Tag: Jessica Lang Dance

Jessica Lang Dance @ The Joyce

Above: from Jessica Lang’s The Calling, photo by Takao Kamaru

Thursday February 20, 2014 – Jessica Lang Dance are at The Joyce this week, presenting an exciting programme of danceworks in varied musical styles, all of it choreographed with Lang’s innate sense of sophistication and grace. And it’s all beautifully danced as well.

Lines Cubed is a Lang work new to me and I loved every moment of it. Set to a score by composers John Metcalfe and Thomas Metcalf, the ballet takes on the aspects of a danced symphony: there’s a prelude, an andante, a scherzo, an adagio, and a finale – and each movement is colour-coded for the costuming and set decor. Throbbing mechanical rhythms and passages of lyricism allow the choreographer to explore various movement motifs: much of the ballet has a stylized, ritualistic quality with questing port de bras. The lighting (Nicole Pearce) and the use of accordian-like set pieces which the dancers open and close in passing create a shifting visual framework.

Following a ritualistic opening movement, Black, the space glows in ruby-rich light for Red with an evocative solo danced by Kana Kimura backed by four men. Bright sun and infectious joy are expressed by a trio of women – Julie Fiorenza, Sarah Haarmann and Laura Mead – in Yellow. This gives way to a rather sombre Blue adagio, danced by Claudia MacPherson and Milan Misko. The colours are mixed and matched for the full-cast finale. Such was the cumulative effect of the setting, music and dancing that I could have immediately watched this ballet again.

For Mendelssohn/Incomplete, Jessica Lang has turned to my favorite chamber work – the Mendelssohn piano trio #1 – and created an ensemble work of longing and gentle melancholy in a dusk-like setting. The women in purple dresses and the men in soft shades of grey cross the stage in a clustered formation, a community seeking something in the impending darkness. They pause to dance: here the choreographer shows us tenderness and consolation in choreography that quietly illuminates the music. In the end, the group seem to be moving on – one woman lingers in the space, but she is not left behind. This poignant ballet, so touching in its sincerity and humanity, made a fine impression and was superbly danced by Mlles. Fiorenza, MacPherson and Haarman with Clifton Brown, Milan Misko and Kirk Henning.

In Aria, a quartet set to Zenobia’s restless-fury aria “Son contenta di morire” from Handel’s RADAMISTO, three boys (Todd Burnsed, Kirk Henning and Milan Misko) in grey tights and bright red shirts sail thru strongly musical combinations while Laura Mead – in a flame-red frock and dancing on pointe – comes and goes in a breathlessly-paced virtuoso performance. Mr. Burnsed is her primary partner; there are lifts, escapes, and swirling entrances and exits in this portrait of a woman on the brink.

The Calling, a mind-bendingly gorgeous solo, is culled from a Lang signature work Splendid Isolation II. It was performed tonight by the radiant Kana Kimura. The dancer – in a long white gown – basically remains stationary, using port de bras and gentle shiftings of the upper body, neck and head to enthrall the viewer while music by Trio Mediaeval lends a timeless sense of rapture. This work, and Ms. Kimura’s sheer expressive elegance, enthralled the packed house tonight.

White, a dance-on-film made in 2011 and having its New York premiere at these performances, shows six white-clad dancers against a jet-black background. The perspective makes them appear large or small as they dance across the screen, sometimes with witty inflection. Their comings and goings have a silent-movie flair, and the music of Edward Grieg makes White an especially pleasing interlude.

i.n.k. is a Jessica Lang work that I have experienced from its earliest formative stages. Visually engrossing, the ballet features black-clad dancers moving before a snow-white back-panel, sometimes dancing with their shadows. Meanwhile drops or waves of dark ink splash across the screen. The other-worldly score by Jakub Ciupinski, the costuming of Elena Comendador, Nicole Pearce’s lighting, and the intriguing film elements (KUSHO by Shinichi Maruyama) all combine to draw the viewer into this dream-like world.

Clifton Brown – truly one of the great dancers of our time – and the celestial Kana Kimura have a remarkable adagio in i.n.k. which ends with a mesmerizing slow backbend from Kana, supported on high in Clifton’s arms. This passage is so compelling and I felt this evening that i.n.k. should actually end here; and my companion felt the same way.

