Friday’s tour de force performance featured thequartet’s Grammy-award winning classical string translation of the JohnColtrane jazz masterpiece, A Love Supreme.With two violins, a cello and viola, the multitalented quartet demonstrated thetimelessness of the seminal 1965 work that fused bebop with free jazz stylings.
Saturday was just as groundbreaking, as the Chicago-basedLuna Negra Dance Theater performed three works, building to a triumphantcrescendo for the evening’s finale. In the 22-minute opener Nube Blanco (White Cloud),choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoaadded a twist to the traditional Spanish footwork of flamenco dancing byincluding modern flair and humor. In one section, dancers comically wore onered shoe while incorporating classic ballet moves.
Sugar in theRaw (Azucar Cruda) mesmerized in its undulating sensuality as the dancerswrithed and intertwined with one another underneath separate overheadspotlights, pairing up and separating to evoke the raw nature of the human formand its inner emotions.
In the final piece, Luna Negra founder EduardoVilaro took the 2002 Turtle Island/Paquito D’Rivera recording, Danzón (named after the classic Cubandance), and celebrated its culture while reviving its joyous spirit. Like apied piper to an enchanted child, jazz clarinet virtuoso D’Rivera moved aboutthe stage and effortlessly ran scales as a male dancer playfully responded tothe music. The evening was a delight for all the senses.
