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DANCE
Edited by Jack Anderson
Join our NYTW Dance Club -- Click
for info. |
Jerome Robbins Celebration
To coax an adjective from the name Jerome Robbins--in order to summon
what he did, with peremptory concision--turns out not to be so easy, after
all. (By contrast, "Balanchinian" has served well enough for
years.) Is it to be Robbinsian, or Robbinsonian? Robbinsesque, perhaps?
They all sound dreadful, like war upon the teeth. Yet some adjective along
those lines still seems needed, no matter how well or badly his dances
survive a choreographer who is no more. For Robbins was distinctly different
from his peers, and still is, however difficult it may be to define the
difference precisely, now. Another reason also recommends itself: At its
best, his work is all but indescribable, unusually so even in the typically
transitory business of the dance. By Molly McQuade.
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| ROYAL BALLET OF FLANDERS -- Claire Pascal, Wim Vanlessen in "Impressing the Czar." Photo: Stephanie Berger for Lincoln Center. |
Forsythe's Extravaganza
Certain types of large-scale European ballet productions baffle, or even
outrage, American balletgoers: ostentatiously serious works crammed with
symbols and concepts, as well as steps. William Forsythe's "Impressing
the Czar," an evening-long work from 1988 that the Royal Ballet of
Flanders has revived for Jazz at Lincoln Center, is such a piece. "Why
the clutter?" Americans fond of Balanchine's lean creations might
wonder. "Why not just let dancers dance?" Well, Forsythe's dancers
do dance, sometimes spectacularly. But clutter is part of Forsythe's point,
and his choreography often makes clutter funny. By Jack Anderson.
SummerDANZ: 12 Nights of Dance
- 5 Different Programs
Dance closes down in some places during summer, only to flourish in festivals
elsewhere. But New Yorkers don't have to leave town for festivities. For
instance, there's SummerDANZ, the 2008 Guest Artist Series at Dance Theatre
Workshop. Curiosity drew Jack Anderson to two groups, each celebrating
an anniversary: Paradigm, now 10 years old, and Zenon Dance Company, from
Minneapolis, now 25.
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| Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet performing Jo Stromgren’s “Sunday, Again” at the Cedar Lake Theater. Photo by Nicholas Roberts. |
"Sunday, Again," by the
Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet
Children are bored on Sundays. So the old saying goes. Grownups can get
bored, too, Jo Stromgren might add. As evidence, the Norwegian choreographer
has created "Sunday, Again," which Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet
presented in its American premiere. With "Sunday, Again,", Cedar
Lake, tucked away in Chelsea, has demonstrated that it's now a vital part
of the New York ballet scene.
Vanishing Point, at the Danspace
Project, St. Mark's Church
A family, a farm, a funeral. These are major concerns in "Vanishing
Point," which Tom Pearson and Zach Morris collaboratively created
with their dancers: Donna Ahmadi, Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, Tara O'Con,
and Jennine Willett. Since its setting is the South, you can add to that
thematic mixture bluegrass and booze. But "Vanishing Point,"
though often inexplicable, consistently held interest for almost an hour.
Few spectators may have known why, or even when, any of its incidents
were supposedly happening. Yet the characters (and, of course, the artists
who created them) presumably did, and they communicated their involvement
to the audience.
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| Ballet Biarritz at the Joyce Theater. Photo by Olivier Houeix. |
Ballet Biarritz at the Joyce Theater
Ballet Biarritz promised much with two works reflecting France's longstanding
fascination with Spain. Good-looking dancers and designs attracted the
eye, and the ear was ravished by scores by Maurice Ravel and Manuel de
Falla. But these fancy trappings adorned inexpressive choreography by
Thierry Malandain, the French company's director, and ideas announced
in the program notes were not always actualized on stage.
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| Orietta Crispino in "Appearance - A Suspense in Being." |
"Appearance – A Suspense
in Being"
Throughout the day, we respond to scores of sensory and emotional stimuli,
sometimes with grandly-scaled movements, sometimes with only flickering,
nearly invisible, gestures. There are also times when our actions are
carefully calculated because we deliberately want to show the world something;
yet we can also use movements and facial expressions as armor to protect
ourselves. By Jack Anderson.
