Dance Review | State Street Ballet’s ‘Other Voices’ Closed out Season in Moving Fashion

The Final Performance Transcended Language and Dance Style

State Street Ballet performs 'Common Ground' | Photo: Mitty Carter

Last week, State Street Ballet closed out its season with the innovative Other Voices, a collection of five works that push the boundaries of dance and embrace contemporary stylings.

In their opening remarks, executive director Cecily MacDougall and artistic director Megan Philipp reflected on a season that saw the premiere of three pieces commissioned by State Street Ballet, timeless favorites like the Nutcracker, and outreach to some 10,000 California students. The directors gave the audience a sneak peek into parts of next season — State Street Ballet’s 30th — which will include the world premiere of The Little Mermaid.

The powerful program that followed demonstrated the company’s steadfast dedication to the craft, three decades in the making. With thoughtfully designed costumes, brilliant lighting design, and fearlessly vulnerable choreography, each piece felt like a world unto itself.

As We Always Have, the first work of the night, featured 12 dancers in pairs. Laura Eisenhower, the choreographer, took inspiration from the shifting nature of life — the many bonds we form and then break, the ways we change, and the ways we stay the same. The short piece felt intimate in moments and raucous, even chaotic, in others. A fusion of contemporary and classical elements added to the fluid performance.

While many of the pieces were inspired by more contemporary forms, the second work of the evening, choreographed by Nilas Martins, pulled from a classic and ballet-centric place. Three dancers on pointe danced to a concerto by Arcangelo Corelli, shifting effortlessly between light and airy moments to solemn and slow.

The last two pieces featured in the first act played on modern dance and intense emotion. The S.I.T., choreographed by Royce Zachary, was inspired by “life itself,” and is the only work to feature music with lyrics. “Don’t let go,” cried PJ Morton, as the dancers huddled together in slippery and fluid motion under bright pools of light. In the next work, A Warm Window, choreographer Nicole Powell pulls from the concept of resilience. This modern piece featured the sound of a freeway as dancers mimicked mundane actions from their everyday lives. The piece soon shifted into a kind of celebration, with uptempo music and a groovy feel — a joyful moment of escapism to finish off the last piece of the act.

Common Ground, which made up the entire second act, was first performed by State Street Ballet in 2015. Much of the company appeared on stage for this sweeping performance choreographed by Edgar Zendejas, which uses Vivaldi’s Four Seasons recomposed by Max Richter. With moments of joy, sorrow, and rage, the piece transcends language and fuses dance styles to explore the seasons of our lives to close out the evening.

With the current season now over, the Company turns to its 30th season. Tickets for next season go on sale July 1, with an option to subscribe to all four performances for 30 percent off. Visit statestreetballet.com for more information.