Pam Tanowitz + Simone Dinnerstein New Work for Goldberg Variations. L to R: Christine Flores, Netta Yerushalmy, Simone Dinnerstein, Jason Collins, and Maile Okamura. Photo: Erin Baiano Count Hermann Carl von Keyserlink, so the story goes, had trouble sleeping at night in 18th-century Leipzig. So the amiable Johann Sebastian Bach composed thirty variations for harpsichord that his … [Read more...]
Once Upon a Time There Was Romance
American Ballet Theatre dancers in James Whiteside’s New American Romance. Photo: Erin Baiano, courtesy Vail Dance Festival Do you ever wonder how choreographers choose their titles? After seeing James Whiteside’s New American Romance on the last day of American Ballet Theatre’s fall season at the former New York State Theater, I spent some time pondering that. The five women in its cast … [Read more...]
Noh Transformations
Karole Armitage's You Took A Part of me. Sierra French (L) and Megumi Eda. Photo: Julie Lemberger Anyone who has seen a Japanese Noh play will not forget it easily. The poetic speech, the masked characters and their slow, ceremonious behavior, the tiny details that expose a world. Karole Armitage has studied and thought about the form for many years, perhaps while performing in Merce … [Read more...]
Fashion and Dance Get Married
The New York City Ballet's Fall Gala Lauren Lovette's The Shaded Line. New York City Ballet's Georgina Pazcoguin flanked by from left, Davide Riccardo, Mary Thomas MacKinnon, Gilbert Bolden, Unity Phelan and Jonathan Fahoury. Credit Photo: Erin Baiano You can discover online a photo of Sarah Jessica Parker, swirling the yards of fuschia material in which designer Zac Posen had garbed her for … [Read more...]
Martha Over the Years
Martha Graham's Appalachian Spring. One of the Jacob's Pillow casts (L to R): Leslie Andrea Williams, Anne Souder, So Young An, Laurel Dalley Smith, Marzia Memoli, Jacob Larsen, and Charlotte Landreau. Photo: Grace Kathryn Landefeld When Janet Eilber, artistic director of the Martha Graham Dance Company, stepped through Jacob’s Pillow’s front curtain to introduce the group’s performance, she … [Read more...]
A Ballerina Adventures in Postmodern Worlds
Sarah Mearns in Martha Graham's Ekstasis. Photo: Grace Kathryn Landefeld It wouldn’t be entirely fair to call Sara Mearns a force of nature, given her discipline, her skills as a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, and her interest in exploring new possibilities. However having seen her perform August 14-18 in Jacob’s Pillow’s Doris Duke Theater, I’m strenuously tempted. The … [Read more...]
Borne on the Winds
Members of Gallim in Andrea Miller's Boat. Photo: Grace Kathryn Landefeld The tall, robust, gray-haired man standing outside Jacob’s Pillow’s Ted Shawn Theater during intermission is explaining his reaction to Andrea Miller’s Boat to two attentive listeners. The members of her company, Gallim, he says, never stand still! He can’t get over that. It’s not entirely true, of course. The eight … [Read more...]
What Stands May Fall
Cellist Maya Beiser (L) and Wendy Whelan in Lucinda Childs's the day. Photo: Hayim Heron I didn’t read Maura Keefe’s program essay while sitting in Jacob’s Pillow’s Doris Duke Theater, waiting for the day to start. I didn’t read the program note by the versatile and highly regarded cellist Maya Beiser. I didn’t read the spoken text that was part of David Lang’s score. And, once the … [Read more...]
Anthologizing Abraham
Kyle Abraham's Drive. (L to R): Tamisha Guy, Catherine Ellis Kirk, Donovan Reed, Keerati Jinakunwiphat, Marcella Lewis, Matthew Baker, Claude "CJ" Johnson, and (hidden) Jada Jenai Williams. Photo: Grace Kathryn Landefeld When I watch a dance that I’ve also seen a few years earlier, I perceive it differently. Maybe I hear it differently too. Has it changed? Maybe. Have I changed? Of course. So … [Read more...]
The Worlds of Mark Morris
Mark Morris's Sport. Standing (L to R): Domingo Estrada, Jr., Lauren Grant, Aaron Loux, Lesley Garrison, Christina Sahaida, and Dallas McMurray. Photo: Christopher Duggan Mark Morris can be a playful fellow, and for his latest work, Sport, he collaborated with a playful musician, who was no longer living. Erik Satie wrote his Sports et Divertissements in 1914 (an unfortunate date) and … [Read more...]