Push - Guillem - Lisa Rinehart

A Star Turn

Sylvie Guillem & Russell Maliphant
"Push"
New York City Center
New York City
Oct. 11-15

By Lisa Rinehart
Copyright 2006 by Lisa Rinehart

For a classical ballerina, Sylvie Guillem has always had too much facility. Her legs are impossibly beautiful, her torso preternaturally lithe and, in à la second, she rests her kneecap against her ear and gives us a big smile. Impressive, yes ... interesting, not always. To Guillem's credit, however, in the later years of her career, she's endeavored to transcend overly mobile hip joints by searching for material challenging her artistry and intelligence. Russell Maliphant, a choreographer Guillem has collaborated with before, and the only choreographer represented in the program of three solos and one duet, doesn't begin to present such a challenge. Maliphant (who performs as well) is as physically pleasing to watch as Guillem, but his choreography is thin and leans toward the self-indulgent.

The first three solos are especially vacuous. "Solo," performed by Guillem to recordings of Carlos Montoya, is all leg kicks and pseudo Spanish arm flourishes. Guillem can do this sort of thing after a run in with a Tanya Harding associate wielding a piece of lead pipe. Even the opening night audience eager for a big star rustled and coughed in grumpy impatience. (By the way, there's already dance that captures the essence of this wonderful music — it's called flamenco)

"Shift" is Maliphant's dance with himself thanks to the lighting effects of Michael Hulls. With artful use of shadows and white hanging panels, Maliphant wanders about in front of multiple silhouettes of himself projected large behind. The movement is smooth and sinewy, but goes nowhere unless one counts the journey in Maliphant"s own mind.

The final solo, "Two," raises the bar a notch with Guillem's sexy musculature lit dramatically from above. It's a cooly robotic exploration of light reflecting on skin as she wriggles and lunges to Andy Cowton's dark pop sound. As Guillem speeds up, Hulls performs technical wizardry blurring circling arms into solid spirals of flesh. Nonetheless, she is still the body beautiful, and it's much style with little substance.

Maliphant's duet "Push," is the evening's best offering. Guillem begins aloft seated on Maliphant's shoulders, and is expertly manipulated downward in various imaginative and lovely ways. Once grounded, the dancers stay connected, but push and pull at one another with a satisfying, simmering tension — something akin to watching molten chocolate slowly stirred. Ironically, the most arresting moments are when Guillem stops short and simply looks at Maliphant as though challenging him to give her something she can't make beautiful, or when Maliphant throws in a refreshingly odd animalistic jump. Moments of sexual frisson between the dancers keeps things interesting, although neither Guillem, nor Maliphant, look like they'd be willing to get too mussed up by any pesky passions. Indeed, the dance resembles a love scene in a big budget Hollywood movie — moody soundtrack in the background, golden light on gorgeous bodies, and awkward moments of clumsy intimacy cleanly edited out.

This empty glamour, of course, is the weakness of the program. If "Push" were presented with something grittier, something that really pushed the audience (and the performers) in unexpected directions, the duet could look like genius. Good art, however, almost never comes from playing it safe and, although Guillem's extraordinary form adds luster to Maliphant's dances, it's not enough to make them art. If art is really what Guillem is after, it may be time to move from push to shove.

Photos, both by Bill Cooper:
Top, Sylvie Guillem.
Bottom, Sylvie Guillem and Russell Maliphant in "Push."

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A Star Turn