Oberon's Glade

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  • Installation: Cedar Lake

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    Wednesday July 24th, 2013 – Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet‘s interim artistic director Alexandra Damiani conceived and directed this evening’s expansive and stimulating installation which was presented at my favorite New York dance venue: Cedar Lake‘s home space on West 26th Street.

    Thirty-two young dancers who had participated in this year’s Cedar Lake 360° summer intensive culminated their experience by joining Company members in a panoramic dance presentation featuring Clifton Taylor’s imaginative lighting, and sexy costuming by Cedar Lake‘s Matthew Rich. Company members Jason Kittelberger & Acacia Schachte, Jon Bond, Rachelle
    Scott and Ebony Williams each had a hand in the choreography, their work blended into a seamless montage of movement along with repertory excerpts from Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Andonis Foniadakis. All of this took place to the accompaniment of a sweepingly propulsive sound collage developed by (and including  original music by) Jasper Gahunia.

    Cedar Lake’s installations are both fascinating and frustrating: as an audience member you get to wander the space, sometimes actually coming into contact with the dancers. There are always three or four dance elements going on simultaneously in different areas of the space and that’s what leads to a bit of frustration: while watching one module of movement your eye is caught by something happening across the crowded room. After the first ten minutes I was thinking that even if I could attend all four showings of the installation I would still not be able to take it all in.

    The student dancers were super; many intriguing dance personalities are developing here and I feel certain several of them will become familiar to us as their careers develop. Of course it was exciting to see the Company members, some of them dancing and others on the side-lines.

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    Photography is encouraged during Cedar Lake installations but I’m not skilled enough to take advantage of the situation, given the speed of the movement and the ever-shifting light. Only when a dancer is momentarily still (Company member Billy Bell, above) was my camera of any use to me. So for the most part I simply watched the event unfold, trusting that there will be images forthcoming from more seasoned photograhers.

  • Pergolesi’s STABAT MATER at Glimmerglass

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    Above photo by Jamie Kraus

    Images from the Glimmerglass Festival production of Pergolesi’s STABAT MATER; part of a double bill (with David Lang’s little match girl passion), the Pergolesi was staged by choreographer Jessica Lang.

    The following photos are by Karli Cadel:

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    Above: Sarah Parnicky and Danny Lindgren

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    Ensemble

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    Above: Andrea Beasom and Danny Lindgren

    Click on each image to enlarge.

    Glimmerglass Festival‘s Artistic & General Director Francesca
    Zambello said: “Dance is a rich part of the operatic tradition, and I’m always
    interested in finding new ways to incorporate contemporary dance into
    our season at Glimmerglass. The way Jessica
    has integrated dance into this piece expresses Pergolesi’s timeless
    narrative in a truly modern vernacular. She has helped us provide a much
    richer Festival experience by bringing this beautiful, emotive
    choreography to our stage.”

    Jessica Lang Dance will be at The Joyce August 16th and 17th, 2013. Information here.

  • One Year Later

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    Disconnected.

  • Amanda Selwyn’s Green Afternoon

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    On June 13th, 2013 Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre offered a summer evening of dance at a private function in East Hampton. Photographer Nir Arieli produced these images of Amanda’s dancers from this outdoor event.

    Click on each photo to enlarge.

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    Jenny Gillan

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    Emily Pacilio

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    Torrey McAnena

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    Randall Anthony Smith

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    Emily Pacilio

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    Sarah Buscaino

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    Jenny Gillan

    Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre recently performed IT’S A GAME at Manhattan’s New York Live Arts; an article about the performance may be found here.

  • Lydia Johnson Dance @ Newport


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    Rehearsal photo: dancers Kerry Shea and Eric Williams

    Lydia Johnson Dance have been appearing at the Great Friends Dance Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. The Company presented Lydia’s intimate 2005 work, IN CONVERSATION. This piece, set to Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto, was the first work of Lydia’s that I ever encountered…and from there my admiration for her choreography, musical choices and wonderful dancers has grown exponentially over the ensuing years.

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    Above: dancers Laura DiOrio and Anthony Bocconi in the studio

    The Festival performances of Lydia’s IN CONVERSATION drew a very positive review:

    “Another visiting dance company – Lydia Johnson Dance from New
    York and New Jersey – provided a lovely romantic and classical mood as
    two couples danced contemporary pas de deux to Philip Glass’s  
    Violin Concerto. Further defining the classicism of the dance was the
    attire – the two men in long black pants and tops, the females in white
    and wearing halter tops. The couples displayed, seemingly without effort, slow motion pirouettes that lifted lightly over heads and backs, and
    graceful, precise coordinated movements that extended even to the the
    fingers and wrists.

