Wayne McGregor/Random Dance brings Atomos to Peak Performances at Montclair State's Alexander Kasser Theater. Wayne McGregor wants it both ways, and I don’t blame him. This virtuoso dancemaker— resident choreographer at Britain’s Royal Ballet, the director of Wayne McGregor/Random Dance, and a been-around whose works grace the repertories of numerous companies—wants us to look at his dances … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2014
Printed on the Space
Beth Gill and New York Live Arts and Lance Gries at Danspace St. Marks make a virtue of economy. In the deserts of the American Southwest, everything counts: the immense sky, that butte over there, those spiky plants, the track in the red earth (lizard? Maybe). Beth Gill’s beautiful New Work for the Desert has that kind of clarity. Watching it, you sense open space and the trails that … [Read more...]
The Many Faces of Spring
The Martha Graham Dance Company celebrates Appalachian Spring's 70th with a new work by Nacho Duato. Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring was first performed in October of 1944 in the Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress on a not very large stage intended for chamber music concerts. Its back and side walls with working doors would have made it awkward for the eight dancers to make … [Read more...]
Taylor’s Treasure Trove
The Paul Taylor Dance Company celebrates its 60th anniversary, March 11-22. Paul Taylor made his first piece of choreography 60 years ago and went on to create 139 more. Some are among the most beautiful or the funniest or the most terrifying dances you will ever see. His company is performing twenty-one of them, plus two new ones, during its two-week 60th anniversary season at Lincoln … [Read more...]
Breaching The Fourth Wall
Faye Driscoll at Danspace St. Marks and Netta Yerushalmy at the Harkness Dance Center bring spectators and performer closer together. The so-called fourth wall that separates performers from the spectators who’ve come to watch them is not always an obvious barrier like that created by a proscenium stage. Often it’s a virtual boundary that involves very little distance between the two zones. … [Read more...]
How Many Sallys Does It Take . . .?
Sally Silvers, Sally Gross, and Sally Bowden share a program. “Sally.” Seldom has an evening of dance been more appropriately titled. The performances presented by the Construction Company at the University Settlement on Eldridge Street showcased choreography by three vintage Sallys: Sally Gross, who was involved with Judson Dance Theater in the 1960s; Sally Bowden, who emerged in the … [Read more...]
Darkness and Light, Heat and Ice
Kimberly Bartosik/Daela premieres a work at New York Live Arts A lighting designer and a choreographer walk into a bar and. . . . No this is not a way to begin, especially if a joke doesn’t ensue; instead, the sentence announces a life-and-art collaboration that more likely began backstage. Kimberly Bartosik, the choreographer, and Roderick Murray, the lighting designer, have … [Read more...]