MELDING BALLET WITH JAZZ
Gregory Dawson, the leader and choreographer for the dawsondancesf ensemble, nurtures the belief that jazz and ballet can create a happy, conflict-free partnership. Dawson wants his ballets to emulate the improvisational aesthetics of jazz, in which musicians in turn riff off of a basic theme or motif, first the sax, then the trombone, then the piano, before putting all of them together again. Something similar with the choreography: take a movement trope, riff on it, then move on to the…