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| Karine Plantadit in "La Voix" by John Selya. Photo by Burke Brown. |
La voix
A tour de force of acting became a tour de force of dancing in "La
Voix," the dance-drama for Karine Plantadit that John Selya based
on Jean Cocteau's "La Voix Humaine (The Human Voice)," a one-character
play actresses have adored since the 1930's. Given its dramatic meatiness,
it's easy to understand why, for it depicts a woman's frantic telephone
conversation with the lover who is abandoning her and permits its interpreter
to display many manifestations of longing, heartbreak, and despair. By
Jack Anderson.
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| "The Green" from The Scapino Ballet. Photo by Hans Gerritsen. |
Scapino Ballet Rotterdam
No doubt about it, Scapino Ballet
Rotterdam has grown up. Founded in 1945, Scapino originally specialized
in children's programs. But, in time, the troupe transformed itself and
on its previous, but infrequent, New York visits, it brought us adult
fare. Now, in its first engagement here since 1994, it proved to be an
invigorating company with serious, but not lugubrious, ballets that received
high-voltage performances. This was ballet as truly adult entertainment.
By Jack Anderson.
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| A scene from New York Theater Ballet's Lilac Garden from Antony Tudor. Photo by Richard Termine. |
The Importance of Antony Tudor
According to the Antony Tudor Ballet Trust, 27 companies scheduled performances
of Tudor ballets between 2007 and 2009. That's a lot. But it's not enough.
The American dance world needs Tudor's ballets, and needs them now. The
most obvious reason for reviving Tudor is that his ballets are good. We
tend to think that there are not all that many of them. Yet, although
he was not as prolific as some other important modern choreographers,
there may be more available, or potentially available, Tudor ballets than
we might hastily assume. And they can add welcome variety to our repertories.
By Jack Anderson
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| "Nightspot" -- Twyla Tharp in Miami |
Twyla Tharp in Miami
When Diaghilev said to Nijinsky, "astonish me!," Tharp’s
nightspot is what he meant! Wild; chaotic; exuberant; feverish; Miami’s
City Ballet dancers mesmerized the audience with a multi-leveled, multi-cultural,
multi-movement and mixture of musical genre cum masterpiece. The whole
piece exploded red hot! Tharp, who loves to collaborate with diverse artists,
brilliantly chose rocker Elvis Costello for her musical score; and outlandish
designer Isaac Mizrahi as her designer. Tharp said that Nightspot contained
her imaginary vision of Miami, according to the Miami Herald. This vision
of Miami’s hallucinatory crazed nightclubs, fascinating mixture
of sexual love, violence, international grounding, Latino mixtures, spontaneity,
and shockingly improvised whirlwind events all find their complexity embodied
in the disciplined magnificent dancing of eighteen of the ballet’s
dancers. By Melinda Given Guttmann.
King Arthur: Amiable, Although
Invisible
Mark Morris intended his "King Arthur" to be a divertissement.
King Arthur is the principal character of "King Arthur," the
so-called "semi-opera" that John Dryden and Henry Purcell created
in 1691. But even though Purcell composed ravishing music for it, Arthur
never sings a note. Nor do other major characters. This semi-opera is
a strange Baroque hybrid: a play in which the drama is spoken and the
music is reserved for interludes. Because Mark Morris decided he disliked
the drama, he jettisoned both plot and dialogue in his production for
the New York City Opera and his Mark Morris Dance Group, thereby making
an odd work odder. What's left is "King Arthur" without King
Arthur, a plotless entertainment balletomanes might call a divertissement
and theater lovers might consider a revue. By Jack Anderson.
Dreaming Along With Paul Taylor
Whatever bright publicist thought of calling the Paul Taylor Dance Company's
City Center engagement "The Dream Season" deserves a bonus.
The phrase sounds good in advertisements. Yet it's more than fancy talk,
more than hot air. Taylor's two premieres this season concerned dreams,
and the season as a whole provoked thoughts about the kinship between
Taylor's dances and dreams. By Jack Anderson.
