Come Fly Away, Twyla Tharp's ballet-based new dance creation, with elements of ballroom, modern, jazz and acrobatics, is clean, precise and full of beautiful, fully-stretched, strong, limber bodies that take Adagio to its adagioesque limits. Tharp has access to the world's best dancers, and here are a bunch of them. With grace, fluidity and a bit of Cirque, each dancer is superb. Especially outstanding are Charlie Neshyba Hodges with the body of a slinky and a comic flair, and the captivating Karine Plantadit.
The theme in each section, like in Flamenco, is sexual attraction. Mostly performed to Frank Sinatra's singing which is brilliantly integrated with the super live orchestra conducted with exquisite timing by Russ Kassoff, with interspersed vocals by Hilary Gardner and Rosena M. Hill, on a modern cocktail lounge set by James Youmans, with subtle, special-for-dance lighting by Donald Holder and sexy, flowing costumes by Katherine Roth, Tharp's innovative, intricate choreography is entrancing, exciting, and her dancers are fabulous. It's a wonderful artistic entertainment in the universal language of dance.
