Oberon's Glade

Tag: Zullo Dance

  • John J Zullo/Raw Movement @ St. Mark’s

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    Above: dancer Mike Hodge in John Zullo’s this Exquisite diversion/mysterious Skin

    Thursday September 19, 2013 – John J Zullo Dance/Raw Movement presented three works at St. Mark’s Church In the East Village tonight. An unusual and pleasing dance venue, St. Mark’s sanctuary transforms into a spacious theater-in-the-round. John Zullo’s danceworks function well in this setting, and the evening was enhanced by excellent lighting (Mark Simpson) as well as by the boundless energy of the dancers. The programme featured ALL what THIS do HAS you HAPPENED see? BEFORE, and the world premieres of this Exquisite diversion/mysterious Skin and project Xiii.

    ALL what THIS do HAS you HAPPENED see? BEFORE was the evening’s longest work. The space has been hung with gauzy panels and wrapped in a broad ribbon of white fabric. As the six dancers enter, pacing along the perimeter, they make blatant eye contact with the seated audience members. The dancers then step into a central pool of light and begin to move in silence.

    As the piece progresses in a series of distinct scenes distinguished by the lighting concept, we see movement motifs repeated or rearranged. An animated opening passage in which the dancers rarely touch one another gives way to a broadly lyrical musical theme; solos for each dancer are woven into the movement tapestry. The gossamer fabric-panels are lowered into the dance-space and audience members are ushered into the performing area to observe the dancers at close range. The space is flooded with golden light, and eventually the dancers withdraw from the setting, leaving audience members standing in their places.

    Music for this work includes Monolake, Ludovico Einaudi, David Lynch, and Autechre and the simple costume designs of Hector Perez give the dancers a touch of see-thru allure.  The six dancers – Jenna Liberati, Mary Madsen, Olivia Orozco, Tyler Patterson, Jeff Davis and  Bong Ian Dizon – are all excellent and thoroughly at ease in the physical demands of John Zullo’s choreography. There were passing moments when the work seemed a bit over-long, but the vibrant personal qualities of the individual dancers kept our focus firmly on the movement.

    I’d had a glimpse of the evening’s second work, this Exquisite diversion/mysterious Skin earlier this year at LaMaMa. Inspired in part by Scott Heim’s novel
    “Mysterious Skin,” in which two young boys are sexually exploited and
    assaulted, this darkly sensual and provocative dancework is set amidst luminous lucite panels which serve as both mirrors of the dancers involved and windows into their dark doings. The collage-score, arranged by David Englehard, includes Olafur Arnalds, Max Richter, and Deru; and at one point singer Jessie Davis wanders into the space singing “Dream A Little Dream of Me”.

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    Tyler Patterson (rehearsal photo, above) opens this Exquisite diversion/mysterious Skin with a restless, floor-oriented solo. Later, stripped down to black briefs, Tyler’s beautiful vulnerability became a poignant element of the work. The shadow effects, off-setting the radiance of the lighted mirrorlike-panesl, create a haunting visual landscape. Jenna Liberati, Olivia Orozco, Jeff Davis, Bong Dizon, and Mike Hodge are the other fine dancers in this unsettling, brink-of-a-nightmare work.     

    project Xiii begins with a digital clock in the center of the space being set for a 13-minute countdown. The piece commences with John Zullo dancing the first of twelve solos, each to music chosen by the various dancers. Guest artists mingle with Company members, each dancer having 60 seconds to work their self-made phrase. This imaginative piece had the benefit of Mark Simpson’s lighting; Mark’s contributions to the evening were underscored here as Jenna Liberati, in a pool of light just a couple feet away from me, danced with her own shadow. This piece was an excellent way to end the evening.

  • John J Zullo’s HOW BRIEF ETERNITY

    John J Zullo Dance photo

    Thursday April 28, 2011 – A fresh choreographic voice and a new (to me) venue as John J Zullo Dance presented two works at the Theater for The New City over on 1st Avenue. Kokyat and I met John and his dancers at a rehearsal earlier this year and we liked what we saw and heard there.

    John’s HOW BRIEF ETERNITY is an eight-movement dramatic dancework set to music by Mio Morales, Maya Beiser and others. Although not a narrative, each vignette revolves around elements of prejudice and hatred that continue to thrive in modern societies thanks to the pernicious influence of racism and religion. These themes are presented in a gritty movement style with much physical contact by the dancers. There is no artifice in John’s choreographic style; his seven dancers move naturally and powerfully thru the changing partnerships and ensemble segments. Each member of the troupe makes a unique contribution to the whole and their distinctive personalities are given full range.

    There is no setting per se, though overhead on a screen homophobic slogans and anti-gay buzzwords are projected. As the dance progresses there are moments of violence, tenderness, torture, brotherhood and frustration – the last depicted by silent screams. In a gender-bending duet, the tall, beautiful and rather androgynous Brigitte Mitchell and the slender, boyish Or Sagi don matching corsets and flouncy skirts (Or wearing bright red lipstick) and dance a seductive duet to a stunning rendition of Roy Orbison’s Cryin’, sung in Spanish by Rebekah del Rio (for the film MULHOLLAND DRIVE). There is a dance for four comrades – Or, John Zullo, Ashley Linsey and Mike Hodge – where the boys slip out of their trousers and into short skirts. Jenna Liberati – a lyrical dancer with a surprising edginess – and Christina Chelette – a petite woman with an intense personal style – complete the cast. 

    HOW BRIEF ETERNITY is tightly packed with movement; John’s style isn’t like anyone else’s that I’ve seen and he plays to his dancers’ individual strengths: Or Sagi’s ballet training for example lets him show off a flourishing extension. The Theater for The New City‘s atmosphere – redolent of the dark, shabby backstage perfume of old costume trunks and forgotten shows of yesteryear – was an ideal place to present this work: we are close enough to the dancers to see individual beads of sweat.

    HOW BRIEF ETERNITY might well have stood on its own but – after a break – a second piece, a more generalized dancework about fleeting relationships entitled INSIGNIFICANT OTHERS, proved a pleasant contrast. The dreamlike echoing voice of Patsy Cline gives way to music of Peteris Vasks and Tractor’s Revenge as the dancers pair off variously in various hetero- and homosexual combinations, looking for love or someone to help them make it thru the night. The seven dancers from ETERNITY were joined by Kate Vincek.

    The second work was less engrossing than the first but it provided an additional opportunity to focus on the individual dancers.