This year marks the 10th season that Malpaso Dance Company, a Havana-based Cuban contemporary dance troupe founded in 2012, will be at the Joyce Theater. Malpaso is an affiliate of Joyce Theater Productions, and the longevity of this international partnership is impressive.
But this stability lends a degree of predictability to the style, giving it the palatable sophistication found in many contemporary dance companies. A program of four works at the Joyce (three of which have U.S. premieres) leaves us wanting more of the mischief and danger implied in the name Malpaso, which means “failure” – a departure from the beaten path. I did.
This doesn't seem to be the fault of the company's 12 dancers. They seem to have the technical acumen and boundless energy to do almost anything. However, the materials given to them are limited.
The first half of the evening consists of three premieres. “Ara” by resident choreographer and artistic director Osnel Delgado. “Retrato de Familia” (“Family Portrait”), by company dancer Esteban Aguilar. and “Vertigo” by Spanish-born choreographer Susana Pous. Canadian choreographer Azul Barton's Indomitable Waltz (2016) is perhaps the most distinctive part of this obscure program, making up the second half.
Set to live music by brothers Aldo López-Gavilan (piano) and Ilmar Gavilan (violin), “Ara” depicts the push-pull relationship between Delgado and Gretel Morejon. It begins with two people standing close together in dim, misty lighting. He holds out his palm to her and she appears to take something from it. That image reappears in the final moments of the exchange of invisible tokens. Meanwhile, they share an awkward love affair. She presses the sole of his foot against her cheek. He pushes his head into her abdomen. They partner and dance side by side together in a way that shows off her lithe elongation, and eventually sit down to rest with a sense of acceptance and some distance.
While thoroughly enjoyable to watch, the movement here, combined with sentimental music, conveys a gravity that feels externally imposed rather than emanating from a deeper internal purpose or choreographic motor. This also applied to other works, which were characterized by the same stylistic style of the program.
The dramatic “Retrato de Familia” (which also opens in fog and dim light) could feature a cast of six playing a family caught in conflict. In one passage, a dancer drags himself across the floor while four others crouch over him like vultures, covering his body. (The music, composed by Assaf Abidan and performed live by the ALMA String Quartet with López-Gavilan, sometimes resembles the theme song for “Succession.”) When taken, they assume something broad and threatening. You laugh and cover your mouth, keeping your secret hidden.
“Vertigo'' opens with a long, eerie overture for string quartet, and something dark seems to be lurking just beneath the surface. (Music by Alexander Baranescu and Boris Kovács.) Dayreidis Karazana enters the audience, looks around the front row, then steps onto the stage, where five other dancers and four light fixtures hang from long ropes. is waiting for her. She steps through them on tiptoe, as if crossing a threshold into another world. Once she melds with the group, her world becomes a vehicle for seamlessly executing complex, athletic lifts and partnerships, but nothing more.
“Indomitable Waltz” is the most propulsive song of the night and the most absorbing, but with a little more emotional undertone. (The Alma String Quartet and López-Gavilan once again provide live music by Baranescu, Michael Nyman, and Nils Frahm.) With their wide second-position pliés, concave torsos, and protruding hips, the eight dancers often It appears to be pulled downward and inward. The slightly trembling steps look like they are about to take off from the ground. And sometimes they succeed — especially with Deiron Dominguez's breathtaking zero-gravity jumps.
But Burton resists the crescendo. The piece ends with a quiet solo by Laura Rodriguez. Her final gesture is to flick her hand and walk away.
malpaso
Through Sunday at Joyce Theater, joyce.org.
