Wei-Chia Su
Article by William Kustiono
Edited by Yvonne Lo
On June 13th, Ballet Tech returned to Joyce Theate for the one-night only Opening Night Gala. The six-performance run featured Taiwanese dancers Wu-Kang Chen and Wei-Chia Su. Eliot Feld choreographed “is” which was performed by Mr. Chen with the accompaniment of live piano by Peter Longiaru. Mr. Su performed the second act of “Zeppo.” The gala performance also included two other solos performed by Kaitlyn Gilliland and Tiler Peck. Of course, the students of the Ballet Tech danced too.
After the Opening Night Gala, from June 14th to June 16th, the students of the Ballet Tech School were featured with Mr. Su in the first act of “Zeppo.” Mr. Su performed the first act of “Zeppo” in Taiwan back in March 2010. He performed it again this June as his dance debut in the United States.
There were five students from Ballet Tech ascending and descending the five staircases to Steve Reich’s “Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint” in Mr. Feld’s 2004 piece “A Stair Dance.” The three brand new dances, the “Impromptu”, “is”, and “Upside Dance” were premiered at the gala event. In the “Impromptu”, Kaitlyn Gilliland, a former City Ballet member, performs superbly with cellist accompaniment Wendy Sutter.
Wu-Kang Chen
In “Is”, the pianist Peter Longiaru played Debussy as dancer Wi-Kang Chen dozed about swirling at the rear of the stage. After the intermission, the students returned and Mr. Feld redeemed himself with his new “Upside Dance.” At the start, the girls separated from the boys. When the two groups mingled center stage, there was the glorious moment and unimaginable image. At the end of the dance, the young dancers were running and screaming on stage while expressing their animal spirits and human artistry. The audiences were stunned and applauded greatly as the curtains drew.
For more, please visit: www.ballettechschool.org
Wei-Chia Su
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