A Farewell to Cunningham
December 26, 2011
Merce Cunningham Dance Company in "Roaratorio" at BAM, photo by Julieta Cervantes
One of my college professors told me that letting your eyes focus in different ways while watching dance can offer endless enlightenment. Zoom in on something, then zoom out, or let everything blur together and then come into focus. I tried this approach many times while watching Merce Cunningham Dance Company perform Roaratorio on December 7th at BAM. Whether everything was crystal clear or swirling together, I was mesmerized from start to finish. The company’s Legacy Tour comes to an end on December 31st, but this was my very last Cunningham performance. I was clinging to everything on stage – the colors, the sounds, the dancers’ gorgeous lines and shapes and patterns, the eerily beautiful, disorienting score by John Cage. It was momentous, riveting, and then all too soon, over.
I haven’t enjoyed everything I’ve seen by Cunningham, and the first few performances I saw by his company several years ago left me confused, perhaps even irritated. But with every performance that I’ve watched, I’ve felt more and more certain of two things: 1. These dances are extraordinary and unlike anything else, and 2. Cunningham is the most groundbreaking choreographer of our time, and absolutely brilliant. On the 7th, it was exciting to witness such a monumental performance, and simultaneously heartbreaking to witness the end of the company at a time when I’m so eager to see more of Cunningham, to keep reveling in his brilliance.
Created in 1983, Roaratorio pulls from Irish step dancing and is inspired by James Joyce’s “Finnegan’s Wake”. This lively, textured work shows couples coming together for festive social dancing featuring rapid footwork fused with dramatic tilts of the torso. The stage was busy yet clean, with dancers moving at different tempos or joining others to build something new altogether. John Cage’s richly layered 1979 score, ”Roaratorio: An Irish Circus on Finnegans Wake,” is remarkable on its own, but even more beautiful when paired with Cunningham’s choreography. Sounds from everyday life – a crying baby, traffic, a leaky faucet – blend with traditional Irish music. I strained my ears at times to identify the different sounds, to determine where one sound ended and another began. Running through the mesmerizing soundscape was text from “Finnegan’s Wake”, adding yet another dimension. Like Cunningham’s movement, the score was busy but never messy. It felt like a long, hazy memory – or strands from many memories – that was strikingly reflected in the lighting design by Mark Lancaster and Christine Shallenberg. At one moment the dancers are bathed in sunlight, at another shadows are cast across their faces. Whether encompassing a whole day, a week, or a year, Roaratorio reflects the passing of time.
Merce Cunningham Dance Company in "Roaratorio" at BAM, photo by Julieta Cervantes
I’m really looking forward to attending this event on May 16th, organized by Dance/NYC and Dance/USA.
Town Hall: Dancers’ Bodies. Promoting Wellness.
Calling All Stakeholders in Dance!
Dance/NYC and the Dance/USA Taskforce on Dancer Health invite you to join us in responding to the Taskforce’s recent call to action to achieve the dancer aesthetic in a manner that promotes overall good health and protects the artist and performer. Led by Richard Gibbs, M.D., it provides a forum to discuss case stories from the perspective of the health professional, cultural critic, and professional dancer, including New York City Ballet Principal Dancers Jenifer Ringer and Jared Angle. What words work to promote dancer wellness? What positive practices? What can we as a field do for our dancers?
Speakers: Richard Gibbs, Jared Angle, Jen Edwards, Melissa Gerson, Jenifer Ringer
Monday, May 16, 2011
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Abrons Arts Center
Henry Street Settlement
Playhouse Theater
466 Grand Street (corner of Pitt Street)
New York City
RSVP here.
Why Keigwin’s New Videos are Sickening, but Smart
February 16, 2011
Keigwin + Company has been aggressively promoting their upcoming Joyce Theater premiere, called Dark Habits, with weekly videos that feature each of the dancers. Watch some of the videos below and you’ll understand the heightened anticipation. They more closely resemble something you’d see on an MTV reality series than the choreography that I’ve previously seen by artistic director Larry Keigwin.
