danceviewtimes

Prankster

"Brandenburgs", "Phantasmagoria", "Beloved Renegade"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Filene Center
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
Vienna, Virginia
July 20, 2010

by George Jackson
copyright 2010 by George Jackson

Incredible to think of Paul Taylor turning 80! He was young and could pounce like a big cat when I first saw him - it was in George Balanchine's portion of "Episodes", the collaboration Lincoln Kirstein had arranged between his choreographer and Martha Graham. I don't remember the solo Taylor danced or to which Anton Webern music it took place, but following that joint performance by the Graham company and New York City Ballet, Taylor stepped out infront of City Center and proceeded to cartwheel down the sidewalk to where friends were waiting. There was strength but no strain in his body, his rebound from the concrete was cushioned and the amplitude of the circles he wrote on the air was astonishing. He ended upright at the side of his friends with a Lil' Abner grin on his face. Since that day in 1959, Taylor has sired lots of dances. He seems to love them all equally, the misbegotten and the masterpieces. There was no masterwork on the Taylor company's solitary Wolf Trap program this summer although "Brandeburgs" - a substitution for "Also Playing" - ranks just short of that. The new  "Phantasmagoria", co-commissioned by Wolf Trap, is a dud. "Renegade" is too reverential. Ah, but "Brandenburgs" boasts treasures, both Apollonian and prankish. 

Dance Genres & Jazz

Branford Marsalis, Jazz Musician with
The Suzanne Farrell Ballet / Ronald K. Brown's Evidence / Tap: John & Leo Manzari
An American Playlist - Evening 2
Eisenhower Theater
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
July 19, 2010

by George Jackson
copyright 2010 by George Jackson

More than light, delightful entertainment for early evening on a hot summer day, this program of dance and jazz music was instructive. Two duos by Balanchine showed differences of attack using ballet technique and syncopation; four excerpts from Brown's choreography raised questions about gender roles and genre fusion; two teenage tap dancers prompted admiration and wonder what some classical schooling might do for them.

Time Travel

Silesia's 17th Annual Contemporary Dance Festival & Conference
Bytom, Poland
June 27 - July 10, 2010

by George Jackson 
copyright 2010 by George Jackson

Two performance events at this year's contemporary festival had choreography from the past. One was a summary of and commentary on "Giselle" by classical dancer Rainer Krenstetter who stepped into and out of the role of Albrecht while conversing with historian Claudia Jeschke. The other was a 1920s expressionist solo - Andrei Jerschick's "Madman" - within the framework of Georg Blaschke's variations on it and a film of Jerschick teaching the original to Harmen Tromp who taught it to Blaschke who taught it to Petr Ochvat who danced it and the variations live. The festival's more than 27 other performances focused on current choreography.

In the Black Box Darkly

Memphis's "In Dreams", Arizona's "Diversions", Pacific NorthWest's "3 Movements"
Ballet Across America II #2
Opera House, The Kennedy Center
Washington, DC
June 17, 2010

by George Jackson
copyright 2010 by George Jackson

Advice attributed to Balanchine is to close your eyes if you don't like the choreography and listen to the music. He was thinking of the sort of music he chose for his ballets - from classical through romantic to neoclassical or, on occasion, baroque and 19th Century ballroom plus, once, electronic. Much harder is closing your ears. Sometimes it can be done mentally and I tried during Ballet Memphis's rendition of Trey McIntyre's "In Dreams" to Roy Orbison and cronies' country rock.The sound just wouldn't let itself be shut out. These songs, unlike The Greasy Beans' bluegrass score on opening night, grated. McIntyre has an aim: he wants to be hip to what's happening now. That, though, is a vain and trite notion. He's best at squeezing sensuality out of duets but tends to be predictably slick in devising ensembles. The cast of three women - Stephanie Mei Hom, Julie Niekrasz, Jane Rehm - and two men - Jonathan Powell and Steven McMahon - was attractive and able. Why, though, did Memphis have to brandish pop entertainment? The company also has nuanced work in its repertory. Arizona's and Pacific Northwest's choices weren't as regionally stereotyped. Or was "In Dreams" the Kennedy Center's decision?   

