danceviewtimes

To Everything There is a Season

“Suite Donuts,” “The Moor’s Pavane,” “There is a Time”
José Limón Company
Streamed Live at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park
Tivoli, NY
December 19, 2020

by Martha Sherman
copyright © 2020 by Martha Sherman

As the José Limón Company began “There is a Time,” the final piece in their live- streamed perform- ance at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, the dancers swept into the circle of time that Limón created in this 1956 classic. Based on the biblical wisdom of Ecclesiastes (“for every time, there is a season,”)  the twelve dancers swayed, knees bent, and wove like interconnected threads. The simple elegance of a grapevine step brought the past into the present. In this time, where connection is most missed, the gift of seeing dancers unmasked and safely touching, it was a  reminder of the timelessness of Limón’s finest choreography.

 

José Limón Company in rehearsal for "There is a Time." Photo © Kelly Puleio.

Magician and Muses

Magician and Muses

"Balanchine's Mozartiana - The Making of a Masterpiece"

 by Robert Maiorano and Valerie Brooks

 Freundlich Books, New York, 1985

 

by George Jackson

copyright 2020 by George Jackson  

 

Not new, this book about the making of a ballet remains an important item of danced literature. Its principal author, Robert Maiorano, was a dancer with New York City Ballet for 15 years, beginning in 1961. For the company's Tchaikovsky Festival in 1981, Maiorano asked Balanchine's permission to attend rehearsals for his announced new "Mozartiana" that would be premiered at the  festival's opening. Balanchine gave his consent. Maiorano, although he had written on his own previously, enlisted journalist Valerie Brooks as co-author. They wrote not for each other but together. As a dancer, Maiorano had a dash of Edward Villella's drive and a drop of Helgi Tomasson's elegant finish as part of his observant, efficient manner. Relating what went on at the Mozartiana rehearsals and premiere, the authors give us description, explanation, suspicions and some fascinating asides. 

Junk Dances 2020

"Plastic Harvest" 
Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance 
The Center at West Park, New York
Streamed Live December 15, 2020

by Tom Phillips 
copyright 2020 by Tom Phillips 

In the early 1960s, choreo- grapher Murray Louis took a ride up the escalator at Macy’s, the world’s largest store.

 ''I looked at rooms and rooms … waves of coats and shirts,'' he told the New York Times. ''I thought, 'Who buys this?' And suddenly I had an image of excess as a theme.''  Shortly after, Louis attended a country auction where he bought a bundle of old umbrellas. He opened them up: ''They were all completely eaten away. It was wonderful.”  He had one thought: “It all turns to junk.”  

Anika Hunter in "Plastic Harvest"