By MANUEL MENDOZA / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
Photo by Perry Langenstein: Caradee Cline and Jacob Sebastian in Wil McKnight's New World.
Texas Dance Theatre opened its second season at the Scott Theatre in Fort Worth with four new works and a restaged piece by artistic director Wil McKnight, most delivered with a dollop of darkness. Rather than acknowledging gravity like Simple Sparrow, the ballet troupe danced on pointe and tried to defy it.
Like at last season's opening show, a new piece by guest choreographer Bruce Wood stood out. This time, Wood set a semi-narrative solo, Surrender, on company member Emily Hunter. With her back to the audience, Hunter started on the floor of the Scott's proscenium stage, sitting amid fall leaves in a long black halter dress that seemed to engulf her.
Her first move was to lean back and lift her right hand to her face before tipping on her side and rotating her body in a circle. Appearing a torn woman fighting off grief or impending death, she went through a series of angst-ridden gestures, including a slap to her own face. The melodrama was animated by an aria from Catalini's La Wally.
The sunniest dance on the bill was McKnight's Let's Fall in Love , set to a series of optimistic Cole Porter songs. The company worked the classical ballet vocabulary of jetes, pirouettes and presentational poses for its beauty and poise.
Caradee Cline thrilled with extreme leg extensions and an overall clean, angular style that highlighted the choreographer's debt to George Balanchine. Cline was similarly employed in McKnight's restaging of last year's New World when she lifted a leg onto Jacob Sebastian's shoulder.
The program also included two new works from Hunter, including Haven , danced by Josie Baldree, Natalie Bracken and Erin Labhart. It had an otherworldly feel, thanks to haunting choral music by Samuel Barber.
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