This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Ballet West's inaugural National Choreographic Festival created enough buzz last weekend that on Saturday, Dance Magazine produced a Facebook Live from a master class led by Sarasota Ballet artistic director Iain Webb. Hearts and thumbs-up emoji floated across the screen from some 1,300 viewers across the country.

The live performance on the main stage of the new Eccles Theater in downtown Salt Lake City got a lot of love as well, with most of the main floor filled with enthusiastic fans. Opening weekend included works by Pennsylvania Ballet, Sarasota Ballet and a world premiere by Ballet West.

Closing the festival this Friday and Saturday will be Pacific Northwest Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre and a second world premiere, this one by Val Caniparoli, performed by Ballet West. Oliver Oguma's "Tremor" also will be staged by Ballet West.

The world premieres by Nicolo Fonte and Caniparoli, and Helen Pickett's "Terra," which premiered in Portland by OBT last month, represent a future vision of a festival filled with all new work — and offer a bird's-eye view of ballet in America.

Fonte has been Ballet West's resident choreographer since 2012, and "Fox on the Doorstep" performed opening weekend was his fourth premiere for the company and seventh in the repertory — each more significant than the last.

The ballet opened with the pressured sound of a ticking clock, or perhaps the countdown of a more destructive device warning that things are about to explode. The abstract narrative parallels a night three years ago after Fonte left his aged father's bedside to return to work far across the country in Colorado. Walking out into the cool Aspen air that night, Fonte encountered the calm stare of a white fox sitting on his doorstep, seemingly divining the elder Fonte's passing only a few hours later.

Fonte makes the personal universal with his choreography, concealing and exposing his characters' frailties. Dancer Chase O'Connell stood out in this performance, owning all 6 feet 4 inches of his height. Yet it was not until a second viewing that I understood O'Connell's more pronounced flick of the head or more widely spread arms and lifted chest to be a purposeful choreographic choice, drawing attention to him as an individual in the group. By the end of the ballet, O'Connell emerged as the lead protagonist struggling with his place in the universe.

Never self-indulgent in his exploration, Fonte gathered the praiseworthy cast of 12 dancers in a half circle around Jacqueline Straughan, whose solo echoed feelings of alienation as friends attempt to support but ultimately fragment. From the beginning a bond is suggested between O'Connell and dancer Arolyn Williams that ultimately dissolves, leaving him to work through his crisis alone.

"Fox on the Doorstep" was a complete theatrical experience, with costumes by David Heuvel, lighting by Jim French and James K. Larsen, and sets by French and Fonte.

At the end of the piece, O'Connell stood alone onstage under a stark light with gray ash falling on and around him. The ingenious effect of falling ash was created by releasing black confetti above the stage, enhanced with gray lighting as it hit the black stage floor and seemingly disappeared — all part of Fonte's impeccable attention to detail.

Pennsylvania Ballet's performance of Trey McIntyre's "The Accidental" was a masterful ballet for almost opposite reasons. Although McIntyre also shows great attention to detail, the liveliness of the ballet is based in a muscular kinetic impulse and constant flow of movement. The ballet is perfectly precise without being precious. The six dancers moved fluidly, zipping across the stage with an irresistible lyricism. Soloist Alexander Peters was strong and athletic, and the petite Ana Calderon and nimble Oksana Maslova were precise, agile and no less strong.

Sarasota Ballet also proved to be populated by excellent dancers, but the company's choreography by Ricardo Graziano seemed stylistically stuck in a bygone day when neoclassical became contemporary ballet and was focused on shape, line and geometric relationships within the body. Although Graziano's "In a State of Weightlessness" was an audience favorite, today's contemporary ballet choreography has fortunately moved on to embrace a wider range of content. —

National Choreographic Festival

Ballet West wraps its inaugural festival with a second weekend of performances celebrating new works, including a world premiere by choreographer Val Caniparoli.

When • May 26-27, 7:30 p.m.; May 27, 2 p.m. For 30-minute talks by guest artistic directors, arrive an hour before curtain.

Where • Eccles Theater, 131 S. Main St., Salt Lake City

Tickets • $49.50; ArtTix outlets, 801-869-6920 or artsaltlake.org

Pacific Northwest Ballet • Staging Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's "Before After," a pas de deux created in 2002 for the Dutch National Ballet, about a relationship that is coming to an end.

Oregon Ballet Theatre • Presenting "Terra," a new work from choreographer Helen Pickett, set to an original score by American composer Jeff Beal of "House of Cards" fame, with inspiration from indigenous dances of the world, contemporary ballet and Joseph Campbell's work on myth and metaphor.

Ballet West • Presenting a world premiere by Caniparoli, whose "Dances for Lou" is inspired by Lou Harrison's Concerto for Pipa and String Orchestra. Ballet West also will stage Oliver Oguma's "Tremor," a work inspired by the human body set to a score by Philip Glass.

Master classes • As part of the festival, master classes are open to advanced-level dancers, $40 per class, May 25 and 27. More information at https://balletwest.org/events/national-choreographic-festival-master-classes