Tag: Sunday January

Parsons Dance at The Joyce

Sunday January 19th, 2014 (evening performance) – Parsons Dance are holding forth at The Joyce for a two-week season. Due to my ever-crowded calendar, this was my only chance to see them this time around. It was a typically top-flight Parsons programme, danced with the artistry and boundless verve I’ve come to expect from the Company over my long years of following them. The Company are celebrating 30 years of dancing…and I feel I’ve been with them almost from day one.

Introduction is a Parsons premiere and it is just what the title says: the audience is introduced to each member of the Company. David’s longtime lighting designer Howell Binkley has done the dancers proud yet again – Binkley lit all but one of the danceworks seen today. Rubin Kodheli‘s colorful score sets the stage as the Company’s luscious Italian firecracker Elena D’Amario steps forth first in a vibrant solo passage; and then we meet in turn the rest of the dancers: welcome to newcomers Geena Pacareu and Omar Roman De Jesus, and a warm welcome-back to Parsons favorites Sarah Braverman and Miguel Quinones. The lively and lyrical Christina Ilisije and those two handsome devils – Steve Vaughn and Ian Spring – are essential members of the Parsons family.

Brothers is next: typically, Steve and Ian bounced back immediately from the opening work and were back onstage seconds later to give classic Parsons-style energy to this two boyz duet: an athletic and witty piece (co-choreographed by Parsons and Daniel Ezralow). To a quirky Stravinsky score (Concertino for 12 Instruments) the two boys nudge, flip, twist and turn their way thru this comradely duet.

Parsons Dance commissioned The Hunt from choreographer Robert Battle in 2001. Set to a savage, compulsive percussion score by Les Tambours du Bronx, this amazing piece is being alternately danced by the men and the women of Parsons Dance during this Joyce season. Today we had the men – Miguel Quinones, Steve Vaughn, Ian Spring, and Omar Roman de Jesus – and what a sensational performance they gave! Clad in long black skirts lined in blood red, the dancers move with fercious attack through this almost violent choreography. The audience seemed held in a state of amazement by the sheer dynamic passion of both the music and the movement and gave the guys a massive ovation at the end, so thoroughly deserved.

Miles Davis’ “So What?” sets the stage for a jazzy quartet, Kind of Blue, danced with tenderness and a touch of seduction by Mlles. Ilisije and D’Amario along with Ian Spring and Omar Roman De Jesus. This was an interlude of near-calm in an otherwise power-packed programme, and Mr. De Jesus seems already to be developing a fan club among Parsons aficianados.

Steve Vaughn enjoyed a rock-star triumph in the famed Parsons solo Caught; last year I had the good fortune of watching Steve in one of his rehearsals for this challenging dancework: an iconic piece in which the dancer – caught by strobe flashes – seems to literally be walking on air. Timing and stamina are the keys to success here: the solo contains more that 100 jumps which must be perfectly coordinated with the lighting. Steve, with his boyishly beautiful torso, simply thrilled the crowd, and at the end he basked in wave after wave of applause and cheers, bowing gallantly to the adoring throng.

Nascimento Novo is a superb Parsons closing work: the music of the Brazilian composer Milton Nascimento seems tailor-made for the Parsons style and in this (yet again) marvelously lit ensemble piece the dancers celebrate, sway, and seduce with effortless charismatic appeal. Two duets – one for Sarah and Christina, the second for Elena and Steve – are highlights in this evocative tapestry of dance which evoked sultry sunlight on a freezing Winter’s evening.

The frosting on this delicious 30th-birthday cake was running into Abby Silva Gavezzoli, a beloved Parsons star who has taken some time off to raise her adorable son. So nice to see her, it really made my evening complete.

I missed my usual rehearsal invite to David’s studio this year where I might have had the opportunity to bring a photographer to capture the new configuration of dancers; but perhaps there’ll be another chance at some point.

What has maintained over the years of watching Parsons Dance is the sensation of dance at its most satisfying: no filler, no marking time or standing about; just perpetual motion and – always – remarkable dancing.

January 19, 2014
A Dance Experience to Cherish

Above: Attila Joey Csiki and Clifton Brown. Photo by Nir Arieli. Click on the image to enlarge.

