“Company B” and “In the Upper Room”

Pittsburgh Ballet… “Company B” and “In the Upper Room”

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

719 Liberty Avenue Benedum Center

Pitt Arts Tickets: $12 Students, $17 Faculty/Staff

Feb. 12–14

(412)456-6666

pbt.org

Performing two performances in one show isn’t easy for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

But with some swing, stomp, jive and jump, they will perform two very different dances back-to-back Feb. 12–14 at the Benedum Center.

Luca Sbrizzi, a dancer in the company, says this performance will make a great night out even for those unfamiliar with ballet.

“It’s just beautiful music and beautiful movement, and I feel it will captivate people,” he said.

“Company B,” choreographed by Paul Taylor, takes place the 1940s post-war period. It features old favorites such as “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!” sung by the Andrews Sisters.

The dance starts and ends with the full company on stage, with solos and duets dispersed throughout. Rather than tell a particular story, the piece tries to capture the essence and nostalgia of the generation while still entertaining audiences of all ages.

Even as an Italian-born dancer who only recently joined the Pittsburgh Ballet in 2007, Sbrizzi loves the classic American songs.

“At first I couldn’t really understand the lyrics because it takes me a while to pick up on what the actual words are,” he said. “Now the songs make sense and I enjoy it. The movement makes sense with the music. As an Italian doing this piece it’s actually a lot of fun.”

“Company B” isn’t your traditional ballet with tutus and lace either. Dancers wear jazz shoes and tan-colored pants or poodle skirts and do more swinging across the stage than leaping.

Casual dress and step doesn’t make the dance any easier, though. “If you pause for just one second you might lose it or miss a step, and that would be very bad. It’s very difficult to stay with it,” Sbrizzi said.

After “Company B,” audiences will witness an entirely different realm of dance with the music of Philip Glass accompanying “In the Upper Room,” a modern ballet choreographed by Twyla Tharp.

Sbrizzi describes “In the Upper Room” as “breathtaking,” “unbelievable,” full of “energy and power” and far from easy.

“This is probably  — no, not probably — definitely the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire career because the music is very fast,” he said.

Glass’s composition is in an irregular meter, meaning while most dance music keeps a steady beat with straight eighth notes, his rhythms contain anywhere from seven to 13 beats.

“In the Upper Room” is also extremely physically demanding because the dancers are moving quickly throughout. The male dancers are also throwing their female partners between each other, requiring a great amount of upper body and core strength along with keen mental concentration.

“I wish the audiences would know how much work, effort and dedication there has been behind this. It might look easy but it really isn’t,” Sbrizzi said.

He has been training for the past two months, swimming routinely and doing weight training to work his entire body and keep his heart rate up. Being lazy is not an option when women are flying through the air.

“If you get tired doing the piece it makes the whole thing harder. If you get tired you can’t think properly, and if you can’t think properly you’re prone to injury,” he said.

Like “Company B”, “In the Upper Room” has no particular storyline but instead creates mood and atmosphere — except this time, it’s much more profound and dramatic.

There are two sets of dancers  — stompers and ballerinas. The stompers are tall and wear sneakers while the ballerinas are shorter and wear point shoes, creating an intense contrast on stage between the dancers’ style and step.

“It’s really going to take the audience on a journey,” Sbrizzi said. “They’re going to sit down and look at the piece and their imagination will take them wherever it will.”

The show runs for three days this weekend, and discounted tickets for students and faculty are available through Pitt Arts.