This makes their passionate performance even more poignant. The literary reference here is Wait Whitman, whose poem is narrated at the beginning of the piece by British actress Claire Bloom. Accompanied by live music, Rachmaninoff's sonata played by cellist Crispin Campbell and pianist Brian Zeger greatly enhance the emotional impact of choreography and performance. The stage is left bare except for a row of ladders propped against the rear wall, and the lights and equipment showing. If anything, the atmosphere is more like a modern club than a place of yore.
Couples drift together, embrace and dance a slow two-step, then drift apart.
There is an air of sadness and mystery, the choreography has the effect of feelings of separation, of life drifting away. The idea of parting and the feeling of death are conveyed through a gentle but powerful dynamic, the shifting numbers of dancers and their loving, tender but sad relationship to each other. In five years since the company was formed by the four founders Buglisi, Capucilli, Dakin and Foreman it seemed to be a showcase for their formidable performing skills. They are all superb dancers and the dramatic intensity of their performing style their Graham heritage, seemed to overwhelm the innovative choreography. Today the balance between the two is equal.