    The artistry of
    this group was truly breathtaking and must be seen to be appreciated.
    The lifts, swirls,   leaps, turns, falls, risings and meldings were performed
    with such athleticism and grace that watching the changing
    geometry of limbs it seemed as though Da Vinci anatomy sketches had come
    alive to dance.”
    ~ Sandra Matuschka
    The Newport Daily News

    Lydia Johnson Dance will return to the Great Friends Dance Festival to perform NIGHT OF THE FLYING HORSES on July 25th, 26th and 27th. Ticket information here.

  • DIY Dancer Interviews Craig Salstein

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    Craig Salstein, soloist at ABT, talks about his new enterprise Intermezzo Dance Company in an interview at DIY Dancer here.

    Photo: A Capella Pictures

  • A Memorable Concert From Tanglewood

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    Above: tenor Jon Vickers

    It seems everything is on YouTube these days; I was especially glad to come upon this concert which I was fortunate enough to have attended. The performance of Act I of Wagner’s DIE WALKURE took place at Tanglewood in 1979; Jessye Norman was Sieglinde, Jon Vickers sang Siegmund and Gwynne Howell was Hunding. Seiji Ozawa conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It seems to have been the only time that Norman and Vickers sang this music together.

    The concert has held its prominent place in my memory mainly because of Jon Vickers’ singing as Siegmund. While listening to the YouTube recording, I decided to dig out my opera diary write-up of the concert and see if the impressions I registered in the diary the morning after the concert held true upon listening to it again, almost 35 years later.

    Of course any broadcast in going to create a very different sonic impression from when you are sitting in the concert space, and that’s especially true in a vast setting such as Tanglewood.

    My diary entry reflects my admiration for Ozawa’s conducting and for Gwynne Howell’s singing as Hunding, and that holds true on listening to the recording. Jon Vickers is as sensational as I remember him being.

    At the time of the concert, my Sieglinde was Leonie Rysanek. I thought she was the only one and so I had compared the impact of Jessye Norman’s performance to Leonie’s and found it wanting. This was my first time experiencing Jessye live and depite so many admirable aspects in her singing, I did not think she was as thrilling in the role as Leonie was. Of course, they are totally different types of singers and listening to Jessye on the recording there is just so much to enjoy. At the time, I praised her lower register especially, and her dynamics and her persuasive way with the text; but I found her a bit too restrained and lady-like overall, and also noted that her top register did not really bloom (the top was Leonie’s glory at the time). And to me it seems on the recording a couple of Jessye’s highest notes are just a hair’s breadth below pitch.

    Norman went on to become a great favorite of mine, though I always thought she was really a mezzo-soprano. (By far the grandest singing I ever heard from her came in a concert performance of Act II of SAMSON ET DALILA at Carnegie Hall in 1983 where I thought to myself… ‘this is Jessye!’)

    Listening now to the Tanglewood recording makes me think more highly of Norman’s performance; of course over the ensuing years I have enjoyed many types of Sieglindes since those incredible Rysanek-evenings. My perspective has broadened and Norman’s interpretation seems pretty grand to me now.

    Vickers bowled me over at Tanglewood and he does so again on the recording. In his white sport coat  he reminded me of “…a wrestler dressed for the prom.” Siegmund’s music was “…offered with unstinting vocal generosity (as well as unbelievable subtlety!). Vickers, with that rough-beautiful timbre, gave his all. His command and artistry were dazzling. The great moments – the whole Sword monolog with its unearthly cries of ‘Wälse! Wälse!’;…his gorgeous ‘Winterstürme’; the enthralling build-up to pulling out the sword; his impassioned presentation of Notung to Sieglinde, and his stentorian final lines – were just the pinnacles of a truly magnificent performance.”

    “As Ozawa and the orchestra crashed thru the heart-stopping pages and drove the act to its glorious conclusion, the whole audience leapt up with a massive shout. The soloists and conductor were called out many times, to frantic ovations…”

    So nice to have this souvenir of a wonderful memory.

  • Casting A Long Shadow

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  • Amanda Selwyn’s IT’S A GAME

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    Photo by Brian Krontz; click on the image to enlarge.

    Friday June 28th, 2013 – Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre presenting IT’S A GAME at New York Live Arts down in Chelsea on Pride Weekend 2013. The atmosphere in the neighborhood was palpable as the gay and lesbian community celebrate the good news handed down from the Supreme Court earlier this week. Amanda’s 50-minute work, inspired by the designs of Alexander McQueen and the magic of Harry Potter, was a decorative diversion on this start-of-summer evening.

