Oberon's Glade

Tag: New York Live Arts

  • MADboots Prepare for ACADEMY

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    Tuesday November 12, 2013 – Photographer Matt Murphy and I dropped in at New York Live Arts today to watch the MADboyz of MADboots working on their latest creation, ACADEMY.

    Jonathan Campbell and Austin Diaz, the founders of MADboots, were joined last season by Eli Bauer; and now the trio have embraced another new dancer, Garth Johnson, and also have a guest artist for this work: David Norsworthy. ACADEMY will be presented at the 92nd Street Y on December 7th and 8th, 2013. Information here.

    ACADEMY will stand as a counterpoise to the boys’ most recent previous creation, blue, which will be sharing the bill at the 92nd Street Y. Whereas blue is lyrical and intimate, ACADEMY is dynamic, intense and madly physical.

    My first thought when I heard that the MADboys were creating ACADEMY was that it would be about life at a prep school or first-year college – like something out of Maurice or Another Country – where young men would be experiencing both academic and athletic competition whilst at the same time grappling (sometimes literally) with their awakening sexuality and forming their first relationships. But in fact, it’s more like a military academy or a police training program: rigorous, sweaty, boisterously masculine, and highly competitive. 

    Calisthenics and running dominate the action, laced with poignant or disturbing moments of physical contact in which a transient glimmer of tenderness can be followed by almost violent abuse. The five dancers gave a full-tilt run-thru of the piece for me and Matt, and their generosity was much appreciated.

    Here are some of Matt’s images from the studio:

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    David, Austin and Eli

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    Jonathan

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    Austin, David

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    Garth

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    Jonathan

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    Garth

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    David, Austin, Eli

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    David, Eli

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    David

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    Garth (foreground)

    My thanks to Austin and Jonathan for giving me a preview of ACADEMY, and to Matt Murphy who managed to find a free hour in his madly busy schedule to come and photograph this rehearsal.

  • Ballet Next: New Works-in-Progress

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    Above: Michele Wiles of Ballet Next

    Monday October 21st, 2013 – Ballet Next had a huge turn-out (intentional pun!) for their choreographic exhibition at Ailey tonight. Three works being created for the Company’s upcoming season at New York Live Arts were shown, all performed to live music under the direction of cellist Elad Kabilio.

    The dates for the Ballet Next performances at New York Live Arts are January 13th – 18th, 2014; further information will be forthcoming.


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    Above: violinist Mario Gotoh played the Chaconne from the ‘Partita #2′  for the pas de deux entitled Bach 260, choreographed by Robert Sher-Machernndl, and danced by Michele Wiles and Mr. Machernndl (photo below).


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    This duet, anchored in the classic vocabulary, takes a contemporary overlay with elements of pursuit and capture carrying the dancers about the space in movement that both sustains and sometimes counter-acts the Bach score, which Ms. Gotoh played so beautifully.


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    All the Drops of Water
    is a duet choreographed by Michele Wiles and danced by Tiffany Mangulabnan and Ms Wiles (above). The music, a lyrical quintet by Max Richter, was performed by Hajnal Karman Pivnik and Ms. Gotoh (violins), Caroline Gilbert (viola), Mr. Kabilio (cello) and Ben Laude (piano). The musicians were seated literally inches away from me – in fact, I could read Hajnal’s score – while the two dancers in deep blue with their hair down seemed like contemporary nymphs. The choreography has a restless quality, inter-laced with moments of repose and tenderness.

     

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    Surmisable Units is an ensemble work with choreography by Brian Reeder. The dancers (above) are Tiffany Mangulabanan, Michele Wiles, Steven Melendez, Kaitlyn Gilliland, and Brittany Cioce. The score, Steve Reich’s tricky and repetitive ‘Piano Phase‘, was played by Peter Dugan and Ben Laude.

    The choreography utilizes the space in quirky ways, with the dancers sometimes standing behind the two pianos (which are center-stage) and executing semaphoric arm gestures. At times the dancers wear metallic-silver face masks, making them anonymous. Solo dancing is woven in, and the combinations echo the speed and articulation of the relentless musical pulse.



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    Above: Kaitlyn Gilliland and Michele Wiles in Surmisible Units.

    The large crowd of Company friends and supporters seemed very taken with the dancing and the music; I look forward to seeing these works in their staged settings at NYLA in the new year.

  • 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. 

  • Anna Sokolow’s ODES: Rehearsal

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    Sunday October 23, 2011 – My curiosity is truly piqued by the news of upcoming showings of Anna Sokolow’s ODES; I had been hoping for a chance to see a rehearsal prior to attending the actual performance and this evening, unexpectedly, the opportunity arose. I met Kokyat at New York Live Arts (formerly Dance Theater Workshop) on West 19th Street for a look at ODES in the studio.

    You can help fund the revival of this Anna Sokolow work by contributing here.

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    Jim May, artistic director of Sokolow Theatre Dance, gave the dancers – an assembly of Company members and free-lancers – a brisk warm up that included some shouting. Then we saw a run-thru of the opening movement of ODES.

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    Jim May coaching the women.

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    Dancers Lauren Naslund, Yayoi Suzuki and Greg Youdan

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    Atsushi Yahagi

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    Jim May coaches Durell R Comedy

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    Flautist Roberta Michel (above) was in the studio to work out tempos with the dancers who will be performing the central duet of ODES, set to Edgard’s Varese’s Density 21.5. This pas de deux is book-ended by other Varese selections: Octandre and Poème Électonique, both set for a large ensemble of dancers.

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    The pas de deux is danced by Yayoi Suzuki and Luis Gabriel Zaragoza (above and below)…

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    Jim May gives notes to Yayoi and Gabriel after the run-thru.

    More photos from the rehearsal:

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    Atsushi Yahagi

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    Read about the upcoming performances of ODES here.

    My appreciation to Jim May and publicist Audrey Ross for arranging for us to watch and photograph this rehearsal. More of Kokyat’s images will be found here, and my Facebook album is here.

    In April 2010 I was very taken with Sokolow’s LYRIC SUITE, set to music of Alban Berg and danced by students from the Eugene Lang College Dance Department. I am very glad to have an opportunity to see more of Sokolow’s work.

    PERFORMANCE INFORMATION:
    November 10th – 13th, 2011  (Thursday/Friday/Saturday at 9 PM; Sunday at 2 PM)
     [At  7 PM – Thursday only – a special pre-performance fundraiser for the series, followed by the performance]
    Cunningham Studio, 55 Bethune Street, 11th floor
    Tickets: $35  ($100 for opening night with 7 PM fundraiser at a location near the theater)
    Tickets: here or by phone at 1.800.838.3006