Toronto’s Ballet Creole has put together an energetic dance show with one remounted piece and one new choreography

This past Wednesday afternoon I was lucky enough to be invited into a rehearsal of Ballet Creole’s next show River. What a wonderful treat to watch the company in action only a week before they open at the Fleck Dance Theatre.

Two full-length works will be included in the evening. The first, entitled Trouchka, is a remount of a piece which was originally part of the company’s 2011 season. Artistic Director Patrick Parson has used Igor Stravinsky’s Petrouchka as his inspiration. The cast of 7 dancers take on the roles of giant puppets which have come to life.

I found the detail with which Parson described the movement intention to his dancers quite interesting. Every gesture had a clear purpose which he was working hard to bring out in the dancers’ presentation of the work. They were very focused that day on absorbing all of Parson’s feedback while dealing with some fast-paced material.

Stravinsky’s music moves along at quite a quick pace and Parson has not missed a beat in his choreography. It should make for quite a lively first half of the programming.

The second piece, which will be a part of the River program, is a new work by Associate Choreographer Gaby Kamino entitled Fallen Angels. The work, for four men and four women, has the dancers portraying angels who have chosen to live on earth.

Overall I was very excited by what I saw on Wednesday in studio. It looks like Ballet Creole is preparing to present quite a strong repertoire of work. As always their dancers are powerful performers and the pieces included in River seem quite visually appealing. I look forward to getting to see the final product once the audience is in attendance and the stage is lit.

Details

• River is playing at the Fleck Dance Theatre from April 4-6
• Shows run Thursday to Saturday at 8pm
• Tickets are $20-$45
• Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 416-973-4000