BWW Reviews: DANCE/DANCE - Passion Plays Out on Two Very Different Dance Floors

It was George Bernard Shaw who famously defined dancing as "the vertical expression of a horizontal desire." And indeed everything from classical ballet to hip-hop has presented humanity's most passionate and most tragic yearnings more artfully than real life ever could. This week that terpsichorean ardor was displayed in two very different productions on Dublin's south side; Tango Pasión at the Grand Canal Theatre and Ballet Ireland's Romeo and Juliet at the Gaiety Theatre.

Thanks to the popularity of television shows like Dancing with the Stars ballroom dance has crept back into the mainstream, so it's easy to see why the week-long engagement of Tango Pasión was a draw for Dublin's Grand Canal Theatre. Originally created in 1992, the dance musical features twelve tangueros, the accordion-laden sounds of an onstage sexteto, and Vanina Sol Tagini's warm vocals. The combination evokes images of the sultry South American cafes of old, which is just the environment choreographer Hector Zaraspe had in mind. Act I is set in the Buenos Aires suburbs of the 1940s; a time when the Argentine tango was danced by displaced immigrants and other unsavory characters, often in brothels. After the interval we are transported to the glossy world of contemporary tango, now considered a high class art.

If standard ballroom repertoire centers on rigid upper-body carriage, and the Latin dances the Cuban motion of the hips, the Argentine tango is all about legs -- legs that that kick, flick, leap, and extend, all with incredible speed and agility. Passion doesn't just encompass lust in the tango; there is also an inherent danger and even sadness behind the movement. Steps are fraught and taut; they cannot exist without a crackling chemistry between each pair, and this is something that Tango Pasión's couples nail. The swarthy men, with their slicked-back hair so wet water droplets sprayed the stage as they twirled, lead partners clad in dazzling high-cut gowns. The sizzle between them is palpable, from the sparkle in a dancer's eye to way each woman demonstrated an unbreakable connection and trust in her male partner.

Zaraspe, who has collaborated with Rudolph Nureyev and served as a faculty member at The Julliard School has done a good job of making the show accessible to both tango experts and complete novices. The first act was just 35 minutes long; something necessary given the show is comprised of just the one dance style and can seem repetitive. This is where a few creative touches get thrown in. In one of the last dances of the night the entire company sported expressionless white masks as they went through the steps. While their bodies retained the same rigid elegance, the obliteration of all facial expression and partner connection anesthetized the tango, proving it is just not itself without the pasión.

And what could be more passionate than the tale of Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers?

Ballet Ireland presents its take on Romeo and Juliet in a world premiere production at the Gaiety Theatre. Set to Sergei Prokofiev's gloriously dissonant score -- once declared "undanceable" by the Kirov Ballet -- this production features a brand new take by choreographer Morgann Runacre-Temple.

Now, I am admittedly biased, having twice seen Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet danced brilliantly at American Ballet Theatre. It is unfair to compare these two very different productions and I want to let Ballet Ireland's Romeo and Juliet stand on its own, but if you are going to tackle such iconic subject material, and to Prokofiev's music no less, you'll have a lot to live up to. So I have to admit I desperately missed MacMillan's fluid choreography, not to mention the "Dance of the Knights" swordplay...but, more than that, I missed the chemistry and passion that Romeo and Juliet should invoke. Zoe Ashe-Browne and David Horne danced the parts of the doomed pair adequately but gave the sense they were merely performing choreography. There was no connection; none of the trust and resulting abandon essential for a good partnership and which renders the tragic drama so compelling. Others in the company fared far better in this regard, most notably Kieran Stonely as Mercutio. The North-west England native showcased stellar technique and was instantly likeable as Romeo's sprightly sidekick. He remained committed throughout and may have been the most winning and expressive of the bunch.

The production took on the very Shakespearian guise of the play-within-a-play, retaining all the story's best bits and glossing over some of the extraneous village scenes so often the parlance of classical ballet. The curtain goes up on a present day prep school where the Montague and Capulet clans are replaced by rowdy students in pleated skirts and ties. The spartan set consists of a collection of grey tables alternately deconstructed to represent everything from the famous balcony to Juliet's funeral bier.

The school chaplain Francesc Fernandez breaks up a tussle while form mistress Amy Drew distributes costumes for what soon evolves into a school production of Romeo and Juliet. The high school motif is actually quite appropriate considering that Romeo and Juliet themselves were mere teenagers. Gradually, the students assume their characters' costumes while the form Mistress Becomes Juliet's nurse, and the chaplain, Friar Lawrence. The costumes were different colored shirts worn over sweat pants for the men, and light dresses for the women, preserving the production's stark atmosphere yet making it difficult to pick out who was who until some more of the obvious plot points had taken place. Juliet wore the same dress as many other dancers, for instance, and Lady Capulet looked to be same age as her daughter.

Runacre-Temple's choreography departs from the purely classical, integrating many interesting contemporary and even tai chi-like elements, but the result often leaves one wanting more. The amazing thing about ballet dancers is how they manage to make such excruciating choreography look effortless but Ballet Ireland's production, though technically well-danced, often looked every bit as difficult as it surely was. A stripped-own concept works well only as long as the emotional and choreographic content of the piece shines without the need for lavish sets and costumes. That is where the all-important chemistry must come into play. Still, if you're looking for an enjoyable new take on the Romeo and Juliet tale, this is certainly a worthy introduction. It's also a brand new production that will surely grow into itself as it continues to tour Ireland and the UK through mid-December.

So, in the realm of love represented on the dance floor sometimes tango trumps ballet, but thank goodness we have dance as an outlet for all those pesky human emotions. In whatever form it takes, choreographed passion is a most welcome escape.

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