Tharp's '73 creation, working with the combined forces of her own troupe and
those of a ballet company, now stands as the so-called "cross-over ballet"
that put such works on the map. As a kind of "eye" to the hurricane swirl of
the pop-music and dancing that makes up the bulk of Deuce Coupe, a lone,
female ballet dancer calmly goes through the abc's of the entire ballet
vocabulary of technique (from "Ailes de Pigeon" through to "Voyag?"). Around
the white-clad, "cool" dancer, two tiers of more "out-going" dancers gather
and perform (one in ballet's regulation toes shoes or slippers and the other
in Tharp's familiar jazz oxfords). The music's infectious good humor and
animation inspire references to the pop/social dances of its era: the frug,
the jerk, the swim, the monkey, as well as more formally theatrical
arrangements for duets, trios and canons. With the women in bright,
solid-color play-dresses and the men in vivid, loud-print shirts and pants,
the whole evolves like a spontaneously arranged dance party. Tharp has
described her ballet as being "about teenagers" and her ballet's mood as one
of young people at play, say, junior high kids in the process of figuring
themselves out. Taking the Beach Boys' "pows" and "boogaloos" at face value,
the choreography delivers punchy and carefree accents along its way. All the
while, Deuce Coupe bodies forth as a set of individual dances illuminating
individual songs, the suite builds a through-line, which culminates most
appropriately in "Cuddle Up," a song and dance of mellow, loving and
melancholy mood.