Balanchine and Beyond review: Diablo Ballet

'Balanchine and Beyond' review:

Short and sweet were the bywords for Diablo Ballet's "Balanchine and Beyond" program, which opened in Walnut Creek on Friday night.

The company has in recent seasons developed a workable template for smaller-scale stagings with an informal "Inside the Dancer's Studio" performance series at the Shadelands Arts Center. The nearly hour-long program is a little more involved than a studio showing, but less grand than a theatrical show. The milieu feels more economical, but also more convivial, and clever lighting by Jack Carpenter lent the proceedings a coolly elegant atmosphere.

The evening got off to a rousing start with Robert Dekkers and Hiromi Yamazaki in the pas de deux from George Balanchine's "Stars and Stripes." Dekkers and Yamazaki offer a clean, unmannered approach to the steps, but also winsome sweetness in the interplay between El Capitan and his Liberty Belle. Dekkers finds a crystal-clear musicality in the John Philip Sousa marches, while Yamazaki's jumps and beats are bright and cheerful.

The best part is that all that is delivered enthusiastically and yet without a trace of irony, which is a credit to the meticulous and thoughtful coaching by Christopher Stowell, who staged the duet along with Artistic Director Lauren Jonas.

The "Beyond" part of the program included "From Another Time," a contemporary premiere from former Diablo Ballet dancer Tina Kay Bohnstedt, set to an original score by East Bay native Justin Levitt, who also accompanied the dancers on piano. Shifting moods, from tender to unsettled, colored the enigmatic relationships between the two women and three men. David Fonnegra and Jennier Friel Dille were particularly absorbing in their duet, while Edward Stegge was nostalgic rather than lonely as an odd man out among couples.

Dekkers returned, this time with Mayo Sugano in a pas de deux from "They've Lost Their Footing," a rumbustious company staple created by KT Nelson in 1999.

"See Saw," the final piece of the evening, was choreographed by Dekkers, his third work for the company. Dekkers revealed that he once played cello and chose as his inspiration the first movement from Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, performed live by Phyllis Kamrin, Amy Brodo and Ian Scarfe.

"See Saw" is more mature than the name suggests, and Dekkers' style here was formally balletic from the waist down, with wildly angular contemporary shapes and impulses from the waist up. Pleasing patterns mark the arrangements for the four women and three men, although the crowded spacing on the limited Shadelands stage occasionally looked muddy. Rosselyn Ramirez was eye-catching in heartfelt duets and solos that spoke of innocence and yearning in a succinct and compact work that never outstayed its welcome.