharp beautifully weaves together multiple poles of simultaneous action and constantly changes the configurations of dancers, keeping the action fresh while still conveying the iterative nature of Philip Glass’ minimalist music.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
“The Repertory Series”
Ballet. Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets. The Colorado Ballet presents world premieres by Edwaard Liang and Amy Seiwert, as well as a contemporary classicTwyla Tharp’s “In the Upper Room.” 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, 6:30 p.m. March 18, 7:30 p.m. March 20, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. March 21. 2 hours, 20 minutes. $19-$129. Fifty $10 tickets for each performance available two hours before curtain. 303-837-8888 or
