Amazing how Bill T. Jones’ work looks and feels as fresh as ever in his company’s 25th year. Serenade/The Proposition, at the Joyce through last Sunday, takes inspiration from Abraham Lincoln, whose bicentennial approaches. The performance combines Jones’ elegant choreography, spoken text, and live chamber orchestra and singer in a rich, luminous hour-long work.
At its heart is the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, which although constantly evolving, always thrills with a heady chemistry arising from a combo of strong individuals. Paul Matteson, a perennial warm presence in the dance world, traces Lincoln’s virtues with his gentle motion, noble bearing, and willingness to aid others. The company members periodically strike unique poses to form a “spine” bisecting the stage, regrouping before bursting apart in individual phrases—a neat metaphor for the united and sometimes disunited states of America. read more
It’s hard to tell since we’re in the middle of it, but while the current dance scene may not be regarded as “golden,” it is undeniably rich. Part of the impressiveness of it all is the dazzling variety of styles and approaches. In a given week—say, this one—you can choose from a tango musical (Tanguera), a dance/theater interpretation of a film (Big Dance Theater), big ballet with work by contemporary choreographers (ABT), and large-scale heady stuff from Europe (Forsythe Company). Another company, Lucinda Childs, is performing restaged older work at the Joyce Theater. The main piece on the program, DANCE, is from 1979, permitting a glimpse of history in a vehicle that seems as fresh as anything out there, even if as a result of not having seen it for awhile.
Childs was one of the major figures in New York’s dance boom that took place in the 70s and 80s. She formed a company in 1973 which performed her rigorous, dense, graceful dances. read more
New York regularly plays host to ballet companies from smaller cities. It’s an oft brutal undertaking for the visitors. The old lyric/trope—“if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere”—holds some truth, although many a company manages just fine by avoiding New York City. Tulsa Ballet finally took the plunge after a 25 year hiatus, and the one lingering question is, what took them so long?
The company performed at the Joyce, flattering venue to many visiting companies, although the rep performed could use a larger stage. Nonetheless, the three works shown showed off the group’s assets. Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations (1974) felt more like a party than a dance, in no small part due to Ian Spurling’s fantastic mock evening wear, mainly unitards of brilliant colors and patterns. Pairs and groups of varying number took centerstage as the others ringed the periphery. Karina Gonzalez, in a sleek white costume, dazzled with her fine technique and cool, yet riveting stage presence. read more
This year, on paper, Evening Stars looked a little sad. The lineup had been reduced to one company, albeit Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and just three shows. In past years, the dance series, co-presented by the River to River Festival and the Joyce Theater, has featured a number of notable companies over the course of a week, or several themed programs. The venue moved to the open lawn of Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City, from a more ceremonious proscenium stage farther downtown. And overshadowing everything was the recent passing of Merce Cunningham.
And yet, as it should, art transcended all. read more
It’s kismet that Stephen Petronio’s recent Joyce Theater run, which ended last weekend, coincided with that of Trisha Brown Dance Company’s BAM engagement, but it proved an interesting scheduling twist. Mentor and protégé dancing across the river from one another—in Petronio parlance, recalling his memorable dance City of Twist of a several years back—you might say “twist of boroughs.”
Petronio danced with Brown from 1979-86, and was the first male dancer with her company. Dancing for such an inventor as Brown in the formative years of his career might leave a tangible imprint on Petronio’s vocabulary. But he created a unique language that seemed radical when he began, and 25 years later, still looks remarkably fresh and independent from Brown’s style, apart from flowing, organic phrasing.
Another of Brown’s influences that Petronio might have picked up is the knack for choosing smart collaborators. read more
Choreographer Joe Goode, based in San Francisco, has been making work for his company for 23 years, and visits New York once in a blue moon. The two pieces at the Joyce (through this past weekend) showed Goode’s ability to forge narrative, camp, identity issues, humor, and oh yeah, dance, into an appealing theatrical style all his own.
The program included the New York premiere of Wonderboy, featuring a boy puppet by Basil Twist. read more
Many of the top dance companies have second troupes that serve as farm teams. They develop young talent, allowing time for technique to deepen and providing invaluable stage experience. This seems to be the New York season for the “twos,” what with runs by ABT II, Ailey II, and NDT II taking place within weeks of one another. I caught the latter’s run at the Joyce, which ended Sunday.
Other notable examples include Taylor 2, begun in 1993 by Paul Taylor, and Merce Cunningham’s Repertory Understudy Group, composed of apprentices. These two differ in that both the first and second companies perform only their founder’s choreography. Taylor 2, with six dancers, often performs “miniature,” scaled-down versions of Taylor’s dances originally made for the larger company. read more
Horse, the male troupe from Taiwan presented by Eliot Feld’s Mandance Project, performed two evenings at the Joyce Theater recently. Wedged among eleven shows of Feld repertory, the evenings have in common the dancers Wu-Kang Chen and Wei-Chia Su. The company performed the US premiere of Bones, an austere work that edges away from a reliance on visual jokes and puns—horseplay, if you will.
The setting and costumes beg comparison to a Calvin Klein ad—in a good way. The five men wear different colored briefs and tees (costumes by Jordan Koh). They’re set against clean white walls with jagged angled tops lining the stage; with one swinging door for entrances, plus downstage openings (set by Jih-Chun Huang). As the show progresses, clothing is added and subtracted. read more
Watching a dance can sometimes leave me wondering why the choreographer created it. Often it’s during a “pure dance” work that doesn’t offer anything new, even if the technique is solid and the dancers are skilled (as is nearly always the case in New York City). Sometimes, form is enough, sometimes not. But two programs – redevelop (Death Valley) by Brian Rogers, and Alchemy, by Doug Varone – focus on important subjects that provide much context to work with. read more
It’s been pretty warm so far this fall, thankfully. But Inbal Pinto Dance Company’s Shaker, at the Joyce, might put you in the mood for a cold snap with a winter wonderland of a set, based on the concept of a snowglobe. A thick layer of fake snow blankets the stage, and a horizontal baffle hangs in front of the cyc, cropping the proscenium to wide-screen format and compressing the stage action. read more
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