“Escape”
There’s both “Method and Madness” aplenty in José Mateo Ballet Theatre’s final program of the season. From the moment the stage lights up to the final steps, the dancers leave it all on the floor in a production that serves as a guided journey through the evolution of Mateo’s career.
The program includes one of Mateo’s earliest works, “The Sirens,” a haunting ballet he premiered in 1989 shortly after forming the company. Set to Vivaldi’s baroque “Concerto in A Minor,” it is artfully simplistic and focused on the choreography.
Presented in chronological order, the ballets illustrate the Cuban-born choreographer’s creative trajectory, the audience watches the work mature and transform. One of the darkest narratives is found in “The Escape” (2004). Costumed in shades of green, back-dropped by sky-blue scenery, the female dancers are trapped in repressive environment they must dance free of. Angie DeWolf embraces her lead role in a ballet that begins slowly, the music building along with the drama of the piece.
The closing performance, “Over and Over” (2009), features some of his most dynamic choreography to date — particularly in the second half, a trio sequence cannon led by Emma Ward and Magdalena Gyftopoulos. Ellen Scherer’s solo performance serves as the quiet eye of the storm before a finale that leaves the audience wowed.
If you go
José Mateo Ballet Theatre presents “Method and Madness”
Through April 21
The Sanctuary Theatre
400 Harvard St., Cambridge
$40, 617-354-7467
