Domy Reiter-Soffer

“The Dance Theater of Harlem presented the premiere of “ La Mer ” a ballet by Domy Reiter-Soffer. A ballet which extended the dancers into ways of moving that are variations upon the standard ballet technique. Mr. Reiter-Soffer uses a fusion of dance language with his own distinctive more lyrical voice.
The excellent dancing was seen in tidal and wavelike patterns of La Mer inspired by its Debussy Music. Mr. Reiter-Soffer is unusually successful in the ensembles in his three sections. His inventions does not flag, and the dancers never imitate wave but remain humans whose emotions have their own ebb and flow.
A superb performance came from Mr. Williams as the man who begins and ends the work- his grasp of the modern-dance shapes combines with ballet line and partnering proved a model of clarity. Stephanie Dabney as his partner, dancing with her own sharp attack, Lorraine Graves as a sea mother, and the ensemble were also more than fine. The final section when the sea grows turbulent was especially Dramatic in a ballet that went beyond expectations”
(Anna Kisselgoff- The New York Times).

“Wednesday night performance of Dance Theater of Harlem “ La Mer ” set to Debussy's Familiar Symphonic Poem is lyrical and impressionistic goes without saying. The choreographer Domy Reiter-Soffer also captures the sense of the turbulence and mystery that lies on the surface of the seas and beneath the surface of the composer's classic. This he does by combining elegant classicism with modern dance and therefore covers the complete range of the music. The dance sequence evokes the many facets of the sea from midnight to dawn and then under the bright sun of noon, as well as what Debussy called the “play of the waves” and the dialogue of the wind and the sea”, and The Dance Theater of Harlem certainly has risen to the challenge. The incredible strength of Donald William and the sophisticated extension of Stephanie Dabney among the roster danced with ease the beautiful solos and duets, attempting to repeal the law of gravity. Also noted is the admirable precision of the corps responding to unusual movement that is intricate and demanding with continual sequences that have no loose ends. La Mer was indeed the most rewarding work of the evening”.
(Alfred Kay- Los Angeles Times).

“ Berkeley has taken the Dance Theater of Harlem to its heart. The performances were sold out. Domy Reiter-Soffer's whose Equus also is in the company repertory; presents a lyrical evocation of Debussy's musical impressionism of the sea in
“ La Mer ”. His choreography largely succeeds in its physical mapping of Debussy score.
From the beginning, in which the intense Donald William, seated with his back to the audience is beffeted by the sound of the crushing surf, Reiter –Soffer has found one movement metaphor after another to call up the ebb and the flow of the music's swelling landscape. The glittering Stephanie Dabney moves among the dancers like a light playing on the water, joining Williams for the pas de deux of quick rhythmic turns and lifts raised to surging heights.
There's hot stuff in the second part as Lorraine Graves depicts the sun in full mid-day heat. The third section suggests a storm at night, and the work ends as it began, with the Neptune figure of Williams once more receiving the sea.
“ La Mer ” was excellently danced. Reiter-Soffer's use of liquid movement was graphic and constant, but never banal. The realism was lyrical depicted and in the end most powerful”.
(Marilyn Tucker- San Francisco chronicle).