Lydia Johnson Dance ~ Retrospective

Above: the studio at Battery Dance where Lydia Johnson Dance rehearsed during the first years of our association; photo by Kokyat

It was on a March evening in 2009 that I first encountered the choreography of Lydia Johnson; a press invitation sent to me by publicist Audrey Ross had piqued my curiosity enough to prompt me to go – with my fellow blogger Evan Namerow – to a studio showing by Lydia Johnson Dance.

What I discovered that night was choreography that successfully melded elements of classical ballet and contemporary dance, that had a keen connection to the music, and that – rarest of all – had an emotional resonance that I had found in only a handful of works by current choreographers of the day.

Above: Tucker Ty Davis and Jessica Sand; photo by Julie Lemberger. Tucker and Jessica were among the dancers who appeared in that first-encounter studio event

I can’t remember now the sequence of correspondence between Lydia and myself that led to my being invited, along with my photographer/friend Kokyat, to a rehearsal of Lydia’s company down at the Battery Dance studios. At that time, Kokyat was a dance photographer in the making; he became a master over time. In the ensuing months, he and I spent many hours in that studio – so steeped in the very essence of dance – and we became friends with all the dancers…and with Lydia herself. 

Here are some of Kokyat’s photos from those happy days at Battery Dance:

Eric Vlach, Jessica Sand

Lisa Iannacito and Jesse Marks

Jessica Sand

Robert Robinson, Jessica Sand

Jessica Sand

Lisa Iannacito

Laura Di Orio

Kerry Shea

Sean Patrick Mahoney, a guest artist from the Paul Taylor Dance Company, with Jessica Sand

Sarah Pon and Blake Hennessy-York, a young married couple who joined Lydia Johnson Dance and made it their artistic home

Guest artist Sean Patrick Mahoney

Guest artist Max van der Sterre with Kerry Shea

An early rehearsal of SUMMER HOUSE

Laura Di Orio, Kaitlin Accetta

Blake Hennessy-York and the ensemble

A rehearsal of CROSSINGS BY RIVER

Guest artist Max van der Sterre

Celebrating dancer Robert Robinson’s birthday

Lydia Johnson

Now for some of Kokyat’s onstage images of the Lydia Johnson Dance in works we saw in the first two or three seasons of our affiliation:

UNTITLED BACH (Shannon Maynor, Eric Vlach)

SUMMER HOUSE (Laura Di Orio, Robert Robinson)

Dancer Justin Lynch

DREAM SEQUENCE (Jesse Marks, center)

DUSK

END OF THE MOVIE (Erica Schweer, Laura Di Orio)

DUSK (Eric Vlach, Jessica Sand)

UNTITLED BACH (James Hernandez, Laura Di Orio)

IN CONVERSATION (Jessica Sand)

UNTITLED BACH (Robert Robinson, Jesse Marks)

LAMENT

DREAM SEQUENCE (Eric Vlach, Jessica Sand, James Hernandez, Laura Barbee).

IN CONVERSATION (John-Mark Owen, Kerry Shea)

And some studio shots from Oberon:

Robert Robinson, Jessica Sand

SUMMER HOUSE rehearsal: Lisa and Jessica

SUMMER HOUSE rehearsal: Robert, Laura

Lauren Perry

Laura Di Orio

By now, the dancers were used to having Kokyat and I breathing down their necks, so to speak…so much so, that Kokyat was permitted to photograph the Company’s 2011 performance in New York City from backstage. 

This first installment covers roughly 2009-2011, with a couple of 2012 images thrown in. I’ll continue this retrospective in a few days – picking up where I left off – when I have had time to gather photos for a second gallery.

~ Oberon