YelleB Dance Ensemble Presents Pericardium
May 26, 2010
This weekend at Joyce SoHo, YelleB Dance Ensemble presents the premiere of Pericardium, a multicultural, multidisciplinary work that reveals human stories of physical and emotional walls.
Since 2006, NYC-based choreographer Ella Ben-Aharon has engaged in an artistic collaboration with Israeli video artist Adi Shniderman and German architect Matthias Neumann, continually exploring the use of portable walls as means of reconfiguring space while finding the delicacy of influences between body, virtual, and physical spaces. In Israel, Edo Ceder has started creating a video dance with British filmmaker Dan Farberoff to be filmed at the Separation Wall (also called the Israeli West Bank Barrier or Security Fence) in an attempt to screen it on both sides and spark a dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis who live daily by the wall.
The essence of Pericardium lays in the ambiguous consequences of building a wall: Protection vs. Isolation, Visible vs. Invisible, Unity vs. Separation, Support vs. Obstacle, and Inside vs. Outside. Does building a defense wall bring familiar comfort? Who does it really enclose? Who does it protect? Pericardium strips political agendas and reveals personal stories within.
Pericardium will be performed at Joyce SoHo, May 27th through 29th, at 8 PM. Tickets can be ordered online or by calling 212.242.0800.
Photos from Cedar Lake’s Installation
September 6, 2009
Here are some more photos by Kokyat from Cedar Lake’s installation and response to Iran Inside Out at the Chelsea Art Museum.
Acacia Schachte and Soojin Choi
Marina Mascarell
Jon Bond, Matthew Rich, and Oscar Ramos
Vocalist Sam Bardaouil, center, with Cedar Lake’s dancer
Cedar Lake Interprets “Iran Inside Out”
September 3, 2009
Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, photo by Erez Sabag
Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet didn’t have to travel far for artistic director Benoit-Swan Pouffer’s latest installation, which opened Tuesday evening at the Chelsea Art Museum, just a few blocks away from Cedar Lake’s theater and studios on West 26th Street. But the museum’s current exhibition – and the inspiration for Pouffer’s installation – portrays cultural themes, gender issues, and political statements that stretch far beyond New York City. Iran Inside Out features the work of thirty-five artists living and working in Iran alongside twenty-one Iranian artists living abroad, all of whom are challenging conventional perceptions of Iran and Iranian art in their work. For nearly forty minutes, Cedar Lake’s fifteen dancers and vocalist Sam Bardaouil (who is also the exhibition’s curator) compellingly echoed the intensity, intimacy, and complexity of the artists’ photographs, paintings, and sculptures.
To the slow, recorded chanting of a woman’s voice, the dancers entered the space and cautiously assessed their surroundings. As the accompaniment shifted to Bardaouil’s authoritative voice and steady drumming, the performance started to reflect themes in each of the exhibition’s five sections – the most noticeable ones being war, politics, sexuality, and the quest for freedom and self-expression. Several dancers struggled to free themselves of barbed wire that was tightly wrapped around their writhing bodies, and a violent section for six men showed how camaraderie can turn to fighting amongst themselves, which was interspersed with the harsh shouts and chanting of Bardaouil. Later, a line of women moved stiffly in unison as they took turns in command. Other sections of the piece shattered the uniform, mechanical movements and cold atmosphere to reveal the hidden, suppressed identities of these seemingly obedient beings. Loose clusters of dancers and several soloists replaced the tight formations and clear lines. Men strutted in stilettos and women moved more expressively and liberally, conveying notions of masculinity and femininity that are examined in the exhibition’s second section, “From Iran to Queeran and Everything in Between”.
photo by Kokyat
Woven throughout the performance and scattered across the museum’s floor were pomegranates – a powerful symbol in Iran and a biblical representation of forbidden desire. Both the dancers and pomegranates underwent a journey that started with oppression and submission by gathering the ruby red fruits and solemnly placing them in Bardaouil’s large, shallow drum. As Bardaouil’s voice softened and the oppression weakened, several women, each holding a fruit in their outstretched arm, journeyed over a line of men on the floor. Their eyes focused on the pomegranate, with the goal of arriving at a liberated place. Elsewhere, Bardaouil voraciously bit into one of the fruits and took great pleasure in the juice dripping down his chin, with the pomegranate’s arils scattering across the floor. He gave into the temptation of self-expression that is often unwelcome in Iranian culture, and the dancers followed his bold action with distinctive movements of their own. In a tender and chillingly fragile duet, Marina Mascarell and Harumi Terayama delicately passed a pomegranate between their elbows, necks, and the backs of their knees, being careful not to allow the fruit to crash to the floor. The two dancers were mesmerizing and seemed to be seduced by the pomegranate and its significance.
Marina Mascarell, photo by Kokyat
Bardaouil was a driving force throughout the work as he interacted with the dancers, shifting between an ominous monster and a gentler, vulnerable soul. His powerful voice and presence left a lasting impact, as did the dancers’ ability to engage with the influential, thought-provoking artwork of the fifty-six Iranian artists.
Cedar Lake’s installation at the Chelsea Art Museum will be performed for the last time tonight at 7:30 PM. Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance by emailing programs (at) chelseaartmuseum (dot) org with “Cedar Lake Tickets” in the subject line.
Iran Inside Out will be on display at the Chelsea Art Museum through Saturday, September 5th.
