This is the 10th season that Malpaso Dance Company, the Cuban contemporary dance troupe based in Havana and founded in 2012, has come to the Joyce Theater. Malpaso is an associate company of Joyce Theater Productions, and the longevity of this international partnership is impressive.
But with stability has come a certain predictability of style, a palatable sleekness seen across many contemporary dance companies. A program of four works at the Joyce, three of them U.S. premieres, made me wish for more of the mischief or danger — a straying from the beaten path — embodied in the name Malpaso, which means “misstep.”
This is no fault of the company’s 12 dancers, who have the technical acuity and boundless energy to take on pretty much anything, it seems. But they’ve been given a narrow range of material.
The evening’s first half consists of the three premieres: “Ara,” by the resident choreographer and artistic director Osnel Delgado; “Retrato de Familia” (“Family Portrait”), by Esteban Aguilar, a dancer in the company; and “Vertigo,” by the Spanish-born choreographer Susana Pous. The Canadian choreographer Aszure Barton’s “Indomitable Waltz” (2016), perhaps the most distinctive part of this indistinct program, makes up the second half.
“Ara,” to music played live by the brothers Aldo López-Gavilán (piano) and Ilmar Gavilán (violin), depicts a push-pull relationship between Delgado and Grettel Morejón. It begins in dim, foggy lighting with the two standing close to each other. He offers her a palm, and she appears to take something from it, an image that will reappear in the final moments, as they pass an invisible token back and forth. In between, they share a fraught affection. She holds the sole of his foot to her cheek; he nestles his head into her abdomen. They partner in ways that show off her lithe extensions, or dance side by side in unison, eventually coming to rest, seated, with a sense of acceptance and a little distance between them.
While perfectly pleasant to watch, the movement here, paired with the sentimental music, telegraphs a gravity that feels put on from the outside, rather than emanating from some deeper internal purpose or choreographic motor. This was true of the other works, too — a feature of the program’s stylistic sameness.
In the dramatic “Retrato de Familia” (which also opens in fog and murky light), the cast of six could be a family mired in conflict. In one passage, a dancer drags himself across the floor as four others crouch over him like vultures, obscuring his body. (The music, composed by Asaf Avidán and played live by Alma String Quartet with López-Gavilán, at times resembles the “Succession” theme song.) When the ensemble poses for what could be the portrait of the title, they assume wide, menacing grins and then cover their mouths, keeping their secrets buried.
Something grim also seems to lurk beneath the surface in “Vertigo,” which opens with a long, foreboding overture from the string quartet. (The music is by Alexander Balanescu and Boris Kovac.) Daileidys Carrazana enters into the audience, surveying the first row, before stepping onstage, where five other dancers and four lighting fixtures, suspended with long ropes, await her. She tiptoes through them as if crossing a threshold into some other world. As she merges with the group, that world becomes a vehicle for intricate, athletic lifts and partnering, seamlessly executed — but little more.
“Indomitable Waltz” is the evening’s most propulsive offering — the easiest to get lost in — with a bit more emotional shading. (Alma String Quartet and López-Gavilán again provide live music, by Balanescu, Michael Nyman and Nils Frahm.) With their wide second-position pliés, concave torsos and jutting hips, the eight dancers often appear to be pulled downward and inward; a little shuddering step looks like an attempt to take off from the ground. And sometimes they succeed — especially Dayron Dominguez, whose breathtaking jumps have a weightless ease.
But Barton resists crescendo. The work ends with a quiet solo for Laura Rodriguez. Her final gesture is to flick her hands and walk away.
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