tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25628782440323544222024-02-18T18:22:42.426-08:00City of Glass Arts and CultureCritical commentary on dance, theater, music, film, art, economics, cityscapes and culture hosted by DJ McDonald and featuring guest bloggers. We may not all live in crystal palaces, but we can all polish stones.DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-89756653248545904232010-06-24T20:41:00.001-07:002010-06-24T20:45:38.877-07:00Five Questions for Greg Manley<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilke7HpHhMRvaSTYTt5zwaR-rfqLQWcQBBnPnwFWPxH4Xz3Q72J0RU0OwDNjADFgj3tPLDyflPvv5fDvz1cj2fSBjvfOw6V_Wcu-AVAQZefBk_HdKHkQMsDZjIg0BH0DHX6XR9elXSfTk/s1600/greg+manley.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilke7HpHhMRvaSTYTt5zwaR-rfqLQWcQBBnPnwFWPxH4Xz3Q72J0RU0OwDNjADFgj3tPLDyflPvv5fDvz1cj2fSBjvfOw6V_Wcu-AVAQZefBk_HdKHkQMsDZjIg0BH0DHX6XR9elXSfTk/s320/greg+manley.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486551569068379986" /></a><br />Name: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Greg Manley</span><br />Title/Occupation: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Commissioner of the Circle Rules Federation</span><br />URL: <a href="http://culturebot.org/2010/06/24/five-questions-for-greg-manley/">Culturebot</a>DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-14282349611450646812010-06-19T19:59:00.000-07:002010-06-20T00:24:28.863-07:00“Uugghh!” to the Opera: Christopher Williams unzips “Hen’s Teeth” at DNA<span style="font-style:italic;">below (from left): Storme Sundberg, Emily Stone, Ursula Eagly, Jennifer Lafferty, Hope Davis, and Adam Weinert <br />All photos by Paula Court</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQD_vN7SE8MT1bVoBTxOQHy2fbWSs_FBj1MJXc_FSzMKhf7E9BhJ8Ew7Gji01h2BVhCVRYNM-aG20kjKakacz1v_3H-lf4LRHpbSPQaSZwlmlCdsS5bknpDMLXo2-DL3xj3qYdeN3fJ0g/s1600/cwilliams+flying.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQD_vN7SE8MT1bVoBTxOQHy2fbWSs_FBj1MJXc_FSzMKhf7E9BhJ8Ew7Gji01h2BVhCVRYNM-aG20kjKakacz1v_3H-lf4LRHpbSPQaSZwlmlCdsS5bknpDMLXo2-DL3xj3qYdeN3fJ0g/s320/cwilliams+flying.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484727097821380002" /></a>“Uugghh!” <br /><br />says the “prince” as he lands, more or less in a heap, on the stage.<br /> <br />And then again, “Uugghh!” <br /> <br />Each entrance brings titters, giggles and outright laughs from the audience in the theater at <a href="http://www.dnadance.org/site/">Dance New Amsterdam</a>. But not from the six half naked young women who continue craning their necks and torsos and cooing and squawking in swan or goose like warbles. In their meandering line behind which this somewhat startled individual male interloper arrives now and later, each time as if having fallen down a hole. Storme Sundberg, Jennifer Lafferty, Kira Blazek, Hope Davis,<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusTUWzvsBgPOlD5d-hwG-BHgj3y2KzIrbkQV_Zq-BbFr0odkZX6aGB5IJl4YhcCkzQAJ9M9MuBrr8rTXaUXXMzOu6s5L4NINU4wRr9ZccstoWNBJ56aP-ylaJ1V9qBBPbv8UF6sp1e5g/s1600/cwilliams+bird+bends.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusTUWzvsBgPOlD5d-hwG-BHgj3y2KzIrbkQV_Zq-BbFr0odkZX6aGB5IJl4YhcCkzQAJ9M9MuBrr8rTXaUXXMzOu6s5L4NINU4wRr9ZccstoWNBJ56aP-ylaJ1V9qBBPbv8UF6sp1e5g/s320/cwilliams+bird+bends.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484729263047274562" /></a> Emily Stone and Ursula Eagly remain unruffled, regal; one might say serene if not for the frank and focused intensity of their demeanor.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Above: Hope Davis and Ursula Eagly twist and squawk</span><br /> <br />The women have assembled after entering in a procession marked by repeated backward arabesque leg extensions; a procession that recalls, twists and tweaks that of the 32 ballerinas in the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzGXDCGQSwo&feature=related">“Kingdom of the Shades,” scene from the ballet <span style="font-style:italic;">La Bayadere</span></a>. Bedecked in gold tinged costumes embellished with feathers, they have preened open <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil09Lu5LlLCPr8GnrxAMj0k4bjxu5kW6HTwaketYSM_WaMJs3Deo6KdF493dtea5Lthht6K0KpI6TmIkzb5vgsuvzR-6cX4IIZLAWm9yWos7JaQtaSHMALu1UgKH87qNDQ9sGVNW8Aw-Y/s1600/cwilliams+hen+arabesque.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil09Lu5LlLCPr8GnrxAMj0k4bjxu5kW6HTwaketYSM_WaMJs3Deo6KdF493dtea5Lthht6K0KpI6TmIkzb5vgsuvzR-6cX4IIZLAWm9yWos7JaQtaSHMALu1UgKH87qNDQ9sGVNW8Aw-Y/s200/cwilliams+hen+arabesque.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484730391715161378" /></a> and plucked off their long sleeved bodices with their teeth revealing the shapeliest breathing collection of breasts, torsos and backs I think I have ever seen.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Above: Ursula Eagly and Hope Davis in opening sequence</span><br /> <br />Gaining his feet, the primary color clad courtier (Adam H. Weinert) makes his way in balletic lunges and leg extensions from his fallen entrance towards the front of stage where he locks eyes with the feathered femme fatale who has led the procession (Sundberg). Facing downstage toward the audience, she lights up with the electricity of their connection, and the two find themselves carried into an exhilarating extended flying duet by the other five bird-women. The swoops and twists of the swirling lifts culminate as the three supporting the swain execute a deft fly-under between the bridging pair holding high his swan,<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjFLHozX5tBmXObp6Y-kms_F_NduZfvgE576H4O9xbArHYgt_5R34WWUSpgy2yIXcFKT_0CzunYbjj_HbhB-IwoMReOWDiKtkQq4EGXwYugUMKxO_fx_Jh7_XdwzLCjtvdw5BkBRQErc/s1600/cwilliams+adam+prince.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjFLHozX5tBmXObp6Y-kms_F_NduZfvgE576H4O9xbArHYgt_5R34WWUSpgy2yIXcFKT_0CzunYbjj_HbhB-IwoMReOWDiKtkQq4EGXwYugUMKxO_fx_Jh7_XdwzLCjtvdw5BkBRQErc/s320/cwilliams+adam+prince.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484735864927124418" /></a> then vanish all into the wing pursued by audience applause.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Right: Adam H. Weinert with his prince on</span><br /> <br />Had <a href="http://www.christopherwilliamsdance.org/">Christopher Williams’</a> world premiere of “Hen’s Teeth” ended here, I feel certain that we would have all gone home happy. But the choreographer/costumer/ringmaster and, in this case, troubadour harp player’s vision and ambition demands almost as much of his audience as it does of his artistic collaborators. I find it necessary to slow down my theatrical rate of expectation to that of his more measured medieval sense of time.<br /> <br />As if to reinforce this, the work has been set to a moody score by composer and conductor <a href="http://www.myspace.com/gregoryspears">Gregory Spears</a>, who triples as the electric organ player in the 10 piece ensemble who perform, live and visible, in the large offstage area to the right of the two fluted columns that delimit the stage space in front of the audience. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYyrJdAeOfaefu4VqCuJtXFkIWDYdZm_7y56kNYlxSvNFEVozRy6QUO0Nf7NU5IGInwJFWkcpi0c1XYui79ZtmQJlQPecBhqpHKLxKm8tL4j8vVT-5b2bkYL0JhPB9qOT3owehUHffYw/s1600/cwilliams+hen+teeth.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYyrJdAeOfaefu4VqCuJtXFkIWDYdZm_7y56kNYlxSvNFEVozRy6QUO0Nf7NU5IGInwJFWkcpi0c1XYui79ZtmQJlQPecBhqpHKLxKm8tL4j8vVT-5b2bkYL0JhPB9qOT3owehUHffYw/s320/cwilliams+hen+teeth.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484738668655645490" /></a>That score takes the form of a Requiem Mass sung in Breton, Middle French and Latin by the likes of half the cast of <a href="http://www.anonymous4.com/">Anonymous 4</a> (Ruth Cunningham and Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek) and 4 members of the acclaimed male a cappella vocal group <a href="http://www.chantboy.com/lionheart/">Lionheart</a> (Michael Wenger, John Olud, Lawrence Lipnik, and Kurt-Owen Richards.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Above: Ursula Eagly plucks off her top</span><br /> <br />Williams’ work requires patience. He do go on. The choreography from him that I have seen to date lives on the edge of wearing out its welcome, and in this concert it often steps over the line, challenging, perhaps taxing, the audience to remain engaged. Yet I appreciate the time and space he gives us to think and associate under the inspiration of his just–as-provocative imagery. The ephemeral nature of youth, youthful beauty and prowess, of love, of all life lies at the heart of this meditative pageant.<br /> <br />As he has done with past shows, Williams has included Requiem’s lyric in the program. The prelude intimates narrative. The translation reads:<br /> <br />A very long time ago<br />When hens had teeth…<br /> <br />Listen, if you will,<br />And you will hear a pretty tale.<br /> <br />As realized by the exquisite ensemble, the music bespeaks the mastery and majesty of human heart and mind as it rises to the constant occasion of loss. <br /> <br />If the tale of the lovers carries the sensation of flight in sensual beauty and hope, the rejoinder comes in the form three crones, powerfully embodied by Joan Arnold, Grazia Della Terza , and Alison Granucci. These heavily costumed apparitions, with their bald pates and their beard-like masks that, like an Islamic <span style="font-style:italic;">niqab</span>, leave only the eyes uncovered, dance as if through mist and mud or clinch their entire bodies around the stage’s columns, their long crooked green fingernails seeming to claw the flesh of fluted steel.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrGsl8aSOqifVUcGS3HeKEhP5HrYYOp8TGgNmcCqewnESc91gaokQvt07mVuRbS-ejAGctdsbhy0bm99wi8xjWpx7RlofThxgr8twCn0qVF7_E7Bknq2kYHqxil8AEpvq98xgOP2l49MY/s1600/cwilliams+hen+grotesques.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrGsl8aSOqifVUcGS3HeKEhP5HrYYOp8TGgNmcCqewnESc91gaokQvt07mVuRbS-ejAGctdsbhy0bm99wi8xjWpx7RlofThxgr8twCn0qVF7_E7Bknq2kYHqxil8AEpvq98xgOP2l49MY/s400/cwilliams+hen+grotesques.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484740503796137010" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">Joan Arnold, Alison Granucci, and Grazia Della Terza as the crones based on the ancient Greek Graeae</span><br /><br />The denouement of these contending tableaux comes in an extended counterpoint, as first three of the “swans” return, their torsos now swaddled in rope-mesh tunics. From behind their line, the swain re-enters with his “uugghh” and thud, as love inevitably falls to earth. The finale finds the crones displacing this quartet. They enter encased in stiff reliquary-like sarcophagi of various lengths, each of which has a different devotional door that they one at a time swing open exposing a human and vulnerable face, a breast, a forearm.<br /> <br />As striking, vivid and fastidiously fashioned images such as the reliquaries can be – reminiscent in their communicative quality of the <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.kickingwind.com/assetseod/ham2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.kickingwind.com/archives2.html&usg=__a2KrVI6DmPbMQEz7PwxfSoGx3Ow=&h=364&w=380&sz=20&hl=en&start=12&sig2=fmfb6K1jX8BSfc_7wcnI4g&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=VF_4pIqrUf52rM:&tbnh=118&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dscout%2527s%2Bham%2Bcostume%2Bin%2Bto%2Bkill%2Ba%2Bmockingbird%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26newwindow%3D1%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=O5QdTNykKsPbnAeGg7W0Cw">Scout-encasing ham</a> in the film version of <span style="font-style:italic;">To Kill a Mockingbird</span> -- Williams’ creativity with costuming can sometimes get in his way. The crones’ masking and headpieces limit movement and expressive possibilities, as do the tunics on Sundberg, Eagly, and Lafferty. (The program lists Andy Jordan as the designer of the evening's costuming, with additional elements by Williams and Carol Binion.)<br /> <br />I admire Williams’ thematic mash-ups even when they don’t quite cohere cogently. I see this as less the case with “Hen’s Teeth”, than I did with the program’s opening work-in-progress tentatively titled “Gobbledygook.” Here the stark naked and brilliantly choreographed Weinert meets a black painted plywood wall at the back of one side of the stage space before he is met with the bare chested, <span style="font-style:italic;">hakama</span> pants wearing Eikazu Nakamura. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicSIi3J35DdEkG51zu5M79aYznz7zhTRLgT-2_RggzIO-T8LGGhnvccLZC4GNQ8RiJfqPbRN15SXRYw9a5kcajXuKwMsLaw3dTITtSiU810PJ8yq8myZLN8w4ztaMua80GKCoQsyLhVn8/s1600/cwilliams+adam+crashed.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicSIi3J35DdEkG51zu5M79aYznz7zhTRLgT-2_RggzIO-T8LGGhnvccLZC4GNQ8RiJfqPbRN15SXRYw9a5kcajXuKwMsLaw3dTITtSiU810PJ8yq8myZLN8w4ztaMua80GKCoQsyLhVn8/s320/cwilliams+adam+crashed.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484743056241356098" /></a> Nakamura sidles in near the back of the stage at the audience’s right while the blue-lit Weinert, starting prone at our feet, probes gravity and his wall like caterpillar seeking a chrysalis hook. In their single stark moment of interaction the Japanese dancer helps his hapless partner find his sticking place by pinning him to the wall with a hand around the throat.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Above: Adam H. Weinert in "Gobbledygook." All photos by Paula Court</span><br /><br />The two intensely introverted solo sequences that follow for Nakamura have the feel of esoteric ritual, the second adding an armor-like vest made of woven reeds over the <span style="font-style:italic;">hakama</span>. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBkDvHcYVBVFJGbPXDU4ymYpY43r9RFSfNiSduxnGQmT-EQ6ulmZO1gcLBu88DmQHOX018XaqEpMvAyUgYqOAQzuAosmYXOGmZKipP8TgQll7nniJlUPdy5jYa0snWjxyl6LGvI6NIc3Y/s1600/cwilliams+eikazu+reach.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBkDvHcYVBVFJGbPXDU4ymYpY43r9RFSfNiSduxnGQmT-EQ6ulmZO1gcLBu88DmQHOX018XaqEpMvAyUgYqOAQzuAosmYXOGmZKipP8TgQll7nniJlUPdy5jYa0snWjxyl6LGvI6NIc3Y/s320/cwilliams+eikazu+reach.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484746323424788114" /></a>Only had you picked up press material, consulted DNA’s web site, or had the time and sense to ask the choreographer or one of the dancers post-show, would you be likely to know that the ritual incarnates an imaginary version of the Buddhist <span style="font-style:italic;">segaki</span> rite that concerns itself with personal atonement and easing the suffering of the wandering (slithering?) dead. <br /> <br />You might further have discovered, perusing these same sources, that “Hen’s Teeth” incorporates imagery inspired by the mysterious flying women found in a Breton fairytale preserved by 19th century folklorist François-Marie Luzel, the <span style="font-style:italic;">Graeae</span>, or three swan-like crones of ancient Greek myth who share only one eye and one tooth between them, and that associated with the display of holy relics in the middle ages. Who knew?<br /> <br />When does such elucidating information become t.m.i. (too much information)? I ask simply because Williams generous and admirable inclination to edify his audience can sometimes backfire to limit the literal minded. I, for one, enjoy not knowing until I want to know. I then enjoy using the tools that the creator has placed within easy reach, including himself. In the meantime, I have not been prevented from intuiting a reference to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_%28Matisse%29">Matisse’s La Danse</a> in the midst of the topless sextet, or the choreographer’s wicked way of tilting with Petipa’s <span style="font-style:italic;">Swan Lake</span> imagery.<br /> <br />In the program credits, Williams can seem to be everywhere at once. But I find it intriguing that only the press notes for “Gobbledygook” mention him alongside the program-credited <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgriffin718">David Griffin</a> as the source for the piece’s intricate electronic sound score. This artist belongs in the opera house, and I predict that it will only be a matter of time until he lands there. That seems the only place that his production values and vision can live in uncomfortable equilibrium with the support; artistic, technical, production and financial, that will allow them all to reasonably complement or at least successfully co-exist in creative competition.<br /> <br />If the creator’s obsession as a medievalist may initially obscure this path to the stage, his devotion to music and spectacle makes his breakthrough, for me, a matter of when and not if. Given his ability to render, he can, like the young <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wilson_%28director%29">Robert Wilson</a>, devise collaborative operas of his own. His vast visual frame of reference, and his dexterity in presenting both male and female form, often startlingly yet insouciantly nude in ways that allow us to recover our endless fascination and sense of humor surrounding this mortal coil, point to a future on today’s big screen performance stage.<br /> <br />Jacqui Kerrod, on pedal harp and Elizabeth Weinfield on baroque viola performed admirably along with the rest of the music ensemble. The excellent lighting across the board can be credited to Amanda K. Ringer. <a href="http://www.dnadance.org/site/performance-opportunities/artist-in-residency/air-09-10/">DNA’s Artist in Residence program</a> continues to impress.DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-13256348537683557502010-06-13T21:02:00.000-07:002010-06-13T21:15:58.189-07:00Five questions for Alexandra Bassett<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16uyGIQNjoPrpYhXaQ8xkfpBdUyrbU5IsIjMr5XjEsr1l9KQj5Sr4hUVrqzwNrqHYO95KQlG-RzS5hOnyc6GrKsrilfT9f9aBkeCxqIP8vam_hYSTxEIuvF_mL9-BAVNrzZN86JWDEr4/s1600/Alexandra+Bassett.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 242px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16uyGIQNjoPrpYhXaQ8xkfpBdUyrbU5IsIjMr5XjEsr1l9KQj5Sr4hUVrqzwNrqHYO95KQlG-RzS5hOnyc6GrKsrilfT9f9aBkeCxqIP8vam_hYSTxEIuvF_mL9-BAVNrzZN86JWDEr4/s320/Alexandra+Bassett.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482475125526509122" /></a> <a href="http://culturebot.org/2010/06/13/five-questions-for-alexandra-bassett/">Five questions for Alexandra Bassett</a>DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-42462504523299600932010-06-09T08:30:00.000-07:002010-06-10T11:12:07.249-07:00Stretch it! Flaunt It! LaMaMa takes Tisch around the corner for fun and profundityStretch. And be smart about it.<br /><br />Translate into Latin (<span style="font-style:italic;">Tendo, Quod operor is purpureus?</span>), and that might become a motto for <a href="http://dance.tisch.nyu.edu/page/home.html">NYU Tisch School of the Arts Dance Program</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZq3rU0BWmR1y1HDgzZpN2Q2FCtBdoe6ROOmWI7MvZEZIDds5_QZaQtRV43JqgciAtgJ6tqYDlx1g6Z0DCEjz5PJc2I6QkYwP0j_OH_5YqIuJ-FpTDCfo0slkuCJv-58O1TNko0bH8U2c/s1600/Uprooting+group+finger.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZq3rU0BWmR1y1HDgzZpN2Q2FCtBdoe6ROOmWI7MvZEZIDds5_QZaQtRV43JqgciAtgJ6tqYDlx1g6Z0DCEjz5PJc2I6QkYwP0j_OH_5YqIuJ-FpTDCfo0slkuCJv-58O1TNko0bH8U2c/s320/Uprooting+group+finger.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480829929808940978" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">standing (l to r): Jamie Graham, Rebecca Woll, Moses Kaplan, Alex Schell, Maggie Ronan, Jessica Thomas; seated (l):Penny Dannenberg. Photo by Eric Bandiero</span><br /><br />Over the past several months I have encountered Department Chair Cherylyn Lavagnino, and faculty member Jaclynn Villamil with graduate students in tow both at <a href="http://www.diabeacon.org/programs/main/27">DIA Beacon</a> for the dress rehearsal of the Trisha Brown Dance Company‘s performances there in February, and at <a href="http://www.danspaceproject.org/">Danspace St. Mark’s</a>. Granted, the latter happens to be just up Second Avenue from the Department’s home at 6th St. But wouldn’t that be a smart stretch?<br /><br />Last Friday, those two along with faculty project facilitator Jim Sutton could be found in the first and second rows of <a href="http://www.lamama.org/dance/2008/index2008.html">La MaMa Annex</a> around the corner on E. 4th St. And some of the graduate students, along with a number of newly minted BFA’s and MFA’s could be found on the stage. There, in the evening’s most intriguing and compelling spectacle four of them found themselves fully integrated into <a href="http://www.naomigoldberghaas.com/site/Dances_For_A_Variable_Population.html">Naomi Goldberg Haas’</a> “Uprooting,” a piece that incorporates three generations of performers to suggest passages both physical and metaphysical. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisSSQ9pDF0JDwAesAaaxi3FlukE34VWzvtelXI9b7ioSiHxoXAkHBAIf2DXEWWfNq8ARblODOZUAHl2Oz4Yvlta6xgt-Rnk2xXezmcLW0peQxxnZfxZpa9izl9Ykma1ffEAxoIqaNzYAo/s1600/Uprooting+penny+%26+ani.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisSSQ9pDF0JDwAesAaaxi3FlukE34VWzvtelXI9b7ioSiHxoXAkHBAIf2DXEWWfNq8ARblODOZUAHl2Oz4Yvlta6xgt-Rnk2xXezmcLW0peQxxnZfxZpa9izl9Ykma1ffEAxoIqaNzYAo/s400/Uprooting+penny+%26+ani.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480833548802938914" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">at rear: (l to r) Moses Kaplan, Jamie Graham, Maggie Ronan, Jackie Ferrara. front: Penny Dannenberg, Ani Javian. Photo by Eric Bandiero</span><br /><br />Goldberg Haas has been directing her <a href="http://www.naomigoldberghaas.com/site/Dances_For_A_Variable_Population.html">Dances For A Variable Population</a> since 2005, with professional company members ranging in age from 25 to 81. The seamless addition of NYU dancers Moses Kaplan, Maggie Ronan, Alex Schell and Jessica Thomas highlights one of the choreography’s strengths. Set to several propulsive folk-inspired recordings by the Polish combo <a href="http://www.myspace.com/warsawvillageband">Warsaw Village Band</a>, “Uprooting” manages to find and challenge each of its 13 performers at or near the limit of her/his technical and expressive potential, and to transcend this challenge by suggesting the existential humanity of yearning, striving, transformation, and reflection from youth to age and memory back to immediate experience.<br /><br />The performances of senior members Penny Dannenberg, Jackie Ferrara, Judith Chazen Walsh and Betty Williams, while remarkable in their own right, create a frame of dimension and depth for those of their youthful collaborators. Their regard of the youngsters manages to encompass a mixture of dispassionate assessment with intimations of mentoring, longing, and sassy competitiveness and even one-upmanship that leavens the poignancy of both the music and the dancing with pith and wit. In one exquisitely simple and memorable moment Dannenberg and Geraldine Bartlett slowly sit down back to back to share one of the folding chairs that has been brought on to the stage. Their mirror images present in such a way as to leave open the question, expertly poised, of who might be a reflection of whom.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">below (l to r) M. Lindsay Smith, Jackie Ferrara Photo by Eric Bandiero</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg736LYLm-UmzwcxKQRxVdT2RSg5yQgE3MzRm10VKC-IobDL6edqwDg06D1DUfO9F75ol5SxkqeG9pkgpqnbb-u7JoPHgdK-nkllWmlOGN81q9-2-DQ37-MCHbqxauXGA61UZr3svQ3CDw/s1600/Uprooting+lindsay+%26+jackie.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg736LYLm-UmzwcxKQRxVdT2RSg5yQgE3MzRm10VKC-IobDL6edqwDg06D1DUfO9F75ol5SxkqeG9pkgpqnbb-u7JoPHgdK-nkllWmlOGN81q9-2-DQ37-MCHbqxauXGA61UZr3svQ3CDw/s320/Uprooting+lindsay+%26+jackie.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480814671811407298" /></a>Add to this interplay the lusty way in which Goldberg Haas’ young professionals Jamie Graham, Ani Javian, M. Lindsay Smith and Rebecca Woll bite into the music and movement as if to both throw down a challenge and lead the way among their younger and older counterparts, and you have a work that begins to transform the creative potential energy of <a href="http://www.naomigoldberghaas.com/site/Dances_For_A_Variable_Population.html">Dances For A Variable Population</a> into a power to move and inspire its audience as much as its own members. In this, rehearsal director Smith, of the high-arched and articulate feet and whip-smart torso, and the equally fiery Graham set the tone as firsts among equals. With any luck, this cross-generational ensemble, including its new-found Tisch quartet, will manage to hold together long enough to re-present an outdoor version of this work at the end of September in cooperation with <a href="http://www.hudsonguild.org/">Hudson Guild Fulton Senior Center</a> along the <a href="http://www.thehighline.org/events/all/2010/6">High Line Park</a> in Chelsea.