Hofesh Shechter’s Uprising
September 30, 2008
Last week, I wrote at length about the excerpt from Hofesh Shechter‘s Uprising that I saw during the Fall for Dance festival. Of the fifteen pieces (over three programs) I viewed throughout FFD, Uprising was certainly the most exhilarating and memorable. I don’t usually post such long videos, nor do I think videos are a suitable substitute for live dance, but this is too good not to share with others. Try to imagine these excerpts from Uprising performed live – fog flooding the stage, Shechter’s percussive music vibrating through the theater’s floor and seats, the dancers’ sheer energy pulsing through your veins. That’s what it felt like when I saw Uprising at FFD. The section from 4.45 to 5.35 is awesome.
VIA Dance Collaborative: Lullaby in Surrealism
September 28, 2008
On Saturday evening, I entered a hazy, otherworldly atmosphere as I watched VIA Dance Collaborative‘s The Dream Project: Lullaby in Surrealism at the Ailey Citigroup Theater. The evening-length work, a collaboration between choreographer Adrienne Westwood and twelve dancers, investigated the strange, beautiful, and often unsettling nature of dreams. Westwood even incorporated input from the public based on the results of an online dream survey that she and the dancers created during rehearsals.
Image courtesy of VIA Dance Collaborative
A girl in a burgundy dress was laying on stage – probably dreaming – as the audience entered the theater. When the piece began, several other dancers crawled closely around her while she rolled across the stage, with the sash of her dress unfolding to create a long carpet – perhaps a path. More dancers entered in sharp diagonals or swirling clusters, suggesting a dream’s unevenness. Dimmed lighting and a foggy projection of a dancer’s back enhanced the dream-like world, and as the piece progressed, muffled noise, whispering voices, and more projections by Adam Larsen – including a beautifully soothing image of water rippling on a shore – created an eerie environment. The rhythm and momentum of Lullaby constantly changed according to the trancelike music and sound, by Jim Briggs III, together with the dancers’ movement. A slow, repetitive section of gestures in which the dancers appeared to be washing their hands was mesmerizing but obscure, like one of those random actions in a dream that seems peculiar and out of place. In an earlier segment, a row of dancers each folded a large piece of white paper on the floor and then continued folding it into different shapes as they moved briskly in unison. At various times, the paper served as a hat, book, or a sock over the dancers’ feet. How interesting to observe an ordinary object’s evolving significance and purpose in a dream.
Many sections of Lullaby were mystifying and blurry (and occasionally too lengthy), similar to one’s dreams. But if they made sense to Westwood and the dancers – or at least stemmed from their own dreams – can the audience really question them or utter, “I don’t get it”? The piece ended abruptly with just one dancer on stage, illustrating that sudden moment when a dream concludes and a person wakes but has yet to interpret the dream or reach a sense of clarity. It was unsatisfying, but this is often the case with dreams.
The dancers had clean lines and moved fluidly as a group, but they rarely conveyed emotion, nor did they acknowledge each others’ presence or make eye contact. Perhaps this reflects Westwood and the dancers’ experiences as dreamers. Their disconnectedness – from other individuals or from the ability to feel – might be the result of a dream’s haze and lack of clarity. For all of its mysteriousness and ebb and flow of action, Lullaby in Surrealism felt familiar. As a performance, it captured the dreaming experience in a much more tangible way than possible for a dreamer.
Housing Works Open Air Book Fair
September 26, 2008
Attention, bookworms! This Sunday, Housing Works Bookstore Café is taking over Crosby Street to present its 4th annual Open Air Book Fair. More than 10,000 books, CDs, and DVDs are priced at $1 each, and there’s even a $20 “all you can stuff into a bag” sale on clothing from the Housing Works thrift shops. Plus, food from local restaurants and beer served up by Puck Fair. All proceeds go directly to Housing Works, which provides housing, health care, job training, and other services to homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS. Bargain-priced books and clothing for a good cause!
Housing Works Bookstore’s Open Air Book Fair
Sunday, September 28th, 10 AM to 6 PM
Crosby Street between Houston and Prince
W/R to Prince St.
B/D/F/V to Broadway-Lafayette
6 to Bleecker St.
