AILEY II Performs BREAKTHROUGH with Power & Poignancy

Born in France, Manuel Vignoulle is an Int'l dancer/choreographer whose works & performances have been performed throughout the world on stage & film.  Currently working in NYC, Vignoulle created BREAKTHROUGH as a commissioned work for the acclaimed AILEY II Dance Co ('14.)  This powerful work grabs the viewer and elicits strong visceral/emotional response.  Though ominously cast in dim, smokey light, Vignoulle intersperses graceful elements of classical music and ballet.  The contemporary score has a driving, frenetic feel composed by Mikael Karrison (b. Sweden 1975.)  There is a hurried, combative aesthetic to the dancers pairings.  This is a high energy performance which incorporates much running.  The running gives a nightmarish quality of fleeing & trying to reach an elusive safe haven.  All the dancers except for 1 female fade away as she continues to run and yells "wait" with urgency.  A male dancer stealthly approaches and covers her head with a stretchy fabric and lifts her off the ground.  The startling & disturbing imagery is of a woman fighting for her life.  talented dancers were all adept at a speedy clip of contemporary, jazz & ballet expression.  BREAKTHROUGH gets your heart pounding.  It is a brilliant work that will not go quietly into the night.  "Dance, an art without borders uses the human body as raw material moving through space, generates feelings that touch people's hearts and lead them to reconnect with their own humanity." (M Vignoulle)