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">below (l to r): Ani Javian, M. Lindsay Smith, Jamie Graham, Rebecca Woll. Photo by Eric Bandiero</span> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYTmRk1P_WouKqepob7GdvIDFJhP9WNen8W2IudcY42jvkbclpJi-ICNUCqP5mxNWa2I9jG-u7sTi8z0J44jaeXzcmFC8-n0J9DYZlyNdTK4QWCqIHN0_cmeXA9qtt21ePGzszcS2ThQ/s1600/Uprooting+4+beauties.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYTmRk1P_WouKqepob7GdvIDFJhP9WNen8W2IudcY42jvkbclpJi-ICNUCqP5mxNWa2I9jG-u7sTi8z0J44jaeXzcmFC8-n0J9DYZlyNdTK4QWCqIHN0_cmeXA9qtt21ePGzszcS2ThQ/s400/Uprooting+4+beauties.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480835276912486978" /></a> <br />One can only wish as much for <a href="http://vimeo.com/10738895">Selina Chau’s “The New York Exchange</a>.” This witty, cheeky, extremely well crafted send up of everything from dance style pretensions to kung fu movies features fine performances by Monica Barbaro as a wayward ballet princess, Austin J. Diaz and Gierre J. Godley, as various NY dance, street and martial arts types, and Mandarin Wu as the archetypal femme fatale with the fan.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqRonXlt5jgQag8NlXUgwdznZtV05_X3eR4ChfCNMpvfCl2tNs_YxmHpl6K7PqlZquYS8a7rxYoduY8xQVU6WzrtTBb54Fu3PdbIetc7KxlQfom1eXpXUVSxLtWui2JT8LXHK0GaKgP4/s1600/chau+nye.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqRonXlt5jgQag8NlXUgwdznZtV05_X3eR4ChfCNMpvfCl2tNs_YxmHpl6K7PqlZquYS8a7rxYoduY8xQVU6WzrtTBb54Fu3PdbIetc7KxlQfom1eXpXUVSxLtWui2JT8LXHK0GaKgP4/s400/chau+nye.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480837675848793746" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">Mandarin Wu (with fan) Gierre J. Godley, and Monica Barbaro photo by Tony Dougherty</span> <br /><br />Chau displays a sharp eye and a supple mind for theatrical type and form, fable, kitsch, and the way pop culture co-opts all of the above. Set to an ingenious score by <a href="http://www.myspace.com/drumko">Kyle Olson</a> that mashes up his own “New York Exchange” with passages from Adolphe Adams’ score for <span style="font-style:italic;">Giselle</span> and Romani and Bellini’s “Costa Diva” from <span style="font-style:italic;">Norma</span>, interrupted by Chinese text passages written by Chau and comically delivered by co-writer Wu, the work sets up and then undermines expectations in a way that satisfyingly compliments that of Goldberg Haas. Like the latter dance maker, Chau has keen sense of theatrical and, especially in her case, comic timing and the delicacy of gesture that allows us the comfort of recognition just as she twists to tickle and subvert our prejudice. <br /><br />Such rare gifts more than justify Tisch’s repeated presence in the annual LaMaMa Moves Festival. When you’ve got it, why not go the extra mile -- or two blocks – beyond your building and perhaps your comfort zone to flaunt it?DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-53151612469099416212010-06-05T11:01:00.001-07:002010-06-05T11:04:02.289-07:00Five Questions for Reg Flowers<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR51i7BB0ISg6tia5uZ8m2V81DnsURlXcuk6O5nX1tZgfDg79lifLCF6c8-zBVYsJvsdX36tA_9Y5NwB0pUllKSrV_l50NQXL5yfrUMc9UbUYst5xC4imNCR-Giotw6OgZK5R_4b39ai4/s1600/reg+flowers.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR51i7BB0ISg6tia5uZ8m2V81DnsURlXcuk6O5nX1tZgfDg79lifLCF6c8-zBVYsJvsdX36tA_9Y5NwB0pUllKSrV_l50NQXL5yfrUMc9UbUYst5xC4imNCR-Giotw6OgZK5R_4b39ai4/s200/reg+flowers.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479351857494857954" /></a><br /><a href="http://culturebot.org/2010/04/29/five-questions-for-reg-flowers/">Five Questions for Reg Flowers</a>DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-19287443698554896472010-06-05T10:56:00.000-07:002010-06-05T10:59:51.328-07:00Five Questions for Ryoji Sasamoto<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKzmKjMUD63ApSW-6NIJZa5_CYvjaTXFkrEYNhaJ5IUB0MsE2GBVCbyaCDX3il92LsWV8nkWyxg2bridv6QC4m3hNYByGw4y0HB8CEZUBkaTSbAaWTUqtKo8ic_inL164WX0__ToB2zaU/s1600/Ryoji2028.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKzmKjMUD63ApSW-6NIJZa5_CYvjaTXFkrEYNhaJ5IUB0MsE2GBVCbyaCDX3il92LsWV8nkWyxg2bridv6QC4m3hNYByGw4y0HB8CEZUBkaTSbAaWTUqtKo8ic_inL164WX0__ToB2zaU/s200/Ryoji2028.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479350199817669874" /></a><a href="http://culturebot.org/2010/06/01/five-questions-for-ryoji-sasamoto/">Five Questions for Ryoji Sasamoto</a>DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-24298572717076177002010-06-05T10:50:00.000-07:002010-06-05T10:56:04.691-07:00Five Questions for Sarah Kilby<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_DqoMEH1MZjmo9zV95O5HpazqYT83tW57roVMcKAUZljvyfL5Y7y3KGtsa8Djq0K3OI_UWzNzTi2l9el4ZLIvyUe2dTk1Md20P1eBZMW75gJqINfR66aHVsntw0l0sd3e_svmQ9f9U4/s1600/Sarah+Kilby.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR_DqoMEH1MZjmo9zV95O5HpazqYT83tW57roVMcKAUZljvyfL5Y7y3KGtsa8Djq0K3OI_UWzNzTi2l9el4ZLIvyUe2dTk1Md20P1eBZMW75gJqINfR66aHVsntw0l0sd3e_svmQ9f9U4/s200/Sarah+Kilby.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479349768034960610" /></a><a href="http://culturebot.org/2010/05/19/five-questions-for-sarah-kilby/">Five Questions for Sarah Kilby</a>DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-80573551283131501732010-06-05T10:47:00.000-07:002010-06-05T10:54:40.330-07:00Five Questions for Shireen Dickson<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-KqhFiCgNHmx6eRNAKjGJOrpNwefYGlCIwMrWUVxt1vo0hbiSIS-psKkyYhrCflM-HeUm4AI19M2JE3M1jIeOmTeRc5avnK5yrEk6WcPnqsMXXajCLssNUdqa6LrdJjuwZPwP7qzA67M/s1600/shireentoday.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 243px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-KqhFiCgNHmx6eRNAKjGJOrpNwefYGlCIwMrWUVxt1vo0hbiSIS-psKkyYhrCflM-HeUm4AI19M2JE3M1jIeOmTeRc5avnK5yrEk6WcPnqsMXXajCLssNUdqa6LrdJjuwZPwP7qzA67M/s320/shireentoday.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5479349492063458530" /></a><br /><a href="http://culturebot.org/2010/04/26/five-questions-for-shireen%C2%A0dickson/">Five Questions for Shireen Dickson</a>DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-88945190650568405812010-06-03T05:53:00.000-07:002010-06-03T07:54:56.445-07:00Call Me Leamhsi: Bill Shannon circumnavigates the Financial District<span style="font-style:italic;">Bill Shannon and "Rejected Skin" at 77 Water St. photo by Catherine Peila</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigfJl_zaLaNwgst35TIyF5NkeYECaXzc237nUwJpzGxMA_Y4huvuEPICgsJE5KoweQDGFvnLlEoIKYJuR6wbQbGBjTgnygI6XFe4Rl28c7DdyWf0mzQEP4Yu_obIlRHkJ_3FS-a1Irq0g/s1600/bill+shannon+77.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigfJl_zaLaNwgst35TIyF5NkeYECaXzc237nUwJpzGxMA_Y4huvuEPICgsJE5KoweQDGFvnLlEoIKYJuR6wbQbGBjTgnygI6XFe4Rl28c7DdyWf0mzQEP4Yu_obIlRHkJ_3FS-a1Irq0g/s320/bill+shannon+77.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478538192612782386" /></a><a href="http://www.whatiswhat.com/">Bill Shannon</a> has gone ¾ of the way around the tip of Manhattan, retracing in retrograde the route famously described by the narrator Ishmael in the opening paragraphs of <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick">Moby-Dick</a></span>. And, like his fellow traveler, he pauses to wax philosophical.<br /><br />Shannon perches on his crutches atop the white painted concrete platform that frames Rudolph de Harak and William Tarr’s public sculpture <span style="font-style:italic;">Rejected Skin</span>, (1969) beneath one cantilevered corner of 77 Water St. at Old Slip. He begins a slow descent to an almost prone suspension. Having rested a found (presented by a construction worker, actually) gallon bottle of commercial iced tea on part of the artwork, he twirls and flashes first one specially made round-ended crutch then the other as he embodies the tension between flesh and rigid exoskeletar form at the heart of his unique dancing technique. The entire time he suspends and descends, he continues to discuss the challenges inherent in matching mind and muscle to metal and gravity and the constant risk in his exploration of new form and expression.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH7-Xt8n1dUTQ8vdqLf_UU121kCGydo_HLJQauxwjxjFnZ7iLxEEnYCvmU5rFuTSwgB6CMRO2HSwTNbGoS8oHttG2Z2b2QVssX4YtNrDPuxQrvZhk3IogDum5-hAY9LY92RD55trDXkFQ/s1600/bill+shannon+wall+stall.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 262px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH7-Xt8n1dUTQ8vdqLf_UU121kCGydo_HLJQauxwjxjFnZ7iLxEEnYCvmU5rFuTSwgB6CMRO2HSwTNbGoS8oHttG2Z2b2QVssX4YtNrDPuxQrvZhk3IogDum5-hAY9LY92RD55trDXkFQ/s320/bill+shannon+wall+stall.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478548726970378210" /></a>“Sometimes,” he says, his nose finally flush with the pavement, “it can look like failure.”<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">right: Bill Shannon caught in a "wall stall." photo by BC</span><br /><br />And suddenly, the 40 minutes we have spent following Shannon through <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.dnadance.org/site/performances/dna-presents-spring-2010-season/bill-shannon/">Traffic -<br />A Transient Specific Performance</a></span>, suggest a larger simulacrum for human endeavor. Think Mideast peace, perhaps, or the Obama presidency. <br /><br />Episodically, mesmericly, our Pequod of a chartered bus has been trying to keep up with his skiff of a skateboard as the tiny crutch powered craft buffets the tempests of rush hour traffic, and waves of tourist and commuter crowds down Broadway from <a href="http://www.dnadance.org/site/">Dance New Amsterdam</a>, at Chambers, to the edge of the Battery, and back north along Water. The mother ship carries its captive audience in its hold, along with all necessary equipment and expertise -- a DJ, a VJ and two videographers -- to render the quarry. We can hear the music being pumped into Shannon’s radio headset, which, equipped with a microphone, intermittently feeds back to us his voice and the sound of his wheels. Those outside the bus can hear only the latter.<br /><br />This extends to skateboarder <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KGHyc9NdqU">Mike Wright</a>, an old friend of Shannon’s, who has happened into the mix near the beginning of the performance. Signing on for the rest of the journey, he becomes the Queequeg/Daggoo of the piece, participating in encounters with passersby, cops and construction workers. Such happenstances, but perhaps without Wright, promise to mark each of the remaining performances, which continue <a href="http://www.dnadance.org/site/performances/dna-presents-spring-2010-season/bill-shannon/">each afternoon through Friday, June 4</a>, beginning at 4:30 pm.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">“How do you make the [members of an] audience feel like they are on a skateboard?”</span> the event’s press release asks.<br /><br />I don’t know about others, but Shannon’s fluid meanderings through these madding crowds took me back to my high school days. Whenever bored of a winter’s class, I would escape to the frozen puddle that covered much of the school’s roof, don my hockey skates, and glide above the unsuspecting heads of my classmates. <br /><br />Watching Shannon now, I become acutely aware of the three-dimensionality of his art, space opening and closing across the <a href="http://faculty.berea.edu/browners/ww.city/ww.city.writings.html#ww.city.song8.html">“blab of the pave,”</a> mind calculating with intuitive speed the warping of space time all around its body. Pausing abreast of a curbside advertisement, he suspends almost horizontally on his crutches in one of his signature "wall stalls," creating a flesh and blood bas relief against the commercial grain.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Shannon scouts the route of "Traffic" by winter light<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8Zh8_EMcI8DUUpQEZ37LDb1Ni-Suwh07e2lFGogmosyl3uQN-A6W-0V9x5HbKwIz2erLUX3bsElMuSQBfjUppGlJ-752HOGC_W6rD80Ib0nGjCOmYzKQLUhSEW0-GQ0kGLhNjRG-MGY/s1600/bill+shannon+winter.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 294px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8Zh8_EMcI8DUUpQEZ37LDb1Ni-Suwh07e2lFGogmosyl3uQN-A6W-0V9x5HbKwIz2erLUX3bsElMuSQBfjUppGlJ-752HOGC_W6rD80Ib0nGjCOmYzKQLUhSEW0-GQ0kGLhNjRG-MGY/s320/bill+shannon+winter.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478555406202296242" /></a>Three years in the making, <span style="font-style:italic;">Traffic</span>’s metaphorically rich, imaginatively provocative and downright audacious adventurousness augurs well for the revitalizing <a href="http://www.dnadance.org/site/performance-opportunities/artist-in-residency/">Artist in Residence Program at DNA</a>. Not to be missed, the 20 accompanying videos by the same artist that play along <a href="http://www.dnadance.org/site/performance-opportunities/gallery-dna/douz-and-mille-gallery-at-dna-bill-shannon-installation-works/">DNA’s gallery</a> walls add another dimension to Shannon’s chess game with the laws of physics and those of Downtown Manhattan traffic.<br /><br />In the clip playing out into Chambers St. adjacent to DNA’s entrance east of Broadway, the artist appears in jacket, tie and jaunty hat traversing the plazas around Brooklyn’s Borough Hall. In dress, manner and movement he recalls, in his own unique style, the pizzaz and allure of another Pittsburgh native, the late Gene Kelly. Such talents do not mark all generations. When such a one, at the peak of his powers, wheels before you, you owe it to yourself and your children to catch him if you can.DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-85888062040417926562010-06-02T22:41:00.000-07:002010-06-03T00:08:12.546-07:00Painting the Town Rocha: Mad Men meet the Ladies @ Galapagos<span style="font-style:italic;">Jenny Rocha rides into view. <br />photo by Melody Mudd</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglgVq0YVdt2OM1sbkq_1l_xUoz_VAjgMeTgxn9ZuUr7DTDFbwMkofoH2OqY8gXoPKu9M-CFLU7E_faDRBbJ1jOREerLN3KTgBlocj6T9PMAa1HUAHnCDQMKglGtqAXf0WcOZnA8mODx9k/s1600/jenny+rocha+box.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 227px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglgVq0YVdt2OM1sbkq_1l_xUoz_VAjgMeTgxn9ZuUr7DTDFbwMkofoH2OqY8gXoPKu9M-CFLU7E_faDRBbJ1jOREerLN3KTgBlocj6T9PMAa1HUAHnCDQMKglGtqAXf0WcOZnA8mODx9k/s320/jenny+rocha+box.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478419957404094514" /></a><a href="http://www.jennyrocha.com/Home.html">Jenny Rocha and her Painted Ladies</a> have developed a following in this town since their debut in 2006. So has trumpeter, singer and bandleader <a href="http://www.myspace.com/briannewmanmusic">Brian Newman</a>. The two have each featured for some time now as performers in the intermittent <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://s80131.gridserver.com/residents.html">Floating Kabarette</a></span> productions of the <a href="http://www.galapagosartspace.com/">Galapagos Art Space</a> in DUMBO, and both, in at least a part of their individual oeuvres, exhibit an interest in reclaiming and revitalizing the production values and styles of a bygone era of swanky supper clubs and New York nightlife. <br /><br />So when the two teamed up at Galapagos on May 20, for their first ever shared evening of song and dance, you might have been forgiven for expecting a collaboration. As it turned out, Rocha’s production alternated segments like half-innings in a gender-specific ball game; the visiting boys of Newman’s jazz trio batting first. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Brian Newman. photo by Mark Pierson</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqlb-9TkRCKhPfSOmfxBRSFWpLm73rqBz5nDGqduVJQayFH5H2mu_WaE-9reAQ9H0FL04gfwXEmPhSRGgsNRS47T9H0932Tf3c6aShRcMTQVK2L-uz862TkteHtgE0Dk8jSho9ahxepI/s1600/brian+newman+by+mark+pierson.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqlb-9TkRCKhPfSOmfxBRSFWpLm73rqBz5nDGqduVJQayFH5H2mu_WaE-9reAQ9H0FL04gfwXEmPhSRGgsNRS47T9H0932Tf3c6aShRcMTQVK2L-uz862TkteHtgE0Dk8jSho9ahxepI/s320/brian+newman+by+mark+pierson.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478431579548155698" /></a>Newman proved a genial host, except when beset by a recurring short in the microphone cord as he fondled his boxy 50’s style stand mic. Ahead of his polished side men -- Paul Francis on drums and Alex Smith on electronic keyboard -- he took the “pit,” what would normally serve as the audience left “pod” closest to the stage in Galapagos’ pool-bridging orchestra level seating scheme. Nattily tailored in a single-breasted dark suit complete with pocket square, a black pinstriped shirt with a white pointed collar and a white silk tie – Saville Row meets Bugsy Malone -- Newman welcomed the audience before turning his warm baritone, fiery trumpet and band mates loose on Irving Berlin’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” He then introduced his hosts: <br /><br />The red velour curtain parted on the home girls half of the inning to introduce all five black bra attired Painted Ladies astride white stage boxes from which they launched into a rhythm dance to recorded music by the Black Eyed Peas. Four minutes later, the jazz trio picked up to cover the set and costume changes before the Painted Ladies next number, playing a version of Marks & Simons’ popular standard “All of Me,” followed by the trio’s take on Cole Porter’s “Night and Day.” The evening’s pattern had been established.<br /> <br /><span style="font-style:italic;">photo by Melody Mudd</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoG9vtxrJ_XxJerHkR9unJCzfDo3xSu2fBGyx2PTFAjTKh-tKv2hwHzBQ69z9xG7EyiaNYpgMLHgPK3kVTZhCKnujcJYn42gF-mXXB_kyaXmjbxOKV8SD_6M_R8tvd5ZY8b_qgZPVxPuQ/s1600/paintedladiesbymelody+mudd.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoG9vtxrJ_XxJerHkR9unJCzfDo3xSu2fBGyx2PTFAjTKh-tKv2hwHzBQ69z9xG7EyiaNYpgMLHgPK3kVTZhCKnujcJYn42gF-mXXB_kyaXmjbxOKV8SD_6M_R8tvd5ZY8b_qgZPVxPuQ/s400/paintedladiesbymelody+mudd.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478432549221471762" /></a><br />Rocha’s pieces, kitschy, sometimes witty amalgamations of modern and jazz dance styles in vaudeville frames with burlesque accents, lean heavily on their props as well as on their often creative, always well executed costumes. In her own dancing she welds a fierce attack to a sexy sensibility and a sense of humor. Her company: Shevaun Smythe Hiler, Jillian Hollis, Molly Merkler, and Jessy Smith, while obviously well-trained and accomplished, only rarely exhibit the same commitment and pizzaz. <br /><br />This does not hold true for the rousing tap trio in which Hollis and Smith match the choreographer flap for heel, all while keeping their pastie-crowned boobs from flopping out from beneath cropped faux fur vests until the proper moment for the big titillation. The choreography often builds to such peeks <sic> and distributes 28 flavors of fan kicks and pelvic thrusts among its compositionally classic canons and counterpoints. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6IMRP-c2odIa-J7ZbMvXINCoElwOHMuXeBtnevK3TwgOFaqCauiUcDYcuk1HI_gUxIaQ6vdrY3rtEc8tPY3frKC3Unhfl3qVOcpsBS2dMsGg2NOTbhS8KrDzqbjtDnq2aMgi2ZwGMPo/s1600/JennyRochasPaintedLadies_21.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6IMRP-c2odIa-J7ZbMvXINCoElwOHMuXeBtnevK3TwgOFaqCauiUcDYcuk1HI_gUxIaQ6vdrY3rtEc8tPY3frKC3Unhfl3qVOcpsBS2dMsGg2NOTbhS8KrDzqbjtDnq2aMgi2ZwGMPo/s400/JennyRochasPaintedLadies_21.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478433075082575746" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">photo by Dmitri Wildfong Nishman</span><br /><br />For me this happy hoofer pas de trois proved the movement highlight of the evening, save for the offhanded instant in which Rachel Prescott, a member of the wait staff, found herself momentarily suspended in action and spotlight, her back to us, in front of the red velour and the jazz trio’s rendition of Porter’s “In the Still of the Night.” For all the Karole Armitage like intensity and artisanal stage craftiness of Rocha’s creations, this haphazard moment of vulnerability and human indecision sang out as truly arresting. <br /><br />Meanwhile, back at the sangspiel, Newman and his merry band kept up their half of the bargain, toodling through samples of the Great American Song Book with a quick sidetrip through a Jobim Bossa Nova. Newman’s approach to his music defies easy categorization: In his singing he channels a little Tony Bennett, a little more Mel Torme, a little less Harry Connick, Jr. He attacks his trumpet solos with be-bop like flourishes and flying fingers. <br /><br />Rocha likes to fly, too. One fondly hopes that these Painted Ladies and mad tailored men will someday find <singing> “a little old place where we can get together. Love shack, baby.”DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-29521946932961482012010-05-23T23:02:00.000-07:002010-05-24T11:52:14.631-07:00Love & Dance: Nora Petroliunas / The Pharmacy Project present Bricks & Honey at 100 Grand, May 7 & 8<span style="font-style:italic;">below: (from top to bottom): Hsaio-Jou Tang, Amber Morgan, Tess Igarta, Sarah Rose Bodley, Meredith-Lyn Olivieri. photo by Mistral Hay</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieDIlsmkIafO1ghfMyBmIRTXjkyZMMfFZnUrGEHpc7_CbBervEB3onQsXmW7OMZKHn_CoGvmgYcnHV6MlpqdFkf2iF2E2oxdo_dA2RoAvushMJQ6z6mojQ8TSU9p8Tp7d-xNzZcu6TFhA/s1600/mhay20100508007.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieDIlsmkIafO1ghfMyBmIRTXjkyZMMfFZnUrGEHpc7_CbBervEB3onQsXmW7OMZKHn_CoGvmgYcnHV6MlpqdFkf2iF2E2oxdo_dA2RoAvushMJQ6z6mojQ8TSU9p8Tp7d-xNzZcu6TFhA/s320/mhay20100508007.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474713625839926354" /></a>The audience has just been moved. Literally. The handsome couple, who have perched so exquisitely atop the coffee table placed against the mirror at the west wall of <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-NY/100-Grand/90799016802">100 Grand</a>, find themselves momentarily separated when the musical chairs-like redistribution of spectators-in-the-round calls for us to claim new seats. But across the gap now between them, he beckons her to an adjoining empty chair. Their union restored, an open seat now offers itself next to me. Soon, Bill Young, the loft’s proprietor sidles into it.<br /><br />As the action onstage resumes, he leans over and whispers conspiratorially, “I just love her work.”<br /><br />And I have to now admit that I do as well.<br /><br />And what’s not to love? Nora Petroliunas has always, in the two years that I’ve been watching her art develop, been more than generous with her audience. She has already established a knack for serving up quirky and surprising sensual feasts that fully exploit the imaginative possibilities of the architecture, the furniture, and the dancers that she selects to frame her visions. With <span style="font-style:italic;">Bricks & Honey</span>, her very first one-woman show, she has emerged as a first rate dance maker as well. <br /><br />In this she owes a great deal to the performers with whom she has long been collaborating. In this case they include Sarah Rose Bodley, Tess Igarta, Amber Morgan, Meredith-Lyn Olivieri, Hsaio-Jou Tang. Only Morgan is new to me. I have never seen the others dance with such consummate ease, grace and unabashed sensual beauty. The quality of their five-fold collective realization of the creator’s compositional craft proves enough even to touch the heart of a dance curmudgeon such as me.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig08wTX2R_atyiQsmC9HHhyphenhyphen6wosFe9qXxkRGk7BJgtBx6c3nyaH66DuTQDwFvklZqhzxVrE9J2E1qW4d894UbV3qe3F8-xDPJjpwKkejK1kE0zwGD9ngk4tW3aGlcH6HelZ5Rx9rDNgI0/s1600/Petro+lobo_3288.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig08wTX2R_atyiQsmC9HHhyphenhyphen6wosFe9qXxkRGk7BJgtBx6c3nyaH66DuTQDwFvklZqhzxVrE9J2E1qW4d894UbV3qe3F8-xDPJjpwKkejK1kE0zwGD9ngk4tW3aGlcH6HelZ5Rx9rDNgI0/s400/Petro+lobo_3288.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474729359897052546" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">Hsaio-Jou Tang attached to Amber Morgan <br />photo by Paula Lobo</span><br /><br />The weight of touch; the gravity of desire play key roles in the troupe’s investigation of space. In repeated patterns of partnering, we see relationships rendered as leg irons as, one after another, individual dancers struggle to walk with a prone partner grasping one ankle. First Bodley and later Igarta execute electrifying and virtuosic solos, each of which includes an extended series of jumps taking off from and landing on the performer’s shins as her legs remain folded beneath her.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqEp55ANantWjthJ5Mh2B9Ri9Q_eQb3PtBX3yoRdTS_xQCDcOvE5tuPNG8axm1oggsBv7aF6R2AXE9OJKJRCBjpPm1ShvsMd9zKYB3tcAcP06DxkbvCamclvbiYLI0yQtV_59VhRhuumk/s1600/Petro+lobo_2857.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqEp55ANantWjthJ5Mh2B9Ri9Q_eQb3PtBX3yoRdTS_xQCDcOvE5tuPNG8axm1oggsBv7aF6R2AXE9OJKJRCBjpPm1ShvsMd9zKYB3tcAcP06DxkbvCamclvbiYLI0yQtV_59VhRhuumk/s320/Petro+lobo_2857.