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These extraordinary inventive lifts were slow and acrobatic, requiring enormous control, daring and flexibility from the women and strength and timing from their partners. It is obvious that Graziano has control of the spa- tial patterns in the way the dancers enter and leave the stage, and though he does vary the dynamics, he shows a cool hand, not needing to fill every second with motion. Visually, the stage was bare except for the overhead globes of lights that resembled groups of stars; and the costumes were sim- ple, with both the women and men in blue outfits. All the dancers were barelegged, and I wondered if this deliberate choice was a way of making the audience aware of the muscles in the dancers' legs as an added comment on the choreography; I know I was fascinated, but that may just be I. Graziano's choice of music — a clanging propulsive score by Olafur Arnalds, a young contemporary composer — annoyed some audience members who thought that ballet music should be more traditional. But Arnalds' music worked with the overall detached mood of Before Night Falls, providing a floor of sound and rhythm. Yes, there were seconds of suggested contact and emotion: a hand given and taken, a pause, and, in the third duet between Kate Honea and David Tlaiye, the suggestion of love offered and rejected as Honea fell to the floor and her partner walked off in the wings. Then, as a (From left) Rita Duclos, Alex Harrison and Ryoko Sadoshima perform Monotones I in February 2012. Contributed photo by Frank Atura Sarasota News Leader March 7, 2014 Page 110