The Spinning Dancer
April 28, 2008
I came across this post on Well, the NY Times Health blog. The reversible image, designed by Nobuyuki Kayahara, shows a spinning dancer that some people will see spinning clockwise while others will see her spinning counterclockwise. I was not surprised to learn that I saw her spinning clockwise, which suggests that I’m right-brained and creative, as opposed to left-brained and logical. However, the article points out that the image tells us much more about how vision works than how the brain works.
Click here to read the post and see the spinning dancer. Also, I recommend staring at the image for a few minutes to see if it flips. For most people, the dancer will eventually reverse directions, but after about ten minutes of watching intently, she was still turning clockwise to me. Hmm…
TAKE Dance Company – Studio Rehearsal
April 27, 2008
On Saturday around noon, I headed to the New 42nd Street Studios to watch a rehearsal of TAKE Dance Company (pronounced TA-kay) for their upcoming performances at Columbia’s Miller Theater, May 15-17. Nine floors above the bustling crowds and noise of Times Square, I entered a beautiful, sunlit studio where about ten dancers were rehearsing a section of a piece that is danced in silence. The only sounds were the dancers’ breathing and the creeks of the floor as they moved about. After a few minutes, artistic director Takehiro (Take) Ueyama (who is a former dancer with Paul Taylor Dance Company) broke the silence and gave some corrections regarding the spacing and timing. Moments later, the dancers started soaring through the space in another section of the piece that was lively, upbeat, and celebratory – and also exhausting, since most of the dancers collapsed to the floor at the end and took deep breaths. Some parts of the piece needed to be polished, but with three weeks to go until the performances at Miller, the dancers have plenty of time to work out the kinks.
Next, I watched a trio of duets called “Love Stories”, danced by Nana Tsuda and Kile Adair Hotchkiss. The piece was poignant and tender, and the dancers’ differences in appearance – she is small and slight while he is much taller and muscular – made it all the more interesting to watch. After the run-through, Take asked them to work on a lift where Nana runs downstage and leaps backwards into Kile’s arms. “Higher”, he told Nana several times. After a few more tries, there was a definite improvement.
What I enjoyed most about the rehearsal was that it was an opportunity to observe the rehearsal process and the way that Take interacted with the dancers, as well as the way the dancers interacted with one another. The atmosphere was friendly and laidback (several dancers said hello to me and the other bloggers throughout the rehearsal), but everyone was clearly working diligently. Seeing the studio rehearsal has also increased my excitement about the upcoming performances, as it will be interesting to watch the transformations that take place from studio to stage: costumes will replace sweats and t-shirts; the movement will be more polished; and the dancers will be dancing full-out, with an adrenaline rush that usually comes with performing.
Many thanks to April Thibeault for inviting me and the other bloggers and greeting us at the rehearsal.
Miami City Ballet at the Tilles Center
April 27, 2008
(In the lobby of the Tilles Center before the performance)
On Friday night, Allison and I took two subway lines, an LIRR ride, and a taxi to get to the Tilles Center on Long Island to see Miami City Ballet, but the trek was totally worth it since the company’s program included three works by Balanchine and our favorite ballet – ever: Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room with music by Philip Glass. We’ve seen this exhilarating, breathtaking piece performed by ABT at least 4 or 5 times, but unfortunately, the company didn’t perform it at last fall’s City Center engagement. So when we discovered that Room would be performed by MBC – a company that neither of us has ever seen – on Long Island, we jumped at the opportunity to see it.
Balanchine’s Raymonda Variations was first on the program. This piece allowed me to see what MCB’s female corps looked like. Although the women were well-rehearsed, solid on formations, and together on timing, many of them were not as technically strong as I thought they would be, considering that MCB is one of the top ballet companies in the country. Some pirouettes were shaky and the footwork not very precise. However, the lone male in the piece, Renato Penteado, was technically impressive, especially in the petit allegro solo. Still, there was not enough feeling in the movement (from all of the dancers), but perhaps this has more to do with the lack of emotional depth in Raymonda than with the dancers themselves.
Sonatine is a laid-back duet for a man and a woman, with a pianist on stage playing music by Maurice Ravel. There’s almost a lazy or sleepy quality to the stylized arm movements, hip swivels, and port de bras that the woman repeatedly completes into the man’s arms, but both Jeremy Cox and Haiyan Wu managed to infuse the movement with energy. In contrast to this sleepy duet was Tarantella, a duet that requires sharp, rapid footwork, precise musicality, and the ability to use a tambourine while jumping and turning – all at breakneck speed. Alex Wong (who happens to be a Winger contributor) and Jeanette Delgado definitely had what it took to get through this seven-minute piece. They interacted well and really got into character.
