NYC Ballet Premiers 'Dance Odyssey' Choreographed by Peter Walker - A Beautiful Ballet Conquest

Peter Walker is a member of the Corps de Ballet at NYC Ballet (NYCB).  Nobody is going to put Peter in corner after his new ballet 'Dance Odyssey' blew audiences away.  Walker first joined NYC Ballet in 2012.   His previous (and only choreogaphy) for NYCB was 'Following Ten in Seven' ('15).  'Dance Odyssey' is the work of a talented choreographer whose musicality & movements are fully enhanced by his simple but effective set design, lighting and clever costuming.  Before the curtain went up on this brilliant new ballet, the music by London based composer Oliver Davis lit up the stage, literally.  The vibrant music was echoed by flashing blue & red lights at the base of the curtain and offered an exciting anticipatory overture.  Davis' music uplifted the dancers without weighing heavily on the choreography.   The plucking of strings & the dancers were in rippling syncopation.  The curtain came up on the ballerinas wearing swimwear costumes in shades of aqua, azure & mauve.  The men's one piece leotards paired nicely with the women's wear.    The backdrop had a single neon light shaped like unfurling waves.  The neon light never wavered but its color morphed and its height rose & fell echoing the soft crescendo of ocean waves.  The rather short ballet started out very lively and fervently with petit battements and brisk bourrees.   The languid cambres mimicked the ebb & flow of the tides.  The ingenious choreography captured a  feeling of moving through water.  Some poses & lifts resembled swimmers' motions.  The slower movements had dimmer lighting and the partnering; male/female & male/male were eloquent & exciting.  The lifts & jetes maintained an ephemeral lightness & languor.  Some of Walker's pas de deus were reminiscent of Balanchine but altogether fresh and innovative.  There was whimsy & ebullience in 'Dance Odyssey' a new work for the company which is sure to rise to the surface and stay afloat for years to come.  Even the Michael Jackson moonwalk was fun without seeming like  flotsam & jetsam.  I will seek out 'Following Ten in Seven' and look forward to future forays into choreography by Peter Walker.  'Dance Odyssey' rates a ten.