Michael McStraw is one of the best things to happen to Giordano Dance Chicago (GDC) lately. As Executive Director, his work alongside Artistic Director Nan Giordano does not go unnoticed; from an outside perspective, GDC is a neatly kept organization with a crystal clear mission, elegant branding, and an undeniable passion for dance. McStraw is seemingly everywhere – at every dance event and fundraiser, on lots of boards and panels – he appears to be the perfect business partner for Nan Giordano, who has run the company for more than 20 years. It's a good thing, because Giordano fell sick last week, and was uncharacteristically absent from tech and performances for GDC’s 52nd fall season opener at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. Though Nan was missed, it might easily be said that the star of the evening was Ray Leeper, guest choreographer whose world premiere “Feeling Good Sweet” did not disappoint.
Leeper hails from the commercial and television world, with notable credits including So You Think You Can Dance and America’s Got Talent. GDC has been pumping up Leeper’s new work for months, and while it’s all fluff and pizzazz (as one might expect), "Feeling Good Sweet" is exactly what this program needed, and, for that matter, GDC too. The cast of characters who make up GDC are nice. Like, really nice. One is hard pressed to find a more cheery crew, and the rep presented throughout the evening, though technically stunning and high on drama, didn’t capture its essence like “Feeling Good Sweet” can. The piece does exactly as it says: it makes us feel good, with classic Broadway style jazz dressed in a gorgeous purple hue. The ladies are in corsets and heels, the men don suspenders and fedoras... lots of high kicks and pirouettes ensue. Every second is polished to a brilliant shine. Moments borrowed from classics like Bob Fosse’s “Rich Man’s Frug” and “All that Jazz” resonated best, and “Feeling Good Sweet" was the epitome of “the closer,” bringing audience members quickly to their feet.
Nan Giordano wouldn’t be the only face missing from GDC’s fall series; McStraw explained in his curtain speech following the first number that dancer Maeghan McHale became injured nine days before the premiere. She might be considered the Wendy Whelan of GDC, but McHale’s absence wasn’t really noticeable due to excellent jobs by understudies Natasha Overturff and Linnea Stureson. Although “Feeling Good Sweet” kind of stole the show, revisiting Roni Koresh’s “EXit4” again wasn’t a bad idea, and in that case, GDC opted to leave McHale’s place blank. Among the more interesting adaptations was McHale’s partner Martin Ortiz Tapia left to stare down the audience, breaking the tightly composed unison in the beginning section. Had the audience not known of this change in advance, we might have drawn some conclusions about Ortiz Tapia’s convincingly aggressive stance. It’s an energy that wins through the majority of Koresh's work, but in that particular moment the other dancers embrace one another, galumphing around in a low centered sort of awkward Junior High School dance. It’s a move that returns only once more apart from this repeating unison sequence: in a brief interlude set to the Beatles’ “All You Need is Love.” The rest of the piece is unyielding militance; in one moment it is self-flagellating, the dancers beating their thighs and arms, screaming along with the music, and in the next, exultation as their arms outstretch to the ceiling. “EXit4” simultaneously demonstrates resistance and acceptance, the sort of emotions one might experience living in a war torn country for which he still shows allegiance and patriotism.
Compared to the extraordinary “EXit4” and “Feeling Good Sweet,” the rest of the show fell a bit flat. The two group works “A Ritual Dynamic” and “Entropy” play with Eastern influenced gestures that often come off as cliché, and the works are too alike, perhaps, to appear on the same program. The oft repeated angsty duet “Gravity” was put in place of Autumn Eckman’s “Alloy,” meant to feature McHale with Devin Buchanan, and though “Gravity” was beautifully performed, it could benefit from a few seasons on the shelf.