Review: Charlotte Ballet gloriously stretches boundaries in season opener

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Riveting ‘Breaking Boundaries’ is a pairing of pieces that invite the audience to experience what ballet can do in the hands of those willing to explore

Charlotte Ballet dancers perform in “From Africa With Love,” a world-premiere piece in Charlotte Ballet’s fall opener, "Breaking Boundaries," which runs through Oct. 28 at the company’s black box theater on North Tryon Street. (Photo by Taylor Jones)

by Lawrence Toppman

One of my 47 favorite moments in Charlotte Ballet’s season-opening production came midway through “Kamuyot,” the post-intermission half of the mind-expanding “Breaking Boundaries.”

The audience had returned to the small theater in the McBride-Bonnefoux Center for Dance to find their seats replaced by three backless benches surrounding the stage. In the midst of Ohad Naharin’s freewheeling choreography, the dancers suddenly paused and walked slowly around the square, a few feet from the first row. Every so often, they stopped and silently shook hands with audience members.

You could see them panting from continuous exertion. You saw sweat beading on foreheads and trickling down checks. You saw their eyes, wary or welcoming or bemused, their previously invisible tattoos, wisps of flyaway hair escaping from once-perfect ponytails. Suddenly, they were more human. They had broken the most important boundary: the separation of the artist, distantly executing steps, from the admiring audience. When they later invited people onstage to boogie with them, it seemed like a natural move.

Alejandro Cerrudo introduced the program by reminding us that, though he’s in his second season as artistic director, this is the first for which he chose all the pieces: “So from now on, blame everything on me.” His pairing of “Kamuyot” and the world premiere of “From Africa With Love” made this the most exciting program in memory at Charlotte Ballet. His young company, full of dancers with strong bodies and personalities, seem ready to do anything they’re asked.

Both pieces stretched the concept of “ballet” like an infinitely expanding rubber band yet retained familiar elements: steps en pointe, the leaps known as jetés, extensions of arms and legs in traditional partnerings (however brief). Both left you riveted by what ballet can do in the hands of people who respect yet reshape it.

South African choreographer Mthuthuzeli November set us down on the shadowy veldt in “Africa,” a nonstop ensemble piece that gave only one couple chances to shine. (I saw the vivid Raven Barkley and Rees Launer.) Dim lighting and faux-grass skirts provided a tribal feeling; you could imagine dancers supplicating God, performing courtship rituals, preparing for a hunt, imitating animals. I especially liked the high crooked arms that resembled flamingos’ necks — or were those giraffes?

The dancers’ feet drummed, shaking the small theater; their bodies trembled in quiet ecstasy. November left behind ballet’s European roots but not the essence of ballet, and the dancers transitioned seamlessly from one mood to another.

The same tireless crew blazed through “Kamuyot,” a word meaning “quantities” in Hebrew. (Naharin, an Israeli, says his titles often mean nothing and may be chosen by chance, as this was.) The opening solo held some of his signature moves: rubber-legged near-falls, a sinuous torso, a head flung back in abandon. Later came other familiar gestures, as the entire ensemble collapsed at once or groups of dancers froze while one wriggled through a solo.

The eclectic score, which flowed from the post-punk Japanese band Yapoos to Beethoven to the Ventures’ “Hawaii 5-0,” seemed all of a piece with what happened onstage. Some events made sense, such as two lascivious guys preening for an inattentive woman. Some didn’t: Why did Barkley run around yelling “Bobby? Bobby?” before jumping into party mode with her pals?

Was the guy slinking around at floor level, goofily inspecting the outstretched toe of a ballerina from inches away, a foot fetishist? Was he paying worshipful homage to the most crucial part of a dancer’s anatomy? Either way, this piece fitted into Naharin’s crazy quilt as entertainingly as the rest.

If you’re going:

Charlotte Ballet’s fall opener, “Breaking Boundaries,” runs through Oct. 28 in the black-box theater at the Charlotte Ballet Center for Dance, 701 N. Tryon St. Tickets start at $30.

Lawrence Toppman covered the arts for 40 years at The Charlotte Observer before retiring in 2020. Now, he’s back in the critic’s chair for the Charlotte Ledger — look for his reviews about two times each month in the Charlotte Ledger.

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