Setless, Step-based and Bold

Houston's "Falling", Farrell's "Monumentum" & "Movements", North Carolina's "Shindig"
Ballet Across America II #1
Opera House, Kennedy Center
Washington, DC
June 15, 2010

by George Jackson
copyright 2010 by George Jackson

 What ballet companies across America have in common was one of the questions asked during opening night's post-performance discussion with artistic directors. Assembled on stage were Houston Ballet's Stanton Welch (an Australian), North Carolina Dance Theatre's Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux (French) and Patricia McBride, and Suzanne Farrell of her own company. Kim Kokich (Kasimir K's daughter, Alexandra Danilova's godchild, and a critic and former dancer) was the moderator. Apart from Bonnefoux's reference to American energy, the four panelists pretty much stressed differences among their companies, particularly regional differences. It struck me that not one of the four ballets on the program had a set or props to demarcate "place". One was aware instead, subtly or directly, of space. This awareness depended not only on the lighting design but, too, on steps. Much of the dancing was step-based, although George Balanchine's "Monumentum pro Gesualdo" and his "Movements for Piano and Orchestra" also showed other choreographic building blocks. All three companies performed boldly.  

Reflections on Relaxation and Ritual

"Visitation", "Empire Garden" and "V"
Mark Morris Dance Group
Center for the Arts, George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia
June 12, 2010

by George Jackson
copyright 2010 by George Jackson

Seeing dances by Mark Morris performed by his own company and by ballet companies is a distinctly different experience. Morris likes to have his dancers look casual and behave as if they were quite relaxed even when engaged in what might seem a formal ritual. Recurring in "V" is a theme in which the dancers file across the stage.Their steps are fairly slow and measured, like those of a processional. Yet the impression I took away was that the cast was marking the action and rehearsing its roles and  not totally imitating reality. It isn't that the dancers stint on energy, not at all, but there remains in the personas projected a core of privacy, of individuality. I suspect Morris goes to great lengths to select and train his dancers so that they do not look stretched, streamlined, turned-out and absolutely immersed in let's pretend. This scruple for not violating the performer's self Morris inherited from the Judson Church generation that is among his artistic ancestors. Unlike the Judson, though, spurts and bursts of bravura occur in Morris's choreography for his company. It may actually be harder to deliver beats, leaps or turns off the cuff than execute them with balletic preparation and precision. No question, though, that behind the "ordinary people" look of the Mark Morris Dance Group a purpose exists that is extraordinary. The architecture of Morris's choreography also disturbs canonical rules. 

Ability Variations

Moving Company from Massachusetts, Karen Peterson & Dancers, Dancing Wheels, "Diagnosis of a Faun"
VSA Festival
Washington, DC
June 6 - 12, 2010

by George Jackson
copyright 2010 by George Jackson

VSA = Very Special Arts. In this year 2010, the VSA organization, which focuses on "arts and disability", is holding its annual festival in Washington, DC at diverse locations - the Harman Center's Forum and Lansburgh Theater, the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage and Terrace Theater, the Smithsonian Institution's Discovery Theater, the Atlas Performing Arts Center and other spots. Over 600 people from all over the world are active participants as authoring artists, performers or their team mates. Dance is represented and importantly so. The possibilities being pursued - anatomic, technological, imaginative - seem unlimited. The actuality of the pair of performances I saw was worthwhile but modest.

Under Construction

"The Wall", "Belle Phantasm" and "Shift"
Artists' Bloc
Rehearsal Studio, Woolly Mammoth Theatre
Washington, DC
June 4, 2010

by George Jackson
copyright 2010 by George Jackson

Presenting work in progress and promoting conversation between authors and audience is the stated purpose of Artists' Bloc. Of the current pieces, two choreography and the third a play, only the play isn't far enough along to have a definite character. "The Wall", a dance work and first on the bill, even has significant shape. It is in two "scenes", with no literal wall at first but then, in a shorter portion, the wall becomes actual. This happens in three ways: the dancers engage with a real wall at the back of the stage space, trying to understand it, penetrate it and demolish it. Finally they try to vault it but rebound, turn around and rush at us, the audience, as if we too were wall. The wall's third manifestation is in a film of the one that today separates Palestine and Israel; the film is shot from the Palestinian side. Let us, though, take a step back to the printed program and the first portion of Betsy Loikow's dance, "The Wall", which "does not seek to make a political statement". 