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474724177309157474" /></a>These two represent only the first among equals in distributing the simple gifts that Petroliunas flings around. Bodley has often featured in the choreographer’s canon, and her two solos here seem to build on and extend her role as muse-in-chief. (That’s mis-chief to you, buddy). Igarta, on the other hand, who also plays the loft’s piano to accompany Bodley’s first solo, breaks through as a master of the kind of weighted lyricism that has begun to emerge as a Petroliunas leitmotif.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">left: Tess Igarta <br />photo by Paula Lobo</span><br /><br />Olivieri, subsequently, charms and intrigues in an introspective passage in which she builds a ziggurat of furniture using as foundation one of the loft’s sturdy kitchen tables. Atop of this she sits to imbibe a wistful glass of wine that she pours from one of the 32 bottles that have been lined up like footlights along one edge of the space. Soon the other four perform a kind of barnacle ballet along the edges of the supporting table.<br /><br />The wine bottles, almost all partially filled with water, along with several similarly ablutionary clear glass jars, have been handed out to arriving members of the audience and later collected by the dancers just before the big move. In case you might have misapprehended that Petroliunas would be leaving you alone to sit back in anonymous idiot peace during her show, greeter Sarah Oppenheim has also handed you a book of matches at the door with “the pharmacy project” scrawled in black ink across its white cover. Souvenirs, as usual, to be had, and used, at the spectacle.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFP-uTs18RipcRal0BDHi96dqLyk4K2n7wqGNNHqpOzz06YRUwcXUaN71ACKqDntBhD-tTNrqzg1BJ6gNUzTiT2RD79DFKTDJ-z3m2B7eBPMYtxVfizcf2-uBODHhGI3e2_3IuadF1zE/s1600/mhay20100508021.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFP-uTs18RipcRal0BDHi96dqLyk4K2n7wqGNNHqpOzz06YRUwcXUaN71ACKqDntBhD-tTNrqzg1BJ6gNUzTiT2RD79DFKTDJ-z3m2B7eBPMYtxVfizcf2-uBODHhGI3e2_3IuadF1zE/s400/mhay20100508021.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474730084627515154" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">Meredith-Lyn Olivieri prepares her ziggurat <br />photo by Mistral Hay</span><br /><br />The further deployment of these elements, as well as those of such inveterate Petroliunas creative touches as table lamps, other furniture, a galvanized washtub and water buckets, and musical compositions ranging from those of contemporary collaborators Ed Donohue (donny hue and the colors) and Saul Simon Macwilliams to recording artists Doris Troy (<span style="font-style:italic;">Just One Look</span>) and Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts (<span style="font-style:italic;">Angel of the Morning</span>) I’ll leave for later. I encourage the reader to see this piece, should it ever be revived, and wouldn’t want to give away the plot. <br /><br />But I have a personal confession. I found myself somewhat reluctant to commit to attending this production, enamored as I have been of the creator’s past efforts. Like an infatuated lover, I felt afraid of the possibility of finding myself let down, and equally skittish of the idea of making anyone my “critic’s darling.” <br /><br />I needn’t have worried. Here I sit on a soft and lovely Spring evening, gazing across Bill Young’s lovely, haphazardly cluttered, workaday loft through a veil of gorgeous dancing and a compelling lack of drama at other members of this audience and the choreographer herself, hard at work on the sound score controlled by the Macbook on her lap. And I find myself absorbed into her dream; taken by the possibilities the poet Auden proposes in his <a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/lullaby-3/">Lullaby</a>: <br /><br />Grave the vision Venus sends <br />Of supernatural sympathy, <br />Universal love and hope; <br />While abstract insight wakes <br />Among the glaciers and the rocks <br />The hermit's sensual ecstasy.<br /><br />The microcosms Petroliunas shapes play their parts almost completely in poetic terms, many footed and raw. There exist “<a href="http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/31-syl.htm">certain evenings when the heart relaxes</a>.” <span style="font-style:italic;">Bricks & Honey</span> provides plenty of suggestive space in which one can be persuaded to try again. When an artist can open her heart, and mine, to the possibilities of new life even in the face of inevitable loss, and do it in the wordless wonder of dance, I consider myself glad to have made the trip and lucky to be a witness.DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-52806823790360029142010-05-07T22:28:00.000-07:002010-05-08T00:15:37.265-07:00Counting Cards at Grandma's: Nan Swid and Donald Kaufman Recent Work at Gallery 9E<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4p2pmYCIE6B-VtfvIhlSHqDvX87JE9A22LGSazVIeg-E0x1MAhca0JqobG4UGupIo2n3L_4ULcYKJHo9SjP4C0BbqMp0B2IIZJOJ9AZl15A11A_P-NviHM3IVvy-WRNSzT4MRBHNeVQs/s1600/Nan+Swid+%26+Donald+Kaufman+7.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4p2pmYCIE6B-VtfvIhlSHqDvX87JE9A22LGSazVIeg-E0x1MAhca0JqobG4UGupIo2n3L_4ULcYKJHo9SjP4C0BbqMp0B2IIZJOJ9AZl15A11A_P-NviHM3IVvy-WRNSzT4MRBHNeVQs/s320/Nan+Swid+%26+Donald+Kaufman+7.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468771465759462434" /></a><br />I leaned down to speak to a charming young girl in a maroon dress staring candidly up at <a href="http://www.nanswid.com/">Nan Swid’s</a> <span style="font-style:italic;">Combination Wall</span> 2 (2009) at Gallery 9E, 508 West 26th St. in Chelsea, Thursday evening. <br /><br />“What do you see?” I asked confidentially, hoping for a pithy, surprising, funny or illuminating quote.<br /><br />The light of the golden hour transfigured her blonde curls as she turned away from the window and the roughly 24 square foot wall-mounted construction, fashioned from panel, disassembled book paper, and nails, variously coated by encaustic wax that stood before us. She leveled her clear and steady gaze at me.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Nan Swid’s <span style="font-weight:bold;">Combination Wall 2</span> (2009) at Gallery 9E<br />all photos by Rodin Banica</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq6U8Rfy4_xAW7m3hddnVl7QQ6I3o3gkVF_9eR_IEtXcc0F9yRoQzv_tuVLo39Z35jp6SEv5fKcHLoS9m9kKTVgIJnIjB5Os21h5IBoFQchKQAvACXZzWbkvmJkIYVpLckzwCDHOTPPmg/s1600/Nan+Swid+Day+Window.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq6U8Rfy4_xAW7m3hddnVl7QQ6I3o3gkVF_9eR_IEtXcc0F9yRoQzv_tuVLo39Z35jp6SEv5fKcHLoS9m9kKTVgIJnIjB5Os21h5IBoFQchKQAvACXZzWbkvmJkIYVpLckzwCDHOTPPmg/s200/Nan+Swid+Day+Window.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468780340803229458" /></a>“Grandma’s art work.”<br /><br />Well, that threw me for a loop. <br /><br />“How often do you see it?” I queried, regaining my friendly poise.<br /><br />She looked puzzled. I changed tactics.<br /><br />“How old are you?”<br /><br />“Nine.” <br /><br />“You’ve been seeing it your whole life, then.”<br /> <br /><span style="font-style:italic;">right: Nan Swid's <span style="font-weight:bold;">Day Window</span> (2010)</span><br /><br />Duh, her blankness seemed to say as she flipped her hair turning away towards the window. I might have been the only one counting. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZlrEy132Fq_BMy7ch-I3khx_oh0fzow-nngexKrN-M0ynx05mEEyPXDaaJTyJHPEL0tRlvU6j-BX9P2bLCGqiGie2pIAiTEeFQxke32c1Sy8C14ErsnAXyNyELHrfzpo0u3TvXQcKOk/s1600/Donald+Kaufman+Graph.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZlrEy132Fq_BMy7ch-I3khx_oh0fzow-nngexKrN-M0ynx05mEEyPXDaaJTyJHPEL0tRlvU6j-BX9P2bLCGqiGie2pIAiTEeFQxke32c1Sy8C14ErsnAXyNyELHrfzpo0u3TvXQcKOk/s200/Donald+Kaufman+Graph.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468781647967385074" /></a>I did a lot of counting at the show of recent work that Swid shared with <a href="http://www.donaldkaufmancolor.com/">Donald Kaufman</a> at 9E. I counted the disassembled books in Swid’s wall relief’s, framed assemblages building from materials similar to those of the the wall mounts, to foil-like assemblages of dark to brightly colored and clear cellophanes, leading finally to ones encrusted with gold leaf over index pages from manila legal files: N – O, or Z – X for instance.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">left: Donald Kaufman's <span style="font-weight:bold;">Graph</span> 2010</span><br /><br />In Kaufman’s room, around an open L-shaped corner, I counted cards. His 19 gauche on paper works present jarring as well as subtle juxtapositions of color. Said to have been inspired by architectural color samples, they depict variegated rectangle shaped single color fields in repeated flat patterns. Within each image, these rectangular color fields keep to a more or less uniform size and their arrangement suggests to the mind a set of overlapping cards upon a table as seen from above. The “table top” consists of a single, often strong, color that serves as background or field framing the arrangement of the card-like smaller rectangles. <br /><br />My notes for these pieces read something like: “12 on olive” for <span style="font-style:italic;">Canyon</span> (2010), or “7 on NECO” for <span style="font-style:italic;">Graph</span> (2010) the latter color recalling in its gouache texture, the kind of plum brown I remember from NECO valentine Sweethearts. Across from Swid’s relatively expansive pieces, often amplified by their simple but elegant frames, Kauffman’s unframed jazz riffs on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Albers">Albers</a>, which, all in portrait orientation, range in size from only 70 to 432 square inches rectangular, look diminutive.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ8Q8795VKJf-zH8Idj3H4hKQ5KLfESdYKR7HQFzzWg9rxTeusTRXMCwJXNWrnozxbpM9-uNfLKAHaeVBzAqCpP4UWnvJncCXyivDbDHEBAsSAnq5cAjJL9iLACgFi_UXhnrTyLSbgXbw/s1600/Donald+Kaufman+room.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ8Q8795VKJf-zH8Idj3H4hKQ5KLfESdYKR7HQFzzWg9rxTeusTRXMCwJXNWrnozxbpM9-uNfLKAHaeVBzAqCpP4UWnvJncCXyivDbDHEBAsSAnq5cAjJL9iLACgFi_UXhnrTyLSbgXbw/s400/Donald+Kaufman+room.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468783063493781762" /></a><br />The design and even the fashion pedigree of both artists can easily be discerned in the way they handle their materials, while the counterpoint of Kaufman’s dry understatement with Swid’s sometimes playful sometimes sultry sensual and textural interplay proves effectively complementary. The show continues through Sunday, May 9.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Above: Donald Kaufman's room at Gallery 9E, 508 West 26th St, New York</span>DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-5553317371925178222010-04-25T21:18:00.000-07:002010-04-26T12:19:51.066-07:00A Midwinter's Night Wet Dream: Fullstop's "Foreplays" in the Galapagos, Feb. 8 - 23“They be scared and lonely. “<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV7g3lhY-f057cnArSJwK0479fqCxHZ5jvO-e1VIpDJrh4jMdjhRpIDY0vXt28DMi0oF56zmmSTFf3FOXFjPh_7irmnheN8HTyVCOUrEXVa1W-CCQrpKIlVHQ0_41Ov0QRODFRGTcSTzI/s1600/4plays-+mad.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 85px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV7g3lhY-f057cnArSJwK0479fqCxHZ5jvO-e1VIpDJrh4jMdjhRpIDY0vXt28DMi0oF56zmmSTFf3FOXFjPh_7irmnheN8HTyVCOUrEXVa1W-CCQrpKIlVHQ0_41Ov0QRODFRGTcSTzI/s400/4plays-+mad.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464303133869162722" /></a>So says Michael Micalizzi as the thug wannabe Mikey in Patrick Shaw’s “Mad Twitterpated,” directed by <a href="http://web.me.com/alexandra.bassett/Site/WOMANIZE.html">Alexandra Bassett</a>. He pleads this in reference to the orphaned bear cubs he has been cluster adopting over Facebook on behalf of Cliff Campbell’s character Clifford. But his observation goes far beyond its immediate context.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">(l to r:) Caroline Calkins as Girl, Michael Micalizzi as Mikey; Cliff Campbell as Clifford in Patrick Shaw’s “Mad Twitterpated,” <br />all photos by Brian Hashimoto</span><br /><br />It seems to be a (mostly urban) jungle out there for most of the young lovers, or rather love aspirants and acolytes, who strutted their hours upon the stage, screen, aisles, balcony and waters of Galapagos Art Space in February in <a href="http://fullstopcollective.org/">Fullstop Collective’s</a> <span style="font-style:italic;">Foreplays</span>. The eight brief plays, two short videos, and live musical interludes that comprised this showcase on the Mondays bracketing Valentine’s Day, provided a mid-winter night’s scheme of the trials and tribulations of romantic love among a certain slice of the population in a highly mediated age. If most of the characters find themselves lost in the woods and among the thickets of hook ups and hang ups in a bewildering array of polymorphously perverse potential permutations, then perhaps we can sympathize with their desire to hang on to the cuddlier, if stuffed, versions of lions, tigers and bears with which they grapple, even as they long for each other.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOuwAl9Cr0SYXcFS71b9nCbpQAODBCWRauxlClGj4lm1iUfmtBp5Fq8fA4WrO7L8Xx9qZcJvfko2jbAehe3266DJvJcHafJcuDJwR6nASaFKKvRTOgn1YPZBsdpDTiOL0qc51LmVq4Ek8/s1600/4plays-+no+part2.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOuwAl9Cr0SYXcFS71b9nCbpQAODBCWRauxlClGj4lm1iUfmtBp5Fq8fA4WrO7L8Xx9qZcJvfko2jbAehe3266DJvJcHafJcuDJwR6nASaFKKvRTOgn1YPZBsdpDTiOL0qc51LmVq4Ek8/s400/4plays-+no+part2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464310662872950034" /></a>So if Cliff and Mikey’s play within a play involves dream visualization projected via, uh, Droid, and ends with kids and a mortgage, their confusion cannot be considered uncommon. Consider the women in Lillian Meredith’s “there is no part of me that wants to have sex with you right now and yet here we are.” They confide in one another that they have never had an orgasm during sex, simulate coitus with their giant teddy bears, have trouble deciding whether they want it “hard” or “soft,” and rant about being insulated, via Midol, from the emotional roller coaster of their own natural cycles. They ponder existential and psycho-political questions around penetration:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">(Above r:) Sarah Ann Masse posts her panda in Lillian Meredith’s “there is no part of me..."<br /></span><br />After admitting to her friend that penetration is what she wants from her lovers, Lauren Weinberger’s character frets that, “maybe that’s scary. Maybe that’s not the healthiest way to have a permanent and meaningful relationship with someone – to have them constantly be inside you but you’re never inside them. I mean, … the problem I keep running into is how can I ever have an equal un-patronizing, non-sexually frightening relationship with a man when I really really want him to dominate me and pound me into tomorrow?”<br /><br />Sarah Ann Masse’s character thinks her friend may be, “doing [her]self a big disservice thinking this way…. <br /><br />“Well, I mean, you’ve just completely negated for yourself the possibility of ever having a permanent, sexually satisfying relationship with anyone….<br />“including yourself.”<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tz3Dqtn4fJNYWhRs9HazrDc8UshJ5eWX5w0N6x2OXBvhzcNw2NVYA5bloaxIXvL4ejuMd8PB8p30cCvgRkm7FrXJTm6esqYmeI_nsMk8Ds-7_jdRm2i4r0_pJBTtsSZAXTtcuAwDBLg/s1600/4plays-+no+part+cast+2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tz3Dqtn4fJNYWhRs9HazrDc8UshJ5eWX5w0N6x2OXBvhzcNw2NVYA5bloaxIXvL4ejuMd8PB8p30cCvgRkm7FrXJTm6esqYmeI_nsMk8Ds-7_jdRm2i4r0_pJBTtsSZAXTtcuAwDBLg/s400/4plays-+no+part+cast+2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464329645813399826" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">(l to r:) Laura Wiese, Lauren Weinberger, Sean McIntyre and Sarah Ann Masse</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJPVDYDAJl7BiKz6n4Nz5XTK_59bILymv0_S-Cer0ASCOPXqacrSSHGekPmRy8raSTUuCU3AuB_WOsV4Bb4mtDYEoK0yYGjkcxZNLzH5mon4lGOMcrboCz8HJl8tTbcvVFFGRiXkwa1As/s1600/4plays-+red+play.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJPVDYDAJl7BiKz6n4Nz5XTK_59bILymv0_S-Cer0ASCOPXqacrSSHGekPmRy8raSTUuCU3AuB_WOsV4Bb4mtDYEoK0yYGjkcxZNLzH5mon4lGOMcrboCz8HJl8tTbcvVFFGRiXkwa1As/s320/4plays-+red+play.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464328538765576322" /></a>The expectations and the etiquette of politically correct sex in an epoch of texting, drinking binges, supercharged sex toys, internet porn, post-feminist and post-Freudian politics, and pop psychology emerge as preoccupations in Brian Hashimoto’s “porn.edu,” and Bassett’s “Lust Trust,” directed by David Jaffe. The latter two of these themes also crop up with less contemporary reference as kinky Viennese proto-fascist subtexts in Benjamin Smolen’s “The Lewis Family Waltz,” directed by Shaw, with its dancing couples stuttering and undone over the name “Germany,” and Lucy Gillespie’s mock-historic “Fore-Shadow-Play.” <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Louiza Collins and Conrado De La Rosa with other cast members in Benjamin Smolen’s “The Lewis Family Waltz,”</span><br /><br />The first three of these have all been created with imaginative theatrical conceits and hint at the range, if not always the reach, of talent that Bassett, as artistic director of <span style="font-style:italic;">Foreplays</span>, has deployed in challenging her collaborators to bring this showcase to life. That talent achieves its fullest realization in her staging of Anton Handel’s “Analogue,” which uses the formal stage, the exposed areas of wading pool over which Galapagos has suspended its orchestra-level booths, and the railings and ledges of the surrounding balcony to weave an Avatar meets Matrix style videogame fantasy into a family sitcom all within a theater artist’s restaurant day job narrative. Here the spirited performances by Celeste Arias, Analise Hartnett, Meredith, Scott Morse and Brenden Rogers meet Bassett’s creative handling of Handel’s script in the evening’s most ambitious spectacle.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDN4w4K9BxQSWpANhL8LBD-aSQUy5BEJ6MLerSWslmij1ttYeNX5UtRfrb72I24QV5N4t-8JnXx6gfZHdlg4IG3VN1zVoIAd2n9DiTgNq20b1vYKHXYi86WVWEkSqaT-Bu-8Cov7DceE/s1600/4plays-+analogue.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDN4w4K9BxQSWpANhL8LBD-aSQUy5BEJ6MLerSWslmij1ttYeNX5UtRfrb72I24QV5N4t-8JnXx6gfZHdlg4IG3VN1zVoIAd2n9DiTgNq20b1vYKHXYi86WVWEkSqaT-Bu-8Cov7DceE/s320/4plays-+analogue.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464327534813238354" /></a>To be sure, the allure of ambition and energy emerge as the hallmark of this long evening even if the short videos <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/b46848c7a0/hobo-proposal">“Hobo Proposal” by Ironic T-Shirt</a>, and the satirically sharper <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/bb21d4fe21/call-my-boyfriend">“Call My Boyfriend,” by Diana Wright</a>, as well as the soul cover sets by the quartet Quiet Loudly might have been more imaginatively integrated to facilitate the flow of events and interactivity. Bassett and her collaborators sometimes betray a literary and theatrical reverence that smells more of the perfume of a fine liberal arts education than it does of teen spirit, but the strength of their cooperative rests in a sense of shared adventure and risk. The more they continue to challenge each other, and to raise their realization to the level of their ambition, the more <a href="http://fullstopcollective.org/">Fullstop</a> will distinguish itself as a collective not only worth watching, but dating long term.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"> (Above:) Celeste Arias and Scott Morse in Anton Handel’s “Analogue,”</span>DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-37458070447298567842010-04-22T21:51:00.000-07:002010-04-23T00:04:18.643-07:00Three places in the Art world - "Denim" at 80WSEWhen I think back on <span style="font-style:italic;">Denim</span>, the exhibition curated by David Rimanelli, NYU visiting assistant professor of art history and <span style="font-style:italic;">Artforum</span> contributing editor, February 2 - March 12, at the University’s <a href="http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/80wse/">80WSE</a> gallery, a couple of images, a film and a bowl of chocolate coated raisins leap to mind. And then I think of the people. Context is king.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQWB62f0pQ2rNPF0XzE-Aw653wlr3HQ_78KZz1tEiOL6nDLH8fs1pzDrpwarJmzG_Ap_m6P5_RRroSiMWeqMBBhoUpIV6P8A-erJFzXDJdUbQ8EonMS_PmwkTl4Vq6IrcK5fvnJrPrcE/s1600/KHW-MannlicherAkt-e-thumb.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 243px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQWB62f0pQ2rNPF0XzE-Aw653wlr3HQ_78KZz1tEiOL6nDLH8fs1pzDrpwarJmzG_Ap_m6P5_RRroSiMWeqMBBhoUpIV6P8A-erJFzXDJdUbQ8EonMS_PmwkTl4Vq6IrcK5fvnJrPrcE/s320/KHW-MannlicherAkt-e-thumb.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463193189498335410" /></a>The first of the images happens to be one of the late Karlheinz Weinberger’s gelatin silver prints, a set of which took up an entire large wall in the first interior gallery. Titled <span style="font-style:italic;">Männlicher Akt</span>, the image in question dates from around 1975, and depicts a somewhat hairy 20’s something male nude, glancing offhandedly towards the camera/viewer. His tattooed arms and hands frame a slouched torso and his flaccid, ample cock and balls rest within the V of his thighs, which spread to straddle the platform, covered with a striped fabric, on which he sits.<br /><br />I had just come from the large gallery 1, its picture window looking west across Washington Square, where the growing darkness of the winter evening seemed to mimic the sky-to-midnight blue shadings of Jack Pierson’s <span style="font-style:italic;">or for mercy</span>, a more than 30 square foot folded pigment print from 2009. This piece fairly dominated a room in which Tom Burr’s construction <span style="font-style:italic;">Slacks</span>, from 2008, and Rob Pruitt’s pair of blue jeans and concrete benches from his 2006 <span style="font-style:italic;">Esprit du Corps</span> provided counterpoint.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Right below: Jack Pierson's "or for mercy" 2009</span> <br /><br />The gallery’s press release had offered the following:<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQ8Xdx_UDqR5dCF-ozA6e4XT2YljAvdid2i64sx5Dhon_epCGEovF_JGV6KEBcdQwc5XI0NmkXjOTvZSUzfj5Ug-gVVcGw7sldu31DvOe53rj1R-806bFrlypnGJVAn5BsbKkapElgdQ/s1600/artwork_images_181772_557065_jack-pierson.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQ8Xdx_UDqR5dCF-ozA6e4XT2YljAvdid2i64sx5Dhon_epCGEovF_JGV6KEBcdQwc5XI0NmkXjOTvZSUzfj5Ug-gVVcGw7sldu31DvOe53rj1R-806bFrlypnGJVAn5BsbKkapElgdQ/s320/artwork_images_181772_557065_jack-pierson.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463206248350636898" /></a>“Denim’s cult status as a rebel uniform emerged in the public mind largely through classic Hollywood cinema—for instance, Marlon Brando in <span style="font-style:italic;">The Wild One</span>, James Dean in <span style="font-style:italic;">Rebel Without a Cause</span>, and Marilyn Monroe in <span style="font-style:italic;">The Misfits</span>, and later as the preferred style for certain subcultures, for example gay subculture, as can be seen in Kenneth Anger’s <span style="font-style:italic;">Scorpio Rising</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Kustom Kar Kommandos</span>; or, returning to Hollywood, William Friedkin’s controversial <span style="font-style:italic;">Cruising</span>.<br /><br />“In <span style="font-style:italic;">DENIM</span>, these cinematic references commingle with denim’s “high-art” associations, which have become ingrained through the ‘60s image of the “artist-worker,” exemplified by minimalists like Robert Morris, or by Carl Andre, habitually attired in overalls. Andy Warhol is a key figure in this respect, both in his own sartorial inclinations but particularly in his art and films.”<br /><br />Rimanelli’s exhibition seemed to trade on these juxtapositions while implying and perhaps provoking a series of questions using our familiar relationship a fabric as a point of reference, or, if you prefer, departure. Hell, the jeans encasing Burr’s bent kneed concrete represented the only real denim in the show. Meanwhile Warhol, represented at the Gallery by his early film <span style="font-style:italic;">Blow Jo</span>b, (1964), and a framed 1971 record jacket sleeve for the Rolling Stones’ album <span style="font-style:italic;">Sticky Fingers</span>, complete, we’re told, with working zipper, made his cameo count with only a practical picture of pants on a commercial art product and a hint of no pants in action. Warhol at NYU? What a way to make the most of your Lady Gaga moment.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0LenLLawpua7cT5vyCpmCbicLd_gR055PTAf3QPnQmo2JhWD7-VQ_EEoRsRccbv_GHxzdzeZ00PRYvXtOfvi3RZqtwwuGd78deH-n3V8SjsMb6WbjjZl6cz_WpqG1PruMcYqR26R_xXk/s1600/valie+export+genital+panic.