Yes, they’re dark, edgy, and risqué. But they’re also shallow. Most of all, the videos exemplify conformity, not creativity. They’re complete sell-outs, affirming that sex sells. And that’s what makes them both effective and so atrocious. By essentially selling the dancers’ bodies, the ads are cheapening them and devaluing them in a way that is offensive, especially since these are such artistically and technically skilled individuals. I was particularly impressed when I saw them in Works and Process at the Guggenheim. Sure, maybe the dancers had fun making these videos, but why succumb to the “sex sells” concept when you can rise above it? Of course, this happens all the time in pop culture and nobody bats an eye. That doesn’t make it ok.
I wish Keigwin had more faith in his dancers’ talents, and also more faith in audiences. A snazzy, smart video that gets butts in seats doesn’t need to have half-naked dancers gyrating and strutting seductively (I should mention that I made plans to attend the performance before seeing the videos, and I’ll still attend because I’ve enjoyed their work in the past and sincerely hope that the piece will have more depth than their ads). So, Mr. Keigwin, if you or your staff are reading this, I urge you, in the future, to create videos that don’t cheapen your work. You and your company are better than that. Otherwise you’re selling out, and undermining both your dancers’ talent and your own as an artistic director and choreographer.
2010 in Dance: A Look Back
December 25, 2010
Faye Driscoll's "There is so much mad in me", photo by Yi-Chun Wu
We’re days away from the end of 2010, so like in past years on this blog, I’m sharing what struck me as most memorable and impressive throughout the year. Both new and old works performed in a variety of venues and settings made the list. I hope that the older works mentioned here continue to make an impact and that the newer ones withstand the test of time.
I was blown away by Faye Driscoll’s There is so much mad in me at Dance Theater Workshop last April, and which I ended up revisiting this past September. The cast opened themselves up emotionally and physically to showcase extreme states of consciousness in a seamless series of vignettes.
Last February, Trisha Brown Dance Company performed at one of my favorite museums, the Dia: Beacon. It was a fitting setting for Brown’s spiraling, sprawling works, in which her dancers tested the limits of gravity and used the museum as their playground.
George Balanchine's "Serenade", photo by Paul Kolnik
A New York City Ballet spring performance of George Balanchine’s Serenade, featuring Jenifer Ringer, Teresa Reichlen, and Sara Mearns, gave me chills. Unforgettable.
At Dancespace Project, Kyle Abraham’s company performed The Radio Show. The work explored communication and the role of radio during difficult times, while also featuring Abraham’s lush movement style.
Pina Bausch's "Vollmond", photo by Laurent Philippe
A little over one year after Pina Bausch’s death, her company Tanztheater Wuppertal returned to BAM to perform Vollmond (Full Moon). The tons of water used for the performance stayed on stage, but even the audience felt drenched in shifting emotions, and often tears of mourning.
LEVYdance showed an interactive, thought-provoking work at Joyce SoHo called Everyone Intimate Alone Visibly. It was my introduction to the choreographer Benjamin Levy, and I look forward to seeing more from him.
Benjamin Levy and Aline Wachsmuth in "Everyone Intimate Alone Visibly", photo by Andrea Basile
In France, Paris Opera Ballet performed a new version of Jiri Kylian’s Kaguyahime. Original lighting, sets, choreography, and wonderful percussion music brought this ancient story to life.
I jumped at the chance to see Mikhail Baryshnikov perform at Baryshnikov Arts Center last May. His poise and presence were mesmerizing.
Mikhail Baryshnikov in Benjamin Millepied's "Years Later", photo by Andrea Mohin
New York City Ballet’s Spring Season in Review
July 18, 2010
Benjamin Millepied’s Why am I not where you are, photo by Paul Kolnik
My review of New York City Ballet’s spring season, called Architecture of Dance, is in the July/August issue of The Brooklyn Rail. Here’s an excerpt:
“Seven new ballets. Four commissioned scores. One renowned architect. This is what New York City Ballet offered over the course of its eight-week spring season, called Architecture of Dance. With nearly one new ballet every week—along with repertoire by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins—it was hard to keep up. Of the four works I saw, by Mauro Bigonzetti, Benjamin Millepied, Alexei Ratmansky, and Wayne McGregor, none were groundbreaking but none were immediately forgettable, either. In cases where the costumes, music, or set designs shined, choreographic innovation was lacking (Ratmansky’s piece was an exception), which left me with a feeling of same old, same old.”
