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.
Brooklyn Rail Dance Reviews
March 7, 2011
I reviewed Susan Stroman’s newest work for New York City Ballet in this month’s issue of The Brooklyn Rail. Here’s an excerpt:
“For the Love of Duke was presented on a triple bill of contemporary works (No Balanchine in the lineup! A rare event). Christopher Wheeldon’s arresting Polyphonia is now a decade old, but still looks strikingly fresh. And Alexei Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH (2008) mixes wit and lyricism, punctuated with meditative moments. Seen alongside these layered, complex gems, Stroman’s premiere felt dreadfully old, and out of its depth.
…Artists have the freedom to edit and re-visit their work over time, and Stroman’s approach of mixing and matching sections of ballets is intriguing. But the results are dull. Each piece has a jazzy 1930s feel to it, and both suggest (irritatingly) that women’s lives are unfulfilled without men—though the smarter gals realize that they’re not always worth the effort.”
Read the whole review here. Also, I encourage you to check out some of the other dance reviews in the Rail, including Siobhan Burke’s excellent piece on the challenges of remaining objective when you know the dancers in the performance; Roslyn Sulcas’ busy “dance feed” (I envy how much dance she sees!); and Michelle Vellucci’s review of Heartbreak and Homies at Joe’s Pub. Lots of good stuff.
Quadruple Bill at New York City Ballet
February 26, 2011
Amar Ramasar, Sterling Hyltin, and Tyler Angle in Benjamin Millepied's "Plainspoken", photo by Paul Kolnik
Last Wednesday evening, in the final week of its winter season, New York City Ballet presented an array of pieces that spanned from 1957 to 2010. Plainspoken, Benjamin Millepied’s most recent ballet for the company (which premiered last year) featured four male-female couples in duets that all centered on a push-pull, yes-no dynamic set to a commissioned piano and string quartet by David Lang. The repertory notes state that, according to Millepied, the ballet “was inspired by each dancer’s personality. After all, they are my friends and colleagues.” Although their uniqueness might be apparent to a good friend, it all blends together into a rather voiceless array of vignettes. Plainspoken has some structurally rich moments, like when Sterling Hyltin is tossed at lightning speed among three men. But the disconnect between movement and music is frustrating. Rather than playing with or echoing the music, it looks like Millepied chose to ignore it, which is unfortunate – the music on its own is intriguing, complex, and full of nuance.
After listening to such complexity, it would seem like a waltz such as that heard in Balanchine’s Valse-Fantaisie would be matched with straightforward movement. But no. In the leading roles, the gorgeously lyrical Tiler Peck played with Glinka’s waltz so as to bring out each subtlety. Her suspended balances practically stretched the music beyond its limits. Joaquin de Luz was a generous partner, but Tiler’s lush movement was the highlight throughout this brief gem of a ballet.
In Square Dance (1957), Balanchine joined American folk dance with classical ballet set to music by Vivaldi and Corelli. He believed that the two types of dance had common roots, and compositionally, this piece does indeed show their similarities through classical movement arranged in spatial patterns that resemble those of square dancing. Megan Fairchild’s sunny performance reflected the mood of this piece. Anthony Huxley debuted in his role with quiet intensity and lovely expression in his introspective solo. His performance was thoughtful and precise – both good qualities for a role that doesn’t require ostentation.
Dancers in "Glass Pieces", photo by Paul Kolnik
No matter how many times I watch Jerome Robbins’ 1983 work Glass Pieces, I always find something new and intriguing. The urban setting is filled with brightly costumed pedestrians crossing through the space on very precise paths. Watching the specificity of a particular dancer’s walk – the way his or her shoulders move or the slight bobbing of their heads – is fascinating, but so is re-focusing your eyes so as to zoom out and watch the entire scene as an organized yet chaotic engine. The rhythmic force of Philip Glass’s score propels these bodies forward through the streetscape on what could very well be their rush hour commute.
In the second, meditative section, Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall pierce the space with otherworldly poise while a row of women in silhouette sway back and forth in a repetition of minimalist movement. There is a striking contrast between sharp, sudden gestures and more delicate, lush partnering between the pair, and they always keep audiences guessing what will come next. The forceful percussion that follows this section is accompanied by a corps of men who travel as a pack. They stomp and slap their hands into the floor before the stage is flooded by a corps of women. As the music increasingly gains momentum and feels on the verge of spinning out of control, the dancers charge forward in a flurry of movement before abruptly coming to a halt. The final image of the dancers in silhouette, fingers spread and arms lifted overhead, is unforgettable.
"Glass Pieces", photo by Paul Kolnik
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
10 Years of the NY Choreographic Institute
November 15, 2010
Justin Peck's "Tales of a Chinese Zodiac", photo by Paul Kolnik
To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the New York Choreographic Institute presented three performances at Miller Theater last weekend that featured works by emerging and established choreographers. The Institute, which promotes the development of choreographers by providing dancers and other resources to make their creative work possible, was initiated in 1992 by New York City Ballet’s ballet master in chief Peter Martins. Thus, the performances featured NYCB’s own dancers and students from the School of American Ballet (SAB), the company’s official school.
By far the most impressive piece on the program was Tales of a Chinese Zodiac, choreographed by NYCB dancer Justin Peck. In his introduction to the work, Peck explained that he wanted to emphasize the undertones of the music by Sufjan Stevens and highlight its “youthful buoyancy”. Featuring thirteen students from SAB, Peck’s piece accomplished both of these goals – and much more. The work was architecturally rich, with changing spatial groupings and dancing that moved seamlessly from the floor to overhead lifts and jumps. There were moments of playfulness, but these didn’t detract from the overall sophistication of the work as shown by the dancers’ clarity and precision. It’s clear that Peck has an extensive dance vocabulary, which he knows how to apply to groups and individuals, along with a clear vision and a keen ability to capture a musical score through movement. I look forward to seeing more from this emerging choreographer.
Ashley Bouder, David Prottas, Ana Sophia Scheller, and Christian Tworzyanski in Alexei Ratmansky's "Untitled", photo by Paul Kolnik
In an interesting exercise, three choreographers – Larry Keigwin, Christopher Wheeldon, and Alexei Ratmansky – each presented an interpretation of An Inflorescence, a short musical score by Daniel Ott. Wheeldon’s solo for Sara Mearns had a breezy quality to it, while Keigwin’s interpretation – for four NYCB dancers – showed quick, whirling patterns of movement. Ratmansky’s piece, for another quartet of NYCB dancers, felt more frenetic and edgy.
Darius Barnes’s Mandala, danced by eight young NYCB dancers with music by Kyle Blaha, had an undercurrent of gloom. The dancers moved cautiously to Blaha’s delicate score, which was pleasant enough but never shined through in this lukewarm piece. Even darker was choreographer Marco Goecke’s For Sascha, featuring a string quartet by Mathew Fuerst and four NYCB dancers. Under dim lighting, spastic arm and hand gestures reflected the string music. With their backs to the audience for the majority of the work, the dancers’ limbs seemed to take on a life of their own.
Jessica Lang’s Droplet, performed by NYCB’s Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall, showed a slow accumulation of movements and gestures that built throughout the work. The dancers offered their lyricism to the choreography, which meshed well with the ethereal score. The piece itself looked like a work in progress – eager to expand into something more – but it was danced with such purity that I barely noticed. Referring to Wendy Whelan, the woman sitting behind me remarked, “She’s exquisite.”
Overall, it was a highly enjoyable evening of dance, and Peck’s work in particular suggests that a fresh, young crop of ballet choreographers are on the rise.
