Quotation of the Day
March 19, 2009
“Dance has always been my silent partner. We communicate each day and, like every relationship, sometimes struggle to understand each other. Dancing has worked me to the extremes of exhaustion and exhilaration. It has given me anxiety and soothed me from it. It has nursed me through heartache. Dance has asked me to define my individuality and to redefine my notions of beauty. It has made me aware of my ego and the complexities of having one. Dance has shown me the beauty of humility and has helped me develop a capacity for awareness. As dancers we work within an art form that lives and dies in nearly the same instant and, in this sense, offers us powerful lessons in mortality.”
-Wendy Whelan, excerpt from Why I Dance
Dance Magazine, March 2009
tEEth Presents “Grub” at Joyce SoHo
March 16, 2009
tEEth in Grub, photo courtesy of tEEth’s website
Beginning this Thursday, the Portland-based contemporary dance and performance art company tEEth will perform the NYC premiere of Grub at the Joyce SoHo as part of its INBOUND Festival. The company was founded in 2006, and according to its mission statement, the performers blend “human gesture with animalistic qualities” to transport the audience “viscerally to places subtle and profound, intellectual and fantastical, familiar and scathing.” Choreographed by co-Artistic Director Angelle Hebert, Grub combines live video, sensory-rich movement, and original music by Phillip Kraft.
tEEth: Grub
March 19th to 21st at 8 PM
Joyce SoHo
Order tickets online or call 212.242.0800
Dancing Lady Orchids
March 13, 2009
With the weather forecast looking good for this weekend, it’s a perfect time to check out The Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden. This year’s theme is “Brazilian Modern”, and the show, designed by landscape architect Raymond Jungles, pays homage to the work of Brazilian designer, artist, and self-taught horticulturist Roberto Burle Marx. Thousands of richly colored orchids and other plants, along with some ponds and artwork, create a lush, tropical setting within the conservatory that is truly memorable. I even came across an orchid whose common name is “dancing lady” (shown above). Below are some photos I took at the Garden last weekend. The Orchid Show is on display until April 12.
All photos by Evan Namerow
Performance Club Debates “Chautauqua!”
March 11, 2009
There’s an intense discussion going on at the Performance Club blog about the National Theater of the United States of America’s Chautauqua!, currently showing at P.S. 122. Last Friday, about twenty members and I attended the sold-out performance and then engaged in a three-hour post-performance discussion. There were some fierce debates, and everyone made excellent points and addressed different aspects of the show. Topics included the show’s intention, defining what is avant-garde (and debating whether NTUSA falls into that category), and critically examining the dog’s role in the performance. I’ve already shared my thoughts on the blog, along with many others, so please check it out. Hopefully you’ll see how exciting, thought-provoking, and rewarding it is to attend and discuss a performance with a diverse group of people.
Chautauqua! at P.S. 122 continues through March 15th. You can order tickets online, and then add your voice to the discussion!
Armitage Gone! Dance: Think Punk!
March 10, 2009
Megumi Eda and Luke Manley in "The Watteau Duets", photo by Julieta Cervantes
Long before establishing Armitage Gone! Dance as a permanent company in 2005, Karole Armitage performed with the Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve, a company devoted exclusively to Balanchine technique. In the late 70s she danced with Merce Cunningham Dance Company, throughout the 80s she led her own company in New York, and during the 90s she created works for many European ballet and modern companies. Think Punk!, currently being performed at the Kitchen, celebrates the hard-rock ballet style that Armitage has pioneered over the past thirty years. The performance marks the 30th anniversary of her first New York season by presenting three works from the 80s along with a new excerpt. On Saturday evening, one thing was clear: Armitage is not afraid to be irreverent, and she’s proud of it.
Drastic-Classicism (1981) is the boldest piece on the program. Accompanied by four guitarists and a drummer playing an unbearably loud rock score by Rhys Chatham, dancers in black, ripped costumes intersperse ballet vocabulary with angry kicks and full-body convulsing. They pour on and off the stage as they thrash about, sometimes alone but more frequently with other dancers or with the musicians, who are equally immersed in the rock setting. Back in 1981, this piece was too radical to be performed as part of Dance Theater Workshop’s season (how the times have changed). Yet, for all its rage and attitude, in 2009 the piece feels dated and a bit immature. When the dancers narrow their eyes at the audience – as if to say, “What? You gotta problem?” – it’s hard to take them seriously.
In Wild Thing (1987), a slightly milder version of Drastic-Classicism, Leonides D. Arpon emerges from a black, heart-shaped box designed by Jeff Koons to dance with Dana Marie Ingraham. As they thrust their pelvises and shake spastically to Jimi Hendrix’s music, it’s obvious that the dancers enjoy engaging the audience more than each other.
Giorgia Bovo and Matthew Prescott in “The Watteau Duets”, photo by Julieta Cervantes
The more interesting pas de deux on the program is The Watteau Duets (1985), performed by Giorgia Bovo and Matthew Prescott. Six duets, set to a score by David Linton, reveal a progression from classical to contemporary that is reflected in both the choreography and costuming. Bovo wears point shoes, stilettos, and finally appears barefoot with Prescott. Her shoes, according to Armitage’s program notes, serve as weapons in a battle of the sexes. In fact, Prescott often seems overwhelmed by Bovo’s power and intensity. Watching musicians Matt Mottel and Kevin Shea literally turn their drum set and gong into a playground is utterly entertaining. They improvise as they try balancing on a drum, tipping a gong onto the drummer’s seat, and most entertaining of all, standing on a symbol. The set is practically in pieces by the end of the dance.
An excerpt from Mashup, Armitage’s newest work, is an unfortunate assault on the eyes and ears. Daniel Iglesia’s score is so mashed up that it was not even comprehensible. Moving in silky red shorts and tops, the dancers throw a lot of highly energetic but meaningless choreography at the audience. Mashup is ostentatious without ever impressing. It was a lackluster ending to a loud, hard-rock, in-your-face evening.
Armitage Gone! Dance: Think Punk! continues through March 14th at The Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street (between 10th & 11th Avenues), 8 PM.
