They’re finally coming home.
For many involved in the Stephen Petronio Company’s
production of “BLOOM,” their performances Friday night
and Saturday night at Royce Hall will be a homecoming of sorts.
This weekend marks the company’s third time returning to
UCLA Live, after having performed here in both 2001 and 2004.
“I feel like being back over the past couple years has
been building an audience for me, and I love that,” said
Stephen Petronio, the company’s founder.
The New York-based Stephen Petronio Company was created in 1984
and has since become internationally acclaimed. What makes the
company unique is its unusual style of choreography ““ a
combination of ballet, lyrical jazz, modern and unnamed
movements.
While traditional dance has defined movement, Petronio’s
choreography is avant-garde, with movements inspired by emotions,
particular parts of the body or spirals of energy running through
the body.
In “BLOOM,” the audience will experience three
drastically different pieces, each involving this unique
choreography: the optimistic “BLOOM,” the emotional
“Bud Suite” and the sexual “The Rite
Part.”
In “BLOOM,” the first piece in the set, the dancers
look like the twisting figures of a neoclassical sculpture, with
turns in the air and kicks to the sky.
“(The message of “˜BLOOM’) is one that deals
with the sense of potential and hope,” Petronio said.
To accompany this message, the company will be dancing to the
original music of singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright sung by the
Paulist Choristers of California.
Under the artistic direction of UCLA alumnus Luke McEndarfer, a
choir of 20 L.A. students, ages 9 to 18, will be singing in
“BLOOM.”
The music is a challenging modern sound that is reminiscent of
an old Latin choir but with occasional timed breaks where the
rhythmic line is continued through the bodies of the dancers as
they dance a capella.
“These kids are pretty sophisticated,” McEndarfer
said. “They are extremely smart and they learn
quickly.”
McEndarfer himself will also be returning to his roots as he
graduated from UCLA in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in
English and again in 2004 with a master’s in music and
conducting.
“My music education at UCLA has given me a solid
foundation upon which I have been able to build an extensive
network of career experiences and advanced knowledge,”
McEndarfer said.
“Having performed many times as a singer at UCLA’s
Royce Hall, it is a special opportunity for me to return as
conductor.”
For Michael Badger, one of the company’s dancers, coming
to UCLA on Friday night marks a return to Los Angeles, where he
grew up, and also to the University of California system as he
graduated with a degree in dance from UC Berkeley in 1995.
Badger said his experience as a student at UC Berkeley prepared
him well for the future.
“It definitely set me up perfectly for what I experienced
in the dance world,” he said.
Badger enjoys the intellectual and physical challenge of
Petronio’s choreography, which he calls “organization
within chaos.”
“I often end up really thinking about the character I am
portraying and then delving deep, pulling out a piece of my soul,
and showing it for the world to see,” Badger said.
Compared to “BLOOM,” the other two pieces in the
UCLA Live show are darker, more intellectual and more
emotional.
“Bud Suite” is one of these dances as it is a piece
all about relationships. While it is stylistically different than
“BLOOM,” it is still distinctly a Stephen Petronio
original, with intertwined partnering but a more grounded
aesthetic.
The biggest contrast to the joy of “BLOOM” is the
last piece in the show, “The Rite Part.”
It is based on Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of
Spring,” which centers around the pagan ritual of sacrificing
a virgin so the crops will grow.
In contrast to “BLOOM,” the movement in “The
Rite Part” is more jagged and asymmetrical in a seductive
style.
“I thought it would be a nice contrast to the innocence of
youth,” Petronio said.
Although Petronio choreographed “The Rite Part” 16
years ago, it will still seem innovative to a modern audience as it
is less about perpetuating the agricultural cycle and more about
sexuality.
“The woman is no virgin, and it is no sacrifice,”
Petronio said, laughing.
While “BLOOM,” “Bud Suite” and
“The Rite Part” may not seem like they fit together,
each piece is inspired in part by nature. Together, they
collectively span 16 years of a choreographer’s work and
growth.
And if nothing else, it’ll be a nice break from watching
“Friends” reruns.
“It has great music, great athletic dancing and amazingly
beautiful costumes,” Petronio said.
“And it is always nice to go to the theater and see
something live instead of sitting in front of your TV
screen.”