Compañia Nacional de Danza de España, (CND) graced the stage of the Luckman Fine Arts Complex on Thursday, February 15, 2024. They presented three pieces from their varied repertoire to an excited diverse audience of dance lovers. It was clear the dancers were nurtured for excellence under the direction of Joaquin De Luz. De Luz, an award winning dancer and now Artistic Director/choreographer for CND has several visions for his ballet company from Spain. De Luz answered; primary, is to “always nurture each artist’s talent, excellence and musicality… next is to make visible and give opportunities to talented female choreographers with opportunities to show their work, … educational programs, attracting artists of varied discipline, expand live orchestra performances, national tours,…self- assessment, future planning and developing of CND’s sponsorships and patronage with a legal Spanish framework” are just a few goals for this lovely company.
Compañia Nacional de Danza de España – “Passengers Within”, Choreography by Joaquin De Luz – Photo courtesy of the company.
All of this was evident in the Thursday night performance. The first piece Passengers Within premiered in 2022. De Luz’ choreography was classic, musical, unique pattern-wise with several pas de deux with Kayoko Everhart & Alessandro Riga, Giada Rossi & Thomas Giugovaz, Cristina Casa & Mario Galindo and Laura Pérez Hierro & Anthony Pina progressed from one effortless moment to another. The corps: Natalia Butraguño, Celia Dǎvila, Martina Giuffrida, Ayuka Nitta, Pauline Perraut, Kana Yamaguchi, Niccolò Balossini, Théo Bourg , Juan José Carazo, Daniel Lozano Martin, Alvaro Madrigal, Jorge Palacios were beautiful, technically and physically.
Compañia Nacional de Danza de España – “Passengers Within”, Choreography by Joaquin De Luz – Photo courtesy of the company.
Costumes designed by Anthony Pina, were luxurious, with graduated, teal-toned flowing knee-length skirts and tops for the women, men were in dusty teal blue shirts and pants. The lighting by Nicolás Fischtel added an emotional flair to the piece. Phillip Glass’ music, Mishima, Étude. No. 2 did not match the lyricism and dynamics of the dance but became a distraction with its minimalism. Perhaps Rachmaninoff or Chopin might have been a better choice to match the elan onstage.
Finally, the program notes overexplained the psychology of the piece that was simply a gorgeous, well done Balanchine-esque opening ballet that was stunning to watch in its design and exciting in its performance.
Sad Case, choreographed by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot for NDT2, skewed toward the macabre wrapped in awkward humor, bordering on slap-stick, often losing focus that turned into mugging. The Latin rhythms and feel of Prez Prado, Alberto Dominguez, Ernesto Lecuona, Ray Barretto, and Trio Los Panchos, was a mélange of Latin musical styles that presented fodder for inspiration in their “continual search for the tension between satirical and classic moments.”
Compañia Nacional de Danza de España in “Sad Case”, choreographed by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot – Photo by Alba Muriel.
Leon and Lightfoot go off-path towards painted bodies, strange angular dance assemblages, inserting story-lines in Spanish without translation. Perhaps this is done in an attempt to find something. The ending of which is a kind of clowning with half of the audience left out of the joke. The Costumes by Leon and Lightfoot were near white tones with black paint slashes on faces and bodies. The dancers: Erez Ilan, Shlomi Shlomo Miara, Shani Peretz, Anthony Pina, and Irene Ureña were committed to the message, or lack thereof. The question was, was the audience simply a part of this petri dish passed on as art? Perhaps.
Compañia Nacional de Danza de España – “White Darkness”, Choreography by Nacho Duato – Photo by Alba Muriel.
The final piece of the evening was by choreographer Nacho Duato’s very personal White Darkness (2001). A requiem for the loss of his sister and her desperate solution with drugs. It is an exploration of her potent dance with agony and death. A stunning Kayoko Everhart and Benjamin Poirier’s moving pas de deux finds their brilliance. Sparsely dressed dancers: Laura Pérez Hierro, Mario Galindo, Sara Fernandez, Alvaro Madrigal, Shani Peretz, Shlomi Shlomo Miara, Irene Ureña and Erez Ilan, in black shirts and briefs, accentuate the fleeting relationships, loneliness and disappointment as a continuous subtext of the piece. The expressive and powerful music by Karl Jenkins (Adiemus Variations, String Quartet No. 2) guides the story, commanding that one feels the struggle. The lighting by Joop Caboort counters the energy of the movement and music with ethereal, and at times, fiery strokes. The final succumbing moments when the protagonist is taken over by light and drugs showering down to overpower her fight, is both beautiful and terrifying. This piece is an artist’s warning, lovingly done in movement, as a reminder.
Compañia Nacional de Danza de España, (CND) is a company of exquisite dancers and artful direction. It was a treat both visually and musically to see such powerful, and in some cases, challenging dance pieces. However, it is an important representation for dance in Spain, that will serve to enhance and inspire the Los Angeles dance community.
To learn more about Compañia Nacional de Danza de España, please visit their website.
Written by Joanne DiVito for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: Compañia Nacional de Danza de España – Photo courtesy of the company.
