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<\/a>Municipal Ballet Co. and Holy Water Buffalo in rehearsal. Courtesy Municipal Ballet Co.<\/p><\/div>\n
Before the final performance of Municipal Ballet Co.\u2019s \u201cOh Yeah! A Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll Ballet,\u201d Sarah Longoria, the company\u2019s director, ended her curtain speech by sincerely thanking the uncommonly boisterous and large audience for taking a chance on ballet.\u00a0 The challenge of getting the general public excited about performances is ever present in the minds and conversations of dancers and dance makers, especially those moving in the realm of concert dance.\u00a0 As keepers of an art form often seen as unapproachably insular, we seem to endlessly brainstorm community involvement plans, collaborations, and outreach-based performances with the hope of enticing someone with nothing to do on a Saturday night to venture into a dance space and experience what we hope are interesting, challenging, even fun works of physical and artistic prowess.<\/p>\n
Municipal Ballet Co. seems to have discovered the secret to drawing in an enthusiastic audience.\u00a0 When I came to the State Room this past Saturday, the atypical dance venue was filled to the brim with chatty, excited viewers there to see the company\u2019s evening-length performance.\u00a0 Sponsored by Craft Lake City, whose influence was apparent in the company\u2019s screen printed posters and T-shirts, the show was a distinctly local venture. Quite literally every element of the evening was danced, choreographed, sung, made, or brewed with a Utah connection.\u00a0 Seven Salt Lake City- based dancers performed the choreography of a host of local choreographers to the music of Heber City\u2019s Holy Water Buffalo.\u00a0 This collection of performing artists held rehearsals open to the Salt Lake community at the downtown library. \u00a0 The huge Municipal Ballet Co. sign in the lobby was created by Salt Lake City artist Trent Call.\u00a0 The bar was even stocked with beers from Desert Edge Pub in Trolley Square and wines vented by Longoria\u2019s family winery.\u00a0Their efforts at community involvement were clearly effective.\u00a0 The venue was packed with a diverse mixture of casual balletomanes, Holy Water Buffalo fans, and even a few people who seemed to have wandered into the well-known State Street music venue.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the secret to filling all those seats with excited viewers was stepping outside of traditional dance theaters.\u00a0 Despite being designed with musicians in mind, the State Room made an enjoyably intimate dance space.\u00a0 Keeping the practical, undraped stage of a music venue lent the evening a welcoming, casual quality that at times felt more like a house show than a formal performance.\u00a0 Between sections, the dancers occupied an open rest area that mirrored the performance space of the band.\u00a0 Just as you saw the musicians wiping the sweat from their faces and adjusting their instruments between songs, you viewed the intimate backstage moments and transitions usually hidden by blackouts and curtains.\u00a0 I found myself drawn to the often missed moments of preparation and rest: the exchange between partners after a pas de deux, one dancer\u2019s charmingly untechnical knock-kneed resting position, or the focused stretching of a dancer steeling herself for an intense solo.\u00a0 I would have appreciated seeing the unusual choice of venue acknowledged beyond the in-between moments and more in the actual dancing.\u00a0 There seemed to be a lack of consideration for the venue\u2019s limitations that, if utilized, could have added interest to the generally conventional use of space.<\/p>\n
Maybe the Municipal Ballet Co.\u2019s magic formula for drawing a crowd isn\u2019t performing in a new space but is simply collaborating with a solidly talented rock band.\u00a0 I must confess, I only recognized Holy Water Buffalo from occasional KRCL shout outs, but their youthful charm and impeccable, flowing manes \u00e0 la Almost Famous easily won me over. The band brought silly stage banter and winning grins in spades. Their charisma was unavoidably engaging.\u00a0 They even got a few eager ladies in the audience to start an impromptu auction for a communal sweat rag, surely a first for a dance concert.<\/p>\n
Holy Water Buffalo\u2019s joviality bled into the dancing, adding unabashed fun to choreography that was widely diverse in both style and success. Ranging from classical pas de deux straight out of a partnering class to sock-clad, slippery contemporary movement, \u201cOh Yeah!\u201d employed a generally classical ballet vocabulary accented by detailed gestural phrases.\u00a0 Much of the choreography didn\u2019t match the live music\u2019s verve, seeming like a loosely connected addition rather than an integral part of the overall performance. There were two bright exceptions, a trio choreographed by Jessica Liu and a duet by Sayoke Knode. Both of these sections took a cue from the music\u2019s spirit and played in a sunny, smooth quality with brilliant, precise movement.\u00a0 As the dancers wove themselves into intricate, sliding partnerships, it seemed as if an elaborate game of Chutes and Ladders was coming to life.\u00a0 Both sections featured Jessica Liu and Brian Nelson, dancers that possessed a vividness and clarity that managed to escape cold correctness.\u00a0 They were delightfully uninhibited and supremely connected to the musicians. Cynthia Jackson also stood out, bringing a relaxed precision and liveliness to all her movements.<\/p>\n
Ballet is too often a dance form stereotyped as at best uptight and at worst old-fashioned.\u00a0 As the last of the ten sections began, the lead singer for Holy Water Buffalo jokingly referenced this when he advised the audience, \u201cBe quiet\u2026 The dancers are here!\u201d The response of the dancers to the singer\u2019s quip is likely the real secret to Municipal Ballet Co.\u2019s success.\u00a0 All seven, with joyful ease, laughed as they took their starting positions and began to dance.<\/p>\n
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