The music of Johann Sebastian Bach hasn’t always been a natural choice for dance (though Balanchine and Robbins both found ways to work with it, most notably in “Concerto Barocco” and “Brandenburg”). In this program, a new crop of contemporary choreographers try their hand at interpreting the Baroque composer, to varying degrees of success. Melissa Toogood, Jamar Roberts, John Heginbotham, and Caili Quan take on Bach’s complete cello suites, as interpreted by Gandelsman.

The Cunningham-trained Toogood, who last year became the dean and director of Juilliard’s dance division, is up first, and she immediately establishes the lighthearted tone that will define the rest of the evening. There is an intentionally childlike tenor to her choreography. She flits across the stage with her arms like a kid playing airplane (a movement that others will repeat later). While Gandelsman’s playing is fluid—lending a folksy vibe to the cello suites—Toogood’s movement is rigid. She squeezes herself between Gandelsman’s legs. She stands with her nose inches away from his bow. The comedy here is apparent; Toogood’s pristine technique helps her to pull it off.

Roberts moves with a natural ease when he takes to the stage for the second suite. While swirling his arms in intricate formations, he maintains a sense of buoyancy—it’s almost like watching a beautiful scarf twirl around in the breeze. Where Toogood grounded her piece in static, sharp steps, Roberts is far more liquid and balletic, though he eschews self-seriousness. Consider, for instance, his lyrical take on the moonwalk. 

It’s hard not to watch Roberts, even when the rest of the cast joins him on stage for brief intervals in-between the solos that define the program and for the third and sixth pieces—the two full ensemble numbers. Sure, his 6’4-tall frame makes him easy to follow, but he also moves with such self-possession and grace that he’s a magnetic performer. For most of the evening, I kept waiting for each time he’d reappear.