The evening ended with In the Upper Room, a 40-minute marathon that is the ultimate test of stamina in the ballet world. The dancers were spot on, and when they were supposed to be dancing in unison, they were truly dancing in unison. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this piece performed so solidly and with such clean execution of Tharp’s choreography. The dancers were energetic and experts at attacking the movement, with Wong and the other two “stomper” men, Jeremy Cox and Daniel Baker, deserving special mention. And yet, there was still something missing for me. Allison said she was shaking at the end and utterly thrilled, but I thought that this performance of Room lacked the spark – and I’m really unsure about what exactly this is – that made my heart race the first time I saw it. Perhaps I set my expectations too high, or expected to feel exactly the way I did after seeing Tharp’s masterpiece for the first time. Hopefully the spark will be present the next time I see Room, or maybe by then I’ll have figured out what the little spark is that makes this ballet – when performed flawlessly – so elating and stirring.
(A curtain call for In the Upper Room)
More on “Glassy Essence”
April 24, 2008
Many bloggers, including Philip, Matt, and Tonya, have already shared their thoughts on Cedar Lake’s “360-degree interactive piece”, and I encourage you to visit their blogs. But I decided to write a little more about the evening, as well.
The majority of viewers tended to shift away from the dancers, perhaps fearing that they would be in the way as the company members wove in and out of the clusters of people that filled the large space. It would have been interesting to see more people interact with the dancers, or maybe even intentionally walk in their path. In concert dance, we are so used to having a defined barrier between audience and stage, so that once there is an opportunity to break that barrier, we still tend to stay within our comfort zone because we are unsure of the “right” or “wrong” way to engage with the dancers. Of course, there is no right or wrong. The beauty of being in such close proximity of the dancers is the ability to improvise and just see what happens. Every performance will be different, which is why I’m hoping to see Glassy Essence again.
There was often a central couple, soloist, or group of dancers on which the audience focused, while other dancers performed elsewhere in the space, usually in dimmed lighting. I enjoyed watching the less central dances because I was interested in seeing what artistic director and choreographer Benoit-Swan Pouffer had in mind for the “background” movement, which reminds me of my tendency during a ballet performance to watch the corps de ballet even while a lead couple is dancing center stage. And with so much to take in at once, it was nice to wander around and catch glimpses of everything, rather than focusing on one part of the space for a prolonged period of time. In a way, the installation felt like a moving museum, with the “exhibits” constantly changing.
One of my favorite parts of the installation was the wall of blocks – a large flat wall with 3-dimensional blocks of different sizes attached to it. The dancers sat or stood on the blocks, hung from them, and gracefully connected to other dancers’ limbs, all while creating interesting shapes and sculptures with their bodies. It effectively illustrated how a flat, 2-dimensional wall can become a three-dimensional playground that evolves as the dancers navigate its space.
In fact, the piece explored as much space as possible with the help of flying contraptions, the wall, a table, and little square blocks on the floor. Swan excels at experimenting with different surfaces, and figuring out how the dancers can work with (and against) them.
It was refreshing to snap photos throughout the performance (I took over 100), and I’m glad that the company encouraged viewers to do so. There was even a photo sharing booth, where viewers could upload photos after the performance and then let Cedar Lake post them on its website. Some of mine and Allison’s, as well as several from other bloggers, can be seen here. Another high-tech highlight of the evening was the USB bracelet, which Allison photographed on my wrist in her post. The performance was video-recorded and then uploaded to flash drives. On our way out, the bloggers and I each received a USB bracelet with an entire video of the performance. Of course, a video cannot capture the multi-dimensionality of a live performance. And in this case, the video shows the installation from the video-recorder’s perspective. However, it’s still exciting to be able to re-live parts of the performance on video, and I applaud Cedar Lake for being so innovative and progressive with their use of technology.
Glassy Essence was certainly memorable and impressive, and I was shocked to hear from Swan that the company only had three intense weeks of rehearsals. Performances continue this weekend and May 1-3 at 8 PM and 9 PM. Ticket info is here.
Essence of ‘Glassy’
April 24, 2008
More Glassy Essence pictures to enjoy… Check out all the bloggers’ photos on the Glassy Essence website: http://www.glassyessence.com/photos/
USB bracelets with a video of the evening’s performance