    In April, photographer Matt Murphy and I had stopped in at Amanda’s studio while IT’S A GAME was being created. Now the dancework has been dressed (Ana-Alisa Belous designed the fanciful costumes) and superbly lit (Dan Ozminkowski). Music from no fewer than 14 artists comprises the score for the dancing which takes place in three brief ‘acts’, each with several sub-sections.

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    IT’S A GAME begins with a ritualistic entree of the six dancers, each holding a glowing orb. Emily Pacilio has a beautifully expressive solo danced in a stream of light, set to a soulful Russian-sounding theme. The ensemble weave about the solo dancer, enticing her into the community.

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    Then the games begin: large chess pieces are moved across squares of light; later dice and playing cards will be introduced. These props are used as fantasy elements, drawing the dancers into fleeting duets (with some very clever partnering motifs) and playful ensembles. The choreographer’s feel for visual polyphony keeps the focus of the work shifting from dancer to dancer: solo opportunities weave into the mix, and the sense of physicality between the dancers is maintained as the lighting steers our attention from one movement pattern to the next. A rectangular pathway of light surrounds the playing field, the dancers trace their steps around it in one of the evening’s most striking moments.

    The dice are thrown, the cards are dealt…checkmate. The dancers have returned – now in striped beachwear – with their hand-lights, now glowing red. One expects an elaborate, playful finale but instead the work ends on a question-mark, and a sudden plunge into darkness.

    The only slight flaw in the evening was the raising of the house lights
    between the work’s thee sections. This tended to break the spell
    somewhat, with the audience becoming restless and whispery. Better to
    keep things in the dark.

    The dancers showed high commitment to the movement and music: four well-contrasted personalities among the women, and two long-limbed boys with flourishing extensions. Here are some of Brian Krontz’s images from the dress rehearsal:

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    Emily Pacilio

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    Victor Larue, Torrey McAnena

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    Randall Anthony Smith

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    Jenny Gillan

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    Sarah Buscaino

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    Victor Larue

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    Emily Pacilio

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    Randall Anthony Smith

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    Victor Larue

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    All photography by Brian Krontz. 

  • BalletCollective Studio Showing

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    Above: BalletCollective dancer Taylor Stanley photographed by Christopher Starbody

    Thursday June 27th, 2013 – Today Troy Schumacher invited me to a special showing of his new work for BalletCollective, in preparation for the Company’s upcoming New York City performances.

    At the Ailey Citigroup Theater, friends and supporters of the Collective watched Troy working out some phrases with his exciting ensemble of dancers, all of whom are current or recent members of New York City Ballet. The work is accompanied by live music composed and conducted by Ellis Ludwig-Leone and played by ACME. During this preliminary tinkering session, lighting designer Brandon Baker tried out various effects. We were then shown a run-thru of the work-in-progress.

    The ballet, The Impulse Wants Company, takes wing on a poem by Cynthia Zarin, who was present for the showing. The music is both perfectly contemporary and beautifully melodic, with some interesting rhythmic figures; the musicians are expert.

    Ms. Zarin’s poem reflects on childhood visits to a beach, on nature, weather, on people and conversations recalled from the past. I didn’t read thru the poem until I’d seen the ballet, but the line “I was a water nymph” might have inspired the opening solo for Kaitlyn Gilliland, the tall ballerina who – with her poetic arabesque and arching back-bend – seems to conjure visions of Odette. David Prottas, a prince of a dancer, joins her. There is a trio of young women – Lauren King, Ashley Laracey and Meagan Mann – who remind me of Rhinemaidens or the nymphs on the lonely shore of Ariadne’s Naxos.

    Harrison Coll, a dynamic young dancer, joins Taylor Stanley in an off-kilter waltz, Taylor’s solo begins with him swaying like a tree in the breeze; later he travels up a diagonal in some skitteringly fast footwork before circling the space in a questing motif. 

    Troy Schumacher told us the that this ballet was created in ten days of studio time; in terms of both movement and imagination, it shows his distinctive choreographic style which uses the classic vocabulary of steps and port de bras with fresh, contemporary nuances. And he has the grest good fortune to be working with some of the best dancers in the world. 

    It was nice to see so many familiar faces from among New York City’s serious dance aficianados here supporting Troy today, and to greet the lovely former New York City Ballet ballerina Maya Collins, who now dances with Miami City Ballet.. 

    BalletCollective will be performing The Impulse Wants Company along with a re-working of their 2012 ballet Epistasis at The Joyce on August 14th and 15th. Information and tickets here.

    You can follow BalletCollective on Ashley Laracey’s blog: The Insider.