As the curtain opened in the small and intimate Queens Theater in The Park, I knew I was in for an evening of great dancing and wonderful energy. The Patricia Kenny Dance Collection presented a program that included BoSoma Dance Company, Berest Dance Center, and husband and wife duo Heather Berest and Orion Duckenstein, formerly of Paul Taylor Dance Company.

The Patricia Kenny Collection was full of bright, young dancers, really ready and excited for their performance. They brought in many guest choreographers, giving the company a broad range of styles. They covered everything from very joyful to angry to funny pieces. Many had a story behind them. Patricia Kenny, a phenomenal choreographer and performer, joined the stage alongside her performers. She had such a wonderful energy on stage. Although powerful, her moves towards the other dancers felt maternal.

The BoSoma Dance Company, based in Boston, equally has great energy in their work. They had a very athletic way of approaching their movements which brought much power to their pieces. These dancers were capable of performing movements outside of other dancers’ vocabularies in their very contemporary pieces. The company displayed many great ideas and pieces, led by a team of young and well-trained dancers willing to accept any challenge their choreographers threw at them.

The highlight of the night was the duet by husband-wife duo, Heather Berest, who is also of Berest Dance Center in Port Washington, and Orion Duckenstein. Their modern duet was filled with so much emotion as this couple got to live the dream of performing on stage together all over again for the first time in years. The way they interacted with each other was touching and you could feel the joy radiating off of both of them. Duckenstein’s weightless jumps and Berest’s strong and powerful yet graceful energy makes them a real power couple. Their two children joined them on stage at the end, presenting each with a bouquet of flowers. Berest and Duckenstein danced in a way that showed you can always live your dream, even after taking the bow you thought would be your last.

Overall, this performance was a wonderful night filled with fearless dancing, strong emotion and powerful energy between all the dancers and companies.