Review: Kaleidoscope (2025) by Ventana Ballet
by David Glen Robinson

The third annual edition of Ventana Ballet’s Kaleidoscope has just taken place at the Draylen Mason Music Studio in the still-new KMFA radio station near Austin's Lady Bird Lake. The sampler of ballet pieces by different choreographers informed and delighted, as always. Aptly named, the seasons turned round, and the views through the looking glass of dance revealed fresh new performances. The quality of the offerings seemed even higher than those of the previous year but, of course, that judgment is highly subjective.

 

The fine arts seem to be in a state of flux; all the better for ballet. An art form once stereotyped as one of toe shoes and tutus has shed those restrictions (using them by choice only) in exchange for free-ranging and imaginative sources and inspirations drawn from myths, and history around the world. The form generally retains its commitment to linear narrative storytelling but is beginning to explore more abstract territories and choreographic concepts.

 

Modern/contemporary dance still holds the high ground of the abstract, one of Martha Graham’s legacies. Ventana Ballet's Artistic Director A.J. Garcia-Rameau and Co-Artistic Director Navaji David Nava are impressive explorers of the new ballet. Kaleidoscope 2025 offers an exemplary display of the past year’s discoveries, all with the well-trained and expressive technique for which Ventana Ballet is becoming known.

 

 

Austin Camerata, headed by Daniel Kopp, adds to the singular look and sound of Kaleidoscope. In partnership for all the Kaleidoscopes, Kopp and his affiliated Invoke four-member string ensemble performed live a well-chosen suite of “modern classical” pieces with arrangements by contemporary composers, including Invoke. The ensemble is Karl Mitze (viola, mandolin), Geoff Manyin (cello), Zach Matteson (violin), and Nick Montopoli (violin, banjo; and he sang in the interlude). The excellent acoustics of the Draylen Mason Music Studio enhanced their music; that's  an additional advantage of that venue.  

A précis of each piece is a way to convey the production's kaleidoscopic nature.

 

“In-Between,” choreographed by Meggie Belisle. The accompanying music was “Enigma for the Night” by Jocelyn C. Chambers and “Tel,” both pieces performed by Invoke.

A figure stood on each of two benches styled and painted like park benches. Soon an entire ensemble was leaping and tumbling over both benches and the space around them. The introduction gave us virtuoso gymnastic maneuvers and faces shining with joy. Ballet technique lay at the heart of the choreography, but shapes and gestures were sourced in modern and jazz dance and sports. Eventually a couple stood facing each other between the two benches. That was a moment of emotional communion coming as the result of all the energetic movement that came before it. The build-up was a clever choreographic concept, well executed by Meggie Belisle. The dancers were: Meggie Belisle, Elaine Fields, A.J. Garcia-Rameau, Jordan Miller, Kanami Nakabayashi, Hannah Requa, and Connor Timpe. The delightful Elaine Fields showed measured, subtle emotionality that sustained the tone, well in keeping with the ensemble. Kudos. 

 

“The Unpaved Way,” choreographed by Navaji David Nava. The music was “Mirror Maze” and “Sunwalker” by Invoke. 

This was a narrative story with deeper elements told in the language of ballet. A male dancer garbed in robes and a staff portrays a wanderer or pilgrim. Three spirits or muses, who danced the introduction , watch over the Wanderer, their intent uncertain. The Wanderer attempts to exit the scen, downstage right, but the muse draw him back. This trope, or story fragment, is enacted at least three times in different ways. In one of them a muse stands firmly in front of the Wanderer and forces him back. The Wanderer dances his imposed turmoil, and refers to his staff. It has an old-fashioned porcelain door handle as its head, but he never threatens the muses with it. Eventually the Wanderer finds strength and exits, forward in life.

 

Gesture, movement, and emotionality tell this story. Elements come close to pantomime but never cross the line into comedy. Rachael Hanlon's strong, quick-firing emotionality assists the progress greatly and enhances oour understanding of the story. She brings a vast acting and dance talent to Ventana Ballet.

 

The deeper story is explained for us in Nava’s programme notes. He writes: “This work is a meditation on the inner journey we all must take—a passage through fear, loneliness, and uncertainty, where growth comes not from avoidance but from encounter. At its heart, it speaks to the quiet power of choosing the unknown, and the transformative wisdom found just beyond the thresholds waiting for each of us.” We willingly accept this interpretation, which lies behind the movement on stage. Nava increasingly shows artistic growth in ballet choreography and his  mastery of other art domains, which enable his telling of such stories and teaching these lessons.

 

The dancers were Aidan DeWitt, Rachael Hanlon, Kayla Hoover, and Penelope Morejon Molina. Nava was credited with costuming and art projection, which included the staff head porcelain door handle. In a brief interview after the show, Nava explained that the door handle was to the door of a pioneer house built by his grandfather. For himt it symbolized the journey through generations as well as space and the migration through time we are all making.

 

Musical Interlude. “Alchemy” by Invoke.

This was a beautiful showcase of the string quartet, with supplemental singing by Montopoli. The interlude offered us a lagniappe of the ballet show and was highly appreciated by all.

 

“Vanishing Point,” choreographed by Calvin Hilpert. The music was “The Quiet One” by William Grant Still.

