Chamber Dance Project – Red Angels
Sidney Harman Hall
Washington, D.C.
June 25-27, 2025

By Steve Sucato

Washington, D.C.’s 100° June weather wasn’t the only thing generating heat in the city. Chamber Dance Project’s 11th annual D.C. summer season production, “Red Angels,” produced its own scorching intensity as one of this summer’s early triumphs.

Founded in 2000 in New York City by artistic director Diane Coburn Bruning and relocated to D.C. in 2014, Chamber Dance Project’s mission has been to bring together soloist-level ballet dancers from major professional companies during their lay-off periods with its own string quartet to produce outstanding dance and music programming.

“Red Angels” exemplified that mission with an exceptional program of repertory works performed to live music, which began with an excerpt from Christian Denice’s “Dwellings.” The contemporary sock-ballet, set to Stephan Thelen’s propulsive music performed by the Chamber Dance Project’s string quartet, was danced with drama and grace by its cast of six dancers. Most captivating was the velvety dancing of the muse-like trio of Hannah Bruce, Misha Glouchkova, and Crystal Serrano. 

After an engaging musical interlude of Grammy Award-winning composer Charlton Singleton’s “Testimony” by the string quartet, the evening’s sole premiere, Jorge Amarante’s “Tension Por Vos” took the stage. 

Set to music by Argentine composer Julian Peralta and danced by Iris Dávila and Marius Morawski, the duet told of a manipulative relationship between two people attracted to each other. Dávila and Morawski appeared from opposite stage wings, shimmying backwards across the stage on their behinds until they met center stage and pushed their backs together to stand upright. They then moved through Amarante’s tango-infused choreography that spoke of desire and dominance. 

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