Review: Music by Yo-Yo Ma, Dessa enlivens Sewell show

Music is the star player in James Sewell Ballet's latest performance at the Cowles Center.

Between the richly complex compositions by Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble and the bewitching lyrics and catchy tunes of local songstress/poet/rapper Dessa, the contemporary ballet company has exciting recorded material to draw from in search of its own creations.

The best moments of the show happen when the movement and the music act out a kind of dialogue, not synonymous yet somehow attuned to each other.

"Silk Road," set to music by Ma and the ensemble, is full of these inspired junctures. James Sewell's choreography throws a wide net of movement styles, at times discovering striking shapes and angles as the music — a fusion of contemporary orchestral and percussive sounds that is colored with different cultural influences, surprises and delights.

In the first section of "Into the Spin," set to Dessa's "Matches to Paper Dolls," Sewell has choreographed a lively ballet piece that somehow works perfectly with Dessa's hip-hop sound. It's as if it were the most natural thing in the world for the dancers to jeté and pirouette to music that otherwise would have people shaking it down at a dance club.

With costumes designed by Fritz Masten that include high-waisted suspender pants and striped shirts for the men and flapper-style miniskirts for the women, the dancers take on an almost circus aesthetic. It's high-concept and fun, something that could be in a music video.

Not all of Dessa's songs find such a perfect marriage with the movement, though. Some of the choreography gets a little too literal, such as in "Warsaw," choreographed by Kelly Vittetoe, which appears more like ballet dancers attempting to do hip-hop dancing, rather than transforming this music, using it as one element in creating something entirely new.

As a dancer, however, Vittetoe is incredible to watch. With her tall stature and limbs that seem to go on for days, she captivates in every piece she performs, especially in "Dusty Realms," choreographed by Norbert de la Cruz III.

Nic Lincoln, who is moving on from the company, also had his moment in the spotlight, choreographing two sections of "Into the Spin," plus a duet with Deanna Gooding in "Tryst," choreographed by Sewell to music by J.S. Bach.

Sheila Regan is a Minneapolis writer.