Fall for Dance: September 20 and 21, 2008
September 25, 2008
Saturday evening and Sunday’s Fall for Dance program offered an attractive sampling of works, two of which were exceptional. I chose this program, in part, because of three of the choreographers: Aszure Barton and Christopher Wheeldon’s works have impressed me, and Hofesh Shechter‘s background in percussion and dance (he formerly danced with Batsheva Dance Company) is intriguing. The excerpt from Shechter’s Uprising was not only the highlight of the performance, but also one of my dance highlights of the year. If only they had shown the full work and not just an excerpt.
Hofesh Shechter Company (with Shechter second from left) in Uprising, photo by Andrew Lang
[bjm_danse] Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal performed an excerpt from Ms. Barton’s Les Chambres des Jacques, “an exploration of the inner life and drama of the individual dancers”. The ten men and women revealed their eccentricities to music ranging from Vivaldi to a Klezmer band to Vigneault. Playfulness was apparent, but the dancers were poorly lit from the waist down, making it challenging to appreciate Barton’s multidimensional choreography.
The pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon’s Rush, performed by Oregon Ballet Theatre, was slow and mysterious, a “counterpoint” – according to the program – from the rest of the ballet. There were a few beautiful images, such as the repetition of a dip with Alison Roper’s back to the audience and her leg and arm at sharp angles. But it would have been interesting to view the entire ballet in order to understand how the contrasting pas de deux relates to the rest of the piece.
Madhavi Mudgal and Arushi Mudgal, photo courtesy of NY City Center
Madhavi Mudgal was mesmerizing in the world premiere of Odissi: Pravaha, an invocation to Shiva, the Lord of Dance. There was incredible precision and detail in her hands and feet, accompanied by a clear sense of rhythm. Her niece, Arushi Mudgal, was equally interesting to watch in the second section, although Madhavi seemed more grounded and serene in both her technique and artistry. The live music and vocals were superb, and I occasionally got caught up watching the seated musicians playing the pakhavaj, sitar, and manjira.
In Jane Dudley’s 1938 Harmonica Breakdown, Sheron Wray immersed herself in the blues harmonica music of Sonny Terry and Oh Red, her torso undulating to its rhythms while she skipped or stomped her feet into the floor. Her repetitive walk throughout this brief solo exuded the pride and bravery that Dudley surely possessed when she performed it in the 30s.
Hofesh Shechter Company in Uprising, photo by Chris Taylor
In the September issue of Dance Magazine, Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter said, “Put a lot of guys together in one place, and they’ll either play or fight. Uprising tried to catch that sense of male randomness”. Set to a powerful percussive score that Shechter mainly composed on his laptop, Uprising, in its New York premiere, depicted organized chaos among seven men (including Shechter) through shifting patterns, rhythms, and groupings that covered the stage’s vast space. The sudden blackout of the house lights was replaced with fog, the pounding score, and a beam of white lights as the men, dressed in long-sleeved shirts and combat pants, briskly walked to the front. The excerpts that followed portrayed intensely athletic, aggressive movement interspersed with moments of tenderness, anguish, and intimacy. It was remarkable to see the dancers transform themselves so effortlessly – and suddenly – from friends to foes (I couldn’t help but think of Golding’s Lord of the Flies). At one point, a circle of friendly back-slapping turned into a violent brawl. Elsewhere in the piece, the dancers skimmed across the floor on their feet and knuckles, appearing primal and eager to attack, or they pressed their heads to the floor while lifting a shaky, twitching arm to the ceiling. Their raw energy and ferocity were intoxicating, and considering how emotionally invigorating and draining it was to watch Uprising, I can only imagine how intense it must be to perform. Hopefully Hofesh Shechter Company will return to New York City soon, with Uprising in its entirety.
Fall for Dance Lounge
September 24, 2008
Before posting my review of Fall for Dance’s Saturday evening and Sunday program, I thought I’d share some photos from Lounge FFD, where audiences and the public can mingle, have a cocktail, dance, and hear a different DJ each night. City Center’s lobby doesn’t hold very many people, so it’s nice to see the public atrium converted into a pre- and post-performance gathering spot. Apparently the colorful umbrellas adorning the ceiling are recycled decorations from a previous event, but I don’t blame City Center for reusing them. They’re great!
