Rennie Harris Pure Movement re-visits the 1990s When Lorenzo (Rennie) Harris lists himself in the program for his company’s Joyce season as “Dr. Rennie Harris,” you can forgive him for flaunting his two honorary doctorates—the most recent one from Columbia College in May of last year. Through his teaching and his choreography, he has raised the public’s awareness of hip-hop as an art form … [Read more...]
Archives for 2014
Looking Back, Dancing Now
Montclair State University’s Peak Performances hosts Douglas Dunn’s Aubade, January 24-February 1. Between the last moments of Douglas Dunn’s new Aubade and the swell of applause, the woman sitting next to me in Montclair State University’s Alexander Kasser Theater turned and said, “It’s so sad!” And yes it was, and no it wasn’t. As Dunn remarked in an interview, an aubade is a song to the … [Read more...]
Jewels in the City’s Crown
The New York City Ballet performs Balanchine's Jewels. To see George Balanchine’s 1967 Jewels again at its first performance during the New York City Ballet’s winter season is to be delighted all over again. In choreographing its three separate but united ballets, Balanchine absorbed and brilliantly interpreted three diverse musical styles, the threads of narrative and atmosphere that clung … [Read more...]
Three by Three by Three
Eleanor Bauer brings her work from Brussels to Manhattan. Who are these three women? We potential audience members have been milling around in the Abrons Art Center lobby, chatting and wondering when the doors to the theater will open, and when they do, we enter a zone of empyrean mystery. The women in Eleanor Bauer’s Midday and Eternity (the time piece) sit in a row at the front of the … [Read more...]
Ending in Darkness
Compagnie Philippe Saire brings Black Out to LaMama Black Out, a creation by Philippe Saire, mates choreography with visual art in ways calculated to disturb us. He is frank about his mission, describing Black Out as “A work that contemplates the randomness of mortality in a world of genocide, disease, epidemics, and senseless violence.” In it, three collaborating members of Compagnie … [Read more...]
Three Choreographers Grace a Busy Week
Vicky Shick, Doug Elkins, and Joanna Kotze show work in an event-filled January week. Every January without fail, New York offers a smorgasbord of dance. The Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) convenes in town, and the table is laid for it in every available performing space. The first two weeks of the month are also a time when dancers, choreographers, and dance enthusiasts … [Read more...]