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The Bad Boys of Dance were very good but something was missing
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Photo by Sally Canterna
A few weeks back, I got to see Rasta Thomas' all male ballet company, Bad Boys of Dance, at Wolf Trap, and they were some bad boys (and bad girls, too). All were amazing dancers, and like Thomas, not only were they exceptional ballet dancers, but they excellent at modern, hip-hop and tap. I do not think there is anything that they can not do. The men flirted; they teased; they charmed; they bore their chests. As Thomas promised, the dancers were sexy. And the two guest female dancers, Thomas' wife, Adrienne Canterna-Thomas and her little sister Ashley Canterna were no less talented or sexy. But with all of the superhuman flexibility, strength and agility, at the end of the concert, I could not help but feel something was missing.
The first piece was the most cerebral piece of the night. Man and the World was gorgeous thoughtful piece set to Astor Piazzolla’s beautiful tango music. However, the next five pieces, In Love, Heartbroken, I Love "Lucy", Gotcha! and Feelin' Good were grouped together and were light and fun. Thomas and his wife did a powerful duet. She appeared boneless; she is so flexible. She did a grand jeté attitude back [a leap that takes the split into the air with a bent back leg] I could swear she kicked the back of her head. Rasta Thomas was breathtaking; his powerful explosive jumps, and magnetic stage presence confirmed why he is considered one of the best male dancers around. This grouping of pieces told the story of ‘boy loves girl’, ‘boy looses girl’, ‘boy’s pals console and chide boy’, ‘girl gets revenge and flirts with boy’s pals’ ‘boy makes girl jealous by dancing with blow dolls with his friends—boy and girl quarrel and then reconcile’ The bit with the blow-up dolls was hilarious and quite creative. This whole grouping was high in energy, difficulty and sexy, sexy. There was even a tap dance number by two of the dancers that was also a crowd pleaser.
I wondered how they could top the dancing in act one in the suite of dances, "Rock You", in act two. The dances were set to the music of Queen, Prince and Michael Jackson. (I saw this show before MJ's untimely demise--how bittersweet). And unfortunately, the second half did not measure up. Thomas’ group took what worked well in the first half of the show especially the relationship numbers, and just revved up that formula several notches. Ashley Canterna danced in this half of the show, and like her sister, she played the mouse to the male dancers' cat. Her talent was wasted. She jumped and turned, but mostly she pranced and strutted. If this was a lesser company dancing to lesser music, maybe I would have expected more of the same. Do not get me wrong; for this company, the same is fabulous. They can whip out 10 turns and stop on a dime, do effortless handless cartwheels, etc., etc while giving us shirtless Brad Pitt and George Clooney sex appeal. But these are the most talented male dancers in the country…the world; there is not a dance style this company can not do; there is no depth of artistry that they can not reach, so why travel down the same terrain? Why not explore other territories? They were dancing to Queen, Prince and Michael for goodness sake. Sadly, I found that I was enjoying the music more than their dancing, and for this company, that is absurd. Thomas said in an interview that he was “putting ballet in a sexier package and that his “product is sexier, younger and fresher.” Perhaps that is the problem, dance is art. It is not a "product" to be "packaged" like a reality show ‘pop star’.
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