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| OUT OF PLACE -- Iva Bittová and members of Wendy Osserman Dance Company at the Hudson Guild Theater. |
Haunted Place
Wendy Osserman's choreography and Iva Bittová's music made "Out
of Place" a journey to a haunted place of ghosts, spirits, werewolves,
and spells somewhere in Eastern Europe where venerable Slavic and Yiddish
traditions mingle and the air is filled with scraps of old ballads and
fragments of almost-forgotten, yet still disquieting, folk tales. By Jack
Anderson.
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| Kansas City Ballet Dancers Deanna Hodges, Paris Wilcox, Lateef Williams & Caitlin Cooney. Photo by Steve Wilson |
Kansas City Celebrations
The Kansas City Ballet, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this
season, brought part of its birthday party to New York. Two of the three
ballets it offered could be considered toasts: one to the company's past,
the other to Kansas City itself. By Jack Anderson.
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| Ballet de Monterrey. Claudia Bandín and Yosek Prieto. Photo by Grapatango |
Ballet de Monterrey
Ballet de Monterrey aroused curiosity. Here was an unfamiliar company
in eight unfamiliar works, all on Latin American or specifically Mexican
themes. Moreover, when the curtain rose on the Mexican troupe's first
ballet, there was the pleasure of watching sleek dancers moving precisely.
But they did so in slick choreography, not just in this piece, but throughout
the evening. By Jack Anderson.
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| Nikolaj Hubbe's farewell performance. Photo by Paul Kolnik. |
New York City Ballet: Two Premieres
and a Farewell
The New York City Ballet's winter season featured two premieres (one big,
one little) and a farewell performance that left many cheering dancegoers
misty-eyed. By Jack Anderson.
Trisha Brown:
The World Beyond the Wings
Often, when actors or dancers step offstage, we may feel they temporarily
cease to exist by being out of sight and out of mind until the plot or
the choreography necessitates their return. But in some of Trisha Brown's
programs, including this one, she creates the curious impression that
when her dancers vanish from our view they may still be moving before
other people somewhere else: other worlds are waiting in the wings. By
Jack Anderson.
The Clarities of Christopher House
"Timecode Break" opened with its 12 dancers in loose, nondescript,
and never distracting costumes by Jeremy Laing, standing alert as the
lights gradually brightened and Phil Strong's taped score filled with
cheeping and almost birdlike sounds. This was, in effect, a dawn, and
House's choreographic day got underway with calm unhurried movements that
gave the audience lots of time to gaze while amorphous cloudlike and watery
shapes floated across a screen at the back of the stage. Nevertheless,
a concern for clarity dominated Christopher House's "Timecode Break,"
a mixed-media production for his Toronto Dance Theater. Long before it
was over, the 65-minute work had become a celebration of lucidity in which
chaos always gave birth to clear forms. By Jack Anderson.
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| Photo courtesy ofLingo. |
Lingo's Party
Lingo made a dance performance resemble a party. Well, sort of. You could
also say that, in "Lingo," this Seattle troupe, directed by
KT Niehoff, made a dance performance emerge out of a party. By Jack Anderson.
 |
| Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet performs "Rite" by Stijn Celis. Dancers: Acacia Scacte, Oscar Ramos (back) and Jon Bond. Photo: Paul B. Goode. |
Cedar Lake's Glamorous Angst
Anxiety prevails at Cedar Lake this winter. So does glamour. Both coexist
quite nicely in the new triple-bill by Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet.
By Jack Anderson.
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| Photo by Paula Court. |
Melissa Fenley: " Strength
and Sensibility
For the past thirty years, Molissa Fenley has attracted attention with
dances demanding great strength and stamina. Her new dances still do,
but other, perhaps unexpected, qualities are now discernible in them,
as well. Wit, for one. And lyricism. By Jack Anderson.
Japanese Fog
In the Next Wave Festival at BAM, fog occasionally filled the stage in
Hiroshi Koike's "Ship in a View" which, as performed by his
company, Pappa Tarahumara, was most effective when it conjured up the
strangeness of life in a remote Japanese seaside community. Although the
production was Japanese, its sense of alienation and melancholy in an
indifferent universe recalled some of Ingmar Bergman's films. By Jack
Anderson.
