ICE THEATRE GLIDES IN: Skating Creates Speed, Drama
Tuesday, November 20, 2001 - GREELEY - At least some in the audience were probably not prepared for how noisy ice skating can be as the skate hits the ice with a solid "chunk," or for the debris as ice chips fly as a skater stops or pivots with the tip of the blade embedded in the ice. None of which detracts from the solid virtues of skating, the speed, grace and suggestion of danger.Combine all that with solid choreography and dance values, and you have the Ice Theatre of New York, which performed Friday and Saturday at the Union Colony Civic Center. Too bad no one in Denver thought to bring them in, because this is a company with much to offer both as entertainment and art.
Skating has some facts that are unique. The ability of a skater to hold a pose and still be in motion is one. Sheer speed is another. Those pivots with dazzling changes of direction are yet a third. Ballet dance would probably be willing to offer from any passing devil for any of these.
But there are trade-offs, too. Those rigid shoes, for one. Skating calls for stern dedication. Those static poses, moreover, must be properly cantilevered on ice, to avoid spills; no penche arabesque on the rocks! And one must give the aerial ticks to ballet.
Still, what can be accomplished in dance terms proved a pleasurable evening indeed. This began right off Elisa Monte's "The Draughtmen's Contact" proved to be a look at historical dancing - the quadrille and reel as reinterpreted on ice with a suggestion of square dancing about it as well.
The company is a small one; 13 members took bows. In some cases the solos and duets that commanded attention most, particularly the two numbers performed by David Liu's "Rituals in 7's" choreography by Liu with JoAnna Mendl Shaw, and "Gershwin," choreographed by JoJo Starbuck. In both cases the brilliantly controlled skating of Liu was paramount, as a harried businessman in the former, as an insouciant boulevardier in the latter. Another standout was Florentine Houdiniere in "Gitane," as the dancer-choreographer smoldered with gypsy flair.
Douglas Webster, associate director of the company, shows promise as a choreographer strictly for ice. His "Appalachia Waltz" (done with Shaw) was terrific in its musicality and imagination, " Sweet Spring" a visual delight and "Cabaret Manana" complete with sure reading of Latin attitudes.