Above: singer/composer Julie Hill (background) and dancers Chloe Felesina and Ian Hussey in Colby Damon’s Let me Live. Photo by Corey Melton.
Saturday August 24th, 2013 – Down to The Wild Project, an intimate venue in the East Village, for the latest installment of the Current Sessions, a series of performances featuring the work of contemporary choreographers of the Now and Next generations. With mix-it-up programming, each evening in the run produces a unique experience. Allison Jones and Alexis Convento are the co-founders of this ongoing project, and they’ve put their stamp on the series which started in 2011 and continues to hold a unique place on the New York City dance map.
Colby Damon ’s Let me Live (above photo) opened the evening impressively, with a string quintet playing Julie Hill‘s evocative score live onstage. Ms. Hill’s plaintive, unamplified singing wove thru the shiningly lyrical textures of the strings; her natural voice lent an air of vulnerability to the piece. Dancers Chloe Felesina and Ian Hussey performed Colby’s pas de deux with perfect expressiveness; their complex relationship veers from tenderness to traces of violence. In its unity of music, movement and mood this piece made a strong impact.
Roya Carreras’ A Table is an intimate domestic drama performed by Ms. Carreras, Leslie Curtis and Alexandria Yajl. “I remember but not every time, never is order” describes the state of a woman, perhaps in the stages of Alzeheimer’s, struggling with daily tasks while an attendant couple – perhaps real, perhaps imagined – inhabit her world to mysterious effect. Stylized movement and a layered score construct the situation, giving way to a melodious rhythmic solo (danced with one shoe off) a l’Espagnole. A lemon and some potted marigolds come into the scenario. An air of hopelessness seems to seep in, and a feeling of long days and unresolved, thwarted emotions. The individual performances of the three dancers were strong and moving.
Above: from dyad
Allison Jones and Hayley Jones took the stage for dyad, a fantastic duet in which the two girls – in ‘nude’ tops – danced in stylized and often synchronized moves to a Sam Silver soundscape. Sam Hart’s projections of both kozmic abstractions and glowing solid colours gave the dance its electric setting, while the intense shadows cast by the two dancers added a striking visual dimension. The piece is vivid, the dancing hi-energy and exciting to watch.
Two of Gotham’s smoothest movers – Christopher Ralph and Daisuke Omiya (photo above) – performed Gregory Dolbashian’s witty duet Go H.A.M. The boys have just started getting their groove on when the music halts, freezing them in ballet poses. They start again, but it keeps happening. After several thwarted attempts to do their own thing, Dai and Chris surrender to Mozart (the opening duet from NOZZE DI FIGARO) and carry on their competition in a fusion style. The crowd loved the piece and the two boys who danced it.
Charli Brissey made a fine impression with her engaging mixture of naturalness and quirkiness in a solo work-in-progress Human Friend, described as “….an experimental embodiment of queer animalism and social awkwardness.” The dancer effortlessly held the stage with her gamine physique and quiet intensity; eye contact with her viewers kept us in firm focus as the work unfolded.
Hayley Jones returned for the final piece, LoudHound Movement’s A Sentinel Without Lips. Hayley was joined by Kacie Bobitt and Sarah Stanley in this darkish, unsettling work which is planned as part of an upcoming installation. Synchronized duets and intense solos mirror the mind-states of the three women; their humming casts an eerie quality into the soundscape, and again shadows on the wall play a part in the works overall mystique. Allusions to eating disorders and a sense of despair are present, and so is an offbeat lyricism that keeps us engaged. Again – as all evening – the dancers excelled.
All performance photography by Corey Melton.
The Wild Project is a great space, and I loved running into some danceworld friends: aside from Allison and Alexis, Giorgio Bovo, Elise Ritzel, Colby Damon, Gregory Dolbashian and Bennyroyce Royon were all out on this refreshingly cool summer’s eve.
Oberon's Glade 