Guests choreograph original pieces for Friends University fall ballet

Tipped off that the Friends University ballet program is strong this year, particularly on the female side, two out-of-state choreographers decided to put the students to the test.

By all accounts, they passed. The students will dance two original pieces and reprise a third during their fall concert this weekend.

“I was really impressed,” said Denver-based choreographer James Wallace, who created one of the original pieces. “I kind of went into the studio thinking that I would need to sort of lesson the choreography so that it would work better for them. But I found I was able to create a work that I would create for my own professional company.”

Wallace’s piece, “The End is the Beginning,” is considered something of a departure for the Friends program.

“Even though I’m a classically trained ballet dancer, I tend to take that classical ballet technique and twist it and contort it and lengthen it and deepen it down to the floor and break beyond the boundaries that normally contain it,” Wallace said.

Wallace said he conceived of the dance after going through a “personally traumatic situation. It kind of explores how we respond when we’re going through difficulties.”

“The first section explores the coldness or disbelief when we first encounter something difficult. You keep moving … almost like an automaton. The second section is kind of where the reality of what’s happening hits home. It explores the sadness you experience when you do finally realize what’s happening. Then the third section is more of an expression of aggressiveness or maybe anger toward the difficulty. And then the fourth section is resolve, coming to an understanding that maybe this is for the best, this is actually not the end, but the beginning.”

Ten female dancers and six males take part in the 20-minute piece. Wallace finalized their movements while rehearsing them during a weeklong visit to Friends last month. “I really wanted to see what these dancers could do before I had too much created,” he said. What he found, he added, “is not only that their technical abilities are great, but their artistic abilities to handle the kind of emotional content I was going for.”

Dominic Walsh, former principal of the Houston Ballet and director of his own dance theater in Houston, created another piece, called “Piano Works,” for the Friends dancers. It’s an abstract dance set to the music of Charles Tomlinson Griffes and is considered neoclassical in the style of some of George Balanchine’s work.

“I thought it would be a challenge, actually, so I was a little bit apprehensive even to choreograph to it because I really wanted to do it justice,” Walsh said. “I just wanted to be able to pull out all the different phrases and intricacies. That was another wonderful thing about working (with the Friends dancers). A lot of them have a nice music background, that extra attention to musicality and being able to hear the undertones.”

Ten female dancers and two men perform in the 10-minute dance.

The last selection, “With A Song,” is a frequently requested piece that Friends ballet director Stan Rogers choreographed to the music of Richard Rogers, featuring “With a Song in My Heart,” “Falling in Love” and other tunes.

“I did it for two of our wonderful patrons, (the late) Carl and Dixie Sebits,” Rogers said. “They loved that kind of music. It fits with this program because it is more traditional ballet. The other two pieces are a little more avant garde.”

Wallace and Walsh have strong connections to Friends. Wallace got his start dancing there, under Rogers and associate professor of dance Sharon Rogers. Walsh appeared as a guest star in the school’s holiday production of “The Nutcracker” for a decade.

“They both move differently so it’s a really good experience for our dancers to have,” Stan Rogers said.

Victoria Lauder, a senior and ballet major from Nevada, agreed.

“Yes, absolutely, there are lots of tricky steps that a lot of us weren’t used to doing,” she said. “It was really good for us to able to explore.”

After having the summer off, she added, “I think we’re all just really excited to get on stage and perform again. This is the first show of the year. We’re just having fun.”

Told of Walsh and Wallace’s complimentary remarks for the Friends dancers, Lauder laughed and said: “Well, that’s comforting.”

This story was originally published October 17, 2014 at 7:31 AM with the headline "Guests choreograph original pieces for Friends University fall ballet."