Performa 09: Creative Takeover
October 29, 2009
"Parades and Changes, replays", photo by Jérôme Delatour
This Friday marks the beginning of Performa 09, the third biennial of a city-wide, three-week festival of performance art. Unlike the last two festivals, Performa 09 will attempt to break down the boundaries that exist between artistic mediums. In a recent post on WNYC, festival director RoseLee Goldberg said, “This year we’re doing dance, theater, film, fashion, food, architecture, graphic design, and poetry. The idea that we can talk about all media, all the time, that’s what takes this biennial to the next level.”
Performa 09 will present new work by more than 150 contemporary artists in collaboration with more than eighty of the city’s arts institutions. Check the full calendar of events for dates and ticket information (though many of the performances are FREE). Friday’s opening night benefit, which includes a food installation by Jennifer Rubell (and indoor apple picking), sounds like an exciting way to kick off the festival.
One of the highly anticipated dance offerings comes from Deborah Hay and Yvonne Rainer, two of the founding members of the Judson Dance Theater and both influential voices in post-modern dance. They’ll present new work and share the stage at Baryshnikov Arts Center from November 17 to 19. Another exciting dance event is Anne Collod’s restaging of Anna Halprin’s 1965 work, Parades and Changes, at Dance Theater Workshop from November 18 to 21.
Cedar Lake Brings “Orbo Novo” to the Joyce
October 27, 2009
Cedar Lake dancers in Orbo Novo, photo by Julieta Cervantes
Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Orbo Novo (New World), created for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, made its New York City premiere last week at the Joyce Theater. The piece was inspired by “My Stroke of Insight”, a memoir by the neuro-anatomist Jill Bolte Taylor, who suffered a stroke at the age of thirty-seven. Weaving together flowing movement and text that is both humorous and analytical, Cherkaoui attempted to illustrate distinctions between the past and the future, the left and right brain hemispheres, the old and new. In spite of seamless dancing, the result lacked texture and variety, never revealing a world more intriguing or complex than our own.
The stage created boundaries and constraints for the dancers with a set design of four red, metal grids on wheels, created by Alexander Dodge. When Acacia Schachte climbed the lattice structure, hung gracefully at the top, and then slithered to the floor – where she excelled at Cherkaoui’s undulating movement before collapsing – the audience saw the first of many literal portrayals of Taylor’s memoir. This clear illustration of a stroke was followed by spoken text – accompanied by slow walking and myriad arm gestures – that elaborated on Taylor’s thought process as the stroke occurred. Speaking matter-of-factly and at times humorously, the dancers conveyed the experience of mentally persevering while physically struggling to go through the motions.
Cedar Lake in Orbo Novo, photo by Julieta Cervantes
More compelling was the series of solos, trios, and ensemble dancing – filled with moments of calm stung by aggressive, tumbling spurts of adrenaline – that set the dancers into eternally-moving journeys that only came to an end because of confinement within the metal structure’s walls. When the dancers were trapped, their limbs dangled lifelessly through the grid, and suddenly they would glide through and come to life. Freed or contaminated, however, there was little variety in Cherkaoui’s choreography. It was just one undulating movement after another. And although watching their supple bodies ripple and curl was mesmerizing at times, the eyes tended to glaze over because of so little change in movement quality throughout the eighty-minute work. Szymon Brzóska’s meditative score, played by the Mosaic String Quartet and pianist Aaron Wunsch, was similarly unvarying with the exception of a few vibrant, fast-paced sections that infused the piece with energy.
Cedar Lake’s dancers are undoubtedly a talented, disciplined group, but in Orbo Novo they appeared unmoved by the content of the work, and sections of their speaking were forced and insincere. While they beautifully achieved the illusion that their physical beings were pushed and pulled by external forces, their performances lacked the emotional and psychological depth that the piece required. Perhaps this has more to do with Cherkaoui, who never shared his own voice in the piece, instead relying solely on Taylor’s memoir for direction and interpretation. The result was a one-dimensional, unchanging world that was more bland than peaceful.
