Her first full-length show, In Transit, demonstrates how technical prowess can meet child-like playfulness.  Throughout, dancers play their bodies like musical instruments as they weave intricate formations and portray comedic/disturbing narratives.  They seem to make games of spatial patterns as they move like scattering marbles or jumping checkers.  All is accomplished with outstanding precision and ease.  These ladies are not only capable of great feats of agility, but also of an honest connectedness to each other on stage.

All hailing from SUNY Brockport, company members Erin Johnson, Caroline Nelson, Jessica Reidy, Jenny Showalter, and Lyndsey Vader are a fox-force-five to be reckoned with. Lyndsey Vader’s sense of control, for example, in her solo “Pulse/Apology”, is breathtaking to watch.  What astounding technical abilities she has with her brilliant execution of delicate balances and sharp, quick movements, all while speaking about the sound of her pulse.  My heart stops, like her narrative describes, as she rocks in-and-out of warrior III, flips around to relevé and halts deftly on a dime.  The disturbing last image, a fist under open palm, looks like a heart with splayed aortic valves.  Oh, Treeline, you’ve kindled my inner-child’s imagination!

Immediately following is another energetic solo performance by Jessica Reidy, in “The (un)Natural Art of Dating.”  This rousing jaunt into 1950’s dating has me enchanted from the get-go.  Reidy instructs her audience members on the do’s and don’ts of catching a mate by winking, batting her lashes, and, my favorite, wetting her eyebrows!  She explains the importance of holding a longing gaze as she performs an Exorcist-like head rotation.   Absolutely brilliant!  Her ensemble, Erin Johnson and Caroline Nelson, are perfect.  The threesome dance-on together with the subtle pin-up sex-appeal of the Andrews sisters.  The characterization is complete as nostalgic music plays and house-wife aprons sway, leaving me all giggles and smiles!

“Traveling to Recall A Becoming Of,” choreographed by Jenny Showalter, is another heavy weight champ in this choreographic line up.  Here, the playfulness comes forth in the port de bras, as the girls use various arm gestures to draw lines in space.  They make pulsing gestures with the hands, long reaches of the fingers and very specific movement like poking, jabbing, threading-the-needle, etc.  Here, Showalter carves out space on stage by having the dancers spin in circles and run in diagonals.  She also creates the image of hallways as the dancers run upstage to downstage.  If Jeffy, from Family Circus, were dancing, he’d leave one helluva dotted-line map on stage!

Beautiful spatiality also appears in the opening piece, “Caged Until”, which is, in my opinion, the most outstanding piece of the evening.  This piece represents Treeline’s sense of play perfectly.  Audience members are greeted by the upstage right violin trio, whose diagonal bowing movements seem to inspire the entering dancers whose outstretched arms oppose outstretched legs in an off-balance tilt.  Lovely!  They move in and out of unison, using musical phrasing and quick level changes to create a gorgeous symphony.

Again, Showalter is a master at choreographing spatial arrangements.  I find myself so entranced by her patterns that I fail to notice how suddenly, the dancers are lined up at the stage’s edge with their backs to the audience.  A musical change happens, as the fourth wall is broken, and my experience shifts from spectator to insider.  I become engaged in their game.

Yes, the rest of the piece is like a game.  A series of place-switching follows as they stir up space like in a game of tag.  This leads to another line-up, but this time, a wall line-up for picking teams on a playground. There is a persistent theme of odd-man out, which is perhaps representative of playground politics.  Signature to Showalter’s style, specific hand gestures are repeated in motifs, i.e. a head cradled in a partner’s hands, and, most memorably, the fist meeting the open palm as when rock meets paper in “rock, paper, scissors”.

Favorite moment in the entire show: a dramatic lift where one dancer grabs hold of another’s waist and hoists her own lower body into the spot where bodies should collide, but the third dancer ducks in the nick of time!  Shocking and yet not shocking at the same time because this is so characteristic of how fabulously these femmes dance together.  They dive into near-miss lifts and athletic floor phrases, as fearlessly as a five-year-old does a flying dismount off the swing set!

