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. I always look forward to reading the dance reviews in the NYTimes--Alistair Macauley, especially, is a great treat. Bless Macauley for helping to raise the public's awareness of how important CHOREOGRAPHY is in our enjoyment of dance performances. MORE POWER TO HIM!!! Today's review of the Paul Taylor Company was so interesting... pointing out the enigmatic nature of Paul as an artist-- and his excellent dancers too. Brilliant, skilled, full of contradictions! THe photo, too, spoke volumes.
Far too many dance reviews are just about the performers; not that dancers don't deserve notice and praise--of course they DO! But it can be depressing to go to see the Joffrey, for example -- a company chock full of brilliant dancers, an have to d sit through the first piece on the program. ( I think it was by Richard Sheldon?? ) This dance was so distressingly banal, in terms of choreographic value. Yes, the dancers looked good doing their "tricks" -- that's all well and good. But what was the message? If any? Or the mood? Also, to light dance from above is very unflatttering--dance should be lit from the side, to bring out the sculptural beauty! (Unless an overhead light is intended for a dramatic reason....?) Unfortunately, ballet has a long tradition of not bothering to teach young people much if anything about the art of choreography ( or about stagecraft??). Apparently, any gift in that line should come from osmosis. A young dancer watches (or performs) a dance by a master choreographer--and is supposed to absorb a gift?? Fortunately, individuals like Christopher Wheeldon do come along-- and clearly have a great deal of talent. Modern dance, on the contrary, recognizes that choreography is an art, like music composition, which takes years to master. I was lucky at Smith to have to take dance composition --and in recent years to be able to teach it. So much to learn, every day, from others and from oneself. I hope I have a chance to keep on learning.... One early memory I have --as a child--is walking down the center of the road in front of my house; a warm, sunny day. For some reason, I had the urge to walk differently -- rising and falling--and I felt without weight--it was magical and I'll never forget that moment. My first experience of creating a virtual world --through movement--for myself.
Of course, I 'm sure I also did the impetuous dancing that all children do, but that was without awareness--just out of sheer exuberance. Cartwheels in the living room that brought down a green glass lamp with a CRASH! Perhaps my sister was less than enthusiastic about following my directions that we should each come out from behind the curtains to prance around the room in opposite directions to the "Dance of the Hours". I remember one early dance we did, where I (as the older) got to wear the bottom part of my grandmother's evening dress, and she wore only the cape (being much smaller!) Saw an interesting program --including a piece by Christopher Wheeldon and Kurt Jooss's the Green Table--an old masterwork. A 3rd piece that--for me--was an empty display vehicle that didn't go anywhere (except in circles --very static). Wheeldon is very clever and talented. However, After the Rain's concluding section--a duet--seemed to me very manipulative and I felt that the man was totally unknown at the end--while the woman was painfully vulnerable.
More on THe Green Table later... I had forgotten that Kurt Jooss had studied with Rudolf Laban! Part of the family tree! Off into the snow..... More wonderful dance reviews in the NYTimes this week of Paul Taylor's company. He has always been one of my favorite choreographers-- brilliant, very sensitive to music; his lyrical, energetic Esplanade is a favorite. Set to Bach....so beautifully. Taylor has a dark side, and sometimes I can't quite follow where he is taking us...also a playful side which occasionally veers toward the outright silly--- but he is always worthy of attention. And his dancers are marvels. I remember seeing Paul and Dan Wagoner in the early days, dancing his choreography at the American Dance Festival--particularly in Aureole and Big Bertha (with the marvelous Bette De Jong and sprightly Carolyn Brown). The men were both large, muscular, and yet as light as helium.... amazing to watch. I've no doubt stolen an idea or two from Paul Taylor--the large expansive, ground devouring lunges, the use of everyday movement to define space and energy. This trip down memory lane also brings back memories of Merce Cunningham way back when -- what a lovely, gentle man he was as a teacher--but like a lion on stage! Utterly commanding. And funny! I loved his Antic Meet, wearing the chair on his back! I took two classes a day from him; the only way I was allowed to take his Advanced class (because I had so little prior training) was to take his Beginner class every day as well. His company was small -- (in those days they toured in an VW bus!) Carolyn Brown, so vividly beautiful, so amazingly articulate... Viola Farber and Remy Charlip--each unique and a treasure. I knew two other dancers who later danced with him-- One--a lovely woman who danced in my choreography at Indiana University ... she wasanother one was Trish Lent -- formerly of my company, Choreo,Inc. Smart, cool, incredibly gifted dancer. Meanwhile, across the street is a stunning old barn; if I were a painter, I would be painting it every day. The snow is melting here and there --off the metal roof and the cows were out in the pasture --so I guess they can get to the grass......Spring is in the air. Mud season here! |
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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