Wouldn’t It Be Lovely

It’s all about love in Roxey Ballet’s ‘An Evening of Romance and Dance.’

By: Mary Jasch

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Roger Oliveri and Audra Johnson will perform in Roxey Ballet’s An Evening of Romance and Dance at Canal Studio Theater in Lambertville, Feb. 11-13.


   Five ladies in lingerie sit at backstage dressing tables, smoking and drinking, all except for the new dancer. They tease her and dance around, having a merry time before they go out to the hall where the men pay to dance with them. Little does the nervous new dancer realize she will find true love on her first night of dancing at the Tango Palace.
   "You can meet love-at-first-sight and the man of your dreams at the Tango Palace," says Leland Schwantes, choreographer, who borrowed dresses that were worn in a production of Evita from the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia.
   Audiences can almost dance with the young ladies of Mr. Schwantes’s Tango Palace in the close up and intimate setting of the Roxey Ballet’s An Evening of Romance and Dance at Canal Studio Theater in Lambertville, Feb. 11-13. The show promises to be fun, sensuous and elegant, with classical and contemporary dances of love and passion.

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Mark and Melissa Roxey in "Four Seasons of Romance."


   "’An Evening of Romance and Dance’ was created specifically for adults," says Mark Roxey, co-founder with his wife, Melissa. The pair had a litany of professional credits and worldwide performances when they started the company 11 years ago.
   Mr. Schwantes is one of six choreographers presenting his work at the show. The first dance, Times Square Good-Bye by Mr. Roxey, is a vignette of love torn apart.
   "It’s about one man going off to war," he says. "There are very abstract and emotional feelings through the piece. It’s about what it feels like for two people going away from one another."
   One can already imagine the wrenching emotion. Mr. Roxey got the idea after seeing the famous photo, "Kissing the War Good-Bye," of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square. He didn’t know that the two were strangers, or that the sailor had just returned from war. His reaction was the opposite. "The photo spoke to me in a different way and that’s what art should do," he says.

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David Pittenger and Christine McMillan in "Temptation Pas Deux."


   Then Tango Palace by Mr. Schwantes, a professional dancer and the company’s manager, sets the floor afire.
   "It’s a very classical Argentinean concept. It’s great serving that up for Valentine’s Day," remarks Mr. Roxey.
   Rachel Greasey’s dance concerns the community getting together and loving it. Patricia Brown, 10 years with the company and an accomplished dancer and choreographer, designed a sexy solo called Web Spinner. The classic Spring Water is set to music by Sergey Rachmaninoff.
   "That’s a very virtuoso fun style pas de deux," says Mr. Roxey, who also designed another pas de deux called Temptation that is "very high flying and exciting."
   The last number in the performance is a piece by actor/dancer/choreographer Kitty Lunn called The Last Night of the World, which premiered at the Paralympic Games and later all over the world. Ms. Lunn, a professional dancer who became wheelchair-bound after an accident, is a voice for non-traditional dancers. She and Mr. Roxey perform the dance together.
   "To watch them dance together is really cool. That piece will bring tears to people’s eyes because there is such joy in the piece. I’m excited about seeing the performances," says Mr. Schwantes, who has been so busy concentrating on his own piece. "The girls are going to be beautiful in my piece."
   The show’s music ranges from the electronically synthesized tunes of Decomposure, part of President Bush’s convention speech and Beach Boys to classical. Anne Connors, Mr. Schwantes’s wife, pairs the performances with her narration, poetry and skits. "She’s a cross between Carol Burnett and Anne Margaret," says Mr. Roxey.
   "We call the Roxey Ballet ‘Ballet for the People,’" he continues. "It’s not traditional ballet. It’s not people en pointe, spinning around in tutus. That’s not us. It’s dance for the people so they come to it and enjoy it."
   Besides a dance school and performances, the Roxey Ballet is on a mission to serve a variety of different programs, including educating the underserved population. The Roxey started Wheels in Motion, a wheelchair dance program in partnership with Matheny School, 10 years ago. Mr. Roxey created a computer program that enables artists who are unable to communicate to do so through menu choices and a professional dancer.
   He also incorporates technology into "Celebrating Diversity," an animated, educational dance program with video presented in schools to teach a theme. Last year Roxey did an original production of Dracula — all the works are original — with 14 cast members performing before a video projection of Dracula lurking in a graveyard. The minimalist choreography became quite dramatic.
   "The use and integration of technology is a tremendous asset to a small dance company," Mr. Roxey says. "Ten years ago, we could never do what we do. You don’t have to be the conventional ballet company that only does ‘Swan Lake.’ You can be original, different and be successful too. Ours is a company that drives a lot of originality. Ultimately, as artists, we’re here to make art that means something. I have minimal time on this planet and while I’m here I want to make art that speaks to other people."
An Evening of Romance and Dance will take place at the Canal Studio Theater, 243 N. Union St., Lambertville, Feb. 11-13. Performances: Fri. 7 p.m., Sat. 3, 7 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m. Tickets cost $25. Champagne and dessert reception: Feb. 12, 5:30-6:30 p.m., $25. For information, call (609) 397-7616. On the Web: www.roxeyballet.com