There’s a reason for the popularity of movies like Center Stage. And any viewer can tell you it’s definitely not the quality of the acting but the beauty of the dance.
Ballet is hypnotic-the narrative of a ballet is expounded by the lithe turning of the body, the passion expressed in the body’s movement. So it is with Jimmy Gamonet De Los Heros’ Ballet Gamonet that the art of ballet seems to be astounding. It is not always perfect, nor is every step in perfect synchronicity, but the Ballet Gamonet exudes overall beauty in performance.
In 2005, Ballet Gamonet and the Maximum Dance Company merged. Program I is its debut performance, the first of four this season.
Discussing the selection of the Gusman Performing Arts Center to be its new home, Gamonet expressed his sentiment on coming home: “To say that I am thrilled to be here in Miami-my home-would be an understatement.” Gamonet describes the Gusman as the “Renaissance Downtown,” the perfect place for the performance of the ballet.
While Gamonet Ballet is self-described as a contemporary dance-” a unique style of neo-classical ballet with a contemporary edge”-it doesn’t defy convention; rather, like all good artists, Gamonet seems to build upon his predecessors, extrapolating what he can, then creating something new and challenging.
The play opens with the dancers silhouetted before a lime green background. Their bodies are amazing. It’s edgy. It’s modern. It makes you want to take ballet lessons.
The second is Coeur de Basque, a love story. Combining elements of flamenco, gypsy folk dance and ballet-it is exquisite. It displays what the human body can do and the complement of the male and female form.
Just two lone dancers emerge for the third act: Purple Bend I. Anguish, sorrow and love is all played out as their bodies merge and diverge, en Pointe. Their relationship is ambiguous, but it is any couple, their relationship writhe with an emotional intensity that only love can bring.
The ballet ends with humor as a city slicker struggles to respect the “gaucho hat” adorned countrymen. A hero’s story, he falls in love with the beautiful La China. We see him plummet and then rise again; it all culminating in a grand finale of a large number of dancers on stage, the music intensifying, the dance surging…
The curtain closes on Miami’s ballet stage. A city of what is considered by outsiders a floundering culture has some great curtain openers.
Melanie Klesse can be contacted at m.klesse@umiami.edu.
The 2005-2006 Performance:
Miami Dade County Performances
Gusman Center for The Performing Arts
174 East Flagler Street, Downtown Miami
Program II – Jan. 27 to 28, 2006 at 8 p.m.
Program III – Feb. 24 to 25, 2006 at 8 p.m.
Program IV – May 12 to 13, 2006 at 8 p.m.
Discounts are available for student tickets.
Broward County Performance
Bailey Concert Hall
3501 SW Davie Road, Ft. Lauderdale
Program I – Oct. 15 at 8 p.m. & 16 at 3 p.m., 2005
Program II – Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. & 13 at 3 p.m., 2005
Program III – Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. & 12 at 3 p.m., 2006
Program IV – May 20 at 8 p.m. & 21 at 3 p.m., 2006