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Music, Dance and Space

"Available Light"
Lucinda Childs Dance Company
Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances
Berkeley, CA
February 3, 2017

by Rita Felciano
copyright Rita Felciano, 2017

It's rare that choreo- graphers or composers get to revisit a work they created more than thirty years ago. It only happens to those whose accom- plishments have since proven their staying power. John Adams, whose 70th birthday celebration generated the "Available Light's" performances this past weekend at Cal, is one of them. Another is Lucinda Childs. Her contribution to the 2015 revival of "Einstein at the Beach" may have revived audiences' memories of the now seventy-six year old choreographer whose brainy works were an essential contribution to what we now call post-modern dance. The third collaborator, architect Frank O. Gehry, at the time was best known for having wrapped his 1920's bungalow home in corrugated steel and chain link fencing. Maybe in 1983 "Available Light" created a stir by being "radical", "minimalist" and "single-minded." If so, the years have not diminished any of these qualities even though the Cal performance didn't look as abstract or as stringent as I had anticipated.

Lucinda Childs Dance Company in "Available Light." Photo: JJ Tiziou

Everything is Political

“Last Work”
Batsheva Dance Company
Brooklyn Academy of Music, Howard Gilman Opera House
New York, NY
February 2, 2017

by Martha Sherman
copyright © 2017 by Martha Sherman

By the time the machine gun fire of the soundtrack went off, in the last several minutes of Ohad Naharin’s “Last Work,” the audience was so keyed up with the intensity of dancing that many lightly levitated out of their seats. The piece, thankfully not really his last work, insisted that no moment included respite; behind the never-ending movement of the troupe of 16 from Batsheva, a woman in blue ran endlessly on a built-in treadmill; the relentless pounding of her feet was an underlying heartbeat. It said: we will not stop.

Bret Easterling and Zina Zinchenco in Batsheva Dance Company in "Last Work." Photo © Gadi Dagon.

A Boy and His Horse

“The Little Humpbacked Horse”
The Mariinsky Ballet
The John F. Kennedy for the Performing Arts
Washington, D.C.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017

by Alexandra Tomalonis
copyright © 2017 by Alexandra Tomalonis

It’s not at all unusual to enjoy great performances from the Mariinsky Ballet, but it’s rare for any company to give us dancing as full of happiness and zest as we saw from that troupe Tuesday night. The company seemed to love dancing Alexei Ratmansky’s endearing “The Little Humpbacked Horse” (created for the Mariinsky in 2009) and its joy was infectious.

Photo: Alexei Ratmansky's The Little Humpbacked Horse, Vladimir Shklyarov as Ivan the Fool; photo by Natasha Razina.

Ritual

 

“Alekhya”

Spilling Ink Productions

Dance Place

Washington, DC

January 29, 2017

 

by George Jackson

© 2017 by George Jackson

 

Familiar formats in America for the classic dancing of India include long solos that are autobiographical and may seem like acts of self sacrifice by the time they finish, also sensual duets that tell tales of love, or epic group sagas. For its 10th anniversary the Spilling Ink organization presented a small ensemble, six dancers, in a work which explored ideas about prayer. Remarkable discipline and coordination were displayed by the cast in this ritual which lasted and lasted. 

 

 

Homage to the Queen

"Allegro Brillante", "Swan Lake", "The Four Temperaments"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 31, 2017

by Mary Cargill 
copyright © 2017 by Mary Cargill

The well-balanced, all-Balanchine program wasn't given a name by the marketing department, but it could have been called "Salute to Maria Tallchief", since both "Allegro Brillante" and "Swan Lake" were choreographed for her and Sanguinic in "The Four Temperaments" was one of her important roles. Tallchief was a dancer of power and majesty, characteristics which, in their own ways, the evening's dancers understood.  There was fine dancing, a notable debut (Sterling Hyltin in "Swan Lake") and a few misses.

Choice and Chance

“Atomos”

Company Wayne McGregor

Kay Theatre at The Clarice

University of Maryland

College Park, Maryland

January 28, 2017

 

by George Jackson

© 2017 by George Jackson

 

As the resident choreographer of Britain’s Royal Ballet and as a professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire but also as someone with temporary assignments such as a psychology fellowship to the University of Cambridge and making dances for diverse companies around the world, how does Wayne McGregor (born 1970) keep himself from becoming bored? By having a small company of his own. Established in 1992 and currently consisting of 9 dancers, the group – minus McGregor but led by associate director Odetta Hughes – visited the University of Maryland to interact with students and give a single performance for the public in the Washington, DC area.  

 

Photo from "Atomos" by Ravi Deepres.