The Washington Ballet Keeps Love Alive with 7x7: Love Duets

Choreographer Adam Houghland’s Say Hello, Wave Goodbye was a more humorous look at love, complete with music by Soft Cell and costumes that gave the piece an eighties rock vibe. Two couples made up this piece, performing separate duets; while both were excellent, Jason Hartley and Jade Payette brought spirit to the piece with their ability to give the balletic movements a bit of a punk feel. Even the way they traveled across the stage benefited from a little swagger in their step. Each time Payette prepared to daringly leap into Hartley’s arms for him to twist her every which way, she grinned and he smiled back. Their smiles were infectious.

Notable also was choreographer Neijla Y, whose 2 Long 2 Love featured a blanket of rose petals on the floor for the dancers to dance on (pictured). There were a few lovely moments where the three dancers picked up handfuls of rose petals and allowed them to rain down over them and flutter to the ground as they danced.

Other works, however, didn't manage to overcome the cliché depiction of love. The weakest work of the seven was Out of Time, partially due to the choreography, which failed to say anything different about love from many of the other pieces, but most of the problem lied with dancer Brianne Bland. While most of the Washington Ballet dancers did an excellent job at portraying the various phases of love involved in their dances, Bland came across as cool and bored in comparison to her partner, Runqiao Du. There is no way to disguise a lack of passion like this in such an intimate setting.

Sometimes when dance companies convert their studios into performance spaces, the effect is less than polished and the performance suffers, but the Washington Ballet’s small studio theater is an exception. The company clearly takes pride in their performance space, using stark white walls, seating, and wings as a beautiful canvas for their choreography. And the idea of keeping the premieres to seven minutes in this intimate space is an excellent one that works well— in that short time we’re able to see everything that needs to be seen and the dances end before our interest wanes, allowing us to appreciate them even more.

There is still plenty of time to catch a performance of 7x7: Love Duets — performances run through March 9. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster or by calling 202-397-SEAT.

Image of Elizabeth Gaither and Jared Nelson by Steve Vaccariello, courtesy the Washington Ballet.