Stage Review: Ballet Memphis' annual fundraiser a palatable event

Photo by Christopher Blank

Ballet Memphis dancers perform Matthew Neenan's "Water of the Flowery Mill," seen at "Connections: Food" Saturday night. The annual fundraising combines dance with a four-course meal.

In 2009, Ballet Memphis took one of its home-cooked dances to the Southern Foodways Alliance in Oxford, Miss., where several food bloggers got to become dance critics for an evening.

"Pork Songs," originally choreographed by Trey McIntyre for an opulent fundraising dinner, asked viewers -- in a satirical way -- to consider the feelings of the pig whose destiny it was to end up on a plate.

That piece remains the crème de la crème of the works in the company's "Connections: Food" repertoire that, at one time, encouraged collaboration between cooks and choreographers.

There was still some minimal interplay of cuisine and dance Saturday night at Ballet Memphis' $600-per-couple fundraising dinner held at Bridges, but not so much that a gastronome would shed a tear of sympathy for his roasted lamb (flavored with espresso dark chili chocolate and black pepper by chef Jason Severs).

Instead, the four dances and the four-course meal seemed like separate events running simultaneously.

For the first course, company dancer Travis Bradley created a sparkly and personal work called "Splinters of the Stars." Perry Como's "Catch a Falling Star" and Cee-Lo Green's "No One's Gonna Love You" helped Bradley create a romantically exuberant expression of infatuation.

Julie Niekrasz, another company dancer, created the dramatic "On the Inside," which takes place in a family home. Steven McMahon uses his long arms and swooping physicality to represent an imperious father. He and the family's three children eventually strip away the mother's costume, leaving her in a dress that matches the home's wallpaper.

She rediscovers love and passion, however, through a neighbor.

Dancing to the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody," Stephanie Mei Hom and Dylan G-Bowley exhibited terrific partnering in the final pas de deux.

Guest choreographer Matthew Neenan, co-founder of Philadelphia's BalletX dance company, described his dance, "Water of the Flowery Mill," as "rich, magical, mysterious and spicy," which is certainly apt.

Using music of Tchaikovsky and 10 dancers, he created an eclectic blend of movement that often had a sense of controlled chaos, an organic flow that would sometimes bloom into a beautifully symmetrical shape.

For dessert, company dancer Kendall Britt created his first piece of choreography for the company. Britt packs much emotion into "The Ten Degrees Between Happiness," danced to music performed live by Marcella Rene Simien.

Chefs for the evening included Mindy So of Do Sushi Restaurant and Lounge; Brett "Shaggy" Duffee of Bayona Restaurant in New Orleans; Jenny Dempsey of The Beauty Shop; and catering by Karen Carrier.

© 2011 Go Memphis. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.