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| Pele Bauch and dancers crawl along the floor in "-ism." Photo by Steven Schreiber. |
Pele Bauch's "-ism"
The first two pieces on New York choreographer Pele Bauch's program
at Joyce SoHo, though certainly individual enough, were hardly shocking.
But the enigmatically titled "-ism," the third and final piece
on the bill, came as a bit of a surprise. By Henry Baumgartner.
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| On our way to the land of the bizarre with Michael Helland in "The Dress Up Show." Photo by Steven Schreiber. |
Michael Helland Dresses Up for
the Theater
One quality that is surprisingly often missing from downtown art, even
dance, is sheer theatrical zaniness. Perhaps some feel it detracts from
the serious appearance of their work. Fortunately, here comes Michael
Helland with enough nuttiness to make up for weeks of lugubriousness.
By Henry Baumgartner.
 |
| "Red Carpet 1967" by Yoshiko Chuma and The School of Hard Knocks, part of "60s Snapshots" at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, August 23, 2007, in which choreographers evoked the open-air theatricality of that era. Dancers (L-R): Christopher Williams, Yoshiko Chuma, Ursula Eagly. Trombonist: Photo by Jonathan Slaff. |
Summers, Solomons, Soto, and Chuma
Show Their "60s Snapshots"
Not all the choreographers represented in "60s Snapshots" are
really of an age to represent the Sixties, but I'm not complaining very
loudly, because Gus Solomons jr., Merián Soto, Yoshiko Chuma, and
Elaine Summers and their dancers and collaborators put on a wonderful
show. And the price was right: this program was part of the Lincoln Center
Out-of-Doors free outdoor summer performance series. By Henry Baumgartner.
 |
| Yuko Kaseki in "A Timeless Kaidan," created, choreographed and directed by Ximena Garnica, presented by Theater for the New City Nov. 6-8, 2007 and part of 2007 CAVE New York Butoh Festival. Photo by Dola Baroni. |
The New York Butoh Festival Rides
Again
Every two years the folks who run the tiny but invaluable Williamsburg
performance space called Cave somehow produce a New York Butoh Festival.
Of the three programs Henry Baumgartner managed to catch, two were part
of an Emerging U.S. Artists Series, and so featured local artists as well
as a few from around the country. But by far the biggest production seen
was a production named "A Timeless Kaidan" at Theater for the
New City. By Henry Baumgartner.
Seniors Battle Ballet
Seniors and larger than ballerina sized women performed "Fielday,"
choreographed by Naomi Goldberg Haas, at Abrons Art Center, 466 Grand
St., New York this past weekend. The packed audience, standing room only,
walked out into the chilly evening exhilarated. By Ellen W. Lytle.
 |
| Tero Saarinen Company’s “Borrowed Light,“ performed at BAM. (Left to right) Tero Saarinen, Heikki Vienola, Henrikki Heikkila, Carl Knif. Photo by Jack Vartoogian. |
Tero Saarinen's Communal Austerity
Tero Saarinen's "Borrowed Light" is a strange, impressive, and
sometimes disturbing musical and choreographic depiction of a community
locked together in a common faith. The tenets of that faith never become
explicit, although they are presumably religious. What interests this
Finnish choreographer is how force of convictions allows these people
to persevere.
 |
| Julie
Kent and Gennadi Saveliev in ABT's "Fall River Legend."
Photo by Gene Schiavone. |
Through Modern American Ballet
History with American Ballet Theatre
In addition to giving fine performances, American Ballet Theatre stimulated
thought about its own history and the development of modern American ballet
in general. Surveying the autumn repertoire, one could argue that its
two best ballets were the oldest: Jerome Robbins's "Fancy Free"
(1944) and Agnes de Mille's "Fall River Legend" (1948). Taken
as a whole, Ballet Theatre's little panorama of modern American ballet
suggests that both dramatic and abstract dance forms today lack the imagination
that enlivened choreography in the recent past. Yet no one really knows
how ballet can be revitalized. If we did, we wouldn't be admitting we're
worried. By Jack Anderson.
