Dancing through ‘Deis: The premiere of Irina Znamirowski’s contemporary pointe piece
The afternoon of Wednesday, April 10, greeted the trio of dancers — Grace Delaney ’26, Carrie Wong ’27, and Irina Znamirowski ’24 — with clear skies and brisk breezes. Community members stood before the Lights of Reason, all holding their breath in anticipation. The trio waited for the music, their purple skirts billowing in the gentle winds.
What started as a disaster turned into an opportunity to choreograph something unforgettable. Earlier in the semester, Irina had taught her dancers “Danse des petits cygnes” from the ballet “Swan Lake.” After teaching the routine, Znamirowski lost two of her dancers. The choreography requires four ballet dancers to perform en pointe, and Znamirowski was left with only three, including herself. The variation just would not be complete without a fourth dancer.
Znamirowski has faced countless scheduling and rehearsal challenges throughout her ballet career, and she was not going to let this small dilemma stop her from showcasing a pointe dance. She used this opportunity to choreograph and perform a contemporary pointe dance to Isak Danielson’s “Bleed Out” with Delaney and Wong. It was originally disappointing for Znamirowski and her group that they could not perform their original piece — and that two of them were not able to perform at all — but the final product was so breathtaking, no one would believe the dancers had not had all semester to rehearse.
The music filled the spring air with soft piano chords. The notes weaved between the dancers as they moved together through piqués and arabesques in delicate unison. Before the chorus, Wong jumped up between the Lights of Reason and leapt off in a saut de chat, with Znamirowski and Delaney lifting her. The music swelled and the chorus swept the dancers legs into developés and melted their backs in slow cambrés. The dancers performed countless steps en pointe, balancing on the tips of their toes atop cold, hard concrete. Wind swept through their costumes of lycra and tulle as they moved, their half-up, half-down hair fluttering with every gust and leap.
Delaney, Wong and Znamirowski performed the dance three times, every repetition even more stunning than the last. Each time, as the music fell silent and the dancers stilled, the audience around the Lights of Reason — with an additional audience outside the Spingold Theater — burst into applause. The performance wasn’t what anyone expected — it was even better.
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