‘RECESS!’ A Trifecta of Virtuoso Performances

RECESS! may have been State Street Ballet’s (SSB) 2026 kids’ program, but it was definitely not child’s play. The dancers performed an Olympic-gold-level triple bill of demanding choreographies.

The characterizations portrayed by the dancers in each piece were as adorable as the technicality of their performance was exceptional. With their exquisite style, spot-on musicality, elegance, and nuanced sense of humor, SSB is definitely world-class. And they just keep getting better.

Carnival of the Animals, choreographed by Alexei Kremnev, opened with six playful animals (Brenna Chumacero, Amara Galloway, Akari Kato, Ethan Ahuero, Harold Mendez, and Noam Tsivkin). Kremnev described them as “prairie creatures, playful, young, and full of energy.”

Kremnev researched animal behavior when he was choreographing Carnival: “I find observing animals and watching cartoons very helpful, since they have interesting original personality [animals], coordination, and choreography [cartoons].”

Kremnev followed the Saint-Saëns score, but in some sections, his characters departed from the originals. A group of excited tourists replaced the lion. Kremnev said, “Tourists and animals can get similarly wild, so I wanted to mirror them. You can see a lion like a young boy [Hailey Maynard] who leads the group.”

The delightful parade of animals included elegant, slow-moving turtles (Noah Gnes and Gina Quiodettis), two charming hens (Amber Hirschfield and Aimee Le), and a boisterous rooster (Ethan Ahuero), an adorable baby elephant (Felipe Aravena Covarrubias), a high-jumping flirtatious kangaroo (Maynard), and a group of graceful, colorful fish, their arms fluttering like delicate, feathery fins swaying with the currents (Natalie Burkhart, Hirschfield, Le, Amanda McLeod, and Brianna Patrick).

In place of the cuckoo, Kremnev created the Lost Pas, danced by the lusciously long-limbed Maria Rita Rapisarda, partnered by guest artist Jameson Keating. Full of breathtaking lifts, the music worked quite well, portraying a lost couple, as Kremnev said, “with a little bit of imagination.”

The majestic Black Swan Pas was danced by Saori Yamashita and Ryan Lenkey. Lenkey’s strength and elegance as a partner supported Yamashita as she arched her body into incredibly gorgeous swan shapes.

The lighting by Samantha Jelinek, based on the original Joffrey and Zurich Opera House designs, created absolutely stunning environments for the animals, from a sunny prairie to dramatic deep-water scenes. The colorful contemporary costumes highlighted the animals without being obvious, letting the dancers’ movements reveal their characters. There is a fascinating backstory behind the costumes, too. The fabric for each animal was based on abstract paintings by Mexican artist Pedro Coronel, and the costumes were designed by Vogue fashion designer Gabriel Brandon-Hanson.

Interplay by Jerome Robbins transported me back to my teenage years in New York, watching the stars of the New York City Ballet (NYCB) and the American Ballet Theater (ABT). The eight SSB dancers (Chumacero, Patrick, Rapisarda, Yamashita, Ahuero, Gnes, Lenkey, and Mendez), chosen by repetiteur Robert La Fosse, performed Robbins’ choreography flawlessly

Interplay is quintessential Robbins — pure ballet with a touch of Broadway and a lot of character, with impeccable attention to the details of the Morton Gould score. In the video “In His Own Words,” Robbins explains how he would immerse himself in a musical score for months while working on a piece, completely saturating himself in it. Under the expert instruction of La Fosse, who worked closely with Robbins for many years at NYCB and ABT, the SSB dancers hit every note with precision and crispness.

Artistic Director Megan Phillip said of Fosse, “He is a gift to the dance world. He lived through so much of the history of dance in our country for the last 50 years, working directly under Robbins and Balanchine. “

The SSB dancers portrayed the personalities of kids having fun in a playground with charm, wit, and superb insight into young minds — teasing each other, competing, and flirting — all with tremendous technical prowess.

Lenkey’s “Horseplay” solo was perfect “Robbins.” Lenkey was smooth, elegant, and secure in his spectacular technique, with multiple pirouettes and double tours en l’aire a manege, yet pure child in his facial expressions (who, me?), his feigned handshake (haha, faked you out!), and his sassy butt shake aimed at the girls.

“Byplay,” the sultry, bluesy pas de deux by Yamashita and Ahuero had one of the most difficult moves I can imagine: She does a double pirouette and a half, putting out her right hand as she is turning, without seeing where she will end, and he grabs her hand at just the right moment. The lifts are spectacular, but as a dancer, I know how difficult this move is.

In the finale, “Team Competition,” each team tries to out-dance the other. The spectacular fouetté competition between Rapisarda and Patrick, the eight pirouettes in a row by Mendez, and the sequence of double tours en l’aire by the boys must surely be among the most difficult passages of any ballet ever! The athleticism required in this tour-de-force competition is definitely Olympic marathon level.

Closing the show was Autumn Eckman’s newly commissioned Level Up, about a girl (Maynard) who, while looking for her game controller, finds herself inside the video game, interacting with the characters as they help her advance levels and finally win the gold medal. Level Up made me laugh, gasp, and cry.

Eckman’s synchronization of dance, music, and computer visualizations defines a new genre of interactive performance. The projections by Colby Nordberg were stunning, creating a nostalgic video-game environment. The music by ‘chiptune’ composer Rolemusic provided the perfect soundtrack. 

In creating this commissioned piece based on video games, Eckman described how she “dreamscaped” fireballs, coins, flags, stars, and moving blocks for an obstacle course. Once she chose the music, she went through it second-by-second to build the graphics.

The intricate choreography included Super Mario leaps over moving blocks, spectacular lifts, ducking out of the way of moving fireballs, and capturing chakras. 

Eckman designed the costumes to look like avatars and heroes, not tied to any specific game. The colorful unitards with minimal sparkly decorations definitely gave the appearance of superheroes!

Eckman said, “I hope there is a weight of nostalgia that people resonated with.”

Absolutely, there was. Level Up was truly thrilling.

---

State Street Ballet closes its 2025–26 season with Chaplin, performing May 8–9 at the Lobero. For more information, visit lobero.org.