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The Fourth in a Trilogy

“4”
Sarah Michelson
The Whitney Museum of American Art
New York, NY
January 25, 2014

by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2014 by Leigh Witchel

Tenacity, obsession, or maybe being a control freak: however you analyze it, those qualities make Sarah Michelson a compelling artist.

The "Devotion" cycle began three years ago at The Kitchen.  The second part, “Devotion Study #1 – The American Dancer,” was done the following year as part of the Whitney Biennial, winning the Bucksbaum Award and another exhibition. And now, for the third (or “third and final” as Michelson interjected repeatedly in the accompanying script) installment, she returns to the vast hall on the fourth floor of the Whitney Museum. Yet even Michelson's qualification was qualified. There was a fourth part, we were informed, last year at the Museum of Modern Art.

Have a Heart

"4CHAMBERS"
Jody Oberfelder
Kingsland Hospital, Arts@Renaissance
Brooklyn, NY
January 23, 2014

By Martha Sherman
Copyright © 2014 by Martha Sherman

From the large anatomical mural of a heart in the entryway, to the blood red color of everything, to the da-dum beat throbbing through the building in Jody Oberfelder's "4CHAMBERS," there is no escape from the Telltale Heart. In her intimate immersive and experiential explorations, Oberfelder demands complete attention. There are no viewers; we are all participants – six performers and six audience members. Spoiler alert: Read further at your discretion; immersive theater is not improved by knowing what to expect. Part of the intrigue is the slightly-on-edge feeling of not knowing. In “4CHAMBERS,” the audience was truly thrown into the action. The work didn’t happen around or to us; often, it was us.

Better Than Ever

"Giselle"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
January 27, 2014

by Rita Felciano
Copyright © Rita Felciano, 2014

Walking out after any "Giselle" performance, my first reaction is that I want to see it again, and again, and again. Such is the grip that this ever so romantic ballet holds on me. When I was younger, I used to be angry with Albrecht, hoping he would have a miserable life. Now I am choking up when SFB's Giselle slithers back into the grave. It is such a hoky stage trick, and yet I hold my breath. Audiences don't seem to be able to get enough either of this story of innocence betrayed. This year tickets were almost impossible to get even though Helgi Tomasson's 1999 version opened the season in 2008 and 2011. Of particular interest this year will be the first local appearance -- which unfortunately I'll have to miss -- of new Principal Mathilde Froustey's (Paris Opera Ballet) Giselle and new Soloist Simone Messmer's (ABT) Myrtha. 

Enigmatic Explorations

“Different Homes,” “Picnic,” “Surmisable Units”
BalletNext
New York Live Arts
New York
January 16, 2014

By Marianne Adams
Copyright © 2014 by Marianne Adams

Both daring and self-contained, BalletNext’s presentation of An Evening by Brian Reeder was an intriguing visual delight that left just enough unsaid.  The program featured three works choreographed by Reeder: the New York premiere of “Different Homes,” the world premiere of “Surmisable Units,” and an older work, “Picnic,” from 2012.  All three were performed to live music and offered a creative depth that came from a keen exploitation of minimalism, proving that less can indeed be more.

Facinatin' Dancing

"Concerto Barocco", "Kammermusik No. 2", "Who Cares?"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 21, 2014

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2014 by Mary Cargill

City Ballet opened its Winter season crisply, with three Balanchine works and one intermission. The scrupulous architecture of "Concerto Barocco" is really indestructible, as those glorious patterns weave in and out.  At times, though, the corps looked a bit tentative, and there were a few near misses.  There were no misses from Sara Mearns, dancing the second violin with her usual ability to make the stage disappear and let the audience feel she is seeing some mystery beyond those four walls.  She combines this otherworldly quality with almost dizzying speed and attack, and she commanded the stage.

Do It Again

“a quartet”
Heather Kravas
The Kitchen
New York, NY
January 12, 2014

By Leigh Witchel
Copyright © 2014 by Leigh Witchel

Obsessions are rarely dull, and Heather Kravas’ “A Quartet” is obsessive, repetitious – and often fascinating. The ninety-minute piece for three women and a man methodically and hermetically drilled through a tight range of movement from elementary ballet to marching. Kravas also offered us speech, but no narrative. Yet if we weren’t always sure where she was headed in the four long sections that made up “A Quartet,” she seemed to be.

Champagne Pranks

“Twelfth Night” after William Shakespeare
Synetic Theater Company
Synetic  Theater at Crystal City
Arlington, Virginia
January 9, 2014
 
by George Jackson
copyright 2014 by George Jackson
 
Shakespeare’s plot for “Twelfth Night” is as complex as a Gordian knot. One can forgive Paata Tsikurishvili, director of the Synetic movement-theater troupe, for having lopped off part of it as with a sword blade. Missing and missed is the romance of the play’s shipwrecked male twin, Sebastian, and his seafarer rescuer Antonio. This side story, which Shakespeare presents but doesn’t fully explore, should resonate with the ambiguities launched by Viola, the female twin, when she dresses as a man. Without a true Antonio, Shakespeare seems less of a champion for same sex troth than recent interpreters have made him out to be. Politics aside, Synetic’s “Twelfth Night” bubbles and perks like champagne that’s just been popped open. This is among Synetic’s best silent theater pieces – one can see Shakespeare’s lines dance.