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 231px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0LenLLawpua7cT5vyCpmCbicLd_gR055PTAf3QPnQmo2JhWD7-VQ_EEoRsRccbv_GHxzdzeZ00PRYvXtOfvi3RZqtwwuGd78deH-n3V8SjsMb6WbjjZl6cz_WpqG1PruMcYqR26R_xXk/s320/valie+export+genital+panic.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463209922450425954" /></a>A concern with fashion, in fact, both actual and artistic/cultural, lay just below the surface in this runway of art featuring work in many media from 11 artists and ranging over the last half century. That would place the work in response to the “emergence” referenced in the press release, but squarely inside the “ingraining.” Said to have been originally inspired in part by the guns prominent in the Export performance artist’s work of the late 60’ and 70’s, the show veered instead towards the spectacle of artists’ depictions of our meta erotic fascination with what we wear and how we let it represent us. Thus we have Valie Export's gelatin silver image <span style="font-style:italic;">Genital Panic</span>, 1969, from the <span style="font-style:italic;">Action Pants</span> series, in which she has photographed herself with her crotch partially exposed while holding a rifle – a proto Patty Hearst.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Talking ‘bout a revolution, well, you know,</span> the press release mentions that, too: <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">“The artists in DENIM explore the multifarious connotations of a material that began its life as a fabric for work clothes, but has become, over the past few decades, a material for fashion, both instant and high-end couture. For Rimanelli, denim not only refers to fashion but also functions as a psychic material, sheathing ideas that range from the erotic to the implicitly revolutionary.”<br /></span><br />Multifarious connotations sheathing ideas? Sounds erotically revolutionary to me. But then again so do work clothes, at least in this context. Standing among the elements of Mike Smith’s single channel video installation <span style="font-style:italic;">Secret Horror</span>, 1980, I found myself dipping in to the bowl of chocolate covered raisins and coffee beans, thoughtfully provided as part of the piece. Yes, Virginia, you can eat art, even as you begin counting the patrons at the opening decked out in denim, and beginning with yours truly. <br /><br />After all, ain’t it the people with their romantic hopes and dreams of better living through cotton and commerce that make all this worthwhile? Mind the gap, and while we’re counting, recall that old perhaps apocryphal slogan of the French Situationists from roughly the same time period referenced in the emergence and the ingraining: <span style="font-style:italic;">“Désirs érotiques saper les fondements de l'ordre établi </span> [Erotic desires undermine the basis of the established order].”<br /><br />I slipped in through the curtain cordoning off the gallery screening <span style="font-style:italic;">Blow Job</span> from the one containing <span style="font-style:italic;">Secret Horror</span>. I tuned in to the small gestures of both the movie and the mostly student/academic crowd. In the few times I’ve visited <a href="http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/80wse/">80WSE</a>, I’ve become impressed with it as a jewel box for quirky and provocative little exhibitions introducing the younger artists now making their way through the academy to <span style="font-style:italic;">Denim</span>, Stuart Sherman and the like, even as it adds its soft spoken voice to the loud and crowded New York art circus. Now it stands to serve in turn, in its current annual MFA show, as these student artists’ portal opening on to this fabulous fashion city’s art scene.<br /><br />Wandering back to the first interior gallery, I encountered the publicist <a href="http://www.deborahhughesinc.com/">Deborah Hughes</a> and the two women from her firm helping her handle PR for the opening. All exuded a cool and casual elegance in their no-nonsense pony tails, figure flattering sweaters, and heeled boots under, you guessed it, well fitted designer jeans. These women service the real fashion world and their presence and their attire (their uniform; their work clothes, actually) seemed to point many of the questions the show begged to ask. If anything comes between them and their [you name the designer], it would truly have to be a work of art.DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-69331697205490477842009-09-18T08:29:00.000-07:002009-09-18T22:15:17.015-07:00Studies in Whimsy and Flesh: dear peter, love nora @ 100 Grand, August 28<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1coN80P5qlKnhJmyjBde_pe96qwkK6iihUGMTMXq4Cw7ILCVCocWNegZU4PutjyPBi_tjdWSYdb7Tqb2MQYBcwFcd4VGao3ew3l9e2DNLzXe5Ar7PSdcwnPBesSJjwA8wx0luGjsJ3cw/s1600-h/peter+chamberlin.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1coN80P5qlKnhJmyjBde_pe96qwkK6iihUGMTMXq4Cw7ILCVCocWNegZU4PutjyPBi_tjdWSYdb7Tqb2MQYBcwFcd4VGao3ew3l9e2DNLzXe5Ar7PSdcwnPBesSJjwA8wx0luGjsJ3cw/s400/peter+chamberlin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382836093845114610" /></a>The first hint of whimsy arrives in the form of the riot of old fashioned table lamps, complete with shades, hung upside down from the ceiling and replacing the normal lighting in the main dance space of the second floor loft at 100 Grand St. in Manhattan. Chairs for the audience have been ranged along the windowed wall overlooking the eponymous street, and at a ¾ angle in the loft’s southeastern corner. Facing this latter quadrant after the lights dim and then resume their warm glow Peter Chamberlin begins “19/20,” a 6 minute solo that sets the tone for an engaging evening of dance exploration.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Peter Chamberlin in "19/20" <br />photos by Hope Davis</span></span><br /><br />Chamberlin’s work features the focused miniaturized quality of etudes. But these studies exhibit technical and compositional acumen of a budding master. In “19/20” he appears to lay a repeating series of 19 patterns for the upper body: head, torso, shoulders, arms, hands , over 20 variations for the legs and particularly the feet. The shifting transitions from one combination to the next steadily increase in tempo to match that of the quickening staccato thump underpinning <a href="http://www.rhapsody.com/sam-crawford/mr-perfect-in-monochrome">Sam Crawford’s</a> chordal accompanying recorded score.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-Dbyl9S86ZGbeeJak5ddO6NZHA3lJEz9lXvffYuGwOn88yF29bG3zwgKkmseqzV96S9maHoWoLY4yU4QuvZLumgerx1JqAsOyclL2a8UAQFdmCXaqzkJXTf6t3CJyT73XVOAE9a3Dhc/s1600-h/untitled+1+pc.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-Dbyl9S86ZGbeeJak5ddO6NZHA3lJEz9lXvffYuGwOn88yF29bG3zwgKkmseqzV96S9maHoWoLY4yU4QuvZLumgerx1JqAsOyclL2a8UAQFdmCXaqzkJXTf6t3CJyT73XVOAE9a3Dhc/s320/untitled+1+pc.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382841833280816610" /></a>“Untitled” pairs the radiant and articulate Shayla-Vie Jenkins with the coolly articulate Hsiao–Jou Tang in patterns that go from head and shoulders to feet in poses and walks shot through with swift silent and limber side falls and rises. The dancers provide such a visual and kinetic feast in the robust suppleness of their realization of Chamberlin’s choreography that even the simple crisp change of a walking pattern from vertical to horizontal orientation across the stage registers with the force of revelation. Like the dancemaker, these women make maximum use of their fabulous feet.<br /> <br />Having watched with interest <a href="http://www.pocketengine.org/dancers.html">Nora Petroliunas</a>’ work as a principal in the artistic directorship of the collective <a href="http://www.pocketengine.org/about.html">pocket engine</a>, I stood unsurprised at intermission as the audience received square pieces of scrap paper from her dancers along with instructions for rearranging itself. Pocket engine’s piece(s) had included roles for the audience and innovative use of the space. <br /> <br />Once the chairs had been replaced in a U-shaped, ¾ in the round configuration; the curved end facing 100 Grand’s mirrored wall, the question of a vantage point became an intriguing one. I determined that a standing spot next to the full-sized litter basket at the bottom of the right hand arm of the U allowed an excellent view of the space including the entire audience with and without the use of the mirrors. It also took in the full span of the windows above Grand St., one of which promised to figure in some way in what would come.<br /> <br />Almost directly in front of me, at the edge of the main performance area, stood a decorative cast iron coat and hat stand with a yellow cotton rain coat hanging from one its curved prongs. In the far right corner, similarly situated, a four foot tall artificial Christmas tree festooned with ½ pint lavender milk cartons awaited its cameo. Three large cereal boxes occupied the opposite corner. Origami cranes strung in spiral climbed the floor stand of an empty hanging bird cage by the one open window.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">(<span style="font-style:italic;">l to r) Peter Chamberlin (obscured), Tess Igarta, Sarah Bodley, Hsiao–Jou Tang</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6LvUIB9LL47UcRlrTLkfGQHR0e2usfndPJEiqYAq97Rdzu2-GbXMK8gGj4jbaJLvtzAgwc6lD6kj7YQi_QHlhtd77NBHVQushpuZ_P1UtNzZUfyysvaK_j00Vgj60WRdj_agDPWzGEKM/s1600-h/goose+group.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6LvUIB9LL47UcRlrTLkfGQHR0e2usfndPJEiqYAq97Rdzu2-GbXMK8gGj4jbaJLvtzAgwc6lD6kj7YQi_QHlhtd77NBHVQushpuZ_P1UtNzZUfyysvaK_j00Vgj60WRdj_agDPWzGEKM/s320/goose+group.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382841016269069106" /></a>The six dancers, 4 in white dresses or skirts, 2 in white pants and shirts stand in the space facing in several directions. First 3, and then 2 more fall into motion as <a href="http://www.myspace.com/saul">Saul Simon MacWilliams'</a> recorded score brings the opus “goose” to life. Throughout the first musical segment, Lesley Garrison stands her ground while Sarah Bodley, Tess Igarta, Tang, Julia Burrer, and Chamberlin fly through a series of backwards, forwards and side runs and falls, turns, and twists in patterns that remind me of choreographic palindromes.<br /> <br />The piece develops in trios, duets and solos in a poetry of earnest playfulness. Petroliunas proves as masterly in presenting each of her dancers as individual movers as she does in compositional craft. She also displays a penchant for whimsical distraction and displacement. After Burrer and Igarta have engaged in a solo-duet-solo sequence the rangy Burrer dons the rain coat and begins pulling a seemingly endless supply of stainless steel tea spoons out of various pockets. These she hands to individual members of the audience.<br /> <br />We’ve come to a pause. Tang and Bodley ask us to take out our scrap paper and lead us in an attempt to create origami frogs. The others collect them in the cereal boxes.<br /> <br />Chamberlin and Tang dance a charming Fred and Ginger style duet, complete with soft shoe. The milk cartons come off the Christmas tree to be distributed to the audience members lining the windows. Inside each, they find a note instructing them to go to the fire escape window and look down. Several climb out onto the balcony. One later informs me that she watched four dancers perform in sneakers on the opposite sidewalk of Grand Street.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAfXayNuAojVKOLTQQOY44T_Ee4nu-wnfKGo1HtuMqtO6JV2c8JyadMky30qgW41gjsi14BMVsiRlK35KWiHVeuqo0UnGmxfajA3j89Zj-1K47vOPR_8GJlBaA2Wrkt9ooV54iFuUoYg/s1600-h/goose+window.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFAfXayNuAojVKOLTQQOY44T_Ee4nu-wnfKGo1HtuMqtO6JV2c8JyadMky30qgW41gjsi14BMVsiRlK35KWiHVeuqo0UnGmxfajA3j89Zj-1K47vOPR_8GJlBaA2Wrkt9ooV54iFuUoYg/s200/goose+window.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382842155949505474" /></a>The dancing progresses with a steady and formal attention to its compositional development. Figures I recall from earlier work come and go in lines of dancers, designs for soloists, duets, trios, ensembles. Bodley, Burrer and Tang mount the fire escape and “release” the origami cranes from their string. Garrison pulls individual members of the audience out to shadow the dancers original positions onstage. Each time she finds herself hurled aside and displaced by another dancer. When all the doppelgangers have taken their place, she can rest at last, secure in her own. The "goose" comes home.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">(l to r) Julia Burrer, Tess Igarta, Hsiao–Jou Tang, Lesley Garrison (in silhouette)</span></span><br /> <br />Petroliunas has achieved a remarkable balance between challenge and accessibility, formal rigor and serious play, and a sense of intimacy within an experience of community. With “goose” she has also announced her arrival in Manhattan as a choreographer of daring and whimsical imaginative gifts.DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-64533410495092235392009-08-19T19:14:00.000-07:002009-08-23T21:01:33.657-07:00Dumb Show Smarts: Lucy Gillespie's "Driving: a Lesson"<span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">photos by <a href="http://www.printroom.com/studio_homepage.asp?domain_name=hashimoto">Brian Hashimoto</a></span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ5qpUDybcgQjLiqa0AAGsIJIGfs9rnUTwvJ_5z9-adkvmzcnYxfO0PRifiNc455PZVrC_eTSok90Juv3W-biZ_pek7ldpWQ4KG4x9vLej5T1coZAbiFIa0Bl5SbbU8ApL-MId9houYXE/s1600-h/gillespie4166.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 143px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ5qpUDybcgQjLiqa0AAGsIJIGfs9rnUTwvJ_5z9-adkvmzcnYxfO0PRifiNc455PZVrC_eTSok90Juv3W-biZ_pek7ldpWQ4KG4x9vLej5T1coZAbiFIa0Bl5SbbU8ApL-MId9houYXE/s320/gillespie4166.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371878727693036322" /></a>“Fucking Paki driving instructor!” <br /> <br />Lucy Gillespie, as the character Julie, spits out these words in the climactic and penultimate line of her 15 minute <span style="font-style:italic;">Driving: A Lesson</span>. The play premiered on the program of <a href="http://www.therianttheatre.com/strawberry.html">Riant Theatre’s Strawberry One Act Festival</a> at the <a href="http://www.stclementsnyc.org/">Theatre at St. Clement’s</a> on August 15.<br /> <br />The minute long denouement that follows takes place in silence as Julie and Ranit (<a href="http://www.myspace.com/11896187">Fawad Siddiqui</a>), the older man she has sworn at, exchange places in the learner vehicle they have occupied. The only glances they have cast at each other during this uncomfortable interval have been sidelong, as they both regard the precipice of the chasm that has loomed up between them. <br /> <br />Siddiqui mimes the re-attachment of his shoulder harness and the re-engagement of the car’s ignition, while Gillespie’s Julie sits motionless.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRclNcs6kefusnF0mjLkxXE4GHdstJB8fu1nAWHwbj6mRUaipmcw_HHLzzdI-RMuj349Jvd0_Jk6IYK9nD9qPTWKbpcg3ZDU6pEUdm3qlSdl6x4Apa0lX4vmdohruYJhPM7EKXyHpVwtQ/s1600-h/gillespie4156.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 215px; height: 143px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRclNcs6kefusnF0mjLkxXE4GHdstJB8fu1nAWHwbj6mRUaipmcw_HHLzzdI-RMuj349Jvd0_Jk6IYK9nD9qPTWKbpcg3ZDU6pEUdm3qlSdl6x4Apa0lX4vmdohruYJhPM7EKXyHpVwtQ/s400/gillespie4156.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371881503568114626" /></a>“Seatbelt,” Ranit reminds her.<br /> <br />The driving instructor’s warning might have served for the audience as well. Over the course of their interaction we have had ample opportunity to watch Julie’s sense of outrage build at the casual cultural sexist arrogance of this family man, who thinks nothing of speculating on the menstrual status and practice of this suburban London university student:<br /> <br />“I bet you use a tampon during the day, and a towel at night.” <br /> <br />She has retaliated by suggesting an appropriate intimate location in which he might bury the former. <br /> <br />He has also revealed the humiliating frustration inherent in his servile role as driving tutor, despite his advanced degrees in Economics, English and European Literature, placing his own car at their service in the bargain. Julie’s major in History will not save either of them from that which they find themselves destined to repeat.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz06T0R2na8h95APoZyS76W0XZqTzytlBK0uadCwDpEHj9PRdvYFpmkPx7vwOnHgg0R0yMuGhnQb2KN-5QdpZc1NnIh-tCKs9dH3iq3UVhV5xUMJy5hhfyRnnP5CPdAseaQcyyEhU6J50/s1600-h/gillespie4167.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 143px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz06T0R2na8h95APoZyS76W0XZqTzytlBK0uadCwDpEHj9PRdvYFpmkPx7vwOnHgg0R0yMuGhnQb2KN-5QdpZc1NnIh-tCKs9dH3iq3UVhV5xUMJy5hhfyRnnP5CPdAseaQcyyEhU6J50/s320/gillespie4167.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371881370123946514" /></a>Siddiqui imbues Ranit with a convincing sense of moral myopia inside a physical presence that suggests a full communion with his character’s body. When he lays his arm along the seat behind his charge’s back he creates a vague sense of casual creepiness only heightened by his character’s apparent lack of awareness of, or concern with, boundaries.<br /> <br />Gillespie’s Julie seems much less at ease. She hunches forward at the wheel; her voice strains, rises and falls in pitch as much as her arms do in the mime sequences in which she turns an imaginary steering wheel. I wonder how these two smell to one another.<br /> <br />Director Brian Hashimoto seems to have striven to heighten the intimacy of the situation by enclosing this pair behind 4 black theater set cubes stacked to create a kind of dashboard square. Unfortunately, this cuts off the audience’s view of his player’s bodies below the ribs, forcing us to work with only half the physical information. <br /> <br />The lack of a practical steering wheel created a distracting sense of struggle in the mime. And although the sound cues for door openings and closings came off perfectly, the attention afforded their frequent repetition made them appear precious. The director, however, has a good eye for movement and the right ear for silence.<br /> <br />Gillespie’s <span style="font-style:italic;">Driving</span>, in its first incarnation, stands as a lesson in theatrical shorthand with hints of full-fledged brilliance. She has sketched the essence of characters whose spirit seems willing to emerge, but whose flesh will require work to shake us as profoundly as they do in that silent minute. DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-41164771854346500002009-08-18T11:25:00.000-07:002009-08-18T14:02:50.155-07:00Technique courts Bliss in its dance: making love and art in lead/ follow<span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">by guest writer Liz Miller: author and blogger of <a href="http://www.danceislove.com/">Dance Is Love</span></span></a> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">photo by Mike Howard</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhItfCCpDql2sc-BT12obPZmiTIMeMQ68xhrxTExNdfcmodcvxeVGSwIuMjSXVS4T02Hd9_KWJ4L79LeoNsJHL0hFGiqZq4wYfSVjy3S3dtGWbni2CmU8hyphenhyphenD-5enRG8WMyYDVIiw7-EZjA/s1600-h/liztriplesmall-211x300.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 211px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhItfCCpDql2sc-BT12obPZmiTIMeMQ68xhrxTExNdfcmodcvxeVGSwIuMjSXVS4T02Hd9_KWJ4L79LeoNsJHL0hFGiqZq4wYfSVjy3S3dtGWbni2CmU8hyphenhyphenD-5enRG8WMyYDVIiw7-EZjA/s320/liztriplesmall-211x300.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371376768195274946" /></a>The genre of dance I love best involves leading and following. It is a partner dance called the lindy hop, which can be roughly described as an intense form of swing dancing. Despite the terms, leading and following do not denote dictation of the dance by one person and compliance by the other. A good leader generates power and direction. He may provide acceleration or deceleration while suggesting trajectory. A good follower stays true to these parameters, which may shift unpredictably. <br /> <br />Artists understand that diligent study of technique sublimates the tools necessary to create powerful expression. However, disproportionate focus on mechanics can obscure or cancel the overall effectiveness of a piece. Ideally, a command of technique simultaneously removes it from view and facilitates the experience of seamless and shining truth.<br /> <br />Mainstream culture tends to emphasize a dichotomy, particularly in dance, between practice and abandon. “You can’t think too much. You just have to let it flow,” runs the conventional wisdom, particularly in regard to following in partner dancing (usually the woman’s part). This idea covers half of the story at best. My study of and devotion to dancing has taught me that greater skill enables greater passion and fulfillment. Although I am a professional, I know many hobbyists who have experienced the joyful moments of expression and connection for which we all pine; for which we all live, as a direct result of studying dance technique. <br /> <br />On the social floor, dancing may appear as a specific sequence of rehearsed moves. Most likely, the dancers have not practiced the sequence together but rather the mode of communication - leading or following or both - with other partners whom they encountered in the social dance scene. Leading and following may be compared to conversation. Most of us don’t rehearse dialogues or speeches before we go out to meet with friends. At the same time, we know that the more we practice language, the richer our conversations become. After lindy-hopping with an almost perfect stranger in a bar somewhere not my hometown, I usually hear someone ask, “How long have you two been dancing together? You just flow so well.” <br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRrGY9rUaqFxe8A9khz7eGd8GwuWaZZNZ_vvahBucurW6s7F12OvJ8m13WgNN2dWBRwORTsOItVRzL3M-jseX3YRGOoJYGfFw9naVD6BIbPvyxAh-5fvSU0YMH92ZkcO_R87L_rz5rw8U/s1600-h/415ywthrowlook.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 132px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRrGY9rUaqFxe8A9khz7eGd8GwuWaZZNZ_vvahBucurW6s7F12OvJ8m13WgNN2dWBRwORTsOItVRzL3M-jseX3YRGOoJYGfFw9naVD6BIbPvyxAh-5fvSU0YMH92ZkcO_R87L_rz5rw8U/s200/415ywthrowlook.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371385252713973810" /></a>The word flow is used consistently to describe even the most ordinary of social dances. Fancy tricks and footwork have no impact unless under girded by solid partnering. People talk excitedly about the flips or the kicks they saw, but they might not have enjoyed watching these moves without the snap, crackle and shape shifting energy of lead/follow.<br /> <br />The following excerpts from my memoir, Dance Is Love, illustrate different ways in which leading and following heighten the experience of life. The book is about my passion for and compulsion to dance. Partner dance can highlight sensuality and sexuality. Other joyful and even transcendent emotions - those that pave the way for personal growth, learning, and understanding - can be felt as well. Read additional excerpts at <a href="http://www.danceislove.com/">www.danceislove.com</a>. <span style="font-weight:bold;"> `````````````````````````````````````<span style="font-style:italic;">photo by Mike Howard</span></span><br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Lead/ follow in lindy hop can be...</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style:italic;">...a crucial component of art:</span></span><br />Kendall and I have worked considerably on the entrance into tandem Charleston - that favorite lindy hop move in which the leader dances behind the follower, both of them doing the Charleston. At the snap and direction he provides, I back into him. His hands connect to mine and our arms become springs through which his body can incite the next variation. <br /> <br />When we do this entrance correctly, he can lead turns or jumps at the same instant that his hands catch mine. All the while I must actively integrate the connections within my own body, and between my feet and the floor, so as not to lose a drop of that precious, exciting, thrilling momentum. Ideally we are like a machine in which no energy is lost to entropy. He is the dreamer and I am the dream; he is the driver and I the perfectly tuned sports car on the mountain road. <br /> <br />We need each other to make the ephemeral, spontaneous art that has claimed our lives. Even during previously determined, arduously rehearsed choreography, I must still follow his lead. Otherwise power is lost, little mistakes become deadly, and worst of all, the feeling is all wrong.