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Photos by Alexander Iziliaev and Bill Hebert

“The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day”¦”

There’s no voice-over to the opening of Ballet X’s Spring Series show, but there might as well be. As the lights come up, we see dancers Laura Feig and Kevin Yee-Chan (designated in the program as “siblings”), seated, backs to the audience, with the silhouette of a house behind them. In dances Anitra Nurnberger on Pointe, clad in orange ruffles, looking remarkably like the human variant of a goldfish. The music is slow. The siblings look bored. Suddenly, without warning, Tara Keating waltzes in, hat as tall as her head, full of fancy footwork and jaunty moves, dragging with her a large red box, out of which pops 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 fuzzy friends (dancers Gregory Brown, Rosalia Chann, Ja’Malik, Avichai Scher and Emily Wagner.)

If it seems like a flashback to childhood and days of Dr. Seuss-reading before bedtime, that’s because it is”¦only re-imagined through choreography and movement. Welcome to Christine Cox’s The Striped Hat, a creative interpretation of The Cat in the Hat and the first of three exquisite and momentous pieces comprising the show.

Watching the dancers perform, I’m blown away not only by their precision and grace, but by their uncanny ability to convey character and emotion through body language. From Nurnberger’s quick, flurried steps and scornful expression (the fish-in-the-pot always was hyper-critical) to Keating’s cool charisma and confidence, the dancers draw the audience in to the story”¦

“So, I choreographed The Striped Hat for this little guy”¦” says Cox, appearing on stage after the performance with her son, Warren, in a sling across her front. “We love reading The Cat in the Hat together, so I just had to do this. And he just sat through his first ballet!”

The audience cheers”¦and almost on cue, little Warren claps his hands together and squeals. “He’s a natural performer,” jokes Christine.

Next up: Edwaard Liang’s Largo, a peaceful and serene exploration of Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” and “Keyboard Concerto.” It’s absolutely and breathtakingly beautiful, with the dancers (3 men, 3 women) gliding across the stage, wilting and lilting like lithe spring flowers, and drifting apart and floating back together effortlessly.

In the program note, Liang admits that he had no specific storyline in mind while choreographing Largo, but rather was inspired by the Fragonard paintings at NYC’s Frick Museum. “I hope that the audience will take away that same feeling of peacefulness,” he writes. Mission accomplished.

Matthew Neenan’s Wonder Why is the final ballet of the evening “” an unbridled take on love, beauty and spirituality, set to the music of Sinead O’Connor. Once again, I’m awed and amazed by the dancers’ passion — there’s one moment, during a rock ballad, where Emily Wagner is spinning around the stage, O’Connor is belting “You’re jealous / you don’t know how hard it is to be a woman in love with you” and it seems as if Wagner”" through dance”"is conveying everything that O’Connor is singing about: the pain of being pushed away, the decidedness to remain strong, and that tiny thread of optimism that things will turn out ok”¦

Neenan has been working on this piece since 2004, and it shows: it’s a developed and mature exploration of “mercy in an imperfect world” (his words) and the talented dancers only bring it to life. This is ballet at its finest.

The 2009 Spring Series is the second show I’ve caught by BalletX (read about the first one here!) and I’d pleased to find them as wonderful as ever. Catch this delightful performance through April 11th “” we promise you’ll be swept away in its wonder and whimsy.

BalletX Spring Series 2009 at the Wilma Theater, through April 11, 2009
265 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 546-7824
www.balletx.org