Love in the Digital Age

(L to R) Sarah Tallman, Ben Delony, Marian Faustino Photo: Amanda Tipton, Kokoro Photography

If you haven't made plans for Valentine's Day weekend, check out the final performances of Ballet Nouveau's world premiere of Garrett Ammon's Love in the Digital Age. Ammon's collage of two dozen dances, seamlessly inwoven with a catchy selection of techno folk and pop orchestrations, topped off with striking projections by Kris Collins, make for a gripping odyssey through love's many mansions.

Moving fluidly from scene to scene, Ammons touches on a pleasing variety of circumstances for individuals, pairs, triplets, and groups, with moods varying from genuinely funny to touching, romantic, alienating, and detached.

Sarah Tallman and Private Freeman Photo: Amanda Tipton, Kokoro Photography

Collins, whose projection credits include work the Black Eyed Peas, builds on the edgy techno beats and quirky vocals with pulsating cuts and geometric animations; yet, he easily shifts gears into pastoral and dreamy imagery, when called for by the music and choreography. Together, Ammons and Collins create a spellbinding aural and visual tone poem that far exceeds the sum of its many distinctly evocative segments.

The challenges for two people to connect, in an age defined by forces that drive people apart, are transparently deconstructed, due largely to the supremely meshed dance, music, and media elements. Despite the choreography's muscular and expressive nature, Ammons' visual poetry relies as much on stillness as action, allowing the sounds and projections to make statements in their own right, adding immeasurably to the social commentary.

Ensemble Photo: Amanda Tipton, Kokoro Photography

Most remarkably, Ammons offers us beautifully drawn moments of love that transcend the all too common pessimism of the age.

Ballet Nouveau Colorado's world premiere of Love in the Digital Age concludes February 10th through 12th at the Performing Arts Complex at PCS, 1001 W. 84th Avenue, Denver, CO 80260. 303-466-5685 or bncdance.com.

Bob Bows