Stacie Williams performs in "Picking Up the Pieces" during Ballet Memphis' "Interiorworks 10."
For a decade now, the dancers at Ballet Memphis have ended the season with an in-house concert of short pieces that lets company members stretch their choreographic abilities.
"Interiorworks 10," running through Saturday at the dance studio in Cordova, shows the company in a mostly pensive and somewhat formal mood. There's a bit of silliness, but not, as in past years, anything too kitschy.
Stacie Williams performs in Ballet Memphis' "Interiorworks 10."Christopher Blank
The pieces range in emotional variety from super-anguished to teasingly playful; but all of them make a statement.
Nicole Corea's "Cycle Break" opens the evening with energetic, tribal movement set to African rhythms. It could easily be expanded to a longer work.
Travis Bradley's "Traces" gives a reflective solo to Jane Hope Rehm, who dances between photos from an ostensible past relationship.
In the contemplative "Picking Up the Pieces," choreographer Jesus Pacheco ties three women together through articles of male clothing left behind.
Associate artistic director Karl Condon returns to choreography with "At Once Well Met," a flirtatious, comic piece set to madrigals. Dancers Stephanie Mei Hom and Heideko Karasawa got to show off their exceptional pointe work.
Corea's second effort of the evening was a short, emotional piece set to Janis Joplin's version of "Little Girl Blue." Two women, both with tousled hair in their faces, go through the motions of their shared agony.
Steven McMahon's "Borrowed Time" was an excellent pas de deux danced to Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata." Travis Bradley and Kendall Britt convey a sense of personal alienation as they mirror each other's movement.
"Done, Moved On," by outgoing dancer Kate Feuer, had a playful, celebratory feeling, with bits of 1960s beach-blanket go-go thrown in.
The program closed with Rehm's "Swift," a quintet for women that had homespun, folksy nuances in both the music and the movement.
It was good to see the dancers looking strong and dedicated, even in this annual fundraiser for the Artists' Resource Fund. I have high hopes for the company next season.
Interiorworks
8 tonight and Saturday at Ballet Memphis, 7950 Trinity Road in Cordova. Admission is $10 donation. Call 737-7322.
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