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">...a transcendent experience:</span></span><br /><br />Jake led me in the most melting, slow, perfectly timed dance of my whole life. Literally and figuratively, he cradled me, supported me through every single little ball-change, pirouette, or twist I felt like doing, added his own brilliant lock steps and drops, dragged me around, dipped me, bumped me into the air and braked my landing. My dewy eyes tracked over a green line painted on the floor as I focused on following, and I felt something I never had before. I felt truly full. Hungry, overtired, but absolutely full. <br /> <br />The ever-present internal void was gone. This is the void I face when attempting to surmount even small obstacles in the artistic process. It threatens to engulf me in emptiness, in feelings of worthlessness and despair; it drives me to fill my life with distractions. I am so used to it being always there that its absence gave way to a completely foreign joy I will never forget. In a few minutes this experience was over: the fate of all dances.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">...love:</span></span><br />Kendall started with an in connection, coaxing my chest onto his chest. The first time he had taught me that way to connect, we were preparing to teach a blues class that had been requested by some of my students.<br /> <br />“First we show them how to breathe together,” he’d explained. This had taken place in my studio at home; Peter had been at basketball practice.<br /> <br />“Okay,” I’d said.<br /> <br />“You come in. I put you here. We shouldn’t have to use our arms.” He let go of my back as I leaned into his chest. “Now you try following my breathing.”<br /> <br />“Meaning I inhale and exhale at the same time as you?”<br /> <br />“Yeah.”<br /> <br />You’re kidding, I’d thought. The top of my head met the lower side of his jaw and I could feel and hear his gum-chewing. The breathing did help me to follow, though. Even our students didn’t mind tuning in to each other this way, the next evening in class. I chalked up their gameness to the ice-breaking activities I had planned and executed beforehand: playground interactions like pushing on each other’s hands, then one partner moving side to side, trying to prevent the other partner from passing.<br /> <br />So, last night, at the Monday night dance, Kendall began with an in connection, walking forward. He moved my legs with his. I love you, I thought blissfully. Oh, the thrill of blues: elongated, melting, yet tolerable: space for strength and surrender, anchored and floating at once, time for crisp direction changes and slowly-unfolding trajectories, for extra spins and for <span style="font-style:italic;">be here on this foot now</span>. <br /> <br />Kendall led ochos - in which I swish each leg in turn to cross in front of the other, a difficult move from Argentine tango that all the lindy hoppers try but few accomplish.<br /> <br />“Those felt really good,” he remarked, although to me they were just as good as always when he leads them, and I kept going; he lifted me so that my legs swung in a slow 180-degree arc before placing me on my left foot. We’d worked on that one.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">...a study in finding happiness:</span></span><br />When good following is this important, we girls have quite a conundrum. Trying is not quite the right thing to do. We have to be: ourselves, the moment, the music, the boy’s dream - all in order to fulfill our own. We must detach from the thing we so dearly desire: in this case, the most sublime dance possible. Be now, I ordered myself, willfully shutting out past and future. It became a mantra.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">photo by Jaclyn Gavino</span></span> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCibm0vKwz3C6s05u-eHG7XrOPbkpZ5GFPvIhvbS09R7HTkJXqWKweT0xBQHLab5sRLU_jisji3mqytoODJedZEykr-EZGDDwpPBxVOl7pN8_Gj1Amd89_cXi0WVu5iB915e0LyNZq3Vk/s1600-h/lizmiller2008lesterdip.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCibm0vKwz3C6s05u-eHG7XrOPbkpZ5GFPvIhvbS09R7HTkJXqWKweT0xBQHLab5sRLU_jisji3mqytoODJedZEykr-EZGDDwpPBxVOl7pN8_Gj1Amd89_cXi0WVu5iB915e0LyNZq3Vk/s320/lizmiller2008lesterdip.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371389993551372946" /></a>“Pardon me,” the singer crooned, “but I’ve gotta run/ The fact’s uncomfortably clear/ Gotta find that old number one/ And why my angel eyes ain’t here.”<br /> <br />One of my best relationships was undone by this song, when, from the back of the Student Center in the fall of 1993, I heard my favorite musician sound check that melodic line on his tenor saxophone.<br /> <br />Now, at Blues Cafe, I let Jake do what he wanted. I tried not to try to hard. His low slung West-Coast boogaloo entertained and inspired me, asked much but demanded little. I floated and released into dips. I corralled my center into pirouettes aided by his well-timed hand. After a sweeping dip, I let momentum carry my left leg around his hip and back under me. Then he swung me out and slapped his knees and then the floor as I jumped and snapped my fingers in the air. We laughed. From the corner near stage right, girls watched.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">...a bad experience</span></span><br />I began chatting with Jonathan about Indigo Swing and how I loved Willie’s piano playing. Jonathan seemed to get what I was saying but didn’t hear the two-against-three polyrhythm I pointed out late in the second solo. I became even more animated when I saw, out of the corner of my eye, an awkward smiling tense suburban guy hopping up and down with one hand stretched toward me. I was hoping he’d notice me absorbed in conversation and give up, but he stepped closer and asked me to dance with him. Well, at least he used his words.<br /> <br />“I love leading basics and just watching you do your thing!” he cried. His “basics” consisted of rounded shoulders, tense arms and long uncontrolled steps. I tried to lose myself in the song, singing “I’m just a baby in this business of love,” thinking how true that was, but the yanking and pulling made me wince more than once.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">...absolutely essential</span></span><br />I stopped short of advancing completely into the double-handed connection during our class at the Dance Complex last Saturday, because I was demonstrating to the class what not to do. Kendall began to sputter, and even as I explained the purpose of deliberately stopping the momentum, he removed his Red Sox cap and threw it on the light-colored hardwood floor. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror as I laughed.<br /> <br />“He was about to yell at me,” I explained to the students. “‘Follow, dammit!’ Welcome to practice with Lynn and Kendall.”<br /> <br />Then we demo’d again and of course I came all the way in. I know the importance of that by now. If I don’t give everything I get, nothing works.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">...a fulfillment of childhood fantasy:</span></span><br />Michael showed up to the last event I ran in Boston. I forgot his name three times in conversation before promising to remember it during our first blues dance, at about midnight. <br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCfUzDDU762oPNghdWemD0sA6Po2GIap9rUPbw_wC5KAktEuaCVSt9vc9EXKp_LPpraF1Di9WPdin1DNVt9pmvimIJsV9SOWff1ifzA8LL47SUICOeKfAtohmSAkM4xb4OiOd6zr-DUnE/s1600-h/lizmillerpartner012.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCfUzDDU762oPNghdWemD0sA6Po2GIap9rUPbw_wC5KAktEuaCVSt9vc9EXKp_LPpraF1Di9WPdin1DNVt9pmvimIJsV9SOWff1ifzA8LL47SUICOeKfAtohmSAkM4xb4OiOd6zr-DUnE/s320/lizmillerpartner012.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371388848453874322" /></a>I felt grateful for my training as a follower, for he was good. Tricky, in a lovely way. He stretched me, gave me turns down the slot and catapulted me in another direction when I least expected it. He gave me pop turns from his left side, not only his right; and as I whirled away from him with the acceleration he’d initiated, he connected his forearm to my tricep and gave me another turn; some boys call that a crank turn. <br /> <br />Despite the refined timing these sequences required, there was no sense of hurry. We were dancing slowly, merely emphasizing intense sections of the music. He also led turns and drags in closed position, and a bump that sent my feet into the air. There were elaborate dips, too: expertly led outside turns that somehow slid slyly into a connection between the back of his hand and the back of my neck. The way he was positioned underneath me left no doubt as to how much of my weight I could give him. I could feel it; to look and assess would have broken the flow. Dancing with Michael made me feel like a princess.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">photo by Mike Howard</span></span><br />_____________________________________<br />I teach people to dance so that they will also experience these blissful states, moments of self expression and synchrony.<br /> <br />Here in Madrid, I regularly coach a dance team. I train the girls to track true, to maintain and return momentum; I help the guys lead with their bodies, allowing their arms to act as springs. Although these concepts seem simple, for most of us they require considerable repetition to be absorbed into the body, to become tools used to serve the greater purpose of creating ephemeral art with another person.<br /> <br />“Why do we study leading and following?” I quizzed them, the other day. We were rehearsing, as usual, in the park. In Madrid it hardly ever rains in summer. The rain, in Spain stays …<br /> <br />“For communication?” said one member.<br /> <br />“Yes,” I answered, “and because good leading and following feels fantastic. The more we study, the better we feel.” The better we feel, the more alive we become.DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-31170897854567498102009-08-06T22:11:00.000-07:002009-08-06T23:24:14.336-07:00Girl Gown Wild: Kelly Samara's "Being Patient" at Manhattan Repertory Theatre's Summer Fest '09, August 5 - 7"I'd rather be in the presence of that painting <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/rousseau/gypsy.jpg.html">The Sleeping Gypsy</a>,</span> … and see what that does to me," <a href="http://www.kellysamara.com/">Kelly Samara’s</a> patient intimates from within her flimsy hospital johnny. Dreaming and dream life, and deep wooded magic mountains indeed represent recurrent preoccupations among several in the inner monologue of this character. And she objects to her one-piece wardrobe, especially as described by the staff: <br /><br />“’Gown’ is what I fantasize about wearing to the Oscars. ‘Gown’ has the word Versace in front of it,” she declares, later imagining herself more glamorously decked out on the red carpet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDsGNyoRbolPE8dYVufNYriEN1Icmb3tmGnV1brhjrxGHsp8pkbVoX_5MvoUCU7gfdDAV0ZMTF2VsTfESkTbqyUge7ToBjguWQvfcdpPRx_I9Yse9il3zphrd1kKj-SJVR6SBezEVFLkM/s1600-h/bpMG1230.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDsGNyoRbolPE8dYVufNYriEN1Icmb3tmGnV1brhjrxGHsp8pkbVoX_5MvoUCU7gfdDAV0ZMTF2VsTfESkTbqyUge7ToBjguWQvfcdpPRx_I9Yse9il3zphrd1kKj-SJVR6SBezEVFLkM/s200/bpMG1230.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367086298882123554" /></a>And why not? When we meet this patient, she lets us know that she been haunting the 11th floor, where “the cart squeals as it wheels slowly down the empty, odorless hallway,” for “2 months, 3 weeks and 5 days.” Over the course of 45 minutes, she will gossip, ruminate, yearn, opine, muse, define, philosophize, sing, receive an unseen visitor, and toy with a string in an abbreviated explication of cat’s cradle -- all in a series of episodes that suggest the warp of the time that hangs ever heavy on her hands. <br /><br />“It’s getting to be 6 months,” she declares, about a third of the way through.<br /><br />Her monologues, all but one of which address the audience directly, alternate with flashes of fierce, hip hop inflected modern jazz and, at one point, balletic dancing to music ranging from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trip_hop">dance/trip-hop</a> to <a href="http://www.imeem.com/kainogamy/music/6GdnSEN8/massive-attack-teardrop/">"Teardrop" by Massive Attack</a>. Bracketing the piece, and occasionally replacing the dance interludes, poetic incantations underscored by music pit the patient’s recorded voice against that of a disembodied male-modulated speaker with a robotic quality similar to that of the <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_hawking_asks_big_questions_about_the_universe.html">ALS afflicted physicist Stephen Hawking</a>. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdxzMdwXShaXqxveO8iD1YjrdZ2a2zKL3vfqB4_J6_HZboiW7CXxuXAppwqojkjZorjGgJpuXwS0EoBgjKJd0VcnBOseCy7eGX4mA0YWwcQ1Un1hmC4fydmNAbVNWYcJd7FtIADWxL10/s1600-h/bp8.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdxzMdwXShaXqxveO8iD1YjrdZ2a2zKL3vfqB4_J6_HZboiW7CXxuXAppwqojkjZorjGgJpuXwS0EoBgjKJd0VcnBOseCy7eGX4mA0YWwcQ1Un1hmC4fydmNAbVNWYcJd7FtIADWxL10/s320/bp8.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367095024021540738" /></a>Often director AJ Heekin has the patient literally dancing in the dark, dimming Vadim Ledvin’s lighting to cross-fade with reflections from a disco ball for both the dancing and voiceover sequences. (The latter have been designed by sound architect Dave Abel.) This dark matter reinforces the evocation of both the passage of time and the concomitant chafing and discomfiture of the young woman’s spirit. <br /><br />Under Heekin’s able direction, <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.kellysamara.com/id67.html">Being Patient</a></span> unfolds as a mini <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesamtkunstwerk">gesamtkunstwerk</a>, showcasing Samara’s considerable talents as a theatrical wordsmith, lyrical and physical poet, actor, dancer, and singer. On stage she reminds me intensely of a <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.merilstreep.com/images/pictures/large/meryl-streep7.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.merilstreep.com/7&h=441&w=304&sz=50&tbnid=AQKNheXHXDQ0dM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=88&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmeryl%2Bstreep&hl=en&usg=__4u_PVSa9vkdHEBEPnlR66Syux-M=&ei=Gb57SrbRD8OMtgf194j7AQ&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=7&ct=image">young Meryl Streep</a>, in facial resemblance, charm, grace, physical and vocal mannerism, playfulness and dexterity. <br /><br />Talent, stagecraft and direction can, however, only take us so far into the inner life of this patient. In this incarnation, the piece doesn’t quite add up to the sum of its parts. The choreography seems to stand at times arms length from the lyrical language. Samara dances well, but her dance designs don’t warm to, kiss off of, revel or play with the sound or sense of her word images as engagingly as she does. As perhaps the most potentially exciting and distinctive element in a distinguishing work, the dancing bristles with a broader ambition than illustration or embellishment.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcJ78qor_khq1adDe64eCAjuLa0G73ZVadrfR4lNEr3NnZEHeyuSnuNpB0rLH9P78V8kvHQ8F_Wdepuk2lar4CvOFIYdn52LqNwIngYVZyVeScjx6BGN6-O2_AdsvHRWpc77i7LYz-E0/s1600-h/bp6.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 316px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFcJ78qor_khq1adDe64eCAjuLa0G73ZVadrfR4lNEr3NnZEHeyuSnuNpB0rLH9P78V8kvHQ8F_Wdepuk2lar4CvOFIYdn52LqNwIngYVZyVeScjx6BGN6-O2_AdsvHRWpc77i7LYz-E0/s320/bp6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367096424125348594" /></a>“I don’t like the way this world works. I never have. It makes me sick. I think it’s what made me sick,” she says in one of the voice-overs. But Samara never presents us with the ultimate nature of her malady, whether physical, mental or psychological. In her opening monologue, she appears drunk or drugged; intermittently so later, but less so. The locus of pain seems to shift, from hip to abdomen, maybe to chest. <br /><br />Perhaps its real seat can only be suggested existentially as heart or soul sickness. Could it ultimately lie outside the patient; for example in “all of the emotionally obstructed men in the world” that the author/performer somewhat sarcastically thanks in her program bio? The one monologue not addressed to the audience references an unseen visitor she calls Gabe who has just acquired a dapper dachshund puppy he has named Scooter, along with a new, perhaps problematic, perhaps romantic roommate. Perhaps both? <br /><br />“Does he scoot?” the patient needles.<br /><br />Later in the voice-over cited above, the patient, Hamlet like, conjures the release that death seems to offer. But ultimately someone else passes on. She has dreamed of keys, woods, vessels and houses. The yearning and sense of loss remains more hinted at than palpable. “We are porcelain,” the Stephen Hawking voice decides. But hope and longing remain, somewhere inside her doll/patient’s gown “soft, yet unyielding within my desire.” She remains unglued, “unable to mend us in this sweltering air.”<br /><br />“I have a visitor?” the patient asks/declares at the end, brightening.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Being Patient</span> reveals a theater artist and a team of collaborators replete with fresh talent, enormous energy and interesting ideas at the beginning of what look to be promising careers. If they revisit this patient, perhaps on another floor, they show every possibility of making her whole.DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-16882554854504322952009-06-30T09:03:00.001-07:002009-07-02T19:57:10.780-07:00"You're not nice!" : remembering Pina BauschI stood in the stage right wing of the <a href="http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=128">BAM</a> Opera House watching the brilliant performers of <a href="http://www.pina-bausch.de/">Tanztheater Wuppertal</a> in their dresses, suits, button shirts and pants slide on their butts through 3 inches of water along a diagonal line from the back to the front corners of this full-stage puddle. <br /><br />All hell had broken loose. Lively music percolated the scene. Elsewhere on the lake, company men and women ran on and off in dresses piling clothes on a line of women seated in chairs. Two scale model triple-masted galleons sailed towards each other across the water from opposite wings. Coming amidships they simultaneously fired full volleys, and this caused their paper sails to burst into flame. <br /><br />As the sliders moved and stopped, moved and stop they found themselves constantly splashed by a lithe young woman who ran from one to another with seeming abandon. Suddenly the woman they all called Pina stood at my shoulder. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxIAgBZ88ioTljxCvfoBmruh4ROtdtTg0dQM41fZxHHOxnH5R2MxAoXK150ZfWm-56eRUWpqVexVGp45JLscp5xwdHeq3VYJHpPMcmItAishvcNHp7VVooFic1Q7ScL8Afl72QPX8wrPs/s1600-h/Pina0,,3599916_1,00.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 194px; height: 143px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxIAgBZ88ioTljxCvfoBmruh4ROtdtTg0dQM41fZxHHOxnH5R2MxAoXK150ZfWm-56eRUWpqVexVGp45JLscp5xwdHeq3VYJHpPMcmItAishvcNHp7VVooFic1Q7ScL8Afl72QPX8wrPs/s400/Pina0,,3599916_1,00.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353169331545397714" /></a>By the time of this third BAM performance of her 3 hour <span style="font-style:italic;">Arien</span>, I already understood what her presence onstage portended. Something must have seemed off to her from her customary aisle seat in the last row of the house orchestra section. Never one to wait, she had arrived backstage to sort things out. <br /><br />Taking the splasher aside, she spoke intently and rapidly to her in German, her smokey voice rumbling with low passion and no-nonsense energy. The object of her attention had not performed in this role during the first two shows, and this must have represented the dancer's debut as a torturer. Breaking into English, Pina capped off her coaching. "Remember," she exhorted with a rising emphasis, "you are not nice!"<br /><br />Philipina "Pina" Bausch would never hesitate to challenge you. She has famously been quoted as saying "I'm not interested in how people move, but in what moves them." <br /><br />Wild thing, like many others, particularly performers, choreographers, theater artists, filmmakers, and writers across two generations, your evening-length dream scapes moved me. You could be in equal parts inspiring and exasperating; encouraging and intimidating; exhilarating and cautionary; horrifying and incredibly funny. <br /><br />I remember theater artist Robert Wilson's pithy one sentence appreciation of your poignant and hilarious <span style="font-style:italic;">1980</span>, the elegy you and your company created in the wake of the loss of your late lover and collaborator Rolf Borzig. The afternoon after we both had seen its opening night in your Next Wave series at BAM, I asked for his reaction. Measuring his phrases, his Texas-sized smile brightening to include wonder and glee, he intoned with increasing volume and incredulity, <br /><br />"I can't believe how those dancers<br />could do comedy<br />in English!"<br /><br />Truly no language of humanity has proved beyond <a href="http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/pina-bausch-a-worldly-choreographer/">your reach</a>.<br /><br />I had already seen your <span style="font-style:italic;">Rite of Spring</span>, and <span style="font-style:italic;">Cafe Muller</span> and perhaps even <span style="font-style:italic;">Bluebeard</span>. (The sequence escapes me.) But <span style="font-style:italic;">1980</span> opened a door for me. <br /><br />Without really understanding why, I had spoken up for another balcony ticket when it became available the night of my conversation with Wilson. As the second 3 1/2 hours of your waking dream began to wash over me, I witnessed the beguiling Beatrice Libonati crouch to kiss the green sod that covered the stage, just as she had several times the evening before. But this time her plaintive and now reliably predictable repeated declaration made me suddenly shiver. For when she looked up as if in wonder at the end of her task to declaim her lilting Italian-accented, "This piece of meadow is six kisses wide," it finally hit me that you had taken us to the grave site. And a piece that had been merely been an intriguing and pleasant semi-comic diversion the evening before now became a piquant meditation.<br /><br />I watched again one of your achingly gorgeous women -- for no matter how pretty or feminine, your girls, like you, always had steel -- amble deliberately across the back of the green as if reviewing the line of six suited men who had formed up near the left corner. They had all dropped trou and stood, bare ass to us, as she regarded with frank, evident and unhurried curiosity the sexual endowment of each one in turn. "These must be the pallbearers," I told myself, touched beyond tears by the candid humanity of the moment. I stand as one of them today, a witness in honor of you. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">More to come.</span>DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-13061179278878913062009-06-26T17:02:00.000-07:002009-06-28T22:34:38.665-07:00College Edge: Lang College at the New School and Marymount Manhattan stuff their strutI had to wait until I left college, after my sophomore year, before i saw my first live dance performance. Not that I had any awareness of waiting. The primary stage for my physical expression until just about that time had been the hockey rink, where that year I had skated an erratic center for the Fordham junior varsity. <br /> <br />Still undecided on an academic major, I decided to take a sabbatical. I fell in love over the following summer with an RPI architecture undergrad who dragged me to see a traveling show featuring stars of the Bolshoi Ballet. The next performance we attended included <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwbXZ-LnPKw">Alvin Ailey’s "The River"</a>; music composed by Duke Ellington, and the die was cast. Eventually, I lost the girl, but gained a world.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_gLr7rmQU28MIoP2OGCsCGknS-KnNOHa_Z5c5Mtyc5mSIcGVoxHjwfoe5OtHvPCUYFyJrD193NMUHieUWTLQuxxUGRjiUoK8tiBzmXJZxZmCWpgXswG8Dm5IR4glbPlhomJTpjVWA5g/s1600-h/MM+jake.caitlin.opus81.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_gLr7rmQU28MIoP2OGCsCGknS-KnNOHa_Z5c5Mtyc5mSIcGVoxHjwfoe5OtHvPCUYFyJrD193NMUHieUWTLQuxxUGRjiUoK8tiBzmXJZxZmCWpgXswG8Dm5IR4glbPlhomJTpjVWA5g/s320/MM+jake.caitlin.opus81.