On my dance wish-list is Jessica Lang’s production of Pergolesi’s STABAT MATER which premiered at Glimmerglass in the Summer of 2013; I’m hoping it could be brought to New York City.

February 20, 2014
Jessica Lang Dance @ The Joyce

Above: dancers Clifton Brown and Kana Kimura of Jessica Lang Dance; photo by Kokyat

Friday August 16th, 2013 – The Joyce’s Ballet V6.0 festival draws to a close with performances by Jessica Lang Dance making their Joyce debut with in a visually rich and musically inspired programme. Jessica Lang’s
choreography has been on my A-list since I saw her Astor Piazzolla ballet Oblivion danced by the ABT Studio Company a few years ago. Jessica comes to The Joyce fresh from her operatic-directing debut at Glimmerglass (Pergolesi’s STABAT MATER) and a sold-out run for her Company at Jacob’s Pillow. Tonight’s performance at The Joyce was also a sell-out.

The evening commenced on a high note and soared onward from there. To music of Antonio Vivaldi, Jessica’s 2010 A Solo in Nine Parts seemed to immediately captivate the audience. Her excellent company of dancers came on, all clad in summer-white, and danced their hearts out in this ballet which drew to mind Paul Taylor’s most joyous works.

Performed against a sea-green back-panel, Jessica’s choreography looked clean and clear. and she has ideally visualized the Vivaldi score. Woven thru the ensemble passages are solos for each of the nine dancers. The central slow movement is a pas de quatre for Julie Fiorenza, Laura Mead, Kirk Henning and Milan Misko. Each dancer in the ensemble made his or her mark: Sarah Haarmann, Claudia MacPherson, Kana Kimura, Todd Burnsed, and Clifton Brown. Clifton in particular danced superbly in three of the four works shown tonight; he’s one of the most fluent and charismatic dancers of our time.

Clifton Brown’s partnership with Kana Kimura, a striking dancer with a mystical presence, was the highlight of the second work, i.n.k. In this ballet which fuses music, dance and film to hypnotic effect, Kana and Clifton perform a remarkable adagio which ends with a thrilling slow backbend from Kana, supported in Clifton’s arms. The audience seemd to hold their collective breath as the dancers executed this unusual passage with complete control.

i.n.k. overall is enthralling. The black-clad ensemble move before a glaring white back-panel, sometimes dancing with their shadows. Meanwhile drops or waves of dark ink splash across the screen. The crystalline score by Jakub Ciupinski, the costuming of Elena Comendador, Nicole Pearce’s lighting, and the captivating film elements (KUSHO by Shinichi Maruyama, edited by Tetsushi Wakasugi) all combine to make this poetic dancework a 21st century jewel: imaginative and beautifully executed.

The evening’s second half kicked off excitingly with Aria, a quartet set to Zenobia’s tragic/frantic aria “Son contenta di morire” from Handel’s RADAMISTO. In this world premiere performance, three boys (Todd Burnsed, Kirk Henning and Milan Misko) in grey tights and bright red shirts sail thru the strongly musical choreography with the delicious Laura Mead the object of their attention. Laura, in a flame-red frock and dancing on pointe, gave a vivid and impetuous performance. Mr. Burnsed is her primary partner, though she often seems to want to evade contact altogether. My only slight concern here was that the singer on the chosen recording sometimes seemed slightly below pitch.

Pianist Taka Kigawa took the keyboard to play Schumann live for the evening’s concluding work, From Foreign Lands and People; Taka’s playing was refined and beautifully supportive of the dancing. Like everything else on the programme tonight, this ballet was visually impressive. The midnight-blue-clad dancers move on, over, and under glossy black architectural pieces which they skillfully manipulate and re-arrange throughout the ballet. Pools of white light enhance the shifting landscape as the dancers clamber onto, slide down, and even partner the oblong boxes. The mood of the piece veers from playful to poetic, dictated by Taka’s playing.

