L-E-V from Israel and Dorrance Dance debut at Jacob’s Pillow, July 24-28. Who are these creatures emerging from smoky dimness? Ghosts? Robots? Ghosts of robots? They can move in tiny jerks or so fluidly that they appear boneless—pale, androgynous, undulating figures assembling for. . .what? Viewed from another perspective, they are the stunning members of L-E-V, a dance company founded … [Read more...]
Archives for July 2013
Again and Again, Never the Same
Brian Brooks Moving Company performs at Jacob’s Pillow, Becket, Massachusetts, July 10-14. A machine repeats its patterned moves over and over; nothing changes unless one of its parts breaks or something gets caught in the works. Human beings may repeat the same movement many times, but to use the word “same” is simply a verbal convenience. Without meaning to, they may emphasize aspects of … [Read more...]
A New Stravinsky Rite; Forget the Virgin
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company collaborates with Anne Bogart’s SITI Company in “A Rite,” presented in the Richard B. Fisher Center’s Sosnoff Theater, July 6 and 7. 1913 was quite a year, and saying “Happy 100th Anniversary” mightn’t be the most appropriate salutation. Forget such minor irritations as the United States initiating an income tax. Think instead about artists who … [Read more...]
Dancing for the Gods
Shantala Shivalingappa's "Akasha," a program of new Kuchipudi solos, at Jacob's Pillow, July 4 through 7. It was at Jacob’s Pillow in the 1960s that I first saw examples of two dance styles that I’d never heard of: Odissi and Kuchipudi. Indrani, that beneficent performer and promulgator of Indian dance, was giving a master class and had brought with her two male dancers, each of them … [Read more...]
Perilous Journey, Landscape Unknown
"The Painted Bird," a trilogy by Pavel Zuštiak + Palissimo Company, at LaMama Moves! Dance Festival, June 21-30, 2013 Pavel Zuštiak’s The Painted Bird trilogy draws its themes from Jerzy Kosiňski’s much debated novel of that title. Images of flight, concealment, disguise, isolation, displacement, and the vagaries of memory pervade all three parts of this extraordinary work. What does the … [Read more...]