Hard to think about anything except the tragic bombings in Boston. Years ago, I remember sitting beside my sister on a stone wall, watching the marathon runners come by....it always seemed a day full of joy and excitement.
Don Schramm and his partner Barbara Nolfi gave me a DVD of "Dear Pina"--by choreographer Hannah Dennison, and last week I finally found time to watch it. What a remarkable project! I hope all Vermont dance lovers will take the time to attend her June performances..... she's revising and enlarging the piece -
What is fascinating is the sense of Pina's style without exact quotations--and the incremental layering of the dance elements. I found it kept on growing on me. The dancing itself is very fine. Last Tuesday, I went to see ULTIMA VEZ perform in Hanover--a wild and memorable evening! This Belgian group was touring with this piece by Wim Vandekeybus which rocked the dance world 25 years ago! And now--restaged-- it's still very innovative and thrilling. A game-like structure holds the dance together; episodes are unified by the use of a prop, or sound, and by a very restricted movement vocabulary. The performers include dancers, actors, jugglers, etc.! Very high energy -- sometimes playful, but on the edge of violence and mayhem!
A disturbing section involved man and woman as partners--the woman forced to stand with arms outstretched and legs spread apart., while the man "feels up and touches" various parts of her body; the women seem irritated but submit passively. Sometimes the roles switch. There is a mood of subdued violence, dominance, and manipulation. The game-like structure keeps if from feeling downright sadistic. But I found it on the edge of horrifying, saved by the "game" approach which made the audience feel somewhat safe. The last episode was based on stamping; at first we feared that one dancer would violently stamp on another, but after a while, it began to look a bit tame, even ludicrous-- because we know no one would really get hurt. Unlike Pina Bausch, where the violence feels closer to reality. However, I could imagine that Pina Bausch might have been influenced by this dance and this choreographer. |
AuthorA LIFE IN DANCE-- not full of monetary rewards, but the rewards of living fully in the MOMENT! Archives
August 2014
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