Plainly named and simply but smartly dressed, this presentation of male and
female dancers has been described by Tharp as one of her most distilled
creations. In her "fully abstracted" ballet, the choreographer presents the
men and women in equal measure numerically, but shows off the women somewhat
more prominently. In good part, the choreography's impetus and inspiration
came from the extra fine-bred schooling inherent the "pedigrees" of the
Paris Opera Ballet and New York City Ballet dancers for whom Octet was
originally created. Aesthetically elegant and intentionally sleek, the
dancing and dancers radiate a spareness synonymous with essentials. The
coolness that results is one of purity not of social attitude. Dressed as if
late twentieth century renderings of bathing beauties from an earlier era,
the female foursome intermixes with and slightly towers over the similarly
dressed, athletic, male foursome--literally so, as they pace and stab
pointework shining with spare, theatrical authority. When she first showed
her Octet, Tharp used it as a perfectly effective program opener. The
contemporary musical composition from bassist Meyer has an air of earlier
age jazz, and the dancers and the dancing respond to that jazzy dimension
with related aplomb. The mood is chicly cool with the leggy
ballerina/bathing beauties kicking and prancing about as their counterpart
male dancers provide occasional support and strike out with their own
confidently elegant body language. Though both the women and men both have
darting and swiveling accent to their moves and the men work intermittently
as partners, the women retain the upper hand, leaving their corresponding
men, more or less at hand, when needed. One reviewer commented on the work's
"aggressive sensuality and precise spacing," while Tharp has noted her
tribute to Balanchine's "ideal female," which she characterizes as
"graceful, powerful, gorgeous, deductive and delicate."