Craft

“Journey”, “Rondo Ma Non Troppo”,
“Prufrock”, “Extremely Close”, “Songs by Cole”
and music by Chris Rogerson and Zoltan Kodaly
Chamber Dance Project
Harman Hall
Washington, DC
June 22, 2019 evening

The format chosen by artistic director Diane Coburn Bruning for Chamber Project’s summer program was an alternation of dance and music-only selections. All the pieces but one were short and for the one long number, the last, there was both dancing and just-concertizing. This format functioned well and, likely, will be used again in the future. Coburn as choreographer was represented by two older works and the new “Prufrock”. Her competence is apparent in all three pieces. The opening  “Journey” is a display of female/male partnering in acrobatic neoclassical style. The mechanics of holding, embracing, lifting and levering are explored. Its flow of movement, the phrasing, gains continuity as the piece progresses. Concurrent emotions are implied. Music for Coburn’s  “Journey” was the Adagio from Samuel Barber’s String Quartet, Opus 11 with stately yet also challenging dancing being done by Luz San Miguel and Davit Hovhannisyan. Seeing a well known choreographer credited for this duet wouldn’t have surprised me. I preferred Bruning’s “Journey” to Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s  “Rondo”, a double duet around, under and on a round café table.The two pairs in “Rondo” agitate incessantly. Expressive body motions and postures dominate any technical steps and stances. Thematically there was nothing I could see that corresponded to the title of Franz Schubert’s music, the Allegro of his Quartet 14 in D Minor – “Death and the Maiden”. Francesca Dugarte, Julia Erickson, Hovhannisyan and Jonathan Jordan exhausted the squabble Lopez Ochoa had conceived. Between “Journey” and “Rondo” there was concertizing of Chris Rogerson’s first string quartet, titled “Duel”. A vigorous “Duo” by Zoltan Kodaly for violin (Claudia Chudacoff) and cello (Sean Neidlinger) separated “Rondo” from “Prufrock”. Is there, too, conflict in “Prufrock” or only pacification? Bruning courageously tackled T.S. Eliot’s poem, one of this American writer’s earliest attempts to become a British gentleman. Since it was published in 1915, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” has been both mimicked and mocked. Bruning shows the Prufrock character perched precariously on a stool. It is an image worthy of some of Eliot’s most dynamic lines. The woman presumed to be addressed by the love song is, aptly, a shadowy presence. In addition, a small chorus of dancers stands and steps and a narrator (Matt Torney) reads out the poem’s 140 lines. The atmosphere is grim but not tragic. Bruning sees Prufrock as having less class than he might ascribe to himself. Music by James Bigbee Garver glues the images, actions and words together.  

The dance duet “Extremely Close” by Alejandro Cerrudo opened the program’s second half. It is most memorable for a stage full of feathery ice. This choreography has Daniel Roberge stalking. He sweeps up the abundant precipitation as well as the pliant Dugarte in his long black cloak. The accompanying music was by Philip Glass. As the program’s light hearted conclusion came Bruning’s seven “Songs by Cole” Porter, rendered by vocalist Shacara Rogers, vocalist and pianist Barry Gurley and bass player Scott Giambusso. The dancers – Dugarte, Erickson, Hovhannisyan, Jordan, Roberge and San Luz, all company members except (at this performance) Ryan Carlough – took part. Still looking boyish was Jonathan Jordan, currently from Ballet Met in Columbus, Ohio but a long time favorite at The Washington Ballet. Responsible, too, for the program’s quality musicianship were Cherim Smith (violinist), Derek Smith (violist), Sophia Kim Cook (pianist) and Joanna Owen (violinist). 

Will choreography by Coburn go further? Beyond competent craft there is individuality. On future programs I look forward to seeing dance that is unmistakably by Diane Coburn Bruning.     

copyright 2019 by George Jackson