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| Compania Nacional de Danza -- Yolanda Martin and Dimo Kirilov. Photo by Tom Brazil. |
Three European Contemporaries
There's an increasingly common theatrical dance form: not really ballet,
at least ballet in the strictest classical sense, for it may incorporate
modern dance steps, yet not pure modern dance, for its choreographers
may require performers with ballet training, even though they may not
have to dance on pointe. Call it contemporary dance, perhaps. Whatever
it's called, it's everywhere, especially in Europe, and three notable
companies specializing in it visited New York recently: one from Switzerland
(Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève), one from Spain
(Compañía Nacional de Danza), and one from Denmark (Danskdansetheater).
By Jack Anderson.
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| "Morphoses" by The Wheeldon Company. Photo by Erin Baiano |
Wheeldon's Morphoses
The inaugural New York season of Christopher Wheeldon's new troupe attracted
large enthusiastic audiences, and in many ways the cheers were justified.
Wheeldon is a talented choreographer, he used live music, and the fact
that Morphoses included principals and soloists from several companies
suggests that dancers enjoy working with him. Nevertheless, there were
problems of personnel and repertory. By Jack Anderson.
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| "Pamina Devi," photo by John Shapiro |
Spectacles Re-Imagined
Two very different sorts of productions derived from 18th-century spectacles
arrived in New York. "Pamina Devi," inspired by Mozart's "Magic
Flute," came from Cambodia. "Zélindor," which François
Rebel and François Francoeur composed in 1745 for the splendors
of Versailles, had its modern world premiere in what at first seemed a
conventional non-theatrical concert performance by groups from New York
and Washington, D.C. Then flights of fancy made their presentation theatrically
and choreographically, as well as musically, magical. By Jack Anderson.
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| FLAMENCO WITHOUT FRILLS -- Miguel Peña Vargas, known as El Funi, in "Maestría" by the Arte y Pureza Flamenco Company of Seville. |
Flamenco Without Frills
Flamenco is music, as well as dance. That was one message of "Maestría"
by the Arte y Pureza Flamenco Company of Seville. There were no fancy
production numbers, no bits of showbiz glitz. This was flamenco without
frills. Seven performers simply appeared to be friends assembling to dance,
sing, and play the guitar. They did all that quite well and without haste,
insinuating their way into theatergoers' hearts, rather than walloping
the audience with socko effects.
 |
| Shantala
Shivalingappa performing "Varnam" in Fall for Dance Festival.
Photo by Stephanie Berger. |
Fall for Dance Festival at City
Center--Another Feast of Appetizers
Fall for Dance programs can be fun even before the curtain rises. These
annual festivals, which bring a multitude of companies and performers
together for only $10 a ticket, attract hordes of dancegoers eagerly greeting
one another and chattering away, as if at a party. The tidbits on stage
become a feast of appetizers suggesting what a rich banquet dance can
be. By Jack Anderson.
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| Miki Orihara in Martha Graham’s "Errand into the Maze" |
By a happy fluke of programming, in only a few days one could see works by two great American modern dance pioneers, Loîe Fuller and Isadora Duncan (only Ruth St. Denis and Maud Allan from the pioneering days would have made this matriarchal list complete), as well as a collection of pieces by Martha Graham, from the next generation. It was an enlightening experience, for it revealed how varied modern dance was from the outset and how varied it remained as it developed. By Jack Anderson.
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| Sarah Hook Dances, "Rue," performed by Mary Cochran. Part of Dancenow/NYC Festival. Photo by Steven Schreiber. |
Choreographic Canapés: Dancenow
In only a few years it has become the custom to launch autumn dance seasons
with sampler programs by assorted companies and soloists that resemble
cocktail parties serving choreographic canapés: bits and pieces
in many styles for audiences to savor. Although no single nibble may fully
satisfy hungry dance lovers, an evening of snippets can be quite tasty.
