ProArteDanza: A thrilling, 21st-century perspective on Beethoven

There's a headlong quality that comes to mind when watching ProArteDanza perform. Throughout their triple bill at Toronto's Fleck Dance Theatre on Sept. 23, I found myself reaching for words like impetuous, hearty – even rash – to describe the sweep of onstage motion.The most invigorating piece of the evening was the final one, which is the third instalment in a long-running project to choreograph Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Choreographed by Roberto Campanella and Robert Glumbek, the piece is set to the Second Movement and has a booming, totemic score with a humorous self-consciousness. (ProArte premiered the First Movement in 2009, the Third in 2013.)

The work opened with Glumbek on stage in a trench coat – a kind of ominous recluse – wandering and manipulating a straight-back chair (the chairs are a reprised motif from earlier movements). He's upstaged by a chorus of retreating dancers, who drift away in a slow-motion mass, before regrouping centre stage in a burst of unified choreography. The sequence that followed featured hip-hop worthy rib isolations and chest pops that kept pace with Beethoven's busy score. This compelling dancing cleverly – perhaps ironically – engages with a 21st-century perspective on the symphony. The second movement is a scherzo, meaning "I joke" in Italian, and the flashes of weighted, jerking steps melded subtle wit with high energy. We got all the detailed texture of Beethoven's dramatic composition, but we got it through a contemporary vernacular of steps, which made us hear differently, hear more.

There's also some beautiful partner-work in the piece, with a sequence of three couples arranged in a triangle and navigating around each other. This part showcased some standout dancing from Justin de Luna and ProArte apprentice Sasha Ludavicius. Memorable here was the work of lighting designer Rasmus Sylvest who used a row of overhead lights to create the effect of interrupted sun beams illuminating a row of chairs.

The evening opened with a commission by Italian choreographer Mauro Astolfi that was ambitious in concept and imagery. Called (don't) follow the instructions, it seemed to be about the drudgery of chores and menial labour and the internal conflict that come with their fulfilment. I was intrigued by the way the ensemble suggested a hotel-staff going about their duties in their service quarters – an effect enhanced by Krista Dowson Spiker's understated, smock-like costumes. This idea was visually interesting when relevant props were incorporated into the choreography: a towel is tossed between co-workers; then a whole set of towels are arranged beneath the ensemble's feet, as though each dancer was coasting on a magic carpet.

The idea is less satisfying when the piece became too heavy and disordered in its symbolism. At times I felt there was something incommensurate between the implied stakes of the onstage conflict and the forces that allegedly set this conflict in motion. I felt similarly about the ending, in which dancer Daniel McArthur steps off stage and an audience member is entreated to wipe his forehead with a wet cloth. It made for a loaded image that seemed underincorporated and unresolved.

The program's middle piece was Replace/me, by company dancer and emerging choreographer Ryan Lee. It featured gripping, muscular sequences that made use of many levels – ankles, knees, hips – and framed moments shot through with tremors of conflict and peril. Lee is able to infuse complex dancer formations with a stormy feeling of uncertainty – it will be exciting to see this choreographic agility develop in his future work.

ProArteDanza feels unique in the Toronto dance scene. Led by former National Ballet of Canada dancer Campanella, and supported by artistic associate Glumbek, who also comes from ballet, the company has typically made and commissioned work with classical undertones. In its early days, ProArte featured the dancing of Rex Harrington, Evelyn Hart, Martine Lamy, Guillaume Côté and Heather Ogden. Unsurprisingly, technique was airtight and there was lots of work on pointe.

As the ensemble stands right now, the dancers look quite contemporary. Momentum, energy and flow are prioritized over form, precision and leg height. The one possible exception to this is company member Justin de Luna, who finds technical elegance and specificity within the hustle of movement. At times, I wonder whether he exemplifies the aesthetic that ProArte is aiming for, or whether he's more of an odd-man-out, a relic from the past.