The Richard Alston Dance Company at Montclair State University's Peak Performances, February 2 through 5. What seems different? I’m sitting in the Alexander Kasser Theater at Montclair State University, waiting for the Richard Alston Dance Company to begin dancing. Having for some years attended events presented at Montclair State’s Peak Performances series, I’m now part of a full house of … [Read more...]
When the Last is not the Last
Batsheva Dance Company, live and on film, performs in New York. The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House is packed —the orchestra, the first balcony, the second balcony, all. The curtain rises, and thousands of eyes converge on a single person moving through time, frozen in space. On top of a slightly raised platform that crosses the back of the stage, a woman is running on … [Read more...]
Glittering Athletes
Complexions Contemporary Ballet performs at the Joyce Theater, January 24 through February 5 Some dances aim to hit you over the head—not too hard, just enough to get your adrenaline rushing. Look at the dancers: strong, confident, beautiful, they can do anything. When they swing their legs into the air, a tree could fall. Their idea of a rest is shooting off a few very slightly less … [Read more...]
California in New York
Two of the many dance performances that the week in the wake of New Years Day. Dance-loving Christians wishing to celebrate Epiphany (aka El Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos) would have done well to descend upon New York City, where the Association of Performing Arts Presenters was holding its annual conference (January 6 -10). “No room at the inn” might have been a prevailing message, and if … [Read more...]
‘Tis the Season
Mark Morris's The Hard Nut at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut sets the knowing audience at the Brooklyn Academy laughing in ways that most ballets set to Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker do not. But I doubt that ballet aficionados in St Petersburg in 1892 found their eyes moisting up either. This revival of Morris’s music-wise, tradition-flouting version melds human … [Read more...]
Dancing Toward a Future
"New Dances: Edition 2016" showcases Juilliard Dance's four classes of students in new choreography. Every December, the Juilliard School presents its dance students in five public performances of works choreographed for them. Lawrence Rhodes, artistic director of the Juilliard Dance Division, commissions a piece for the members of each class in the school’s BFA program, from the freshmen … [Read more...]
Past Hits and a New Dance from Abroad
The Alvin Ailey America Dance Theater at City Center, November 30-December 31. Not long after its beginnings in 1958, the Alvin Ailey Dance Company broke an unspoken rule for modern dance companies. Most of those had a single choreographer, who also starred in almost every work; dancers wishing to perform leading roles had to found their own groups. But Ailey created a repertory ensemble, … [Read more...]
Celebrating Lucinda
Lucinda Childs Dance Company samples fifty-three years of her choreography at the Joyce, November 29-December 11. When I first saw Lucinda Childs’ choreography in the early 1970s, I knew little about Judson Dance Theater, which had presented her as a radical worthy of being linked with Yvonne Rainer, Steve Paxton, et al. Nor was I a seasoned critic. What fascinated me then was her … [Read more...]
Lives in Layers
Jonah Bokaer and Daniel Arsham bring their latest work to BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. Hooded figures swathed in pale clothing stand, isolated in pools of light, on the stage of the BAM Gilman Opera House, as part of BAM's Next Wave Festival. Their faces are hidden, and they’re frozen in diverse positions. In place when we enter the theater, they could be statues awaiting renovation. This … [Read more...]
India in New York
Mark Morris curates "Sounds of India" for Lincoln Center's White Light Festival. Mark Morris has made many trips to India, beginning in 1981. I’ve only gone in my dreams. My fascination with the country’s dance styles came from seeing New York performances by visiting companies, dipping into epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, treating my dance history students to videos and master … [Read more...]