Fall for Dance has received justifiable acclaim for its annual autumnal
gatherings. But this year Dancenow/NYC came first on the calendar with
its Festival at Dance Theater Workshop, under the artistic direction of
Robin Staff. By Jack Anderson.
 |
| Aaron Thayer and Robin Cornwell in Smuin's "Schubert Scherzo." Photo by Tom Hauck. |
Smuin Ballet
Michael Smuin, the San Francisco choreographer who died unexpectedly this
April at the age of 68, was an eclectic who prized the virtue of craft.
The program that his Smuin Ballet brought to the Joyce attested to his
eclecticism. He showed three ballets that honored three different cultural
traditions, from Japan to Ireland to Brazil. By Jack Anderson.
 |
| Lincoln Center Festival 2007 presents Ballet National de Marseille performing "Metapolis ll" at the New York State Theater on July 25, 2007. Pictured are Baptise Herbert (foreground) and Golan Yosef (crouching, background). Photo by Stephanie Berger. |
Building Sights: The Lincoln Center
Festival 2007
By stretching, bending, or variously positioning themselves, dancers can
resemble buildings. By seeming to twist or thrust through space, buildings
can recall the frozen motions of dancers. Just as choreography arranges
groups of bodies into dances, so architecture arranges groups of buildings
into cities, and people live, for better or worse, in both dances and
cities. "Metapolis II," presented by the Ballet National de
Marseille, was a reminder of the similarities between dance and architecture.
Also, an installation by David Michalek called "Slow Dancing,"
in which video portraits of dancers unfolded with glacial, but hypnotic,
slow motion on three enormous panels. By Jack Anderson.
 |
| Thomas Lund in "Napoli" at Jacob's Pillow. Photo by Henrik Stenberg. |
The Danes at Jacob's Pillow
A little company called Dancers of the Royal Danish Ballet brought much
Danish joy to Jacob's Pillow as part of the festival's 75th anniversary
season. Like its predecessors, this ensemble features works by August
Bournonville, the great 19th-century Danish Romantic choreographer, and
the group includes such distinguished Bournonville stylists as Gudrun
Bojesen and Thomas Lund. By Jack Anderson.
American Ballet Theater and the
New York City Ballet
Once again, as has become the custom at this time of year, American
Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet had late spring and early
summer seasons at adjacent Lincoln Center theaters, seasons prompting
cheers, tears, and furrowed brows. A biting review of over ten pieces
ranging from Othello to Sleeping Beauty. Also, after over 30 years of
dancing, Kyra Nicols says goodbye to the New York City Ballet. By Jack
Anderson.
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| ''Cambiodian Stories Revisited.'' Photo by Takahiro Haneda. |
Eiko
and Koma: "Cambodian Stories Revisited"
This new work became a companion to "Cambodian Stories:
An Offering of Painting and Peace," which the Japanese-born dancers
and choreographers presented last year at the Asia Society along with
young Cambodian students from the Reyum Institute of Arts and Culture
in Phnom Penh. Combining dance movements with a demonstration of how pictures
can be painted, that production commented with subtle eloquence on Cambodia's
turbulent history and affirmed art as a way of remembering and healing.
By Jack Anderson.
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| Fábio Pinheiro in Portuguese Thunderstorms' ''Seven Bird Dreams.'' Photo By Galina Lukianovich. |
Portuguese
Thunderstorms
Vasco Wellenkamp sent choreographic thunderstorms crashing upon the stage
in his new double-bill for his Portuguese company. His kinetic lightning
bolts were vivid and the action was turbulent. The most striking features
of Wellenkamp's choreography were its abrupt contrasts between tension
and looseness and its intricate twisting movements for standing, crouching,
and bending dancers. By Jack Anderson.
Jody Sperling
and Loïe
Jody Sperling has fun with dance history, in part because she takes it
seriously. She has long been fascinated by Loïe Fuller, that early
20th-century pioneer of modern dance and multimedia theater, and has made
several attempts to devise works employing Fuller's costuming and lighting
effects. Two Fuller-inspired productions accounted for much of the magic
of Sperling's latest program. By Jack Anderson.
