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AUDIENCE REVIEW: TAKE ROOT: Alison Cook Beatty Dance

Company:
Alison Cook Beatty Dance

Performance Date:
September 20 - 21, 2024

Freeform Review:

The word that comes to mind is “captivating.” 

On September 20 and 21, 2024, Alison Cook Beatty Dance held full evening performances in TAKE ROOT, presented by Green Space Studios and Alison Cook Beatty Dance, Inc. The program held me from start to finish, with range, surprises, messages, and art in motion.  

The opening piece, “Tintinabulli” (a compositional style where the melody and accompaniment are one) was a duet, powerfully performed by Ioanna Ioannides and Hannah Dillenbeck. The choreography takes the title concept further, in which the two seem to represent a dancer embracing and yet competing with her own darker parallel.  

Next was a solo featuring Madelaine Burnett in “Touched by Fire”, set to Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, compellingly portraying another duality: seemingly effortless beauty on one hand and artistic struggle on the other.

From solo to full company, “Echoes of War” then unleashed an urgent and gripping   perspective on the Ukraine war, capturing the desperation of citizens (Jacob Blank, Tomislav Nevistic, Ioanna Ioannides, Hannah Dillenbach, Gion Treichler, Ava Trochiano), in ghostly garb, seeking escape, and attempting to help one another while being tossed apart. In contrast, one child (Madelaine Burnett) wearing Ukraine blue and holding sunflowers, portrays both the resilience and vulnerability of a child amid the tragedy of war. 

“In Spite of, Because of…the Wallpaper”, was based on the 1892 short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, in which a woman is confined by her husband to a room, ostensibly for her mental health. Dramatically performed by Madelaine Burnett, with Ioanna Ioannides and Ava Trochiano as the eerie and haunting wall figures and the rest of the company members as creepy living walls, the piece portrays a tragic theatrical descent into madness.

In full contrast, the final performance, “Joyful Offering”, was an explosion of upbeat modern ballet, set to the three movements of Bach’s Oboe d’amore Concerto in D major. Featuring the entire company, with Tomislav Nevistic as its messiah, the layered and ebullient choreography is sprinkled liberally with moments of humour, poignancy and drama. 

It was an outstanding evening for Alison Cook Beatty Dance, proving the breadth of humanity and moving art that can be achieved by the choreographic vision of Alison Cook-Beatty and the chemistry of skilled dancers with a command of both power and nuance.

Author:
Dan William

Photo Credit:
Tomislav Nevistic, Madelaine Burnett, Ioanna Ioannides, Emily Masia and Payton Primer. Photo by Rob Klein