Milan Misko, a long-limbed dancer I have seen performing with TAKE Dance and the Lubovitch company, seems to have found an ideal dance-home in Jessica Lang’s style. And Clifton Brown’s dancing – all evening – was a marvel: his solo in the concluding work was astonishing in its clarity and expressiveness. If Mlles. Mead and Kimura stood out among the other dancers by virtue of their featured roles, the entire ensemble deserve bouquets for their impressive performances in this vastly pleasing evening of dance.

August 16, 2013
Jessica Lang @ Joyce SoHo

Friday July 22, 2011 – Last week we watched a rehearsal of works being created by choreographer Jessica Lang during her Joyce Residency. Tonight we went back to Joyce SoHo where Jessica presented the new creations for an invited audience. The evening also served as the official debut of her own Company: Jessica Lang Dance. The choreographer’s eye for exciting dance personalities matches her creative spirit as a dancemaker. The result was an auspicious event which brought an already-impressive choreographic ‘voice’ into her next stage of artistic development. Above: Jessica and her dancers take a bow; photo by Kokyat.

The evening opened with a perfect union of music and movement with an Untitled work-in-progress set to the andante of Mendelssohn’s piano trio in D-minor. Having already commended Jessica at the studio rehearsal for using this beloved score, I was particularly looking forward to seeing the piece lit and costumed. The dancers, who had all looked fine at the rehearsal, positively bloomed in performance mode: their personalities began to make strong individual impressions. Long-haired Thomas Garrett, tallest of the men, showed a combination of powerful dancing and a spirituality of expression that was quite unique. Technically polished Kirk Henning has a clear vitality of style, while Clifton Brown’s experience as an Alvin Ailey dancer shines thru in his handsome presence, total ease onstage and his accomplished partnering skills. From Korea and Japan respectively, Julie Fiorenza and Kana Kimura each have that mixture of delicacy and strength makes them so appealing to watch. Claudia MacPherson, who has a long list of Mark Morris credits, is technically secure and has the gift of drawing the viewer to her in ensemble passages.

These dancers moved seamlessly thru Jessica’s choreographic passages all of which stemmed naturally and gracefully from the flow of this poignantly expressive music. Jessica stated again that she hopes to develop another movement from the Mendelssohn trio in future; tonight’s free-standing andante certainly served as a very impressive calling card.

This was followed by a film, WHITE made in collaboration with Shinichi Maruyama. To music by Edward Grieg, dancers were filmed both in slow motion and in real time and then the clips were juxtaposed, creating unusual ghostly images that ebb and flow thru the dance. Flashes of humour (as when certain passages are sped up giving a ‘silent movie’ feeling) alternate with more resonant images where the dancers appear to be moving thru a dreamscape. Jessica stated that the films were still in a work-in-progress state but to me they seemed quite intriguing just as they are.

Artist Shinichi Maruyama’s KUSHO series (photo above) was a source of inspiration for the final work on this evening’s programme: i.n.k. Danced before a backdrop of slow-motion projections of Maruyama’s colliding splashes or falling drops of paint and water, each section of i.n.k. had a strong individual flavour despite the unifying element of the projected images. Composer Jakub Ciupinski offers a variety of tempi and sonic colours to set the dancers in motion, creating a Diaghilevian union of music, art and dance.

Central to i.n.k. is a radiant adagio danced by Kana Kimura and Clifton Brown (Kokyat’s rehearsal image above); this duet was originally performed under the title DROPLET by NYC Ballet’s Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall. This evening, Kana and Clifton etched the slow movement with quiet intensity, matching both the liquid beauty of Mr. Ciupinski’s score and the climactic burst of the Maruyama film where Kana executes a luxuriant backbend while poised in a lift.

For i.n.k. the dancers were joined by Company apprentice Jesse Dunham. Throughout the performance, the excellent lighting by Nicole Pearce and the attractive and unfussy costuming by Elena Comendador made the dancers look their best.

In sum, this was an impressive evening with an excellent range of musical choices, the use of film to enhance but never overwhelm the choreography, and imaginatively structured works danced with clarity and personal expression. Jessica Lang Dance are off to a beautiful start.

July 22, 2011