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| ''Delirium, or that taste in my mouth.'' Left to right - Pedro Osorio, Amanda Loulaki, Carolyn Hall, and Rebecca Serrell. Photo by Joanna Seitz. |
''Delirium, or that taste in my
mouth''
Amanda Loulaki's new piece at Danspace, ''Delirium, or that taste in my
mouth,'' is the most interesting work I have yet seen from this choreographer.
A quartet of excellent dancers make up the cast, including Loulaki herself
and the astonishing Carolyn Hall. The work is dark and sensuous; it consists
mainly of solos and duets performed as the rest of the dancers remain
still or do something simple in the background. By Henry Baumgartner.
Ballet Memphis
Ballet Memphis is the third enterprising out-of-town company
to show an unfamiliar repertory here recently. First came bright choreography
from the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. Then the Cincinnati Ballet introduced
us to the Italian choreographer Luca Veggetti. And now the Memphis troupe,
directed by Dorothy Gunther Pugh, has presented an assortment of one-act
works. By Jack Anderson.
"Dance Party"
How wonderful it is to live in a great city, especially a city that dances.
No wonder, then, that "Dance Party," a program shared by Keigwin
+ Company and Chris Elam/Misnomer Dance Theater, made city life a perpetual
block party. By Jack Anderson.
Luca Veggetti and the Cincinnati
Ballet
The Cincinnati Ballet's visit to New York offered glimpses of
dances by Luca Veggetti, an Italian choreographer little-known here, who
contributed three small-scale ballets to scores for solo instruments by
the Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa. Victoria Morgan, the company's
artistic director, has encouraged Veggetti in recent seasons, and his
ballets pique curiosity with their juxtapositions of propulsion and restraint.
By Jack Anderson.
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| Sam Archer and Kerry Biggin in ''Edward Scissorhands.'' Photo by Richard Termine. |
Matthew Bourne: "Edward Scissorhands"
It's easy to call Matthew Bourne's "Edward Scissorhands"
a musical comedy without songs or dialogue. In fact, it's often been called
that. Like many musicals, it's a splashy fast-paced show brimming with
energy. But you needn't venture beyond the dance world to find a term
to characterize it: "Edward Scissorhands" is a ballet. Yes,
a ballet. By Jack Anderson.
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| Paul Taylor: Smiles and Sighs. Scene in ''Lines of Loss''. Photo by Lisa Michael. |
Paul Taylor: Smiles and Sighs
The Paul Taylor Dance Company opened its season with a triple-bill
all smiles and sighs, smiles prompted by "Company B," sighs
by "Roses" and the new "Lines of Loss." Dance after
dance by Taylor is rich in ambiguity. Botbh sections of the two-part work
for three woman and two men are choreographically identical, and both
are danced within and around a large white cube designed by Alex Katz.
But they have different casts, different scores by Donald York, and different
lighting designs by Jennifer Tipton. By Jack Anderson.
''Contemporary Quartet''
The adjective ''contemporary'' was chosen, and the word ''future''
was not. So this program wasn't up to the folly of prophesying, at least
not explicitly. Yet the four choreographers offered by the program were
selected from a broad field nowadays of strivers and their striving. What
does the choice tell us, and how do the four ballets and their makers
speak to us, as well as to and for the company itself? By Molly McQuade.
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| Dancers pushing the envelope in DD Dorvillier's ''Nothing is Importanttt.'' Photo by David Bergé. |
''Nothing is Importanttt''
I'd been forewarned that DD Dorvillier's new piece, ''Nothing
Is Importanttt,'' would be a bit strange, but of course I dismissed this
out of hand—a downtown dance piece that's a bit strange? Hell,
they all do their best to be as weird as can be. To break out of the pack
and do something memorably strange (and that you can't get arrested
for) is not easy, but Dorvillier did in fact deliver the goods in her
show's final section. By Henry Baumgartner.
Magic Act
For director Philippe Decouflé, the theater is a magic place and
performances are magic acts. He has often created large-scale conjurations
proclaiming this faith. But in "Solo: Le Doute M'Habite (The Doubt
Within Me)" he was alone on stage. Nevertheless, he tried to fill
it with illusions, with the aid of videos by Olivier Simola, lighting
by Patrice Besombes, a sound design by Claire Thiébault (incorporating
a French music-hall song by Bourvil), and live music by Joachim Latarjet
on a number of instruments. By Jack Anderson.
