24/04/2022
DANCE REVIEW: Classical ballet and soul music may, in some ways, seem physically at odds. The centuries old Franco-Russo technique that emphasizes delicacy and lightness, and which Ballet Memphis dancers spend their mornings programming into their bodies often contradicts soul music's gravitational pull on our hips and thighs and booties.
Yet Ballet Memphis has frequently sought to blend the two, with mixed results. The company's final show of the season, "Soul," which concludes tonight (April 23) at the Crosstown Theatre, is a mostly uptempo and occasionally on-the-mark homage to this city's musical legacy.
The first two pieces fall squarely into the feel-good category. Former B.M. dancer Julie Niekrasz's opener "In Search Of" and company member Emilia Sandoval's "In Mind's Eye" use a familiar blend of contemporary choreography set to a variety of Memphis soul.
It's not until Chanel DaSilva's "Heathen Hearts" that all the flavors in this soul stew fully blend.
DaSilva has worked extensively with Trey McIntyre, another choreographer who spent years blending ballet and contemporary music (Beck, Johnny Cash, et al.) to rave reviews.
Like McIntyre, she knows exactly how to push and pull focus from the individual to the collective. The eye moves like a butterfly from simple individual gestures, like a sassy shoulder shrug, to explosive ensemble patterns, with dancers clapping hands and shifting directions in rhythmic waves.
Her piece has feeling. It also has a powerful message through the invocation of Estelle Axton (famously, the Ax in Stax), a woman who definitely deserves more local recognition for her contributions to Memphis' musical history.
Axton and her brother Jim Stewart were the white co-founders of Stax Records who, some might say, stumbled into one of the world's greatest musical legacies. They bought an old movie theater in South Memphis and turned it into a recording studio, initially thinking they'd capitalize on the country rock sound popular in Memphis at the time (think Elvis and Jerry Lee). Instead, curious neighborhood kids showed up.
She, her brother, and the house band made up of young Black and white studio musicians, tapped into the talented community around the studio.
Axton was the rare businesswoman in the male dominated industry who not only had financial skin in the game, she also set aside the prejudices of her era to see the potential of Black artists like Otis Redding, who would find their trademark vibe at Stax.
DaSilva's work is both documentary and present-tense; her soundtrack divided between spoken word and music. The former consists of audio clips from an archival interview with Axton (1918-2004) talking about the business of Stax. The music is from the high-energy Memphis band Southern Avenue, a terrific cocktail of vintage blues and soul with modern R&B currency. In a sense, this is a full-circle dance: the past and present combine to tell a story of empowerment and resilience.
What DaSilva brings to her choreography that the first two pieces miss is the actual "soul" of soul -- the spirit of the individual within the collective.
Her two featured dancers, Emilia Sandoval and Dylan McIntyre play to the crowd. They emote. The message in their bodies is loud and clear. If music can set you free, Memphis was America's Bastille. They embody that joy.
If, overall, the entire program was on the short side, a live band of Stax Academy alumni playing the hits between pieces got audience members dancing in their seats. You can't get more soulful than that.
--CB
Ballet Memphis rounds out Season 35 at Crosstown Theater on April 22-23 with a performance that celebrates the unique Memphis sound. The river, heat, and hum...
