Soft Center

By TERRY TEACHOUT

The latest edition of Mikhail Baryshnikov's permanent floating modern-dance troupe teams the world's greatest living dancer with five talented women, none of whom get lost in his long shadow. Raquel Aedo shares center stage with her boss in a new pas de deux by Lucy Guerin, an Australian choreographer whose work first caught Baryshnikov's eye three years ago. The combination is potent: Soft Center is a laconic, coolly sensuous duet accompanied by a raspy electronic-music collage with a snippet of Paul Hindemith's mournful Trauermusik stuck in the middle (hence the title). Guerin is a major find--and so is Aedo.

--By Terry Teachout