Young dancers showcase talent

It always amazes me when men possess grace. Female ballerinas have it naturally, but male ballet dancers are incredible in their ability to jump, do complicated dance steps and stand on point, seemingly without effort. \nSaturday night saw a diverse audience come for a taste of the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company at the IU Auditorium. The ABT Studio Company is a classical company featuring 12 handpicked young dancers from all over the world. Ranging in age from 16 to 21, the dancers train with expert choreographers to prepare for the American Ballet Theatre. \nThe performance was the culmination of a week-long stay at IU. The company's dancers and choreographers conducted workshops with IU ballet students and faculty. \nThe first part of the concert included selections from Pete Briener's Beatles Concerto Gross No. 1-4 from the CD "Beatles Go Baroque." Adapted for the company's 12 dancers, "The Long and Winding Road" was a showcase of black and white. This seemed to be the warmup for the dancers, who made some awkward movements in the course of the 30-minute performance. While few and far between, these small mistakes took away from the overall grace and elegance of the dancers. This part included all 12 dancers, some of whom were not to be seen for the rest of the concert. While this year marked most dancers' first in the company, some have danced for two or more years with the ABT Studio Company.\nCreated after the sudden death of ballet director and choreographer John Cranko, the second performance in the concert, titled "Return to a Strange Land," featured the piano music of Leos Janacek. Choreographed by Jiri Kylian, the piece was made up of two duets and two trios exploring the meaning of life and death. This piece let six of the 12 dancers showcase their talents. The performances of Zhong-jing Fang and Grant DeLong were particularly impressive. These two showed incredible grace and presence of spirit in the face of a large audience. They proved that a young dancer with a lot of potential has the opportunity to inspire the audience. The movements of all the dancers were in perfect coordination -- it was clear that this piece touched them deeply. I got the feeling that all six performers felt the pain of loss the choreographer passed to them in the movements of the dance.\nThe last piece in the three-part concert was the most colorful -- literally -- and the best presented of the three. The audience saw the world premiere of "Heavenly Bodies" set to the powerful music of Ernst Von Donhanyi. Clothed in all the colors of the rainbow, each of the nine dancers represented a planet in our solar system. The piece could be interpreted differently -- I saw it as a contest for position between the different planets. Several dancers were showcased in solos, highlighting the intricate choreography. Most notably, DeLong (Mercury), Fang (Venus), and Bo Busby (Jupiter) danced with unmistakable candor and grace. The choreography mixed perfectly with the music, creating a piece worthy of a standing ovation.