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Originally conceived as a summer season company, the pandemic could have meant the end for Seattle Dance Collective. Instead, founders James Yoichi Moore and Noelani Pantastico galloped into a whole new approach. Without the barriers imposed by their usual PNB schedules and the need for performance space or even in-person rehearsals, SDC has increased its output with a series of innovative contemporary ballet films. The latest of these is Gallop Apace, a 10-minute interpretation of a scene from Romeo and Juliet that many dances skip over.

The Cast

Gallop Apace is a production of Seattle Dance Collective. I have seen every production this young company has ever made (most recently Alice – coproduction with PNB), but every single person involved in this particular piece was new to me. I had never even heard of the choreographers, Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber. They are known for using GAGA, a movement language created by Israeli dancer and choreographer Ohad Naharin – another thing that was entirely new to me.  

The primary dancer is Sara Mearns, a principal at New York City Ballet. She was a surprising choice for Juliet. I’ve only seen tiny women in that role, their small bodies highlighting Juliet’s youth and childish innocence. Mearns is an Amazon in the Patricia Barker mold. But she reminded me of my best friend in high school, a nearly six foot tall Swede who was as naïve an ingenue as ever existed, however statuesque the frame that housed her adolescent passions.

The Scene

In the play Romeo and Juliet, the teens pretend to attend morning mass, where they are secretly married. But they can’t be seen together, so they leave the church separately and pretend to have a normal day. Most of the attention goes to Romeo, who has his disastrous run-in with Tybalt. But while Romeo is out committing murder, Juliet is sitting at home, impatiently awaiting the night when she can see Romeo again. That is what this dance captures.

This setting is perfect for a pandemic production. It’s basically a solo in a big airy room. (The nurse bustles about in the background, occasionally peeking in on Juliet from the doorway and requiring Juliet to try to act normal.) Like my husband said, “I want to make art, but only if it’s on my couch and I don’t have to wear pants.”

Gallop Apace

In contemporary choreography, the dancing often starts before the music or continues after it stops. I don’t really like that. So I liked Gallop Apace better once the music started. Spoken word is another trend that only sometimes works for me – in this case it made sense to include lines from the play that helped orient the viewer and place the movement in the context of the story. What struck me first about the choreography was the way incredibly pedestrian movement stretched into more abstract dancing, then collapsed back into naturalism. I think that might be characteristic of the choreographers, but it worked especially well for a piece exploring the jagged inner experience of a young person having very big feelings.

Speaking of big feelings, dancers are far less likely than actors to mistake R&J for a courtly romance, but this is a very thirsty ballet. I was really glad I didn’t watch it with my kids.

Details

GALLOP APACE
Direction & Choreography: Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber
Music: Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Cello: Coleman Itzkoff
Juliet: Sara Mearns
Nurse: Bligh Voth
Voice: Lihi Kornowski
Cinematography: Trevor Tweeten
World Premiere: April 15, 2021

Gallop Apace is available for streaming from April 15-22, 2021 on Vimeo or the SDC web page for $5.

{I received a free press link to this video, but chose to donate $5 to SDC because I want to support more work like this in the future.}