Indianapolis Ballet's "Eclectica!" goes the full range of dance diversity at District Theatre

Without trying to be so eclectic as to strike audiences as a grab bag of Halloween weekend treats, Indianapolis Ballet put a full autumn harvest into "Eclectica!"

The District Theatre proved once again that its wide, shallow stage can accommodate expansive choreography, with movement that gracefully avoids running into the walls or the audience. At the same time, it can look as if full-bore energy can be zestfully applied to the task in a limited space.

I caught the show Saturday in its next-to-last performance. Shining light on its educational function as well, the company is observing the 20th anniversary of its school — the foundation of the revival that Victoria Lyras and her associates have lent to generating and sustaining professional ballet in Indianapolis. 

Carmon: Saying it all in "Words Are Missing"

"Eclectica" thus worked in two troupes of tap-dance students into a program that was crowned by ballet dancers holding principal and artist positions. The vehicle for them — 17 dancers in all — was "Words Are Missing" by guest choreographer Sean Aaron Carmon. It was a revelation to see choreographic genius applied to dancers Carmon has just recently gotten to know. His principal association here is as rehearsal director for Dance Kaleidoscope.

As Carmon told the audience at intermission Saturday evening, he observed the company intensively just before casting to accentuate their best qualities. He was clearly putting contemporary-dance touches on them individually and collectively, while the formality of classic ballet was treated with a respectful eye.

 Carmon also mentioned that he is devoted to fashioning dances out of life experiences that have come his way as a gay black man pursuing the profession of dance in America. While using such a triply challenged identity as an artistic basis, his goal is "to allow the audience to escape into another world." 

Ada Peruzzi, Luzemberg Santana in "Words Are Missing"

Carmon put his large cast through a fast-changing set of patterns in front of a backdrop that resembled a patchy urban wall undergoing surface decay. There were momentary partnerings that were about so much more than defying gravity (if the "Wicked" allusion cannot be avoided). It was rather a matter of acting in unceasing partnership with that universal force, so that lifts that swooped in low arcs, for instance, verged on the unbelievable.

The program opened with "Coven," choreographed by company artist member Avery Ward. It had moments of whimsy amid its menacing approach by three presumed witches  to a young man, danced by Logan O'Neal. Jacqueline Hodek, Grace McCutcheon and Natalie Higle went about mysteriously conjuring like the "weird sisters" in "Macbeth." 

A more germane allusion, it seemed to me, may have been to the Card Trio in Bizet''s "Carmen," when one of  the figures shuffles a deck, here as if searching for clues to the man's fate. No personal tragedy of a freedom-loving gypsy is suggested. The somewhat forced aspect of what happens to the man in the course of the ritual had the musical accompaniment of "Lacrimosa" from Mozart's Requiem. It seemed that sublime piece was being pressed into the service of something not quite worthy of it, but the message was nonetheless unmistakable. 

Logan O'Neal's "Inner Voice" featured Ward as a dancer, together with Journie Kalous in the forefront of

Direction or stasis? "Inner Voice" balances choice.

six participants responding to a dance vocabulary focusing on hands, palms outstretched, sometimes closing into grasps,  responding to touch in both welcoming and resisting ways. The paired dancers leading the way seem to have been representing silently the inner voice in the piece's title, making it external and somewhat articulate. I found the tension well designed, with each gesture linked into a plausible whole.

Classic ballet in a somewhat sublimated form contributed to "Unknown Artists," by Abigail Einterz and Grace Mullins. It's for an ensemble that journeys with abandon into contemporary dance, creating a happy blend of styles that made the piece essentially about style itself. It thus achieved dialogue between dance genres often widely separated in practice and support. 

Evoking a classic: Kamikusa and Santana in "Giselle" 

It was right for the program to plant itself in the tradition at some point.  And that came with  the Pas de Deux from "Giselle." It was danced with elegance and commitment Saturday evening by Yoshiko Kamikusa and Luzemberg Santana. 

Then, to provide a proper cushion between that and the galvanic charms of "Words Are Missing," came "Chasing Rabbits" by Francis Veyette of the Indianapolis Ballet staff. The musical selections that shaped the implied narrative were powerfully familiar, going from the raspy Tom Waits through the borrowed psychedelic fantasy of the Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" into a melting romantic ballad by Nat King Cole. The progression  amounted to a hopeful scenario. We almost can't have too many of those now. This chase seemed a lofty one. 

[Photos: Sonja Clark, Moonbug Photography]