Three dancers stood on a bench downstage left in some tension, looking outward. Two stood in bright, orange-red light but the third was outside the glow and did not find her light. This was an error and a distraction. But the three played on and fell back from the edge one at a time. They entered duets, trios, and solos in gauzy, flowing costumes. Each of the three returned to the bench or some other lookout, perhaps precipice, at various times in the dance, possibly waiting in anticipation of something. Waiting definitely seemed to be a theme in the dance.

 

As Calvin Hilpert writes: “As time passes, the waiting transforms—not into forgetting, but into something else. What remains is not a resolution, but a recognition. And in the company of one another, a choice: to turn away from the edge, and step into the unknown terrain of what comes next.” Here is a touchpoint with Nava’s “The Unpaved Way.” Both dances address all human beings’ efforts to find the courage to step into uncertainty and the unknown to find fulfillment. To mangle a Chinese proverb, “With risk comes opportunity.”

 

But in “Vanishing Point” the group dancing worked an odd magic. Wass itthe choreography, the costuming, or the lighting? The audience fell unusually silent and remained still, intent, and focused on the slightest movement. These are peripheral features of hypnotic states. The movement seemed to proceed apart from the dancers, inevitably as it was required somehow to move, a flow that incorporated the audience, reality pulsing with the music and our own heartbeats. Occasionally the dancers linked arms in allusive flashes of Matisse’s “Rite of Spring.” Perhaps they spoke to the potential accomplishments that lay past the shadows of uncertainty?

 

At any rate, the audience did not come down easily. Stage lights faded to black, and the audience remained silent, getting it back together, recomposing themselves. House lights gradually came up, and the audience roared its approval. Calvin Hilpert may be as much a magician as a choreographer.

 

The dancers were Meggie Belisle, Kanami Nakabayashi, and Kayla Hoover. Nakabayashi, particularly, stood out by not standing out. Her image and vast energy can, without controls, draw all focus and every eye to her. But her control and sharing attitudes elevate all around her. Blessed are the choreographers who work with her. 

 

“Dummy Suite,” choreographed by Jordan Miller. The music was “Only Ever Us” by Paul Wianko.

"Dummy" here does not refer to a set of neutral or artificial data for use in statistical or computer programming exercises. It's a play on the stereotypical assumption that dancers lack capacity in the mental department. Choreographer Miller made that statement immediately with the mismatching, ill-fitting tutu costumes of her three dancers. They made ungainly and awkward gestures and final positions, landed with plops a few times, and formed phrases of the “two girls rolling on each other motif.” Sarcasm is difficult to perform with a straight face, but the highly talented dancers made a hilarious job of it. They were Rachel Cox Culver, Elaine Fields, and Penelope Morejon Molina. 

 

“Ravel, Unravel,” choreographed by Navaji David Nava and A.J. Garcia-Rameau. The music was “Breathe, Laugh, Cry, Repeat” by Alan Retamozo.

 

Aidan DeWitt performed solo in a greenish two-piece costume set evocative of nature and  a sense of the outdoors. Navaji David Nava did the costuming. DeWitt performed wide, well-extended ballet gestures. As in the preceding piece by Navaji David Nava, the dancer conveyed an aspect of unfulfilled longing, but this piece lacked muses to control his movements or direction.

 

Phrases and sequences built in energetic intensity, showing DeWitt's impressive skill. Eventually, he seemed to gain some resolution, and he exited positively as the lights faded. As Nava writes in the programme: “It turns out, it isn’t until looking inward that the light within—the heartbeat—permeates the world around us, and the joy of a new perspective breaks us free.” 

 

“Sophisticated Ladies,” choreographed by A.J. Garcia-Rameau. The music was “Sophisticated Lady” by Duke Ellington, and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” by Jimi Hendrix, both pieces performed by the skillful Invoke. 

The dance was in two large sections differentiated by the music and a costume change. A.J. Garcia-Rameau and Navaji David Nava collaborated on the costuming, and the clothing itself was undoubtedly the star of the piece. The first section was slow-paced as the five dancers entered singly to show off exquisite 1920s or 1930s wedding or ballgowns and period-accurate elaborate ladies’ hats. White was the color of all the costuming. The ensemble was set off by one accent, a white lace parasol held by A.J. Garcia-Rameau. The dancers—sophisticated ladies, indeed—wheeled and turned in stately gestures to the end of the section. The lights dimmed but did not go out.

 

The dancers changed costumes on stage, removing the gowns and hats to reveal two-piece 1940s beach bathing suits, matching in cut and style but not in color. Color went rainbow. To “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” the dance grew in energetic proportions to flying ballet phrases and sequences. Here were the sophisticated ladies of another generation, showing much more of themselves in bold confidence and emerging liberation. A.J. Garcia-Rameau’s ability to express ideas in ballet movement and choreography has defied limits. Kudos. Her mainstay support dancers, prima divas all, were Rachel Cox Culver, Rachael Hanlon, Kanami Nakabayashi, and Hannah Requa. Kudos to them as well.

 

Summing up The artists under their umbrellas create art for every thinking, feeling adult. Follow them and Kaleidoscope through all the usual channels. The rewards are immense.

 

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Kaleidoscope (2025)
by Ventana Ballet
Ventana Ballet

May 1 - 3, 2025

Ventana Ballet

Draylan Mason Studio, KMFA, Austin