Skip to content
Arts & Culture
Link copied to clipboard

Philadelphia dances down to Longwood Gardens

Having four highly regarded dance companies within a few blocks on the Avenue of the Arts makes Philadelphia unique in all of America. Some of that Broad Street dazzle will be on display at Longwood Gardens on Saturday night when Wilma Theater-based BalletX and the Kimmel Center's Philadanco share a bill under the stars.

Philadanco will join BalletX for a two-hour program Saturday, with each dancing separately.
Philadanco will join BalletX for a two-hour program Saturday, with each dancing separately.Read more

Having four highly regarded dance companies within a few blocks on the Avenue of the Arts makes Philadelphia unique in all of America. Some of that Broad Street dazzle will be on display at Longwood Gardens on Saturday night when Wilma Theater-based BalletX and the Kimmel Center's Philadanco share a bill under the stars.

Since Tom Warner's move four years ago from the Kimmel, where he was a visionary presenter, to director of performing arts at Longwood Gardens, he's hosted Noche Flamenca, Kulu Mele, Pasion y Arte, and Savion Glover - all known for innovations in their genres. He hopes to present another Avenue dance star, Koresh Dance, next spring.

"I like to see Longwood dipping its toes into dance more and more," he said. "We have a strong legacy of presenting dance. Giants such as Martha Graham, Ted Shawn, and Doris Humphrey danced on the same stage as these companies. Longwood honors the history while also recognizing the innovators."

"It's a first for us to have two of the Broad Street stars on the same night, but also a first for both companies. I think it will be fun and interesting to see it play out," he added. "We're building a dance audience to go along with the significant music audience we have - and of course, the many garden enthusiasts."

When he called Philadanco founder Joan Myers Brown and BalletX cofounder/director Christine Cox, he said each almost immediately began talking about the other. Brown said: "I like what Christine Cox and Matt Neenan are doing at BalletX. They're doing things right."

Cox said, "Given what Joan has done for dance and for Philadelphia, we'd be honored to be on the same bill."

"Obviously, I knew I had the right artists after they spoke of each other with such respect," Warner said. "They'll perform in the middle of one of the most beautiful gardens - beauty inside beauty."

Last year, President Obama awarded Brown the National Medal of Arts. This month, the Dance Heritage Coalition named her one of its 113 Irreplaceable Dance Treasures, a list that includes Fred Astaire, Mark Morris, and George Balanchine. Last week, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. On Saturday, she was guest of honor at the Regional Dance America meeting at University of the Arts.

She never misses an opportunity to point out the color line in the world of American dance, and in her remarks to the meeting, she laid it right out: "RDA looks just like it did in 1970. . . . It needs to start looking more like America."

Though Brown is usually supremely gracious, in a recent interview she said: "I just turned down the citation from the city. . . . Who needs it? I need money to pay my dancers."

Of the Longwood Gardens appearance, she said: "We had danced La Valse in front of the fountains a few years ago. . . . But this is an opportunity to show the differences in our companies. BalletX is contemporary ballet. Ours is modern, mixing jazz, even hip-hop and yes, some ballet. We show the work of the great African American choreographers from Rennie Harris to Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, very popular when we tour the world. This is an opportunity for people who do not come into the city and aren't familiar with Philadanco to see why we're in demand."

BalletX's Cox said Warner had asked the companies to alternate works. But she and Brown felt that was too logistically challenging; finally, they agreed on a two-hour program, with each company dancing separately.

They chose works that would have impact in the open air and be easily seen from afar. Brown chose Roy Mercer's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, which has dancers on a huge table performing astounding feats. Christopher L. Huggins' Latched had its world premiere at an annual festival during Philadanco's Chilean tour last year. A Philadanco classic, Gene Hill Sagan's Suite en Bleu, is also featured.

In Amy Seiwert's It's Not a Cry, her 2011 duet exploring coupledom, BalletX performs to "Hallelujah," Leonard Cohen's anthem to love gone bitter. BalletX cofounder Matthew Neenan, also resident choreographer of the Pennsylvania Ballet - the fourth Avenue of the Arts dance star - presents his 2010 The Last Glass to the blaring brass of the Beirut Band. The program also includes Joshua L. Peugh's adorably hilarious 2014 Slump.

The prospect of two stellar Philadelphia companies dancing outdoors in the lush Longwood Gardens on a summer evening is so inviting, it's to be hoped that Warner comes up with a second act soon.

DANCE

StartText

Philadanco and BalletX

7:30 p.m. Saturday at Longwood Gardens, Baltimore Pike (U.S. Route 1) at Longwood Road, Kennett Square.

Tickets: $26–$46.

Information: 215-893-1999 or www.longwoodgardens.orgEndText