Two choreographers made strong showings when Minnesota Dance Theatre kicked off its 60th anniversary and the fall season with a three-day performance last week at Southern Theater.
It was an intimate concert and featured intriguing musical selections and a push-pull between modern and contemporary dance. With a smaller company of dancers than MDT has presented in the past, the pared-down show offered a space for the two choreographic voices — Elayna Waxse and Alexander Hille — to shine.
First up was "Polaris," Waxse's short piece set to three works by composer Caroline Shaw. Eight dancers in long, flowing dresses channeled the murmuring of starlings as their grouping transformed throughout the space, remaining connected to one another even as Waxse's choreography had them exploring complex floor patterns.
Shaw's compositions echoed with harmonic sounds and pizzicato, and made for an ethereal accompaniment to Waxse's dreamy vision. "Polaris," a shortened way to say the Latin "stella polaris" (polar star), incorporated the dancers reaching heavenward. Whether they were taking in the beauty and power of the night sky, or becoming stars themselves as they orbited around in circular patterns, the piece created a feeling of revelry.
After that came "Divided We Fall," by Hille, a piece in which you could almost forget you were watching ballet. Performed en pointe, dancers ferociously intertwined with one another with lifts, spins and contortions. The high-velocity work was propelled forward with an anxious wandering as each of the four dancers pushed through as if trying to escape their current situations.
Set to Julien Tarride's relentless electronic music followed by a chilling version of Winston Tong's song "In a Manner of Speaking," covered by rock band Depeche Mode's Martin Gore, Hille's piece depicted characters reaching their boiling point. Tension built between the performers even as Hille crafted elegant sculptural poses made of bodies in space.
After an intermission, MDT reprised "Four Seasons," which Waxse created for a 2021 performance at Orchestra Hall with the choral group VocalEssence. At the Southern, MDT used a recording of VocalEssence singing its version of Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla's "The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires," complete with the ever present sounds of a bandoneon, a kind of concertina.
Like the jazzy tango style of Piazzolla's music, Waxse's work sparkled with tango beat. She also channeled a "West Side Story" aesthetic, with dancers crouching together and stepping forward as a clump, much like Jerome Robbins' iconic choreography of the Jets and Sharks.
The work featured seven performers who relished in the joy of the music, and had a luxurious sense of play. The unabashed delight in simply dancing made the modern work a satisfying conclusion to the evening.
