Presented by and at The Construction Company, 10 E. 18 St., NYC, June 2-4.
Choreographer Bryan Hayes' program of new works, presented at The Construction Company, was full of surprises—the most delightful of which was "Again," where an elegant solo Hayes danced to a dark Mozart sonata played live by pianist Marija Ilic. How completely unexpected it was, at an experimental performance venue, to see an aging male dancer, clothed in loose black garb, dance a solo that was so classically grounded. Basing his choreography on the formal curves and lines of the ballet vocabulary, Hayes intermittently spices his movement phrases with spinal undulations or flexed ankles, and imbues his ballet posturings with a modern dancer's acute awareness of the surrounding space.
"Again" is for those who love dance technique. It celebrates, not the virtuosity technique can spawn, but the innate beauty of a ballet-trained artist sensitively searching for a way to co-exist with the moods of Mozart. Hayes ultimately decides to let the contrasting energies radiating from the piano guide his journey. At one point, he seems to discover an object, which he handles with care. It means something to him, though not to us. But that's okay, we don't want to intrude or disturb him. Suddenly, he notices our presence and awakens to the responsibilities of his job as a performer. To please us, he makes an oh-so-gorgeous pose and ends his dance with a gracious bow.
Hayes again surprises us with his trio, "Arabesque," a dance of perpetual circling. It is accompanied first by bare droning tones and then by heated Arabic music that suggests images of belly dancing. Hayes' dancers, however, seem not to hear the earthy sounds and move with a cool restraint that seems to draw them further into their own realm as the piece progresses. Oddly, as they resist the powerful music and cling with increasing determination to the formal execution of their patterns, the choreography grows in strength and clarity.
Hayes's program was completed by two additional pieces: "A Dancer's Life," a quirky, unpredictable parody of a ballerina, featuring soloist Carolyn Lord, and "Swapshot Trouble," a video-performance collaboration with Sally Silvers, which was a tedious exploitation of the special effects one can create with a video camera.