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351831439668527666" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">At right: Caitlin Conlon & Jacob Warren in Christopher d'Amboise's "Opus 81" at Marymount Manhattan<br /><br /><br />photo by Rosalie O'Connor</span></span><br /><br /><br />Dance in an academic setting became a staple of the next half-decade of my life. I ultimately left Fordham, abandoning my quest for an Urban Studies degree, to begin serious study at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. At the end of another summer, I landed back in Providence, RI, where the lost romance had begun. There I joined the <a href="http://www.ridance.com/performance/2007/2007_RICDC.html">RIC Dance Company</a>, found myself awarded a series of dance scholarships, and eventually finished a self-designed degree in Dance and Dance Criticism, only the second dance degree (by five months) ever conferred by the College.<br /> <br />So, when I began this blog at the beginning of April, the cruelest month, it seemed appropriate to go back to school. Four viewings of the <a href="http://cogartsculture.blogspot.com/2009/04/sex-and-city-dancer-second-avenue-dance.html">NYU’s Second Avenue Dance Company’s “Retro” Spring show</a> at <a href="http://dance.tisch.nyu.edu/page/home.html">Tisch School of the Arts</a> made me curious as to what else might be out there. I began my Dantean descent into college concert dance as presented in rings around the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dis_(Divine_Comedy)">city of Dis</a>, 2009, serving as my own Virgil.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRf1JoCq1MUIwDNl-18cDmg7uZeS0AIAEhmtqaWBIOfVgL7RMAGdoip1VAh6tIOVZRmNgxGAMQWvtv6i1oQ8FHDVfRRx46dh7q7bY0ymzwwW6yJYjYmbtS6vrVSj3Ne_o49Z8im_uK8XI/s1600-h/090501_newschool_0234.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRf1JoCq1MUIwDNl-18cDmg7uZeS0AIAEhmtqaWBIOfVgL7RMAGdoip1VAh6tIOVZRmNgxGAMQWvtv6i1oQ8FHDVfRRx46dh7q7bY0ymzwwW6yJYjYmbtS6vrVSj3Ne_o49Z8im_uK8XI/s320/090501_newschool_0234.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351862412704041298" /></a>But the subway ferried me uptown, and I arrived one May night at The Alvin Ailey “Citigroup” Theater to see the <a href="http://www.newschool.edu/lang/">Eugene Lang College of the New School’s</a> Spring Dance Performance. A few nights later, the steel snake carried me up the East Side to <a href="http://www.mmm.edu/">Marymount Manhattan</a> to take in that school's Spring Repertoire concert.<br /> <br />In both cases I found houses full of receptive and supportive friends and family, faculty and staff with an allegiance to the dancers onstage. Both concerts featured a few dancers whose artistry and charisma in performance made them stand out. Each program included a different piece by Takehiro Ueyama, as well as its own unique choreographic offering created by one other artist from among the group of dancemakers whose collaborations with the Tisch dancers I had seen weeks earlier. And each offered a vision of the place of concert dance, dance training and dance literacy distinctive from the conservatory model exemplified by schools such as Tisch. <br /> <br />The Lang showcase greeted its audience with one of the most interesting and beautifully produced program booklets I have ever seen. An opening page juxtaposed a long paragraph about “Dance at the New School in the 1930’s” with one describing the approach to “Dance at Lang Today.” The following five pages related to the <a href="http://www.theforsythecompany.com/">William Forsythe</a> “residency” which enabled Forsythe company alumni <a href="http://www.cedarlakedance.com/index.php?id=174">Jill Johnson</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKX_TPe3Gzg">Mario Zambrano</a> to create, in collaboration with the Lang dancers, “27 for 17,” the concert’s closing work. The last two of these pages simply list Forsythe’s honors and awards from 1986 through 2008. If you have to fork over a Lang tuition, I guess you had better be impressed.<br /> <br />The most intriguing and illuminating parts of the booklet, however, followed the formal program credits, and displayed excerpts from student journals and literary and graphic responses from them ignited by their participation in the preparation and production of the concert. These highlighted and reinforced the Lang approach of fusing contemporary formal dance training with courses in history, theater and related arts in a holistic mind/body liberal arts modality. In “27 by 17,” and in the greater part of <a href="http://www.takedanceny.com/take.htm"> Ueyama’s</a> “Crowded Sky,” this approach produced exemplary results onstage. In <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/related/to/Eric+Jackson+Bradley">Eric Jackson Bradley’s</a> “Love and Synesthesia,” <a href="http://www.newschool.edu/lang/subpage.aspx?id=3966">Karla Wolfangle’s</a> “In Motion,” and <a href="http://www.perksdancemusictheatre.com/">Rebecca Stenn’s</a> “Stride,” the latter two choreographed especially for dancers from the sophomore and freshman Lang academic classes respectively, the outcome seemed less convincing.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">below: Lang dancers in Karla Wolfangle’s “In Motion,” ` ` ` photo by </span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1CS2QN07fRcWKN1Yh8cbApY8BjawLwX0RGtCuBrzkE9n_mexyvaMH_UQ3WmvwNIigXe1rdPJ3Nd8iOYmmLzY-fUX9A4GsvPX4s4H3APTdtcQQfNcsKsnmtG6CYk2GeEbwo0AGHaWAuZk/s1600-h/090501_newschool_0341.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1CS2QN07fRcWKN1Yh8cbApY8BjawLwX0RGtCuBrzkE9n_mexyvaMH_UQ3WmvwNIigXe1rdPJ3Nd8iOYmmLzY-fUX9A4GsvPX4s4H3APTdtcQQfNcsKsnmtG6CYk2GeEbwo0AGHaWAuZk/s400/090501_newschool_0341.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351865721745573298" /></a><br />Inspired in part by the movements of flocks of starlings over Rome, “Crowded Sky” sends flights of 11 women careering around the stage to music by Philip Glass. Its designs gracefully evoke both the natural beauty of its inspiration and the pure joy in motion of its dancers.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8f1ghHepRrv0ou9h40qwVn5-2FY7qjZ_VhjLHg6KZMgiZ0YoNjlrY0eIl4pS48VWG7nzPL_ZDpfRRPrOWK80LwwtmGwkJ4JnpEGz5gQ3sj3Yu6VbE1pn5IuGaYs4VPtBmtlSvcw0R5wI/s1600-h/090501_newschool_0632.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8f1ghHepRrv0ou9h40qwVn5-2FY7qjZ_VhjLHg6KZMgiZ0YoNjlrY0eIl4pS48VWG7nzPL_ZDpfRRPrOWK80LwwtmGwkJ4JnpEGz5gQ3sj3Yu6VbE1pn5IuGaYs4VPtBmtlSvcw0R5wI/s320/090501_newschool_0632.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351838579800243154" /></a>That joy, tempered by fierce commitment, became even more palpable in “27 by 17.” This performance compared favorably to Johnson’s similar Forsythe adaptation for the Tisch dancers. Accompanied by a recording of <a href="http://www.sylvieguillem.com/sylvie/music/will">Thom Willems’</a> music for Forsythe’s <span style="font-style:italic;">One Flat Thing, reproduced</span>, the Lang dancers dig in and squeeze the sweet nectar out of everything they touch and taste. In twisting, slashing, off-balance dancing shot through with runs, leaps, and turns they break off and feast upon spatial reality both within and beyond the limits of their skin. Their passionate execution of this piece provides the best and most meaningful validation for Lang’s philosophy as it relates to its student dancers. <br /> <br />In the course of the evening, Yuki Fukui, Jesse Hart, John Malaya, <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Above (bottom to top): Emma Hoette, Emily ` ` ` </span></span> Emily Skillings, and Penelope <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Skillings (in green sleeveless), Jillian Hervey` </span></span>Wendtlandt tended to cut strong <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">(in lavender top, Nadia Mathys (2nd woman in` </span></span> memorable figures in their dancing<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;"> green) & Jesse Hart (in red)in "27 by 17"` ` ` ` ` </span></span>across many pieces. Skillings <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">photo by ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` </span></span>stood out especially in “27 by 17.” But the evening seemed to belong to freshman Emma Hoette, whose extraordinary presence lit up the stage in each of the 3 pieces in which she appeared. And all of these students also made fine contributions to the student writing include in the program booklet.<br /> <br />* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *<br /> <br />The Marymount Manhattan program seems to occupy a middle ground between the conservatory and Lang’s liberal arts approach. In general, the technical level of the dancing and the assurance of the performances follows suit.<br /> <br />The Eastsiders opened with a suite of 3 duet excepts drawn from two <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Graham">Martha Graham</a> masterpieces of the 1950’s. The “Stars” and “Dancer’s World” duets from "Canticle for Innocent Comedians" followed the “Helen and Paris” pas de deux from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsRrKG9ZlfI"><span style="font-style:italic;">Clytemnestra</span></a>. In addition to showing off some fine dancers, and serving to introduce the audience to the remarkable Jacob Warren, the inclusion of the Graham works epitomized a reverence for dance tradition that the remainder of the dancing seemed also to embody. The suite traced Graham’s classic period love moods from the dramatically passionate through the ecstatic to the lyrical.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvgtoWFinegOLx46vlnoiqQyFrO94brgEngmtkt9vcjkzJf9DkoP3gdqcPf2NHH_jWYZ7CMlTFhtKfIVE0vHYBcN4hsiTisDRO1dGp2amC1bqY043Eedvi38CbTKVHllAk2VTmLUz_o0/s1600-h/MM+sarah.opus81mm.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvgtoWFinegOLx46vlnoiqQyFrO94brgEngmtkt9vcjkzJf9DkoP3gdqcPf2NHH_jWYZ7CMlTFhtKfIVE0vHYBcN4hsiTisDRO1dGp2amC1bqY043Eedvi38CbTKVHllAk2VTmLUz_o0/s320/MM+sarah.opus81mm.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351840754289768194" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Right (l to r): Kayla Shanahan, LuLu Soni, Sarah Haarman (in attitude) & Caitlin Conlon in Christopher d'Amboise's "Opus 81"<br />photo by Rosalie O'Connor</span></span><br /><br />Christopher D’Amboise’s balletic 14 minute long "Opus ’81," set to a recording of the 2nd movement of Franz Schubert’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQy-cgUYA6g"><span style="font-style:italic;">Trio in E-flat major, Opus 100</span>,</a> received its premier on this program. Making use of the andante section of the piano trio, famously adapted for the downfall montage in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7ixGAOwCiQ">Stanley Kubrick’s film Barry Lyndon</a>, "Opus ’81" served as a transitional piece after the suite. It mixed movement recalling Graham’s heroic modern style with closing music from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsGRglp6tvs">Tchaikovsky’s <span style="font-style:italic;">Serenade for Strings</span></a> that served as the basis for <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/balanchine_g.html">George Balanchine’s timeless "Serenade"</a>. The dancing highlights the soulful lyricism of Sarah Haarman, Kelly McCormack and Kayla Shanahan among a cast of 8 in which the over six-foot-tall Warren also stands out.<br /> <br />Act I concluded with an excerpt from <a href="http://www.takedanceny.com/take.htm">Takehiro Ueyama’s</a> 2006 “One,” a two movement dance for eight that showed the choreographer’s muted lyricism as well adapted for college dancers on the East Side, as it had been on the West. <br /> <br />Another excerpt, from <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://susanmarshallandcompany.org/pages/repertory_pasthighlights.shtml">The Most Dangerous Room in The House</span>, Susan Marshall’s </a>dark 1998 dance play evoking desire and domestic discomfort, opened the second half. Here the action involves a section in which many of the 11 dancers find themselves repeatedly smashed against the onstage wall of the set designed by Doug Stein & Zhanna Gurvich. An interesting challenge for the young cast, the excerpt does not adapt as satisfyingly as the same choreographer’s poignant <a href="http://cogartsculture.blogspot.com/2009/04/second-avenue-dance-company-retro.html">“Name by Name,”</a> presented in its entirety, had for the Tisch dancers. Perhaps the context of the full work might have allowed this cast to flesh out the immediacy of the heart wrenching human dilemma the piece seeks to interrogate. But the urgent relevance of the inquiry to a population of this age might paradoxically lie within easier reach of a more seasoned troupe.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKso8tg4Domb7i9B-iL7ECt6w2P4_QYFPDYNnFeG_kvntWWr_GuDEz4zfftmHk-Nn2OMoFho4qi3A_wyTczRQnZ5RWm_iSjye_vxH4EwldNSezsyg7rLBvkelQt6Bp-JSbPQwYjgdo_b8/s1600-h/MM+Kelly.+Azadi.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKso8tg4Domb7i9B-iL7ECt6w2P4_QYFPDYNnFeG_kvntWWr_GuDEz4zfftmHk-Nn2OMoFho4qi3A_wyTczRQnZ5RWm_iSjye_vxH4EwldNSezsyg7rLBvkelQt6Bp-JSbPQwYjgdo_b8/s320/MM+Kelly.+Azadi.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351853152848826786" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">At left (l to r): Jere Hunt, Kelly McCormack & Jacob Warren in Edgar Zendejas' "Azadi"<br /><br /><br /><br />photo by Rosalie O'Connor</span></span><br /><br />The program closer, created specifically for its undergraduate dancers, proved the piece de resistance at Marymount Manhattan just as the similarly commissioned Johson/Zambrano led work had at the Lang concert. <a href="http://www.zia-artists.com/individuals/zendejas.html">Edgar Zendejas</a>’ "Azadi" sets 19 MMC dancers into a two-part invention against recorded music by the baroque <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Purcell">Henry Purcell</a> (part I) and the contemporary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gordon_(composer)">Michael Gordon</a>. <br /> <br /><a href="http://www.cedarlakedance.com/index.php?id=86">Zendejas</a> has thrown down a gauntlet for his cast, daring them at the limit of their technical and performance level. Mixing groupings of various sizes in a shifting array of spatial designs he creates a series of small personal dramas and relationships within a depiction of larger community. Titling his opus with the Persian word for "freedom" or "liberty" that doubles as the post-revolutionary name of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azadi_Tower">tower</a> marking the symbolic entrance to Tehran, he seems prescient in his tilting lunges, lifts, and polymorphous partnerships for these Manhattan dancers. Warren might as well be the Freedom Tower himself sharing his strength of presence and precision of technique with several fellow dancers in the course of "Azadi." Among these, Adam Gold, Haarman, Rachel Hall, Jere Hunt, and McCormack merited special attention.<br /> <br />It stands to reason that dances created in direct collaboration with the dancers who will perform them seem to succeed artistically and theatrically with greater frequency than pre-existing repertory that requires adaptation for student dancers. Fresh creation’s value as an educational vehicle in drawing the passion of the dancers into the work seems apparent. Yet the most compelling performance in the Tisch concert came in a Marshall piece originally constructed on Juilliard students. <br /><br />Intimate knowledge of the techniques and artistic concerns underpinning the work of great artists of the near and more distant past also has its place in rounding out an appreciation of an art form that seems to depend more on an informed and unintimidated audience. But in spite of the robust health of the college dance concert 2009, as evinced by those I attended, I see cause for concern in a cultural and economic climate of retrenchment.<br /> <br />Without specific statistical knowledge of the demographics of the student populations for each of my 3 schools, I found the number of participating non-Caucasian dancers, and of men of any ethnicity still distressingly low. Can these college dance programs, given their size and considerable resources, be seen harbingers of the shape of the rising generation? And while choreographers who have both the inclination and ability to adapt or create work with great success for student dancers may not be common, I feared that I might have sensed in the preparation and presentation of these events the inadvertent curdle of the safe choice and the most recognized name. <br /> <br />At every dance community conclave I attend these days, I hear people lament the depletion, fragmentation and aging of audience. College dance programs themselves may now face these challenges, after years of unprecedented expansion. But crisis and opportunity often appear as alternate faces of the same coin. <br /><br />Does Marymount Manhattan’s inclusion of dances from the decade before the upheaval and explosion of the sixties and seventies contribute to the preservation of a living legacy and provide a critical context for these young dancers and their audience? Given the institutional carapaces that have grown up around both, can Lang’s recollection of the New School’s 1930’s outreach to the fledgling field of modern dance inspire a correspondingly creative contemporary initiative? The way forward rarely seems clear but in harnessing the relative fearlessness and energy of youth, it sometimes can become determined.DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-74317861982828626952009-06-21T22:29:00.000-07:002009-06-28T22:55:22.606-07:00Hero/Worship: Christopher Williams' Saints Kick the Habit and Come Dancin' InAn arch bishop dances in bemused little skips adorned by flicking wrists, a sword thrust through the mitre that crowns his head. A holy man, stark naked except for the wreath caressing his temples, turns around and spreads his cheeks to show the congregation his asshole. Three times. Then after repeated poses recalling Rafael’s David he hurls himself upon a griddle made out of the arms of six stout men only to be tossed, joyously, as if in a blanket, and go back to posing. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0jcU1-OJP1VK2RODuLl__HWNhC6xXhhTztL0vxuipLPrYrwuSZhffGGasoGg4vBzQLgd2LzBh_yPFMDH4IA4QGnG3FvPc_5MRlkkCfeFRcYRBjYve4fWh75moBSOBCw3u-JdyPxYETk/s1600-h/GL+Laurence+chorus+chairs+IMG_1352.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0jcU1-OJP1VK2RODuLl__HWNhC6xXhhTztL0vxuipLPrYrwuSZhffGGasoGg4vBzQLgd2LzBh_yPFMDH4IA4QGnG3FvPc_5MRlkkCfeFRcYRBjYve4fWh75moBSOBCw3u-JdyPxYETk/s400/GL+Laurence+chorus+chairs+IMG_1352.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350421313965323762" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Above: Luke Miller as St. Laurence about to hurl himself on the griddle formed by the male chorus: Sydney Skybetter, Bryan Campbell, Arturo Vidich (left group);<br />Philip Montana, Brandin Steffensen, Clay Drinko (right group). Already enthroned in the background from l to r Chris Elam as St. Christopher, Rommel Salveron as St. Pancras, Glen Rumsey as St. George, Julian Barnett as St. Vincent of Saragossa. `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````Photo by Paula Court.</span></span> <br /><br />A woman screams before a man painted green and dragging a dragon’s matching tail, his head in a helmet crested with teeth. After a tussle with an armored saint, the dragon finds himself collared and led off by the woman on a leash. A group of black-veiled acolytes then rushes to wipe up the green body makeup on the white stage floor. A flock of puppet birds attends the wanderings of a friar and ends by stretching red ribbons with its beaks from anchorages at his stigmatic wounds.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1JKwUgJGHIsH2Vnm2O7JhgM2s5DhkixRzXrtXSjavU0SgEa9AmIUrvvQKxDCMoowqCuVqFbNkerm7NW8flcTdAAIKgH_UskEcFkYA2YJswkBc1GG_SRfJ75ao6QYHuF5HxIzqRoJP3D0/s1600-h/GL+Crossman+Rumsey+t+IMG_1025.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1JKwUgJGHIsH2Vnm2O7JhgM2s5DhkixRzXrtXSjavU0SgEa9AmIUrvvQKxDCMoowqCuVqFbNkerm7NW8flcTdAAIKgH_UskEcFkYA2YJswkBc1GG_SRfJ75ao6QYHuF5HxIzqRoJP3D0/s200/GL+Crossman+Rumsey+t+IMG_1025.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350426744472151458" /></a> I could go on (and on). On May 15, beginning with simultaneous formal processions down both aisles of the theater inside Dance Theater Workshop, I witnessed a 3-hour-long dream scape come to life in dance form. And if you want an absolutely stunning, remarkably comprehensive, concise and graceful explication of the goings on in <a href="http://christopherwilliamsdance.com/">Christopher Williams’</a> <span style="font-style:italic;">The Golden Legend</span>, including the name and role of each of the 35 dancers, I recommend <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-05-20/dance/christopher-williams-resurrects-and-how-a-gaggle-of-saints/2">Deborah Jowitt’s review</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Glen Rumsey as St. George wrestles Dylan Crossman's dragon.<br />Photo by Paula Court</span></span> <br /> <br />Let’s face it: saints, almost by definition, conjure the kind of obsession, fanaticism, obstinacy and foolhardiness that we tend to regard as insane. Giving themselves over to a power or ideal greater than themselves, they endure temptation, humiliation, torture, and embrace death and dismemberment, often in spite of social and political mores, in obeisance to a greater good. When we perceive that good, we lift up such people as heroes and martyrs and lionize their devotion. When we don’t, or they go off the moral rails, we recoil from their enormities as lunacy or terrorism. Either way, they make themselves hard to ignore and break through our complacent stupor.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Photo by Yi-Chun Wu</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhes4Gc9iCJX9KQp-JPhvrnpggAV93Apv7e8Ytvx2Hs3RRH3CbCwJtBUlW_FRi6XGzIrzKvJkan8XEFIDmMaz8Nab0Ov489_VcNsIKajsJqHEpV-8Nr9qIE8bW1IlqXNYhOjvixjLeZV8/s1600-h/2009_DTW_Williams7.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhes4Gc9iCJX9KQp-JPhvrnpggAV93Apv7e8Ytvx2Hs3RRH3CbCwJtBUlW_FRi6XGzIrzKvJkan8XEFIDmMaz8Nab0Ov489_VcNsIKajsJqHEpV-8Nr9qIE8bW1IlqXNYhOjvixjLeZV8/s320/2009_DTW_Williams7.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350442120423138738" /></a><span style="font-style:italic;">The Golden Legend</span>, a meditation on the lives of 17 (or 23 depending on how you count) early Christian male saints, somehow put me much in mind of the day of 9/11 and those immediately following. As I circumambulated the shattered parts of my city, I kept running into the armed men and women standing sentinel at the edges of the “frozen zone” around ground zero. I eyed them and their guns warily, out of long habit, and wondered a bit resentfully just who or what they had been sent to protect and why. Yet along with most of my fellow citizens, I found myself newly appreciative of these gendarmes’ poise as potential heroes, and the sudden usefulness of their stance of moral certitude and physical fortitude in this battered landscape. <br /> <br />Many of the heroes and saints (if any) had already been crowned with tragic and brutal death. Others still labored behind those barricades, or would soon turn their attention to the cause of redeeming lost lives in testaments of moral introspection, social outreach, healing and political activism. Many artistic voices seemed momentarily stilled as we struggled to catch our breath and reconnect with some essential truths about our lives on this planet. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6WLxalObz2q9kwqYwcW_0oC5R2rka5FUVrGTB3K6GXWPV8VZ3YULKRVXeFY67n6l5TD-QrzGYieCyOwCWBQiasiZYz_fam9MMDEintg3SWf83lqjZgWZQmBQjvpZ3LwB9LPBih_xFd4/s1600-h/GL+process+Parker+Barthelme+IMG_0933.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6WLxalObz2q9kwqYwcW_0oC5R2rka5FUVrGTB3K6GXWPV8VZ3YULKRVXeFY67n6l5TD-QrzGYieCyOwCWBQiasiZYz_fam9MMDEintg3SWf83lqjZgWZQmBQjvpZ3LwB9LPBih_xFd4/s400/GL+process+Parker+Barthelme+IMG_0933.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350437806145860802" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Julian Barnett hurtles earthward as St. Vincent of Saragossa<br />Photo by Paula Court.</span></span><br /> <br />Soon a whole decade will have passed. For the majority of that time Williams has been at work on his lives of the saints. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIRWKf2fvDE"><span style="font-style:italic;">Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins</span></a>, produced in 2005, and in preparation for over a year previous to that, provided the distaff predecessor to and template for <a href="http://www.christopherwilliamsdance.org/rep.php"><span style="font-style:italic;">The Golden Legend</span></a>. In a time of new crisis, in which many of the lessons of those days 8 years ago already seem in need of relearning, he arrives with a piece that challenges glib and conventional wisdom in so many significant ways.<br /><br />Beginning with the full cast processional and closing with a similar formal recessional, everything about the work, save the choreography of the 17 individual dances that form its spine, has been produced on a scale rarely, if ever, seen these days in the “downtown” dance world. Williams seems to have that rare and precious ability to dare everyone and everything around him to dig more deeply and defy previous and accepted levels of expectation. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ15wbJoXr3r_VDmPZ64bZO1GXYNDNUQaQIdGeoTOLO8dXISN7tIuejFX8QgpRlYWtgh_hyeH6mGJIa9brGn4Wndf9qVtoHXfIPmYcgyTcgeTVAjLC5LzVVXSwfUQOL_rJiMFB_Q4Bx5Y/s1600-h/GL+Rumsey+Crossman+IMG_0545.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ15wbJoXr3r_VDmPZ64bZO1GXYNDNUQaQIdGeoTOLO8dXISN7tIuejFX8QgpRlYWtgh_hyeH6mGJIa9brGn4Wndf9qVtoHXfIPmYcgyTcgeTVAjLC5LzVVXSwfUQOL_rJiMFB_Q4Bx5Y/s320/GL+Rumsey+Crossman+IMG_0545.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350432608569817106" /></a>This includes <a href="http://www.dancetheaterworkshop.org/">DTW</a>, whose facilities and resources have been pushed to their limits, his audience, which must acclimate to the work’s deliberative pace across its 3 hour length and those, like myself, who may take weeks wrestling over a fitting response.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Holding their halos (above): David Parker as St. Thomas of Canterbury and Reid Bartelme as St. Giles advance with the other saints in the country dance style processional. ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````Photo by Paula Court.</span></span> <br /> <br />The talents of what constitutes an all-star team of male contemporary dancers stretches to meet Williams’ imagining of the selected saints. These have been sketched from the telling of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_de_Voragine">Jacobus de Voragine</a>, Archbishop of Genoa and author of the 13th century <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Legend">Legenda Aurea Sanctorum</a></span> (<span style="font-style:italic;">Golden Legend of the Saints,</span>) the book that launched the Williams’ opus. But the choreographer also has behind him a history of Western visual art that depicts these same stories, reaching back through iconography and medieval and renaissance painting and sculpture.<br /> <br />Like panels in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Duchamp">Marcel Duchamp’s <span style="font-style:italic;">Large Glass</span></a> the planes of sainthood fracture in the course of the work and branch off in unexpected directions. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbTm-mBWv1ZzQc2bjqi6g9eiKMgO-c8MZB587469oJMjw8TiXDi8bZh6gsUgIJC-ARoSNcvxsOHzFk7lBzTB03QaluIFKPuipceByeaBv_f2xxWQRmGuEYNkWv6wSs14F1_AZtDjkGZg/s1600-h/2009_DTW_Williams3.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 138px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbTm-mBWv1ZzQc2bjqi6g9eiKMgO-c8MZB587469oJMjw8TiXDi8bZh6gsUgIJC-ARoSNcvxsOHzFk7lBzTB03QaluIFKPuipceByeaBv_f2xxWQRmGuEYNkWv6wSs14F1_AZtDjkGZg/s200/2009_DTW_Williams3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350450445268265538" /></a> <span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;"> ```````Photo by Yi-Chun Wu.</span></span> Here we have a collared Rommel Salveron as St. Pancras, beheaded under the Emperor Diocletian in 304. He is attended by the blue-faced Keith Sabado and Nicky Paraiso, who flank Pancras and embody saints Mamertus and Gervasius, fellow “Icemen” in the liturgical and seasonal calendar. These seconds also recall mortals, perhaps not so intimately tickled by the finger of the divine. In the course of their scene, Sabado re-enacts the legend of the man who swore falsely on the martyr’s tomb. Now he literally can’t keep his hand off Salveron’s head. Paraiso finds himself forced to follow their tortuous interlocked dance about the stage singing as he goes.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Photo by Paula Court</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01Mej5dBxbDr_nwy4qMJQipWj90ZMBRFFNSjJzv7OZ5zUEKJmHaHKZfDhke0lkr33pPTD7zo5qZ7IHUpoYuUqEOqvm7yWZFBRwdxW6PoTOy3JICYZJ0LlCDZP_Y_hypDuEZ0DexZaMSo/s1600-h/GL+Barnett+leap+IMG_1146.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01Mej5dBxbDr_nwy4qMJQipWj90ZMBRFFNSjJzv7OZ5zUEKJmHaHKZfDhke0lkr33pPTD7zo5qZ7IHUpoYuUqEOqvm7yWZFBRwdxW6PoTOy3JICYZJ0LlCDZP_Y_hypDuEZ0DexZaMSo/s200/GL+Barnett+leap+IMG_1146.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350453110330067762" /></a>Chris Elam, as St. Christopher, backs onto stage with Coco Karol on his shoulders so that under their shared costume they take on the form of a monstrous mythical giant. Slipping out of this beastly overcoat, the two, each costumed in lamb leotards complete with tails and pink-eared headpieces, execute a cruciform lift, a birth-like calving, and a series of oral explorations on their way to their crossing. Thus from an earlier pagan myth emerges that of the apocryphal Christian “bearer of Christ,” still the patron saint of cities and countries. What would it be like to taste the lamb of God?<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1y0ZPNUXeOzlDjlo6ZACwO1RZEcw_qWJYp34CO77_qVUM4AjNGHLbtBiX8huOMFCP_tHgB0DTsCujq_Fyyw6Tz9JK_vMNKceDZDQjoenXExu5TWX_Tt6yJStB5Jx_3byF3Hkhcq1wM8/s1600-h/2009_DTW_Williams6.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1y0ZPNUXeOzlDjlo6ZACwO1RZEcw_qWJYp34CO77_qVUM4AjNGHLbtBiX8huOMFCP_tHgB0DTsCujq_Fyyw6Tz9JK_vMNKceDZDQjoenXExu5TWX_Tt6yJStB5Jx_3byF3Hkhcq1wM8/s320/2009_DTW_Williams6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350461974335524162" /></a>Gus Solomons, Jr. appears as St. Saint Dionysius the Areopagite/St. Denis, with his head literally in his hands. Encased in another of the piece’s fantastic costumes, he dances under a banner “To the Unknown God” held aloft by Alberto Denis and Carlton Cyrus Ward. <span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">`````````````````````````Photo by Yi-Chun Wu.</span></span><br />These two evoke the saint’s fellow martyrs St. Eleutherius and St. Rusticus. The trio also hints that even a patron saint of France, one of the 14 “holy helpers,” must have needed, as we do, heroic helpers of his own. Their dancing leads us towards the liberating delirium of unity with the divine.<br /> <br />In each of the visually arresting episodes, the movement has been tailored to the imaginative possibilities of a story, a dancer or dancers, and a visual and/or musical touchstone. The latter range from those composed for the piece by <a href="http://peterkirn.com/">Peter Kirn</a> and <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/~gspears/">Gregory Spears</a> to the medieval hymns, antiphons, laude, motets, and conductus written in praise of each saint that make up the bulk of the sound accompaniment. Dating from as early as the 12th century, this music emanated in voice and on traditional and modern instruments from a consort of 11 tucked into a tiny front corner just offstage. It added immeasurably to the sense of suspended time and continuous present moment that attends the unfolding of the <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/andytoad/sets/72157618473404469/">Legend</a></span>.<br /> <br />The musical ensemble, which featured members of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_4">Anonymous 4</a> and <a href="http://www.chantboy.com/lionheart/">Lionheart</a> among other illustrious players and singers, contributed to the strength and precision of the piece as surely as did the extremely strong and versatile choruses of 6 male and <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6NkEw_0jYo5y1F79Agwrjwf5vnchSSIxWpwYZHaBuckoHdMjOb0E3O-Gr-th4S-TAjMp7mwnp_hlkfK9nF8ZZV_PktvQ_BjuoboOAEFKTAhTIDzmhUlOI8khbtDEmrX4rKcOWPOyZ550/s1600-h/GL+women+in+air+IMG_0782.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6NkEw_0jYo5y1F79Agwrjwf5vnchSSIxWpwYZHaBuckoHdMjOb0E3O-Gr-th4S-TAjMp7mwnp_hlkfK9nF8ZZV_PktvQ_BjuoboOAEFKTAhTIDzmhUlOI8khbtDEmrX4rKcOWPOyZ550/s200/GL+women+in+air+IMG_0782.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350463725550674194" /></a>5 female dancers/puppeteers. So did <a href="http://www.tomleeprojects.com/news.php">Tom Lee’s</a> exquisitely reserved set of 17 high-backed chancel chairs that face each other in single lines along both sides of the performance space as if across a Cathedral choir. Each chair’s red velvet upholstered seat will enthrone a principal saint at the conclusion of his turn on the stage. From this perch, he will join the audience as witness to the subsequent <span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">The puppeteers, including (l to r) Kate ` ` ` ` ` </span></span> episodes until a formal bow and reces-<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Brehm, Erin K. Orr, Lake Simons elevating `</span></span> sional parades this venerable dance<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">their demons. `````````` Photo by Paula Court. `</span></span> company through the congregation<br /> ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` again. <br /><br />The metaphorical significance of this watchfulness cannot be overstated. Like <br />the saint he portrays, each of these dancers has achieved an individual renown born of unrelenting and solitary devotion to a way of life. This religious dedication has found him often at odds with the accepted modes of validation that predominate in American society, particularly as they relate to men’s work. Williams allows us to watch them watch each other create a collective testament that transforms and transcends the sum of its parts.<br /> <br />Beyond its utility and craft as a formal framing device, the choreographer’s stylization of this action subtly reminds us of our collective interdependence, and the human hunger for interconnection that we felt so strongly in the days after the terrorist attacks. He redeems and reinvigorates the role of live theatrical dance as a vital mode for acknowledging and even celebrating this existential fact; these needs and desires. <br /> <br />The creator’s fingerprints can be seen everywhere in a litany of collaboration. His co-credits extend to the beautifully realized costumes (designed and built with Carol Binion, <a href="http://www.andyjordan.net/index2.html">Andy Jordan</a>, <a href="http://design.tisch.nyu.edu/object/desport08_Wells.html">Ciera Wells</a>, and <a href="http://www.michaeloberle.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=201">Michael Oberle</a>) and the magical puppets (with <a href="http://www.puppetkitchen.com/PuppetKitchen/Menu.html">Eric Wright</a> and <a href="http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=226918254">Lake Simons</a>). And when did you ever see a performance that in addition to two early music researchers (<a href="http://www.goldbergweb.com/en/interpreters/vocals/12844.php">Susan Hellauer</a> and Williams) lists a medieval hagiography consultant (<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=kDD_0GztLYkC&dq=Thomas+Head+medieval+hagiography&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=yXlASoX1McGMtgfrh62kAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4">Thomas Head</a>)? The scholarly contributions of these collaborators manifest in the music and text translations and choreographer’s notes that make up the majority of the 32-page program insert accompanying the piece. The notes represent Willams’ cogent gloss of relevant details taken from the lives of the saints as presented in his source text. It provides yet another point of entry for exploration and appreciation of <span style="font-style:italic;">The Golden Legend</span> as an imaginative response to our Western moment.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTuaJhr8RgC-cvLC-ltTwFvX8SWPg9xRBTOkMYkOB5gXyNKziWWMKB6DqXM3Qk6FMIFyONP3DonfTbEXyA_CrnOuFt8Li5RtgtRwqd9ETQHVvrE2MYbtFifR54Gt5NLhrazwQD9PeaC9Q/s1600-h/GL+rec+IMG_4081.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTuaJhr8RgC-cvLC-ltTwFvX8SWPg9xRBTOkMYkOB5gXyNKziWWMKB6DqXM3Qk6FMIFyONP3DonfTbEXyA_CrnOuFt8Li5RtgtRwqd9ETQHVvrE2MYbtFifR54Gt5NLhrazwQD9PeaC9Q/s400/GL+rec+IMG_4081.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350466321008218066" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">(l to r) Aaron Mattocks as St. James the More, Luke Miller as St. Laurence, Reid Bartelme as St. Giles, Stuart Singer as St. Eustace, and Chris M. Green as St. Jerome in the recessional. ```````````````````````````````````````````````Photo by Paula Court.</span></span><br /> <br />Only <a href="http://www.joelevasseur.com/Home.html">Joe Levasseur’s</a> exquisitely nuanced lighting seems to belong to one designer alone. The collective nature of the entire theatrical enterprise, and its analogous relationship to the possibilities of cooperative action, became palpable and moved me in ways I haven’t felt onstage since the Broadway productions of <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_in_America">Angels in America</a></span> and <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_(play)">Copenhagen</a></span>. The multi-dimensionality, scale, scope and quality of the work recalls that of such artists as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_Monk">Meredith Monk</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wilson_(director)">Robert Wilson</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Forsythe_(dancer)">William Forsythe</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pina_Bausch">Pina Bausch</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_T._Jones">Bill T. Jones</a>. <br /> <br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Golden Legend</span> stands as a fitting return gift to and redemption of the sacrifices of those who stand guard over our “homeland security.” By whatever means they serve, they insure the freedom that brings us saints as well as corporate Ponzi and steroid sinners. The challenge falls to us as to which merits our own sacrifices and devotion in attention, blood and treasure.<br /> <br />Like other contemporary American artists, and many U.S. families, Williams has gambled himself into the bondage of credit card usury. His thrall has come in pursuit of a singular dance theater vision. The fact that he has forged his chains in a field that offers virtually no chance for the gamble to pay off in a material, and therefore, by extension, a status sense for either him or his art form hardly makes him a saint. But if it were ever to come to a question of that, perhaps <span style="font-style:italic;">The Golden Legend</span> might be cited as one of the requisite miracles.DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-60307432289727744192009-06-19T13:03:00.000-07:002009-06-20T07:03:04.884-07:00Fanfare for The Uncommon Woman: Naomi Goldberg Haas ties up at the Ferry TerminalThe crowd for the 1:30 pm Staten Island Ferry inside the Whitehall Terminal that hugs the southern tip of Manhattan indubitably sensed that something might be up. A few might even have seen the 12:30 show. But only after the gates closed behind their departure did the first fanfare sound. A cordon of 14 women dressed in white pants and tops, the middle two bearing orange flags on poles, formed up outside the entrance gates to the terminal’s great hall. <br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">below (l to r): Betty Williams, Naomi Goldberg Haas (with flags), Sari Nordman, Penelope Dannenberg (atop wagon) and Rebecca Elizabeth Woll</span></span> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RG9xXAuUHKeLRRzOQyLNlSX6JfUhk3BN7p2LnYDtfh3fzozzkUacWTWnTWxURDMulKS4kISKTLZ7Adui6GOJpJpOSq149aLVXkQyPEnZSyNiC9CbVkS1g6rlkcHEeQp4IweiSJh-EvA/s1600-h/3+Fanfare.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RG9xXAuUHKeLRRzOQyLNlSX6JfUhk3BN7p2LnYDtfh3fzozzkUacWTWnTWxURDMulKS4kISKTLZ7Adui6GOJpJpOSq149aLVXkQyPEnZSyNiC9CbVkS1g6rlkcHEeQp4IweiSJh-EvA/s320/3+Fanfare.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349132964815034098" /></a>Walking briskly through the gates, the line splits into septets, each following a flag bearer and moving swiftly to occupy one of the open areas that flank the hall’s central double rows of granite benches. Before the next ferry crowd even begins to collect, fraternal, but not identical, twin dances for 7 begin; flowing passages punctuated by freezes. People in the waiting area begin to gather around for a better look. The 2nd of 14 performances of the world premiere of <span style="font-style:italic;">Fanfare</span> by <a href="http://www.naomigoldberghaas.com/iWeb/site%204/Dances%20For%20A%20Variable%20Population.html">Naomi Goldberg Haas/Dances for a Variable Population</a> has begun. Performances continue with 12:30 and 1:30 pm showings June 22, 24, 36 and 27, as part of <a href="http://lmcc.net/art/programs/2009/sitelines/index.htm">Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Sitelines</a> series. <br /> <br />Now in its 6th season as part of the 8th annual <a href="http://www.rivertorivernyc.com/events/eventDetail.php?eventID=2963">River to River Festival</a>, Sitelines has sought to vitalize the plazas, parks, fountains, bridges, staircases, and other architectural features of old New York with site-specific dances by recognized choreographers. Goldberg Haas’s 26 minute long <span style="font-style:italic;">Fanfare,</span> produced by Lisa Simon, makes use of a number of <a href="http://www.michaelnyman.com/music/recordings/show/nyman-brass">recordings for brass ensembles</a> by British contemporary composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Nyman">Michael Nyman</a>. In a program note, the choreographer links her choice of music to an evocation of <a href="http://www.imeem.com/people/9MWdF/music/Dzdkowzr/aaron-copland-fanfare-for-the-common-man/">Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man."</a> <br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">below (l to r): M. Lindsey Smith and Jamie Graham (carrying chair) and Jackie Ferrara</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjllgH8AU3qv8aFuQqjkx9jbAqcntc0I06TjZ3Ed1XzroLEkN3Pvg0Th6BStv395Jj_PzYV20PTl74DEfkO9J8BMKUpQsaOEk7KcRCAPr2GSIyivFcq-o6ErLK7pD7DoY_Y_nrwGyFXJEA/s1600-h/1+Fanfare.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjllgH8AU3qv8aFuQqjkx9jbAqcntc0I06TjZ3Ed1XzroLEkN3Pvg0Th6BStv395Jj_PzYV20PTl74DEfkO9J8BMKUpQsaOEk7KcRCAPr2GSIyivFcq-o6ErLK7pD7DoY_Y_nrwGyFXJEA/s320/1+Fanfare.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349139063664599170" /></a>She comes to her musical touchstone with a sense of mission. “Recently,” she has written on <a href="http://www.naomigoldberghaas.com/iWeb/site%204/Dances%20For%20A%20Variable%20Population.html">her website</a>, “I have been working with senior populations, mixing this community with young modern dancers, exploring how these disparate groups can learn from one another about the nature of movement and expression.” The <span style="font-style:italic;">Fanfare</span> cast divides roughly equally between these two groups, and the older performers add to a sense of poignant human vulnerability and passage within the work. <br /> <br />Goldberg Haas follows her formal entrance and twin septets with segments designed for three discrete sections of the great hall’s floor space. Each of these areas has been marked off with safety-orange-colored lines taped atop the terminal’s dark granite floor, and similarly colored flags identical to the ones Goldberg Haas and Sarah Chenoweth Kenney initially carried. The young dancers’ find their traction challenged in runs and turns on the polished surface. M. Lindsay Smith, Jill Frere, Jamie Graham and Rebecca Elizabeth Woll feature in two pure movement quartets, which break up other activities often involving props such as a chair and a skateboard. The choreographer keeps the dance vocabulary fairly basic.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">below (l to r): Jamie Graham, Betty Williams (top), M. Lindsey Smith (bottom), Jill Frere, Rebecca Elizabeth Woll, Penelope Dannenberg</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLM3rD8QaFzll5mXKcEgRpXNn8ZIjd4jYobW6JrEjpSVNsJ660_YXD1TlCA28RxPGi_6OcwvbYjhUcLtjrzzkPwki02Sv3Hbl5n4UICDln9jASGTxwMYzE3zl9Wiuo7njTImcFhb5E5cE/s1600-h/5+Fanfare.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLM3rD8QaFzll5mXKcEgRpXNn8ZIjd4jYobW6JrEjpSVNsJ660_YXD1TlCA28RxPGi_6OcwvbYjhUcLtjrzzkPwki02Sv3Hbl5n4UICDln9jASGTxwMYzE3zl9Wiuo7njTImcFhb5E5cE/s320/5+Fanfare.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349146005933803266" /></a>The best scenes come when these young professionals and their peers interact with the elders. These moments include an extended rotating lift in which Frere, Graham and Smith loft a reaching Betty Williams, and a slow diagonal procession in which Penny Dannenberg strikes a heroic pose atop a child’s red wagon while Sari Nordman and Woll push and pull her along. A particularly resonant and charming passage occurs when Judith Chazen Walsh drags behind her a large red rolling suitcase. Kenney appears, curled up inside, reading a book. Sometimes the educated young can come across as so much baggage.<br /> <br />The lithe Kenney later touchingly rests her head against the standing Walsh’s leg as she, Geraldine Bartlett, Goldberg Haas, and Nordman sit scattered about the floor watching as Williams goes airborne across the space. A solo for Maxine Steinhaus sets the frailty of a lone figure against the grandeur of the hall and the vastness of the harbor and sky that can be glimpsed through the terminal’s southern windows behind her. Carol Chave, Jackie Ferrara and Mollie Leiber join the rest of the company in bringing onlookers into the dance in its final section.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">below (l to r): M. Lindsey Smith, Jackie Ferrara, Sarah Chenoweth Kenney, Judith Chazen Walsh</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWjvWa0psd6J_eDEOq8bxF93cA5Z9HDhmfBW43YyYaLoF53IorRVgvD9yB8DvUWY2TO5W9W00TIsZ7Cuxu3Fqjk28HLJU0tXtS5tXEiSC0XhSaFoHuv7tQCs-yNEZdCWN3i4WEfvGnp4/s1600-h/2+Fanfare.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWjvWa0psd6J_eDEOq8bxF93cA5Z9HDhmfBW43YyYaLoF53IorRVgvD9yB8DvUWY2TO5W9W00TIsZ7Cuxu3Fqjk28HLJU0tXtS5tXEiSC0XhSaFoHuv7tQCs-yNEZdCWN3i4WEfvGnp4/s320/2+Fanfare.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349147762560229634" /></a>Even though choreographers such as Liz Lerman have been including older and sometimes disabled dancers in their work for over a quarter century, the presence of such performers in concert and especially in site-specific dance work remains a remarkable and laudable event. That the entire company for this iteration of Dances for a Variable Population (Goldberg Haas' troupe) happens to be female and ostensibly of European descent might, unfortunately, prove less challenging to the inchoate expectations of an audience perhaps new to contemporary dance. The action of stalwart stage assistant Wadson Fortune in handing props to members of the troupe at the back of the playing spaces, as well as the corps’ successful enlistment of members of the audience to join in the dancing during <span style="font-style:italic;">Fanfare's</span> final moments, seemed only to unwittingly underscore this fact. <br /> <br />The uninitiated among the onlookers would seem to represent just the kind of folks that a series such as Sitelines might ideally seek to serve. In a time of economic retrenchment, as our arts strive to avoid further marginalization, the struggle of artists to fight their way out of their socio-political and economic ghettoes continues unabated.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigM1QQImlikGG7TRJU6cTGm8AtFrmeSrlf8HcIWXdifWuQgy4gJZv1HRqI6wiVUAq9EVG_dz1eNj52j7xW15xF3GbHy_nzNlMjBMVU0QaBas787iGyeFhSpRQYPXQ7fEyRcL0Kr_hZ_7g/s1600-h/4+Fanfare.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigM1QQImlikGG7TRJU6cTGm8AtFrmeSrlf8HcIWXdifWuQgy4gJZv1HRqI6wiVUAq9EVG_dz1eNj52j7xW15xF3GbHy_nzNlMjBMVU0QaBas787iGyeFhSpRQYPXQ7fEyRcL0Kr_hZ_7g/s400/4+Fanfare.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349153718961914482" /></a>above <span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">(l to r): Jill Frere, Lindsey Graham, Betty Williams, Jamie Graham, Rebecca Elizabeth Woll<br /><br />photographs by Douglas Back, 2009, courtesy of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council</span></span>DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-10676225370897663082009-06-05T09:13:00.000-07:002009-06-05T14:07:16.901-07:00You Want Some Thighs With That? – Bang Group Shows down at Joe’s PubA year ago, <a href="http://www.thebanggroup.com/index.php">David Parker and the Bang Group</a> created a buzz with <span style="font-style:italic;">Showdown</span>, a forty-minute pop tart of a dream ballet for 8 dancers set to <a href="http://www.rhapsody.com/the-mgm-studio-orchestra/annie-get-your-gun-ost">recordings created for the film version</a> of Irving Berlin’s 1946 Broadway musical <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Get_Your_Gun_(musical)">Annie Get Your Gun</a></span>. This “pilot version” had only a two-night run at, of all places, <a href="http://www.joespub.com/">Joe’s Pub</a>, as part of <a href="http://www.dancenownyc.org/dancemopolitan.htm">Dance Now [NYC]’ s Dancemopolitan Modern [Dance] Musicals</a> initiative. