Milwaukee Ballet’s ‘Encore’ for the Season

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“Fun” is the word I scribbled most often in my reviewer’s notebook during Milwaukee Ballet’s Encore. “LOL” was a close second. Bursts of surprised and delighted laughter peppered the studio theatre at the Baumgartner Center for Dance on opening night. The atmosphere was one of shared love and gratitude.

In my years as a dance writer, I’ve had opportunities to sit in on rehearsals. A performance in the Ballet’s home theatre is very much like that. It’s an honor to be that close to the dancers. You see into their eyes. Even playing characters, they are who they are. This is their life. They give all they’ve got, and that’s far more than physical skill.

The dancers were the unifying theme. Encore shows them off, of course, but it’s also a gift to them from artistic director Michael Pink, a chance to strengthen their skills and expand their stylistic range. It closes Pink’s 20th anniversary season, a season composed of the story ballets he’s famous for and that have come to characterize Milwaukee Ballet in the international dance world.

In contrast, Encore is bare stage, modest lighting, stock costumes, recorded music, and powerful human connection. The dancers welcome us to their community as collaborators in bringing this art form to life.

The one-hour show has five dances. The first is a scene from La Bayadére, made by the legendary Marius Petipa in 1877 for the Imperial Russian Ballet. It’s a classic example of classical ballet for dancers to humanize.

Exquisite Union

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As the central lovers, Lahna Vanderbush and Marko Micov executed the expected virtuosic jumps, turns, and lifts while freeing themselves from the outworn representations of gender the classical style embodies, and with no showing off. Micov was an unassuming prince; Vanderbush, a self-possessed young woman. They made a simple look, a shared smile, matter. They were joined by Itzel Hernandez, Daniela Maarraoui and Kristen Marshall performing in exquisite unison, and in solos that revealed their different personalities. Hernandez was especially impressive in the most demanding solo.

Michael Pink’s contemporary take on classical ballet, Aubade, followed. Here’s where the fun started. Davit Hovhannisyan and Alana Griffith were warm, contemporary lovers at the heart of the piece. They were joined by the dancer-athletes Garrett Glassman and Barry Molina, and part of a caring, trusting community that also included Josiah Cook, Craig Freigang, Michael Rinderle, Eric Figueredo, Hailee Rodriquez and Alyssa Schilke.

The show’s oldest work, a classical pas de deux by Jules Perrot from his 1844 ballet Esmeralda, was next. Marize Fumero and Randy Crespo took the stage like the stars they are—which is to say, with wit, sensitivity, and determination. Where Crespo bravely flings himself through the classical stunts, Fumero keeps her graceful poise. In solos and partnered, they’re both sensational.

The laughter was pretty constant once Annia Hidalgo arrived as a kind of cartoon in pink ribbons, dancing a silly cut from a 1940 ballet, Graduation Ball, by the Russian American star David Lichine, who also worked in Hollywood musicals. Hidalgo’s charisma is so strong, so entertaining, that it’s easy to forget the technical mastery that supports it. The ever-transparent Alana Griffith brough her own kind of joy to the story, all “happy to be here, and this is for you.” Barry Molina arrived, as a drumming toy soldier, repeatedly twirling his drumsticks in mid-air and catching them perfectly. Josiah Cook’s grin had me laughing out loud at some point. Alyssa Schilke, Maarraoui and Rodrigues joined the cartoon show, aiming to please and succeeding.

The last piece went further. Italian choreographer Riccardo de Negris won the audience prize at Milwaukee Ballet’s 2015 Genesis International Choreographic Competition for this dance, called Can I Say Something…?? It’s a strange, dazzling dream about a community of young folk led by Parker Brasser-Vos, with Marie Harrison-Collins, Lizzie Tripp, Hernandez, Rodrigues, Figueredo, Freigang and Glassman. The men are all in clown face, but not the women. I don’t know why. The inventive choreography is crazy contemporary, as is the wild, heavily percussive music. We might be in a kind of dance hall with youthful people carried away by whatever drives them. When the music stopped, the dancers began to sing, as if they couldn’t stop. I didn’t want them to.

Encore continues with performances Thursday through Sunday, June 8-11, at the Baumgartner Center for Dance. Visit milwaukeeballet.org or call 414-902-2103.