Ballet’s “Joyful Noise” celebrates marriage of music, dance

Photo by Christopher Blank/Special to The Commercial Appeal

Ballet Memphis rehearses "Second Before the Ground" in preparation for a concert called "AbunDANCE: Joyful Noise," running two weekends at Playhouse on the Square.

Ballet Memphis’ artistic director Dorothy Gunther Pugh takes special pride in coming up with themes for concerts. The range of concepts she has explored — from feminist literature to race — is no small challenge in dance. After more than two decades, audiences still don’t quite know what to expect.

But Pugh surprised even herself with the idea of “AbunDANCE,” now in its third season, which investigates the spiritual side of movement. Turns out, locals really enjoyed last year’s choreography inspired by four different religious traditions.

Photo by Christopher Blank/Special to The Commercial Appeal

Ballet Memphis rehearses "Second Before the Ground" in preparation for a concert called "AbunDANCE: Joyful Noise," running two weekends at Playhouse on the Square.

Photo by Christopher Blank/Special to The Commercial Appeal

Grammy nominated jazz musician Kirk Whalum and postmodern choreographer Jane Comfort collaborated on a new work premiering Saturday with Ballet Memphis.

Opening Saturday at the new Playhouse on the Square and running through March 7, this year’s program is titled “Joyful Noise,” and the four pieces celebrate the marriage of music and dance.

The company revives Trey McIntyre’s “Second Before the Ground,” one of the choreographer’s most critically acclaimed works. Ballet Memphis took it to New York in 2001, and now, with an almost entirely different cast, they remount the vibrant work set to African-influenced music by the Kronos Quartet.

High energy percussion drives “Takedeme,” a solo choreographed by Robert Battle, who has created work for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Hubbard Street.

“Broad Waters,” a new work by guest choreographer Petr Zahradnícek, tells the story of a river, and the community that lives along its sometimes turbulent waters.

The evening’s featured piece, however, didn’t come quickly for New York choreographer Jane Comfort, who was at first skeptical of Pugh’s concept.

“Being from New York, ‘joy’ isn’t the first thing that comes to mind doing a piece about,” she said. “I’ve never made an abstract piece. But I had two images in my mind. The first was an image of a hurt person. Then I had the idea of somebody stuck in what I call the bardo, or the Buddhist idea of the in-between, and the community helps this person transform.”

Originally from Oak Ridge, Tenn., Comfort said she grew up on a diet of R&B, blues and Faulkner. The New York Times called her a “postmodern pioneer” for using spoken material in her dance, which typically leans toward social commentary. But in this piece, she wanted the music and the spirituality to take over.

Pugh invited Grammy nominated smooth jazz musician Kirk Whalum to compose the music, and he accepted. His music, which he’ll play live on opening night, is inspired by the joy that comes from gospel music and the sense of community that one receives from church.

“I’m going to the Memphis Theological Seminary right now, and one of the liberating things I’ve learned is that God is neither a He nor a She,” Whalum said. “God is a spirit, and that spirit is in music.”

Whalum named the piece “S’épanouir” from the French verb to blossom or open up. He got the New Olivet Baptist Church choir, where his brother is pastor, to lay down the vocal tracks toward the end.

“They sing ‘abundant joy, abundant peace, abundant love,’” Whalum said. “And they end on singing ‘life abundant’. Who doesn’t want that?”

Ballet Memphis’ “AbunDANCE: Joyful Noise”

At 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Playhouse on the Square, 66 S. Cooper. Additional shows are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. March 5 and 6, and 2 p.m. March 7. Tickets are $10-$70. Call 737-7322.

© 2010 Go Memphis. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.