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Members of the cast of David Parker's "Showdown" giving us head in their Western shirts.</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2FC_iYHV-OxDbfSQkrDEHp06Ok_i0qEr1NyX2W5MABOR7SwfSZ-mRozdgMbSUIfnL78X_-npbYtBUadBeEB51tYQ1BzkaySumpcygWD5WmWUWVQxoiFe0iNYYANFpR0lbJtidTYsryI/s1600-h/show+down+noces.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 253px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2FC_iYHV-OxDbfSQkrDEHp06Ok_i0qEr1NyX2W5MABOR7SwfSZ-mRozdgMbSUIfnL78X_-npbYtBUadBeEB51tYQ1BzkaySumpcygWD5WmWUWVQxoiFe0iNYYANFpR0lbJtidTYsryI/s320/show+down+noces.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343897896539978226" /></a>Thursday evening, the octet plus 3 returned to the scene of the climb with an ”expanded” version for a four performance encore that will end on Saturday with a two show closing night. I quote the producers advisedly, since expanding anything on the tiny stage of the hip cabaret, let alone a balletic quadrille, certainly seems like someone’s crack pipe dream. The performers enter onto literally a bandbox stage through a curtained opening in the acoustical baffles that line the back wall. That curtain hides a public hallway that leads directly to the backstage kitchen and bathrooms. You dance hard by someone's dinner.<br /><br />The first hint that Dancemopolitan might actually succeed in its expansionist notions arrived with the appearance of the archly deadpan <a href="http://www.monicabillbarnes.com/company/company.html">Monica Bill Barnes</a> and <a href="http://www.adhocballet.com/">Deborah Lohse</a> through that curtain to a recording of a <a href="http://www.rhapsody.com/johnny-cash/at-folsom-prison-legacy-edition--columbia-legacy">live concert by Johnny and June Carter Cash</a>. Dressed in black leather-like vests over red full body thermal underwear, complete with rear button fly, and brandishing silver snub nosed pistols, the pair strutted, threatened, and dryly idled its minute upon the stage until Lohse unfolded a welcome mat as the duet stalked off through the audience.<br /> <br />The mood changed abruptly as members of the Bang Group, first Bryan Campbell and Jeffrey Kazin, then Marissa Palley and Megan Flynn, then Nic Petry and Terry Duncan burst onto the stage dressed in jeans and checked work shirts to a recording of the musical’s overture. This segued to a lusty ensemble dance alongside “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” the show’s most enduring song. <span style="font-style:italic;">Showdown</span>’s score features the voices of Judy Garland and Howard Keel as recorded but never used for the 1950 MGM screen adaptation by erstwhile director Busby Berkeley.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Jeffrey Kazin rides high in the saddle in one of the easier lifts from "Showdown" (below)</span></span><br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiryg4jXFBuoMPUTKqu5wy5mO1kHBwd0QR4yASf0J_R5_jZTxyQS6W6h5xpUYyRWc02qfFDGv53b4lKZortRgxrCLmoEyQjxmD9XTOYSSGJg5-wMbbciaLPO0tLsYOc4h5J_ovBohSwycI/s1600-h/J&DShowDown.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiryg4jXFBuoMPUTKqu5wy5mO1kHBwd0QR4yASf0J_R5_jZTxyQS6W6h5xpUYyRWc02qfFDGv53b4lKZortRgxrCLmoEyQjxmD9XTOYSSGJg5-wMbbciaLPO0tLsYOc4h5J_ovBohSwycI/s320/J&DShowDown.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343893423023336946" /></a>This seems all of a piece with the ways in which Parker’s choreography bends, plays off of and defeats our expectations by its re-assignment and re-purposing of gender roles, relationships and formal structures. In the first two numbers for example, the hips and derriere feature extensively in movement that swivels, sashays and displays as the sextet moves from balletic arm and leg extensions to cheeky ride ‘em cowboy hip mounts. Only occasionally will the couple in the various partnering, lifts and rides be of mixed gender.<br /> <br />Moreover, stylistic flourishes one most often associates with one sex will more often than not end up on the opposite sex, such as the ring of arms surrounding a soloist in a quote from <a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8656884883977294489&ei=EXwpStKZF4myrgKtxrBV&q=balanchine+%22episodes%22+circle&hl=en&client=firefox-a">Balanchine’s</a> choreography for <a href="http://www.exploredance.com/upload/gallery/2/230_1863.jpg"><span style="font-style:italic;">Episodes</span></a>. When the stalwart Amber Sloan takes on Kazin and Petry in dancing to “Doin’ What Comes Naturally,” it’s the two men who start a variation on the famous <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY4Y1gTO9HE&feature=PlayList&p=3F3DD918445868DB&index=1">“Dance of the Cygnets” from Swan Lake</a> before Sloan joins to round out the trio.<br /> <br />These three performers embody the choreographic spine and the presentational soul of Parker’s work clawing their way to the top of the heap in a piece in which who gets what attention – from either the audience or potential partners onstage – makes up a large part of the comic subtext. One marvels at Kazin’s multiple pencil turns, fearless attack when lifted and repeated spiral descents from such lifts, Petry’s barefoot soft shoe; the redoubtable Sloan’s take-no-prisoners dancing and straight man’s sense of bewilderment when, for instance, she lifts Kazin only to find her face scissored between his calves. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Amber Sloan's face (at bottom below) seems more at ease anchoring the cast. Nic Petry brackets the totem at its top.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFiUQCREfnT1a8JmLDvNLMEV6BL18zyE11wRfrCS3s_JyldkXHcfZFCBQV1MJstWqRUvRUxFU4HTp7FO1cony1tix84YNHlaeRHo-xDt_hYDCf6XnSR0uYxY6anOtPPnh4TKrco21UxN0/s1600-h/showdowntotem.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 264px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFiUQCREfnT1a8JmLDvNLMEV6BL18zyE11wRfrCS3s_JyldkXHcfZFCBQV1MJstWqRUvRUxFU4HTp7FO1cony1tix84YNHlaeRHo-xDt_hYDCf6XnSR0uYxY6anOtPPnh4TKrco21UxN0/s320/showdowntotem.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343894097561644450" /></a>But the matter of fact cleanliness and understated goofiness of this core group extends throughout the company and underpins the subversion at the heart of Parker’s wit. For the choreographer’s send ups range beyond ballet tropes to a fan circle ala <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q59ZncmAtQ&feature=fvw">Busby Berkeley</a> (sans fans), Broadway hoofing from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C46i3xeM24I">DeMille</a> to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPq8yzGSaqc&feature=PlayList&p=43EBFCB58AAC9AA5&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=20">Fosse</a>, and the cult of ta-da! Parker’s intricate formal structures begin, end or continue as often outside the bounds of individual numbers as they coincide with their musical demarcations. And while the general levity would not suffice to produce a laugh track, the choreographer consistently amuses even as he devilishly pulls the rug from beneath our feet.<br /> <br />These qualities dovetail perfectly with those of Barnes and Lohse as they return to bookend the evening. Originally, this pair had been scheduled to present a piece of its own entitled <span style="font-style:italic;">Southern Comfort</span>, which would have alternated with <span style="font-style:italic;">Showdown</span> this weekend. Instead, artistic directors and producers Robin Staff, Sydney Skybetter and Tamara Greenfield have wisely cast them as “silent hosts” for the evening’s frivolities. Lohse exits with a sign reading “The End” leaving us with the fading sound of the Cash’s in our ears after bringing back and holding up the entire Bang Group at gunpoint for a final bow.<br /> <br />But the true encore has already occurred. After the Big Finish, with Sloan’s shadow Annie fronting the company to a full chorus version of “There’s No Business…,” Parker takes the mic to introduce a charmingly political “bonus track.” In a warm baritone to live keyboard accompaniment, he launches into “Old Fashioned Wedding,” a bonus hit itself from the 1966 Broadway revival of the musical. When joined by Kazin, his real life and artistic partner and principal muse, the two turn into a vaudeville song and dance team trading rat-a-tat taps and vocal parts in the longest and most poignant number of the night. <br /> <br />At this point even the busy-ness of the cabaret seemed to settle as people put down their forks and glasses, and the waiters went into waiting. Parker’s innate New England reserve often serves to mute his wicked wit and socio-political incisiveness. But beneath the cool exterior of his work as both creator and performer beats the vital heart of a champion entertainer.DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-47266104899787580582009-06-01T20:08:00.000-07:002009-06-08T13:20:36.849-07:00For the Love of Dog: Dance Times Square Unleashes its Inner Animal<a href="http://www.tonyandmelanie.com/">Melanie LaPatin and Tony Meredith</a>, sure know how to throw a party. They’ve had a lot of practice. The oft-crowned championship Latin and Ballroom dance pair, currently <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.fox.com/dance/">So You Think You Can Dance</a></span> contributing choreographers, have been doing just that with their students and fellow teachers each Spring and Fall almost since they founded the <a href="http://www.dancetimessquare.com/index.php?page=29">Dance Times Square</a> social and competitive studio eight years ago. These showcases, produced by LaPatin with Administrative Producer<a href="http://www.plaxo.com/directory/profile/600256/0f5782ba/Bronwen/Carson">Bronwen Carson</a>, have taken on the added mission of support of charitable causes since last October’s fete to benefit the Helen Sawaya Fund for breast cancer survivors. <br /><br />Each production features a theme of its own. DTS titled its May 11 event <span style="font-style:italic;">Ballroom Unleashed</span>, in honor of <a href="http://www.angelonaleash.org/">Angel On A Leash</a>, the evening’s beneficiary. The showcase and a red carpet pre-show reception took place at the <a href="http://kayeplayhouse.hunter.cuny.edu/">Danny Kaye Playhouse of Hunter College</a>. Angel On A Leash, a <a href="http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/">Westminster Kennel Club</a> charity, promotes work with therapy dogs in crisis intervention, rehabilitation, hospice, extended care, health care and correctional facilities and schools. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">(l to r below) Sheryl Shaker (Executive Director) and David Frei (Founder and CEO) of Angel On A Leash with Melanie LaPatin of Dance Times Square</span></span><br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJxKrTLqwnygsjcF5Zp_yPtlTzOIF8ppuVMpjBKRS-fapbiSNuLigcYcI10e_T70frCTorEXaDcz9vw0nFlzWVbWXQ83YUx5xjk8qhU5wdTrqjQ8RJZUK6jcu8sXV2jvlBV8pTGSII6s/s1600-h/Shaker_Frei_LaPatin.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjJxKrTLqwnygsjcF5Zp_yPtlTzOIF8ppuVMpjBKRS-fapbiSNuLigcYcI10e_T70frCTorEXaDcz9vw0nFlzWVbWXQ83YUx5xjk8qhU5wdTrqjQ8RJZUK6jcu8sXV2jvlBV8pTGSII6s/s200/Shaker_Frei_LaPatin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342571447147805698" /></a>LaPatin and Meredith used this connection as inspiration for dancing that explored the animal instincts that lie within student and professional dancers. Guest dancers and choreographers, who included the <a href="http://www.parsonsdance.org">Parsons Dance Company</a> in the person of Miguel Quinones; <a href="http://dancewiki.fox.com/page/Season+4+Contestants">Anya Garnis and Pasha Kovalev, Sabra Johnson and Twitch from <span style="font-style:italic;">So You Think You Can Dance</span></a>, <a href="http://www.mstuartdancetheatre.com/">Mark Stuart Eckstein Dance Theatre</a>, and <a href="http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/">Metropolitan Opera</a> diva <a href="http://aprilemillo.org/">Aprile Millo</a>, brought their own. The diversity and quality of guest artists spiced the program and made for a highly intriguing evening in the theater.<br /> <br />But diversity and quality did not end with the guest artists. In a curtain speech at the top of the show LaPatin made it clear that the students performing in the show ranged in experience from near beginners to polished performers. Differences in technical level become readily apparent. But the quality of the choreography, mostly credited to LaPatin and Meredith, and the cleverness of the programming, with LaPatin as director, turned what could easily have been a deficit into an asset. <br /> <br />Dance Times Square makes a convincing case that almost anyone can dance with remarkable confidence and a sense of style, provided that the dancemaker tailors partnership and choreography to the ability and commitment of the dancers present. Almost invariably these pas de deux pair a student with a professional. But for me one of the more enjoyable moments over the long and winding course of the evening came in the form of a group a six women of various ages, shapes and sizes strutting their curves to “Jungle Boogie.” <br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4w8aqQPeEiICfWYhU65VTHgHAWUC6bLXS8SwKK1aaGDM8BWqpk-et-p9IgejNzofm2Z9OZxT4i62L3AnTgE41ojEwB0Xl52_ThhcwlFwsixLQ0Yl_jgdY9rok4hHSy1mLgTel38qGrU/s1600-h/BUnleashed+187.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO4w8aqQPeEiICfWYhU65VTHgHAWUC6bLXS8SwKK1aaGDM8BWqpk-et-p9IgejNzofm2Z9OZxT4i62L3AnTgE41ojEwB0Xl52_ThhcwlFwsixLQ0Yl_jgdY9rok4hHSy1mLgTel38qGrU/s400/BUnleashed+187.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342573924747304002" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">(l to r above) Mark Stuart Eckstein and Adelani Malia: contemporary jazz with benefits</span></span><br /> <br />While I acknowledge that such a display might not appeal to every dancegoer, the program offers up the kind of variety and pacing that virtually guarantees something appealing, entertaining, and surprising for each member of the audience. For me these came just as often in the form of student/pro duets of rhumba, samba, quickstep, tango, paso doble and jive as they did in the frequent delights of the guest artists. <br /><br />The latter included several dancers from past seasons of <span style="font-style:italic;">SYTYCD</span>. Sabra Johnson, who, at the end of season 3, became the first female winner, danced a soulful contemporary solo, while her co-competitors Anya and Pasha showed finesse in a sizzling tango. Twitch, from season 4, freestyled his way through a number in each half of the program, combining b-boy techniques and styles with fluid ease. Most of the younger half of the audience joined the teenage girls sitting next to me in wooting each time he took the stage. <br /><br />Two of the other guests deserve special attention. About one third of the way through the 17 events on the first half of the program, 9 dancers from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGCuq4sNy6U">Company C Dance Club</a> of Toledo, Ohio, took the stage with painted faces. Over the next three minutes, they executed the well-crafted contemporary jazz styled choreography of <a href="http://www.myspace.com/princesscassbass">Cassie Dzienny</a> with a ferocity, fearlessness and crispness of attack and execution that made them resemble an entire troupe of nascent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Lecavalier">Louise Lecavalier’s</a>. <br /> <br />Dzienny’s designs often broke the group into three trios with sophisticated variations in shape, level – from splits on the floor to explosive leaps – and tempo to create and maintain a riveting dynamic tension. Only when I encountered them in the lobby at intermission did I come to realize that this powerful ensemble consisted of tween and teen girls, the youngest of whom, they told me, hadn’t yet turned 10. Woe to the respectable cha cha couple who had to follow them in one of the evening’s few programming faux pas. The act one charity appeal that followed the cha cha would have been better placed here instead. <br /> <br />The first half concluded with <a href="http://www.parsonsdance.org/artists/dancers.php">Miguel Quinones</a> fine performance of <a href="http://www.parsonsdance.org/artists/david_parsons.php">David Parson’s</a> signature solo <a href="http://www.parsonsdance.org/cms/Caught.php">“Caught,”</a> with it’s man-in-space stage effects born of leaps and jumps frozen in strobe light flashes accompanied by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frippertronics">Robert Fripp’s</a> atmospheric electronic score. I have seen this piece a score of times if I’ve seen it once, performed most frequently by its creator, but also by half a dozen other male and female interpreters. I found myself both surprised and moved by the standing ovation that still, 25 years on, greets its introduction to what I took to be a new audience. Quinones, to my mind, gets more out of the role than any other performer since the choreographer himself. <br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dh8UcE4JeVjrSoMdDf8oAqJO7sK5mBZEERBQlIV_0PasgrPwdU8-jFb46j78u1dRGmqPU0Whfj7rc9w_UKn4bAUqVGzy2LLUhg5hZP9_E2wHwCe_8gJLwJZoeaywbQMrkQ86PfZKZwg/s1600-h/BUnleashed+288.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dh8UcE4JeVjrSoMdDf8oAqJO7sK5mBZEERBQlIV_0PasgrPwdU8-jFb46j78u1dRGmqPU0Whfj7rc9w_UKn4bAUqVGzy2LLUhg5hZP9_E2wHwCe_8gJLwJZoeaywbQMrkQ86PfZKZwg/s400/BUnleashed+288.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342574799915287794" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">(above)Tony Meredith and Melanie LaPatin with the cast of "Ballroom Unleashed"</span></span><br /><br />And if the DTS audience came away more, well, “enlightened” after an encounter with this contemporary classic, I found lessons among the 31 segments of the Ballroom Unleashed extravaganza that the contemporary concert dance world, particularly its “downtown” branch, might do well to observe. For one thing, without any nudity whatsoever, these dancers and choreographers managed to convey a warm and unabashed sexuality, and more to the point perhaps, sensuality that made many of their more politically erotic modern dance peers look paradoxically puritanical by comparison. <br /><br />For all their own formal clichés – the ending with man on the floor as the woman walks off and leaves him representing only the most oft repeated in this concert – the DTS artists seemed to accept both their bodies and their own desires without angst or apology. This made flirtation, seduction, infatuation, romance and yes, sex, look attractive and fun; like something you might like to do instead of something you might like to think or make a statement about doing. And while the ritualized relationship violence that seemed to percolate through the evening’s very first three pieces gave me pause, it did not reprise throughout the remainder of the program. Moreover, if brevity can be considered the soul of wit, the program leathered its sole with a refreshing amount of wit. Once or twice, a piece wore out its welcome. Even then, it would go on for an extra minute or two, not a minute or ten. <br /> <br />I didn’t get to stick around for the “after party,” back at the studio, which encourages the audience, I gather, to supply its physical rejoinder to the onstage cavorting. But Dance Times Square seems committed to the idea that everyone should come (and dance) as they are while raising money for noble causes. Who knew that doing good could be so sexy and so much fun?<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Photos by <a href="http://dancetimessquare.printroom.com/ViewGallery.asp?userid=dancetimessquare&gallery_id=1555635">Lauren Duque</a>.<br /><br />This post produced in cooperation with <a href="http://www.tonyaplank.com/">Tonya Plank</a> of <a href="http://www.tonyaplank.com/swan_lake_samba_girl/">Swan Lake Samba Girl</span></a></span>DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2562878244032354422.post-52035566139445649402009-05-27T19:37:00.000-07:002009-08-19T21:05:36.487-07:00Crotch Tiara: Keigwin Kabaret stuffs its strut on the down low under Symphony Space, NYC<span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">By guest blogger <a href="http://blog.danceruniverse.com/blog/user/uid:4085">Joey Lico</a></span></span><br /><br />At 8:30 pm at the beginning of the weekend, a hush falls over the candle-lit <a href="http://www.symphonyspace.org/">Leonard Nimoy Thalia</a>. Over a microphone, a female flight attendant encourages passengers to order drinks: sex on the beach, rim jobs, panty rippers, buttery nipples. Blue papers rise from the audience to call the bartenders. <br /> <br />Enter the cast of Keigwin Kabaret, gliding around the stage with the angular fluidity that <a href="http://www.larrykeigwin.com/larrykeigwin.php">Larry Keigwin</a> has perfected since his days dancing backup on <span style="font-style:italic;">Club MTV</span> with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odKmFHoy0n0">Downtown Julie Brown</a>. The performers, led by Ying-Ying Shiau, humorously pantomime airline safety instructions; buckling safety belts, pointing to exits and securing oxygen masks while the audience laughs with familiarity. The dancers’ depiction of flight attendants is the only subtlety of this sexed-out variety show.<br /> <br />What can you say about a performance that ends with a naked, voluptuous, blonde woman, who also happens to be a female-impersonator spread out on stage like a star fish? “The World Famous Bob” turns to show the audience her jewel-encrusted vagina and the theater explodes into thunderous applause. Keigwin Kabaret has kept its promise to entertain.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZotmHqUXxMsgsFnuCDjfUH3bpx8GaV51Lj78nanXcQ1MFjgdPZ5N5Sy9jaCu8LEOEIOP77O2K22UCzPaCbXiAxjNrmZCyp-ClXmGLohpuymKnA-0tM0tax6Zp5B23JgdyRR9itz3OpWo/s1600-h/KK9+Whip+it.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZotmHqUXxMsgsFnuCDjfUH3bpx8GaV51Lj78nanXcQ1MFjgdPZ5N5Sy9jaCu8LEOEIOP77O2K22UCzPaCbXiAxjNrmZCyp-ClXmGLohpuymKnA-0tM0tax6Zp5B23JgdyRR9itz3OpWo/s400/KK9+Whip+it.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340703862177735362" /></a> <br />With guest appearances by Ambrose Martos, the clown-haired, sex-centered Master of Ceremonies; Bradford Scobie-a lasso wrangling, chicken- violator and Scott Lyons a paraplegic cross dressing version of Disney’s Ariel; Keigwin Kabaret is a show with a distinct sense of humor. Trying to make sense of it all ruins the spectacle. Between the sex, glitter and hip-hop aura that is characteristic of Keigwin’s choreography, these random acts segue between the dance pieces. <br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Keigwin Kabaret photo by Matthew Murphy</span></span> <br /><br /> <br />At one point Martos takes up an entire 2 minutes teasing the audience by taking off fourteen pairs of underwear. Is this a clever way to kill some stage time or a well-crafted comedic interlude of Keigwin’s design? Either way, this mélange works and we’re all fascinated eagerly awaiting the next carnal display.<br /> <br />Dancer Ashley Browne moves with such a smooth funk during a rendition of Unk’s chart topping, <a href="http://www.mixmatters.com/hot/2006/Unk_Walk_It_Out.html">“Walk it Out”</a> that it’s almost shocking when she unfolds and extends her leg next to her ear in the following piece, moving with utter grace and classical control. Nicole Wolcott shines throughout the entire show; her perfectly toned body dancing each movement with ferocity. She makes tongue wagging as captivating as Keigwin’s intricate footwork. <br /><br />There are delicate moments as well. Shiau brings an unrelenting tenderness as she is softly passed from the arms of one beau to another. She’s so endearing that you almost forget the scene has been set with her rise from among a circle of men, bathrobes open, as though she has just finished giving each of them a blowjob. <br /> <br />Only one moment seemed out of place. Liz Riga’s solo comes across as a downer among the slapstick pieces we have otherwise been presented with. Although she moves with command and obvious talent, her angularity and severity foil the fun. The woman who walked out in the middle of the brilliantly sung lyric “one mans omelet is another man’s son” might have appreciated Riga’s homage to the choreographer’s alter ego as the head of <a href="http://www.keigwinandcompany.com/">Keigwin + Company</a>. <br /> <br />Perhaps the intent is to remind us that not everything is fun and games. But the audience isn’t prepared and people let out only singular stifled chuckles in support. <br /> <br />But grin and bear it all with laughter we do for the entire 2 hours. By seamlessly blending contemporary, hip-hop and comedy under the umbrella of sexual promiscuity, Keigwin manages to put together a well-crafted work. On balance, it feels like a great way to spend a Friday night. <br /> DJ McDonald and his enemieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11698238595214517488noreply@blogger.com0