Genesis performed by the Milwaukee Ballet

                  When the brochure for the Milwaukee Ballet’s 2012-13 season arrived last year I came across Genesis in the line-up.  An International Choreographic Competition, I knew it was something I wanted to see.  I was curious to discover what up and coming choreographers were creating.  For months I waited for this event.  Finally, this past weekend, it arrived.            

                The competition featured three different choreographers.  Each created a segment of dance about twenty minutes long.  All had their own story, costumes, lighting, music, and dancers.  There were two awards the choreographers had a chance to win.  First was the one chosen by a panel judges.  The other was the Audience Favorite Award which was decided by the audience.  After every performance, the audience was asked to vote for their favorite segment.  As all three works were quite different from each other, I was very interested to see the results of the voting.

                Even though I had a favorite segment, I found something positive about each one.  The first work I saw was “Biorhythm” choreographed by James Gregg.  This piece had my favorite costumes.  The costumes throughout all the works were simple.  What made me like Mr. Gregg’s more was they had a bit extra detail.  The back of the tops the women wore had laces, or something to that effect.  It was a nice extra design element to have with otherwise basic costume pieces.  Part way through the segment trench coats were added.  While the trench coats were worn, a fluidity was created which softened the otherwise intentionally jagged movements. 

                The second work was Gabrielle Lamb’s “Manifold”.  The dancers in this one got into some really interesting poses.  It often felt as though I was watching dancing yoga.  That is how contorted things seemed at times.  I do not know if yoga was one of Ms. Lamb’s influences, but it was really interesting to see.  What I also liked was watching the dancers become an object.  During one part of the work many of the dancers came together to create a human vehicle.  This vehicle carried another dancer on stage and then off again when his part was done.  While the dancer was on it, he worked with another to make it appear as though he was pedaling and moving the vehicle himself.  That was a really good effect.        

                Lauren Edson’s “I Hit the Ground” was the last work I watched.  This one was the most classical of the three entries.  I would say it was classical with a bit of a modern twist.  A lot of the poses had harder edges than I am used to seeing.  They were a lot more rigid and angular.  The steps and fluid movements that went with the hard poses is where the classical ballet elements came in.  I liked seeing how the two different thoughts were put together.  Also with this work, the story was clearer than the other two.  Based on their movements, I felt I understood the relationships between the dancers.  The music choices helped with this understanding as well.

                One of my favorite things about the performance had nothing to do with the dancers or choreographers at all.  While I waited for one of the segments to begin, I discovered the lighting designer, Jason Fassl, had a profile in the event’s program.  I think this is fantastic.  All too often the people behind the scenes get forgotten.  I am really happy Mr. Fassl was not this time.  Especially since the lighting was such a huge part of each work.  Without a physical set, the lighting created the set for the dancers.  Lighting is hard enough on its own.  To have it serve as both lighting and set, I imagine that must have been a challenge.  I am glad Mr. Fassl got the credit he deserved.                 

                As I mentioned earlier, there were two awards that could be received. The one awarded by the judges went to Gabrielle Lamb for “Manifold.” Lauren Edson received the Audience Favorite Award for “I Hit the Ground”. I want to say congratulations to all three of the choreographers, and everyone else involved with the production. Everyone did a great job and I hope to see this competition again.