Love is Ammon, Tallman, Ammon, Tallman, Tallman and Others

"Love: an internal affair" demonstrates once again that Ballet Nouveau Colorado's (BNC) dancers are awe-inspiring, and that just as inspiring is the choreographic abilities of some of those dancers. Opening February 12, 2010 at Denver's Performing Arts Center at PCS, BNC uses "Love" to present new choreography by dancers Jason Franklin, David Barbour, Sarah Tallman, and Damien Patterson, along with two works set by BNC Artistic Director Garrett Ammon. All of the works benefit greatly from BNC's awesome dancers, all are imminently watchable, and one, Sarah Tallman's relatively long "Beautiful Winter," shows wonderful choreographic sensibilities. On February 13th Tallman also danced in two other works, David Barbour's "Sunday Morning," a duet set on her and and Sean Watson, and in Ammon's poignant, and sometimes funny, "Smile."

In "Beautiful Winter" Tallman takes inspiration from cycles in our lives as reflected in cycles of nature, and the need to accept self and others to find love. She places much about those cycles in duets danced by Barbour and Meredith Strathmeyer, in which she uses Strathmeyer's length and Barbour's strength in elegant ways that vary from complex, to simple, to stunning stillness that she brings back often. Within the same space she interlaces duets by Elizabeth Towles and Franklin, Megan Coatney and Colby Foss, Julie Meng, and James Joyner, all of whom Strathmeyer and Barbour must accept as well as themselves. The "sensibilities part" resides in Tallman's abilities to choose and use diverse music - sometimes just letting it coexist with the dance - her movement choices - that at times use every bit of technique resident in the dancers and at other times are understated, or even still - her innate sense of performance life, and knowing just how to use repetition as anchors for the cycles she depicts.

Ammon's "Smile" deals with the anger a rejected woman feels, and tries to take out on garments left behind by a lover, only to find herself reliving the love affair as she dons those garments herself. Eventually she doffs those same garments, re-connects with self and seems determined to move on. On December 13th Tallman's sense of character and exquisite timing made this work especially poignant.