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| Scene in "Three Atmospheric Studies" by The William Forsythe Company. Photo by Stephanie Berger. |
The Forsythe Company: "Three
Atmospheric Studies"
"My son was arrested." This episode shows Forsythe's flair for
devising group movements. His theme may be chaos in the streets, yet everyone
is carefully spaced and their flinging and twisting steps, though signifying
disruption, are lucidly ordered so that events can be savored as well
as watched. Read the full review by Jack Anderson.
Updating Classics: When? Why?
''There come times when people staging classic works of theater
or dance feel an urge to update them, perhaps because they fear those
pieces are now so familiar that they should be seen afresh. So drastic
changes may be made in period and locale. The results are sometimes stimulating,
sometimes merely peculiar.'' Jack Anderson went to Copenhagen and came
back with some thoughs on new stagings.
Sprenger's Triangle
Jack Anderson writes, "Let me confess. I'm a mathematical dummy.
I couldn't fathom the theoretical principles guiding Megan V. Sprenger's
"No Where," for which Sara Grundel, a mathematician, served
as an adviser. My mind just didn't get this dance. But my heart and nerves
did."
Blood, Sweat, Tears, and Carmen
Although all dancers surely sweat on stage, choreographers seldom make
them appear to be portraying people who are sweating in real life. Ramón
Oller left no doubts that characters sweated in his "Carmen"
for Compañía Metros of Barcelona. Set to an adroitly arranged
collage of music by Bizet and Martirio, this was a gritty adaptation of
the familiar tale in modern-dress costumes designed by Mèrce Paloma,
who put the men into undershirts, and with all events taking place on
the roof of a tobacco factory (as a sign on the building made clear) designed
by Joan Jorba. The action was fierce, the characters looked street-wise,
with nothing picturesque about them. By Jack Anderson.
Comic-Book Commedia
It's hard to guess how much Julie Atlas Muz wished her ''Divine Comedy
of an Exquisite Corpse'' to reflect Dante's ''La Divina Commedia. The
results resembled a melodramatic action-packed, yet often funny, comic
book. By Jack Anderson.
 |
''Body,
Mind, and Mann''. Photo by Stephanie Berger. |
''Body, Mind, and Mann''
John Neumeier is an erudite choreographer who often crams ballets
with literary and historical allusions. Yet he can also give the impression
that he is still a young man plunging headlong into new artistic and emotional
worlds for the first time. His works abound with contrasts between youthful
excitement and mature sophistication. Such juxtapositions are certainly
present in his "Death in Venice'', performed at BAM by Hamburg Ballet.
By Jack Anderson.
 |
| ''Armitage Gone'' Photo by Richard Termine. |
''Armitage Gone''
The new program by Karole Armitage's company, Armitage Gone! Dance, performed
at Joyce Theater from February 6 to February 11, was the world premiere
of "Ligeti Essays."
New York City Ballet: Winter Season
The New York City Ballet offered a new work, a revival of an unusual old
one, and a new programming policy. In some ways the premiere and the revival
were more interesting to ponder than to watch, for each raised questions
about balletic esthetics. By Jack Anderson.
 |
| "Sweet Fields" by Twyla Tharp. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor. |
The Balletic Pleasures of Aspen
Santa Fe
What a nice performance this was. The dancers looked good and danced well,
and if no one appeared to have strong dramatic projection, that quality
was not required on this occasion. What made everyone distinctive was
an ability to move with confidence, yet without pretensions. And although
the company has only ten members, the choreography never made the stage
appear impoverished. Tom Mossbrucker and Jean-Philippe Malaty, the directors,
have formed the balletic equivalent of a fine chamber-music ensemble.
By Jack Anderson.
Jeremy Wade: Sex and Glory
Jeremy Wade's "Glory" suggests that he's among those artists
and visionaries who regard sexual ecstasy as a form of spiritual enlightenment
(and it might well be). His duet has attracted international attention
since its premiere in 2003, and now that I've finally seen it I can understand
the fuss. By Jack Anderson.
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