The Best of 2008
December 30, 2008
There were a lot of memorable dance performances and events in 2008. Here are ten that I thought were outstanding.
1. PeepDance by Nimrod Freed’s Tami Dance Company: There’s nothing quite like a village of peepers in Central Park on a hot summer night.
PeepDance at Central Park SummerStage, photo by Evan
2. Hofesh Shechter’s Uprising at Fall For Dance: A fierce, intensely athletic piece for eight men depicting organized chaos. Watch the video by Article 19.
3. Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet’s performance of Sunday, Again, choreographed by Jo Strømgren: One of the most exhilarating works of the year.
Cedar Lake dancers in Sunday, Again, photo by Carina Musk-Anderson
4. Damian Woetzel’s final performance at New York City Ballet: It was sad to see one of the company’s finest male dancers end his 23-year performing career.
Damian Woetzel in Prodigal Son, photo by Richard Corman
5. Participating in a Gaga workshop at the JCC Manhattan, led by a dancer from Batsheva Dance Company: This was an excellent introduction to Ohad Naharin’s movement language.
6. Lar Lubovitch Dance Company at City Center: The mysterious North Star, set to Philip Glass’s score of the same title, was particularly captivating.
7. Jo Strømgren’s The Society at Abrons Arts Center: A clever examination of ethnocentrism that starts as a battle between coffee and tea drinkers.
Jo Strømgren’s The Society, photo by Knut Bry
8. Christopher Wheeldon’s Liturgy, performed by Wendy Whelan and Albert Evans: Although this work premiered in 2003, last January was my first time seeing it. The hauntingly beautiful score by Arvo Pärt, Wheeldon’s mesmerizing movement, and Whelan’s ethereal dancing brought me to tears.
Wendy Whelan and Albert Evans in Christopher Wheeldon’s Liturgy, photo by Paul Kolnik
9. Going behind the scenes for Jill Johnson’s The Copier, performed by Cedar Lake: Following Jill and the dancers throughout the creative process was just as enjoyable as watching the final product.
Opening night of The Copier, photo by Gillian Crosson
Jill Johnson watching a rehearsal of The Copier, photo by Evan
10. David Alvarez’s performance in Billy Elliot: This kid can dance. He was in total command for the nearly 3-hour show.
David Alvarez in Billy Elliot, photo by Sara Krulwich
The Columbia Ballet Collaborative
December 28, 2008
Kimi Nikaidoh, a former dancer and current student at Columbia, leads a rehearsal of the Columbia Ballet Collaborative in Streng Studio at Barnard College, photo by Andrea Mohin
In the fall of 2007, several former professional dancers studying at Columbia University founded the Columbia Ballet Collaborative, a group that provides performing opportunities to ballet dancers on campus and choreographic opportunities to individuals in and outside of the college community. I attended their first informal showing in December 2007, held in one of Barnard College’s dance studios, and their second showing the following spring, and was impressed by the group’s professionalism, artistry, and organization. Since the majority of performance opportunities for Barnard and Columbia students are based in modern dance, CBC is a much-needed addition to campus. Fortunately, the Collaborative is expanding and will be performing at Miller Theatre in April 2009. Gia Kourlas followed the success of the group and spoke with some of the founders in a recent NY Times article. You can also watch a short Times video about the company.
And The Winner Is…
December 25, 2008
At the beginning of December, I wrote about Ovation TV’s month-long Battle of the Nutcrackers. For the second year in a row, Mark Morris’ The Hard Nut is the winner! In a recent NY Times article, Claudia La Rocco wrote about the competition and Mr. Morris’ fresh take on the familiar story, where “the alcohol flows freely, among the flying fists and sexual advances”. If you missed it during the voting period, don’t worry. The Hard Nut will be shown today during Ovation TV’s Nutcracker marathon along with the other five contestants. A whole 24 hours of The Nutcracker for your viewing pleasure…Check out Ovation TV’s full schedule.
