Ballet Creole

Reviewed by Paula Citron

Ballet Creole
Choreography by Patrick Parson, Gabby Kamino, Debbie Wilson, Danny Grossman and José Carret Morejón
Fleck Dance Theatre
Apr. 7 to 9, 2011

Ballet Creole should have a national profile. It’s a company of accomplished dancers and ambitious choreography. The latest repertory program included three world premieres and two classic revivals.

Artistic director Patrick Parson keeps challenging himself, and this time, took on no less an icon than Petrouchka. Igor Stravinsky originally composed the one-act ballet score for choreographer Michel Fokine in 1911.

Parson, who calls his work Trouchka, has kept only the idea of puppets. For the length of the piece, he has come up with a plethora of choreography that evokes doll-like, robotic movement, and Stravinsky’s musical accents and many moods drive the movement.

The other premieres were Cuban-born choreographer José Carret Morejón’s feisty The Antagonist, which depicts the duel of the sexes, and Gabby Kamino’s dramatic, bare-chested duet, which translates into Your Body That I Love.

The two revivals were Canadian classics – Debbie Wilson’s poignant Raphael is whispering (1998), and Danny Grossman’s much-loved Inching (1976).

Why isn’t Ballet Creole touring?