This young, multi-ethnic company has much to recommend it. Each of Saba’s dancers has something to offer, although Yuko Suzuki, Christophe Jeannot and Alessandra Prosperi were outstanding in their presence, their technical clarity, and their ability to phrase and interpret movement. Costumes are imaginative without being intrusive, and have good lines. One excellent component of the company’s work is its eclecticism. The choice of music ranges from Bach to Ella Fitzgerald. The dance styles range from classical Indian Bharat Natyam through ballet, jazz and Grahamesque modern. Mr. Sabatier-Curial has a very interesting imagination. He links Carmen and a Geisha through the common element of their fans. He peeks at the inner soul of St Teresa of Avila, suggesting that suffering could have been a form of sexual ecstasy for her. He joins the images from the Venetian Renaissance painter Carpaccio to the tango music of Astor Piazzola. He has revived Matteo’s Bach Ananda, perform to Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue” and performed quite well by the company in spite of their charmingly humble program note that they do not presume to be experts in the form.

In fact, Matteo’s piece was one of the most successful on the program, because it was constructed by a master, using the strict techniques of a very old form. What is missing from Saba’s work is serious internal investigation. Movement is explored but not exploited. St Teresa caresses the whip, but what else might she do with it? She plays with the crucifix and wraps herself in it, but might that not suggest and connect with what she later does with the whip? Carmen seduces the Geisha, but why does the Geisha dance for Carmen? What might really happen between them? Why is the Geisha campy, while Carmen simply dances? These questions, or questions like them, need to be considered if Saba hopes to be a serious choreographer.

Saba has a sense of the outrageous; his Geisha in drag shows that. Now he needs to exploit the outrageous in his choreography, as well as in the conception of his pieces. Lack of development is a problem many young choreographers face, and Saba is well ahead of most of his contemporaries. He simply needs to be aware of the problem, apply himself to it, and perhaps work with a mentor. Then he could become one of the most interesting of today’s young choreographers.

Performed at Florence Gould Hall
Reviewed on 12/1/01 by Roberta Pikser