Mark Morris’ The Hard Nut, photo by Susan Farley
Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company in Timebomb
December 24, 2008
Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company’s Timebomb
This past weekend, Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company celebrated its 10th anniversary with the premiere of Timebomb at the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Chairs for the audience were set up in a circle around the perimeter of the large, high-ceilinged studio. In place of program notes or biographies of the four dancers, including Gwirtzman, the program had a list of things the audience could do while waiting for the show to start. Suggestions such as “decide not to think about your day”, “consider the seat holding your legs and your spine”, and “stop thinking about time” were a welcomed respite at the end of a busy day.
Timebomb, however, left me feeling confused about what Gwirtzman was trying to convey. The piece starts as a solo for him that morphs into a duet with the wonderfully intense Stacy Martorana, and then becomes a quartet with Rachel Warren and Oren Bar-Noy. The dancers eye each other as they shift about the space and interact with one another – sometimes violently, at other times more tenderly – but they never make eye contact with the audience. Only Martorana is believable, remaining completely focused and engaged throughout the piece while the others seem to be further detached and self-conscious about the fact that they are being watched. The percussive score by Shawn Balthazor and Jeff Story ranges from explosive to quietly hesitant, contributing to the dancers’ emotionally distinct interactions. Tension builds but is never resolved, creating a rather unsatisfying close to the piece. There are a few explosive moments in Timebomb, but the 50-minute piece loses its momentum and its ability to surprise.
Starting on January 10th, 2009, Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company will launch its online Commentary and Clip Series, which will provide a behind-the-scenes look at the company through video clips and commentary from the dancers. Check it out.
Billy Elliot on Broadway
December 21, 2008
David Alvarez is “Billy Elliot”, photo by Sara Krulwich
Last week I saw the Broadway musical Billy Elliot, which arrived in New York City last month after debuting in London more than three years ago. Based on the 2000 movie directed by Stephen Daldry, who also directs the musical, Billy Elliot is not about dance, but rather about the urge to dance – and sadly, about the conflict between dreams and reality. The eleven-year-old title character, played by the talented David Alvarez on the night I attended, lives with his widowed father and older brother in a working-class Northern England town that is dealing with the 1984 coalminers’ strike. Although Billy is sent to boxing class with other local boys, he accidentally ends up in the girls’ ballet class, where the chain-smoking teacher Mrs. Wilkinson (superbly played by Haydn Gwynne) takes Billy under her wing and prepares him to audition for the Royal Ballet School after recognizing his potential.
The show spends equal amounts of time revealing Billy’s conflict with his father, who insists that his son only take boxing, and the miners’ conflict with the police and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The opening number occurs on the eve of the miners’ strike, showing downtrodden men uniting and preparing for what’s to come (it was strikingly similar to the opening of Les Misérables), while the next scene shows Billy in his boxing class, and then in ballet with Mrs. Wilkinson and a flock of overly-enthusiastic girls in tutus. The two worlds collide in the excellent “Solidarity”, which combines the frustrations of the miners, the police, and the daily routine of Billy and the girls in ballet class. This was undoubtedly the most complex and enjoyable scene in the show.
David Alvarez and the ballet girls in Billy Elliot, photo by Sara Krulwich
Alvarez beautifully captures Billy’s urge to move, and throughout the nearly 3-hour show, he performs tap, ballet, jazz, and acrobatics with precision, spirit, and often mind-boggling speed, all choreographed by Peter Darling. Billy’s anxiety and frustration about his unfortunate circumstances and his father’s disapproval of ballet explode in “Angry Dance”, a tap number that closes the first half. And in “Electricity”, his love of dance and dreams of escaping reality shine through in spite of his inability to articulate – with words – how he feels when he moves.
With the exception of “Solidarity”, Elton John’s melodies and Lee Hall’s lyrics are not memorable, and at times the show attempts to wow the crowd in an over-the-top manner, like with “Expressing Yourself”, which includes giant-sized dresses that Michael, Billy’s flamboyant friend, likes to try on. The quiet, simple ending – embodying Billy’s mixed emotions about leaving home – was touching until the entire cast joined him for a flashy finale with everyone in tutus. Setting this aside, Billy Elliot successfully portrays contrasting dreams and reality, and the ways in which the well-developed characters struggle with them. For Billy, dance is not just a means of escape. It’s his true calling, and the duet for Billy and his older self (played by former New York City Ballet dancer Stephen Hanna) suggests that his dreams are not beyond his reach.