Sunday January 27, 2013 – I’ve had the great good fortune in recent years to witness some truly unforgettable moments in dance that the rest of the world isn’t privy to. In the Autumn of 2012 Wendy Whelan gave me a precious gift when she arranged for me to sneak into one of her rehearsals – it was such a transformative experience, though I never wrote about it on my blog for fear of getting her in trouble with the powers that be. I had the memorable opportunity of watching Adrian Danchig-Waring’s first-ever rehearsal of APOLLO. And I was at a MORPHOSES rehearsal when Pontus Lidberg kept dancing after the scheduled studio time had run out. He didn’t ask me to leave, he simply danced on in his own private world and I sat there in a breathless state. Yuan Yuan Tan, Katherine Crockett, Maria Kowroski, Laura Halzack, Veronika Part…I’ve seen them all at their most beautiful – up close and personal – freed from the theatricality of a performance and simply working on their craft, immersed in the music and the movement.

Dancers and choreographers have been so kind and generous, welcoming me into their studios and sharing the creative experience with me. In this way I have gotten as close as one can get to dance without actually dancing. At the end of a rehearsal, the dancers invariably will come up for an embrace and always they will say: “I’m all sweaty!” Your sweat is my holy water, please don’t apologize.

So a week ago Attila Joey Csiki (above) contacted me and invited me to a reherasal of a Lar Lubovitch duet, set to Mozart, to be danced by Attila and Clifton Brown at an upcoming gala in Washington DC. Mozart, Lubovitch, Attila and Clifton…what could be finer? I arranged to meet photographer Nir Arieli at the MMAC studios; it turned out to be an hour of dance that I’ll never forget.

Lar Lubovitch created this dancework in 1986 – when the AIDS epidemic was decimating the world – and he named it CONCERTO 622 after the Mozart work usually referred to as “the Clarinet Concerto”. The pas de deux for two men is danced to the concerto’s adagio, music which became familiar to an audience that stretched far beyond the world’s concert halls when it was played in the epic film OUT OF AFRICA.

We arrived at the studio today for the final hour of the rehearsal; Clifton Brown has danced this work before but Attila Joey Csiki has not. Mr. Lubovitch had them ironing out the timing of certain passages, including a big lift which must be honed to perfection to make its effect. The boys ran thru the segment several times, and Clifton’s keen eye and astute preparation soon had it mastered: his wonderfully deep plié as Attila came hurtling towards him was something to behold, and he swept his fellow danseur overhead in one sweepingly seamless motion.

Then Mr. Lubovitch put the music on and the dancers began the first of two full runnings of the duet. Quite honestly my reaction surprised me: chills ran up my spine, my heart started racing, I could barely keep myself from crying. This is a piece that transcends its components – music, choreography and dancing – and speaks to us of things that can only be felt, not seen. The two men are tender and noble, they console and support one another and their passion pulsates just below the surface. The duet is not sentimental or overtly romantic; it has a luminous purity that springs from the celestial melodies of the genius Mozart. The choreographer has found the heart of the music and exposes it to us in movement that seems inevitable. I’ll never again be able to listen to this adagio without seeing Attila and Clifton in my dreamworld.

After a break and a bit more tweaking of certain partnering elements, the dancers began again and once again they moved me so deeply…words can’t express it. If they are this gorgeous in the studio, what will they be like onstage? I sincerely hope we will have a chance to find out.

I hated to see the hour drawing to its close, and was feeling deeply grateful to Mr. Lubovitch for his kindness in allowing us to be in the studio today. Attila and Clifton were packing up, beautifully drenched in perspiration; their mutual affection and admiration was so evident: “We used to be rivals,” Attila said. “And now we are friends dancing together.”

More images from the rehearsal:

Clifton Brown

All photos by Nir Arieli.

January 28, 2013
BalaSole: VOCES

Sunday January 27, 2013 – Roberto Villanueva’s current programme for BalaSole, entitled VOCES, was originally scheduled for late October 2012 but was postponed due to Hurricane Sandy. The presentation finally took place at Ailey CitiGroup Theater yesterday and today, with a slightly different lineup of participating dancers than originally planned. The performances played to sold-out houses both nights.

