Dance Review: Slump, BalletX

Slump premiered with BalletX guest choreographer, Joshua L. Peugh, at The Wilma Theater, Philadelphia, PA in 2014.

RUN TIME: 15:29

MUSIC: Klezmer Juice, Yma Sumac, Ella Fitzgerald

COSTUME DESIGNER: Stephen Smith

LIGHTING DESIGNER: Christopher Hetherington

VIDEOGRAPHER: Alexander Iziliaev

Joshua L. Peugh’s ballet, entitled Slump, is an enthusiastic dance piece exploring courtship and familiar human mating rituals. When you hear ballet, your most common notions might be of the Romantic or Classical Period. Although romantic implies a heartwarming and gleeful plot, ballets of that time are known for their desperation and tragedy. What often starts as a tale with fantastical characters eventually reveals a darker side. Fundamentally, ballets throughout time, including present day, share one purpose: storytelling. Ballet is not art for art’s sake. The creation of a ballet begins with a choreographer’s observations of an everyday activity and emotion. Those observations then become over exaggerated and stylized through the movement, costumes, and stage design.

In the case of Peugh’s Slump, don’t expect tutus or ballet mime such as gracefully crossing one’s arms then opening them to signify the question ‘what is wrong?’ Simply the footwear, or lack of footwear, sets Peugh’s contemporary ballet piece apart from classical ballet’s silk pointe shoes. Peugh highlights the individuality of the dancers in stark contrast to the uniformity of dancers’ costumes, hair, and movement technique in classical ballets, such as Rudolf Nureyev’s Swan Lake. Stephen Smith’s costume design, for Slump, accentuates the unique character of the dancer by costuming four women in full tulle skirted dresses with flamboyant patterns and four men in brightly colored button-down shirts, which also set a playful and joyous mode for the piece.  

If visuals of the Nutcracker’s dainty tutus and dazzling tiaras are still what come to mind when you think of a ballet, let me introduce to you BalletX. The Philadelphia based contemporary ballet company strives to push the boundaries of ballet by pursuing choreographers who are eager to craft movement invention while keeping the technique of classical ballet at the core of movement. BalletX is one of many contemporary ballet dance companies who seek to bring a classical art form to a wider audience.

The 15-minute ballet, Slump, is made up of four parts with the movement and music complementary to one another. Peugh’s music choice of klezmer, mambo, and jazz is representative of different stages of courting. The curtain and lights fade up to eight dancers standing still facing the audience accompanied by klezmer music, which originates from Ashkenazi Jewish traditions.

The shrill sound of klezmer music is similar to that of a clarinet. This music is paired with a movement reminiscent of a 1950’s swing dance, in the first section of the piece. The dancers’ movement is weighted to the floor with relaxed limbs yet remaining fluid when transitioning from glides on the floor to quick dynamic footwork. ‘Slumping’ movement is found as dancers stomp in wide-legged positions circling their body initiated by their hips.

An interaction that appears to be a female dancer’s rejection of a male dancer’s affection is the transition to the second section. Peugh integrates comedic elements into the piece by having one of his dancers spit out feathers to represent men acting like chickens when attempting to ask a woman out. This theme transcends into the movement as the male dancers move forward embodying the movements of chickens. The blaring of horns and punctuation of the drums assists in the much-needed confidence booster for the men. The dancers travel downstage where each is lit in a rectangular shaped spotlight repeating a series of poses as if they were in a mirror.

Ella Fitzgerald’s voice begins the third section of a pas de deux, a male-female duet. Lyrics to a song can often force a narrative for the audience. However, Peugh defies that standard. The lyrics of the jazz song, “Yesterdays”, are simple enough, they merely provide another percussive instrumentation the dancers sway to rather than provide an emotional script. Peugh successfully invents movement based on the pair’s weight sharing that conveys young love and the butterfly feelings along with it. This section has the most relaxed movement; the dancers truly embrace the word ‘slumping’ as they present themselves struggling to hold one another up during a two-step. When the pas de deux ends, this is the first time in Christopher Hetherington’s lighting design that the stage goes black. Fading the stage to black sets the tone for a new environment.  

Sounds of klezmer chime in again returning with the wide-legged weighted positions similar to Ohad Naharin's Gaga technique. After a fade to black, the lighting creates architecture with the floor as each dancer is in their own rectangular spotlight. The klezmer’s tempo begins to rise as it is accompanied by clownish sounds of clatter and rattles. The moment follows this fitful soundscape with erratic patterning countering the idea of a refined and formal customs of courtship. Despite the absence of a plot and specific characters, like those in a classical ballet, Peugh’s ballet, Slump, successfully translates instinctual human mating rituals through the dancer’s comedic personalities and vibrant movement.

BalletX Beyond, the dance company’s virtual subscription platform, allowed me to watch Slump. This piece, from 2014, is one that I otherwise would not have gotten the chance to see. For a fraction of a traditional live performance ticket price, BalletX’s virtual subscription, for $15-$30 per month, provides access to a variety of archived and new works. And you can catch, BalletX Beyond’s virtual world premiere of new dance works which streams on March 10, 2021 at 7:00pm EST.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was rare to have virtual access to full performances. It may be hard to believe since we are accustomed to streaming shows or movies on demand. But, streaming a dance performance did not exist for the sake of preserving the integrity of live performance. Dance companies created streaming platforms out of necessity to stay afloat amidst the pandemic. Virtual subscriptions are just one example of how the arts community is continually making efforts to support their artists during the world’s extended intermission.