Sam Bardaouil with Cedar Lake’s dancers, photo by Kokyat
The Legacy Project: Echoes
May 28, 2009
Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company in The Legacy Project
This weekend, Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company presents The Legacy Project: Echoes, an evening of dance, theater, and live music. Dorfman, who founded CDDC in 1983, created The Legacy Project to honor her Eastern-European Jewish heritage and explore the trials, triumphs, and commonalities this legacy has with others throughout history and across cultures. I was impressed when I saw the company perform the first part of this two-year project last July at Dance Theater Workshop.
The upcoming performances include the collaborative piece Silent Echoes and the world premiere of Tikkun (To Repair), with a commissioned score by jazz and Klezmer musician Greg Wall. While Silent Echoes challenges the audience to look at the past, Tikkun encourages them to look forward. The piece explores the ways we separate or divide, bind or link, engage or disengage by using images of the fractured and broken, and by interweaving individual bodies and the whole ensemble. Bente Kahan, a Jewish Norwegian actress and vocalist, will perform on stage with the company, singing in German, Yiddish, English, and Ladino, the Judaeo-Spanish language of Sephardic Jews. Kahan gave a powerful performance in the first part of the project last year.
Performances are this Friday and Saturday, 7:30 PM, at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Department of Dance. 111 Second Avenue, 5th Floor Theater. Order tickets online or call 800.838.3006.
The Legacy Project: Echoes is part of the Festival of Jewish Theater and Ideas, which consists of performances on Jewish themes at venues throughout the city from May 20 through June 14. The festival is produced by Untitled Theater Company #61.
Radical Dancing Annas
November 14, 2008
The Jewish Women’s Archive (JWA), a Massachusetts-based organization devoted to uncovering and chronicling the history of American Jewish women, recently invited me to contribute to their blog as they celebrate the anniversary of Anna Sokolow’s 1937 debut on Broadway. Since the JWA is all about connecting history with contemporary issues, events, and people, I focused my post on a young Jewish dancer – and good friend of mine – who is as fierce as Anna Sokolow was in the 1930′s. The post is below, or you can read it at the JWA’s blog.
Anna Sokolow in her piece The Exile, 1939 – photo by Barbara Morgan
Seventy-one years ago today, Broadway got a little bit feistier when 27-year-old choreographer and dancer Anna Sokolow made her debut on Broadway with several politically and socially charged compositions. Eight years earlier, in 1929, Sokolow had joined Martha Graham’s dance company and gotten her first taste of “radical dance”. Later, she branched out to explore her own choreography, much of which was thematically inspired by her ethnic and cultural Jewish background.
Anna Schön, a 23-year-old graduate of Barnard College, is a present-day radical dancer of another kind: she performs professionally with several dance companies, is a Modern Orthodox Jew, and strives to balance her passion for both religious tradition and the arts. I sat down with Anna (whose initials are the same as Anna Sokolow’s!) to learn more about her connection to Judaism and dance.
Evan: How has Judaism inspired your love of dance and the way you move?
Anna Schön: My religious struggle manifests itself in dancing. I have trouble davening (praying), so dance is the way that I daven, but it has to be with music – the most important part. Unlike Anna Sokolow, I don’t really connect specific themes or events in Jewish history to my dancing.
How have your interactions with choreographers from different cultures shaped or broadened your understanding of dance?
AS: Reggie Wilson [founder of Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group] has been very understanding and open to my religious observance. I’ve had some amazing discussions with him about Judaism and how important it is to me. Most of the other choreographers with whom I’ve worked have also been supportive and interested in learning about my Jewish background. But one choreographer, a secular Israeli Jew, was annoyed at me when I told him I couldn’t come to a rehearsal on Yom Kippur because I would be in synagogue.
How has dancing strengthened or altered your identity as a young Jewish woman?
AS: It’s made me rebellious because I don’t fit into what a Modern Orthodox Jewish woman “should be”. I embrace my identity the most when I’m in situations without a Jewish presence – like when I’m in a dance setting. Maybe I wouldn’t embrace Judaism as much if I weren’t dancing.
Anna Sokolow danced in Israel and Mexico. You spent a semester in South Africa. How did South African culture affect your development as a dancer and as a Jewish woman? Did you experience a shift in the way you balanced the two?
AS: Learning African dance was an eye-opener and definitely enriched my movement style. My Judaism really grew because I was the only observant Jew in a house of twenty Americans. I had to make an extra effort to maintain my observance, but it was actually much easier in South Africa than in NYC to balance dance and Judaism because of differences in the work-life balance. Things were more laid back there.
Have you had opportunities to share Jewish culture in a secular dance environment?
AS: In the summer of 2007, I was studying dance at Jacob’s Pillow. There was a performance on Saturday – Shabbat – and everyone had to introduce themselves after the show. I didn’t want to use the microphone when I spoke [because I refrain from using electricity on Shabbat], and someone in the audience asked why. I explained to everyone that I observe Shabbat, and it turns out that a religious family was in the audience that day. They came up to me after the performance and told me how meaningful it was to hear me talk about that.
Do you think you’ve been a role model for other Jewish women?
AS: I hope to be a role model for others who grew up in homes similar to mine – ones that were religious – because it’s possible to balance religious observance with other interests. Religion doesn’t have to limit you, but sacrifices are made along the way. Next year Reggie Wilson’s company will be touring across the country, and I have to figure out how to do this while maintaining my observance. If I don’t go on tour, will I resent Judaism for holding me back? Or if I do go on tour, will I resent myself for breaking Shabbat? There’s no way to do it perfectly.