Roberto Villanueva created BalaSole Dance Company as a platform for dancer/choreographers to present their work in a concert setting. For each BalaSole presentation, ten artists are usually chosen in an audition process. In the time frame between audition and performance, Roberto mentors the dancers and helps them get their solos stageworthy. A week before the performances, the entire group work on new ensemble pieces which will open and close the show. Roberto creates a solo for himself, and his dancing is always a highlight of the evening – as it was again tonight. Fine lighting and sound enhance the work of the particiating artists, and Roberto has developed a faithful following so that the dancers have a chance to be seen in a very auspicious setting.

Tonight’s collection of dancers was a strong one, with some beautiful individual work. The ensemble pieces were set to the heavy, relentless beat of Black Violin as the dancers – all clad in black – moved in unison or in canonic phrases in smaller groups against deeply-hued changing colours on the back panel.

I sometimes wish the performers (both here and in general on the dance scene) would give a bit more thought to their musical choices. So many pieces seem to come with a rather anonymous, vaguely ominous sound track. It usually works, but if they would put a bit more thought into their music something really memorable might result.

Aaron Gregory’s choice of Zoe Keating is a good one, his solo #Lovesick had a nice hesitant stillness to it. Lauren Alpert, a beautiful dancer I know from her performances with Columbia Ballet Collaborative, brought elements of classical ballet to her spacious solo, Surface Interface. Emily Pacilio’s somewhat androgynous presence and her gorgeous dandelion-coloured leotard, maintained our focus as did her use of chiming Eastern/gamelan style music (her solo an except from Keeping Company With Cage). In 2 tears in a Bucket, Troy Barnes made a handsome impression in a solo limned in weeping and despair, though rays of hope seemed to manifest near the end. My companion Javier Chavez and I were both impressed by Sarah J Ewing in her solo Inside Looking Out which further benefitted from Dario Marinelli’s harp-textured, other-worldly score.

Excellent lighting enhanced Morgana Rose’s well-danced solo Sacred, and then Roberto Villanueva’s solo – again turning to Black Violin for his music – was so expressively danced in a tuxedo and open white shirt. Roberto moves so sinuously, his face always beautifully poetic in the lighting. the solo Ssssssssshallow was – he told me – rather a last-minute affair. I never would have guessed, so compelling was his presentation. Nicole Calabrese moved from a chair into a pool of light in her restless solo Chaos/Contained, and Javier and I both especially loved Jessica Cipriano’s moonlit solo We Could What If All Day with its opening setting of spoken poetry. The final solo came from Andrew Nemr, the first tap-dancer to appear in a BalaSole programme; his dancing was subtle and savory, performed to his own music in a solo called Node Beat.

The closing ensemble work had a sexy sway, and then Roberto bade us goodnight, inviting us to the next performances which will be happening in July.

I’d like to urge all my dancer-friends – in whatever genre and at whatever point in your dance-career – to take Roberto’s next audition (Sunday March 24th – details here). BalaSole‘s concept is a unique one which provides a rare opportunity to present your work in a theatrical context to an audience who really care about dance.

January 27, 2013
A Winter Sunday At the Met Museum

Sunday January 30, 2011 – Met Kokyat at the Met Museum today. For some reason, depite huge crowds in general, certain galleries were rather quiet. We saw lots of things we hadn’t seen before. Above: Sleeping Muse (bronze 1910 by Constantine Brancusi).

Head of Brother Onufrio by Girolamo Campagna c. 1615-1620

Madonna (detail from larger canvas) by Ettore Crivelli, late 15th century

Back panel for a church choir stall, Mainz 1723-1736. This piece was a gift to the Met in 1952 from the great Wagnerian tenor Lauritz Melchior.

Saint Mark, gilt wood Germany mid-18th century

Winter, or La Frileuse, bronze by Jean-Antoine Houdon 1789.

Lucretia by Philippe Bertrand c. 1700

Portrait of a Woman, marble medallion by Henri, Baron de Triquenti 1850.

I’ve put several images from today’s Met visit in a Facebook photo album here.

January 29, 2011