Sep 13, 2018
Xiaoxiao Cao and Jesse Campbell in Bahiri’s What Ever, Ballet NY, July 2015. © Eduardo Patino.
Not just in the costumes but in the steps – many manipulations of the female body, lengthy extensions, neoclassical poses – it was performed with pretension. Perhaps it was Cao’s dramatic facial expressions paired with Campbell’s stony face, whatever the reason, What Ever comes across as something striving for iconic relevance but without choreographic clarity or identity.