Neal Medlyn, Carmine Covelli, and Farris Craddock in … Her’s A Queen, photo by Yi-Chun Wu
The press materials for Neal Medlyn’s …Her’s a Queen, which premiered at Dance Theater Workshop on Thursday evening, came in a folder with a picture of two kittens on the front, sitting in a field of flowers and grass. Although the folder was probably in a pile of leftover back-to-school supplies at Duane Reade, Medlyn’s choice was certainly not a careless, last-minute one. The kitten folders – part of a Mead series called “Purrs & Grrrs” – were merely an introduction to Medlyn’s exploration of the struggle to attain purity and innocence in a ruthless, media-crazed world. …Her’s a Queen was much more than a commentary on the rise and fall of Britney Spears, the fifth pop icon that has been the subject of his work. It was also a messy, genuine offering from Medlyn himself on coping with loneliness, emptiness, and existential crises.
The piece occurred roughly in reverse chronological order, beginning with the destroyed, reckless Britney (portrayed by Medlyn) that tabloids depend on for sales. Distorted lyrics and melodies from her songs could be heard, with Medlyn fittingly starting with lyrics from “Everytime”: “Notice me. Take my hand. Why are we strangers when our love is strong?” A continuous photo shoot reflected the paparazzi craze, and as the photographs were projected onto the scrim, they revealed how a viewer can easily piece together a few moments caught on camera and create a fictitious story. How alienated and misunderstood these pop personalities are.
Carmine Covelli and Neal Medlyn, photo by Yi-Chun Wu
Yet, Medlyn “wants to be pure like milk”, and as the piece progressed, he attempted to pull his life – and Britney’s life – together, to return to a state of innocence and purity, and to forget everything that drove him away from innocence in the first place. Carmine Covelli played several roles, all of which aimed at feeding Britney’s hunger for purity and happiness. He served as Britney’s baby, Britney’s conscience, a puzzling bear, and a figment of her imagination. Covelli and Medlyn’s twisted interactions involved arguing, flattering, attempts at forgetting what they had just discussed or forgetting the night before, and a continuous return to an awkward entanglement on the floor. No matter how long they remained in their uncomfortable embrace, it was clear that it couldn’t provide any lasting comfort. And the “non-sexual cuddling party”, which involved audience participation, was suddenly dismissed by Medlyn as being too overwhelming, claustrophobic, and reminiscent of past experiences. “I was happier when I didn’t remember anything at all”, he said. Thus, the party guests departed and solitude prevailed.
Medlyn shed Britney’s glamorous, sugar-coated exterior to reveal hidden layers of vulnerability, isolation, and pain. Indeed, he was often fumbling towards self-destruction as his body writhed and his voice transformed Britney’s pop sensations into angst-filled rages. Just when it seemed as though he were drowning in a pool of delusion and alienation, quiet was restored, until the cycle repeated itself and he did it again. Medlyn ended where the Britney phenomenon began, by ironically announcing “I’m not that innocent”, from her first hit single, “Baby One More Time.” The endless cycle is sad, painful, and tragic. Perhaps more than anything, it is inescapable.
Pointe Shoe Tossing
October 22, 2009
On my way back to the Beacon train station after visiting the Dia, I looked up and snapped some photos of this puzzling image. I wonder who wore these pointe shoes, for what performance, when, where, and how many tries it took before their owner got them slung over the wires. There are lots of explanations for shoe tossing, but the meaning behind this one is definitely a mystery.
photos by Evan Namerow
Over the past few years, Israel has consistently produced some of the most exciting, innovative, and unexpected choreographers working in the field today. As a result, contemporary dance is one of Israel’s most respected and innovative exports. Under the influence of Ohad Naharin’s signature movement language Gaga and the worldwide success of the Batsheva Dance Company, a new generation of Israeli choreographers has been making a name for themselves in the contemporary dance world. Join renowned young choreographers Deganit Shemy, Saar Harari and Andrea Miller (of Deganit Shemy & Company, LeeSaar The Company, and Gallim Dance, respectively) as they share excerpts of their work, discuss their methods, and explore the meaning of contemporary movement in relation to historical conceptions of the Jewish Body. Moderated by Elizabeth Zimmer and presented by the Foundation for Jewish Culture and the JCC in Manhattan.
Beyond Gaga: Contemporary Israeli Dance and the Reinvention of the Jewish Body will be held on October 22, 2009 at 8 PM at the JCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Avenue at 76th Street. Tickets are $10 and are available online or by phone at 646.505.5708. You can also RSVP on Facebook.
This event is presented in partnership with Nextbook Inc., as part of Jewish Body Week (October 18-25) – a series of events in New York City exploring the subjects raised in Melvin Konner’s 2009 book, The Jewish Body. Visit Jewish Body Week’s website for a full schedule of events.
