Los Angeles-based choreographer Raiford Rogers has discarded the pointe shoe and invented a distinctly original style of modern ballet. He builds his dances out of familiar classical ballet steps, but imposes peculiar head and upper-body movements on them, which results in a markedly different kind of balletic look. His dancers do sautés with rounded shoulders and downward focus. Grand pliés in first position tilt sideward in the rib cage and collapse to the floor. Rogers' alterations to the classical lexicon are not as extreme, nor as visually striking, as Balanchine's, but they issue dancing that is quite emotionally affecting, though not in a messy, modern-dance, abandon-all-the-rules manner. Rogers' choreography feels self-expressive and driven by internal motivations while remaining deceptively pristine-looking in form and design.
Raiford Rogers Modern Ballet, the choreographer's troupe of well-trained West Coast dancers, gave stunning interpretation to two of Rogers' major works in a recent appearance at Dance Theater Workshop. "Wishes and Turns", originally choreographed by Rogers in 1985 and revised in 2004, featured astounding dancing by Lisa Gillespie, who also demonstrated acute acting ability. As she dances, she lets us know that a lot is happening emotionally inside of her, but never allows her feelings to spill out and muddle up the choreography. There's almost a coldness to the way Rogers' dancers relate to one another. They maintain a deliberate emotional distance, touching and connecting physically, though refraining from any outpouring of emotion.
The most interesting aspect of "In C" was Rogers' defiance of the musical score, the seminal 1964 minimalist piece composed by Terry Riley that inspired the revolutionary work of composers Philip Glass and Steve Reich. Against the music's pulsating repetitive rhythms, Rogers pits slow, sustained balances, high extensions, and soft turning phrases -- to mesmerizing effect.
As the work progresses, the dancers take off into big, leaping phrases that soar loftily over the top of the increasing busyness of the music. The sounds form a tight, firm base, supporting but never controlling Rogers' wonderfully free-spirited choreography.
Lisa Jo Sagolla is a dance historian, critic, choreographer, and Lecturer in Dance Education at Columbia University. She holds an Ed.D. in art education from Columbia and writes for Back Stage and Dance Teacher.
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