Signposts

"The 4 Temperaments", "Pacific", "Push Comes to Shove", & "Cor Perdut" or "Romeo and Juliet Duo"
The Washington Ballet
Harman Hall
Washington, DC
May 20 &23 matinee, 2010

by George Jackson
copyright 2010 by George Jackson

Putting works by name choreographers on the same bill is how Septime Webre, Washington Ballet's director, has closed his company's season three years running. He called this program "Genius 3". That Balanchine's "The Four Temperaments" is as ingenious and satisfying a ballet as can be found in the modern repertory is something with which few would disagree. Its counsel concerns our  predetermination and choice. The music is Hindemith - not only hummable Hindemith, as someone sitting nearby proved by joining in, but also tapable notwithstanding the dissonances. The dancers' rendition of the choreography, staged by Sandra Jennings, had bite on May 20. It was a strong cast throughout with Elizabeth Gaither and Zachary Hackstock, Morgann Frederick and Corey Landolt, and Laura Urgelles and Tamas Krizsa as the three Themes. The four Variations or Temperaments were Jonathan Jordan as Melancholic, Maki Onuki with Brooklyn Mack as Sanguinic, Jared Nelson as Phlegmatic, and Sona Kharatian as Choleric. That the Temperaments differ means distinct timings and diverse movement textures. Melancholic's light longings suited Jordan particularly well. His dancing was big and full bodied. Kharatian's Choleric was commanding, even though her gargouillading could have been sharper. Amanda Cobb gave this stir jump a bit of flash at the May 23 matinee, but she didn't let herself relax an instant in the Choleric role. This made the ballet's closing the opposite of its opening which Dustin Shane, as First Theme with Diana Albrecht, had turned mellow - perhaps because it was early on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Bite gradually returned to the proceedings with, on this occasion, Kharatian and Dylan Ward as the Second Theme, Landolt partnering Frederick as Sanguinic, and Brooklyn Mack as Phlegmatic. Balanchine's choreography for "4 Ts" is innovative classicism, whereas Mark Morris for "Pacific" and Nacho Duato for "Cor Perdut" step outside the main tradition. 

Presumptions

"Bach: Multiplicity. Forms of Silence and Emptiness"
Compania Nacional de Danza
Eisenhower Theater
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
May 14, 2010

by George Jackson
copyright 2010 by George Jackson

Spain is the nation referred to in the company's name and Johann Sebastian is the Bach of the work's title. It is petty of me to be annoyed by these omissions and by one other: no front curtain covered the stage. The audience on entering encountered a seemingly empty expanse. I took this third omission to be a sin of commission, a signal for the type of dance we were about to see: contemporary. At least no one was warming up or practicing on stage; it was just the stagescape dimly lit - which prompted some anticipation. Two figures appeared for the first scene or Prologue. Both were male and they were immersed in an iconic Glenn Gould recording of "The Goldberg Variations". The  first on stage was dressed in simple black dance wear and acted somewhat wild. The one who followed was an apparition in baroque attire, and seemed initially austere. In their juxtaposition lurked the suggestion of Hamlet's encounter with his father's ghost, even as it became clear that what we had was a dancer-choreographer being haunted by his composer. Nacho Duato, this program's choreographer, was performing the wild or mad or inspired dancer i.e., he was playing himself against a company member standing in for the spirit of J.S. Bach. Anguish, perplexity, and the need to act out were expressed by the dancer. His postures angled, bent and almost broke. His propulsion was tenacious even though spastic. The composer had come to the dancer's rescue as his partner and teacher. He tempered outbursts, lent balance and gently but firmly imposed form on what had been flailings. Had I left the theater after this scene I would have carried away with me the best of Duato.