Ford Center Brings New York Dance Company to Local Stage

Rioult Dance Company, celebrating 20 years, is based out of New York and travels internationally performing the exquisite works of Pascal Rioult. Pascal, the founder of the company, puts his energy into developing his unique choreographic style and having his ensemble of dancers illustrate his work.
A stunning coalition of dances that incorporate: water colored backgrounds, sounds from nature, and simplistic costumes. The use of visual and audio elements sent the audience on a trance.
“The show was entrancing. The water colored backgrounds oozed different colors, while you heard the sounds of rain, crickets, etc. The dancers were so delicate but sharp with their movements. It felt like I was dreaming,” said Brittany Murphree.
The dancers incorporated a variety of techniques throughout the performance. Some of the techniques they incorporated:

• Ballón: 
The quality of lightness, ease in jumping.
• Entrechat: dancer jumps into the air and quickly crosses the legs in front and behind. While in the air, the dancer beats her right thigh on the back and front of her left thigh before landing.
• Grand Battement: 
A large, swift leg “kick” with the knee extended and foot pointed.
• Mirroring: when two dancers movements are in sync.
• Pas de chat: a sideways jump, legs form a diamond shape while in the air
• Promenade: 
A slow pivot of the body while standing on one leg

“I’m from South Korea so the dance style is very different back home. However, the stage set up and dance technique are very similar. The dancers both here and at home are lean and have strong muscles to be able to control and contort their bodies,” said Jenny Le, a sophomore at Ole Miss.
Each dance piece incorporated anywhere between all 14 dancers to just two of them. A typical dance company, as successful as Rioult, is around 40-50 people. Rioult is extraordinary for an organization of this size. The company and its dancers are very dedicated to each other. Rioult provides health insurance, training classes, teaching opportunities, and challenging repertory to please its dancers. The dancers in turn provide community outreach. The company’s program, DanceREACH, offers interactive lessons to introduce students to the world of dance. The program has relationships in NYC and the metropolitan area.
This was Rioult’s first visit to the Ford Center, and according to audience members, hopefully not their last.

Emily Jameson is a HottyToddy.com staff reporter and can be reached at eajameso@go.olemiss.edu.