Impulse is the mischief in the creation of art because it's so much more attractive to the artist than discipline, honed craftsmanship, and clarity of purpose. In BalletCollective's presentation at the Joyce Theater of The Impulse Wants Company, a new work choreographed by Director/Resident Choreographer Troy Schumacher, those were the three elements missing. The company's media talking point that the ballet was created in just ten days signaled a departure from the group's original and admirable artistic method of slow-simmering its creations, workshopping them in Michigan, and revising them before presentation on the New York stage.
The Impulse Wants Company seemed like a beach romp interrupted by serious solos that didn't really convey the reasons for all the dramatic contemplation. A poem by Cynthia Zarin apparently was part of the collaboration and was inserted in the Playbill. Whether or not it helped the dance product can't be said. Choreographic looseness and dependence on pedestrian-style movements to link the piece's important moments now seem to be the company's adopted style. Regardless of the choreography, it was, as always, a pleasure to see this collection of dancers in whatever it was they were doing. And with the addition of Kaitlyn Gilliland, a much admired NYCB corps dancer who retired after only a few seasons, it wouldn't matter if the dancers were riding blue Citi Bikes around on the stage – Haglund would still want to see them.
A revised version of an earlier work, Epistasis, comprised the last half of the evening and included the strongest choreography. The solo originally danced by Teresa Reichlen was superbly performed by Kaitlyn Gilliland, a dancer of similar goddess-like qualities and wingspan. Having seen the original work just twice, it was hard for Haglund to determine what had been revised, but the whole piece seemed to better convey the concept of epistasis, which in genetic science is the concept of how genes are modified by other genes. Individual dancers would set off movement in others to create a choreographic chain reaction that grew into energetic ensemble work. Taylor Stanley and Lauren King reprised their intriguing solos and along with Ashley Laracey made the case for being three of the more interesting dance/actors on the New York stages today. Among the group of eight NYCB dancers promoted to soloist by Peter Martins last winter, all three of them can command attention even when they are standing perfectly still. Stanley, in particular, has a gripping stage presence of such magnetic force that you wished he'd never left the stage during the performance.
David Prottas, Meagan Mann, and Harrison Coll rounded out the cast and contributed as equals to the other artists. Prottas' taxing solo in Epistasis was a huge dose of grand allegro marked by impressive thrust and speed.
The American Contemporary Music Ensemble performed the music by composer Ellis Ludwig-Leone for Impulse and by composers Nick Jaina, Nathan Langston, Amanda Lawrence, and David Moss for Epistasis.
Since BalletCollective is such a collaborative project, and since it's hard to say that anyone's performance stood above all others', Haglund will bestow this Pump Bump Award on the entire ensemble.
Editor's note:
BalletCollective's Director Troy Schumacher dropped us a note to clarify that he'd been working on Impulse in bits and pieces since November 2012, and that the "10 day" reference made by the company was about being able to put together and clarify what had been worked on and for Troy to choreograph the bulk of the piece before a private workshop in NYC in June.