The playful nature continues well into the second act.  In Jenny Showalter’s solo, “Kilter”, weight-play rules. With the music reminiscent of a French bistro or circus, I imagine Showalter as a mime on a tightrope at times.  There’s an off-balance circular section that conjures the image of a spinning top as it begins to lose steam.  Unfortunately, the rest of the second act begins to lose steam as well.  I notice an overwhelming music trend throughout the evening: strings.  And while nice to start, I find the use of violins and/or cellos (in over half the pieces) to be a bit tiresome by the end, and soon crave something different.

While the music DOES support the playful style—switching drastically from slow and meditative, to speedy and virtuosic—it can be on the verge of melodramatic as is the case with “A Shell of Herself.”  In this text duet, Lyndsey Vader and Caroline Nelson pounce around like ferrets, squeaking out lines barely audible above the intense music, which is building unnecessarily.  I feel as though I am watching a soap opera, one where the actors are clearly reading cue cards.  The text seems superimposed and not at all connected with what the dancers are saying with their bodies.  If we put the whole piece on mute, as Lindsey does to herself in the beginning of the piece (a moment I actually love), then the message would read something like this:  “Look at this.  Look at me.  Look at all this dancing.  See these tricks?  My leaps and kicks?  I’m flexing, pointing, leg-extending, rolling and panting…  all in my undergarment dressings.”  Perhaps this is all intentional, referring back to the title, “Shell of Herself”. The one time Nelson says, “I don’t know what that means,” face-to-face with Vader, I finally believe her.  But then, the movements quickly return to that familiar dance/yoga/Pilates vocabulary, and I’m even more anxious to see something different.

Similar are my feelings on the last piece, “Unearthed Moments.”  Playful still, it begins with counting, like a young girls’ hand-clapping song.  I adore the choice of all heads looking up at the first number, “four.”  This reminds me of the attention-catching word “fore” used in golf.  But the movement is still all so akin to what came before, and at this point, I’m desperately waiting for them to produce something outside the choreographic sandbox:  to get away from codified dance for a moment and explore moving more pedestrian or with more subtlety.  The moment of saving grace happens when Caroline Nelson sits perched atop supporting bodies and does a slow pan across the audience.  Yes!  Slowness.  Stillness.  A moment to reflect and digest.  In fact, I love the subsequent slow motion movement wishing I could see more of it!

Overall, Treeline does a beautiful job of painting the canvas with lots of detail and activity, but one doesn’t necessarily have to show all one’s cards at once.  I think they can afford to do less, in some respects.  Going back to “Pulse/Apology”, the silent score supports Vader’s moments of suspension beautifully, and I find myself wishing it would last longer when jarringly, a background score of medieval chants is introduced.  Although the sounds are haunting, they are also distracting from the text.  Perhaps if the music were more sparse, I’d be able to decipher the text better.

In Transit marks a choreographic rite-of-passage; the event where artistic directors Jenny Showalter and Lyndsey Vader show form a synthesis of what they’ve gathered over the past few years—from schoolings at SUNY Brockport, residencies in New York and Chicago, and mentors such as Pamela Vail, and Don Halquist (guest choreographers in the program).  What an appropriate title indeed!  Congratulations to them as they make this daring  transition from the classroom/studio into the professional dance world.  And while there are always points to work on, there are outnumbering points of interest that give this company much success!

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Teresa Lynn
Performance:  Dance by Treeline Danceworks
Venue:  Center for Performance Research, CPR
Show Date:  November 6, 2010
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Take for example the opening section, which brings to light the status-quo obsession with looks, and body image.  We see dancer, Johnni Durango, enter and stand center stage amongst the inanimate columns and vases.  Suddenly, she is no longer a dancer, but an object: a thing to be looked at, studied, and critiqued… like a piece of art —like a vase!— and perhaps like a candid celebrity beach body shot in US Weekly.  Thanks to a humorous recorded narrative by Ruth Draper, “A Class in Greek Poise,” the words guide us further into this judgmental state of mind. As we look at Durango —tall and slender— we hear Ruth say “214 pounds?…oh its 241 pounds? Bloomers please.”

“Ladies, line-up” Ruth continues.  And Durango assumes a pose on relevé, hands behind back and elbows bent…  like the wings of an exotic bird. (well with plumage like that of her loud, patterned tights, she’d have to be exotic!) Perhaps some abstract ode to Barbie? Or…as Ruth gabs on and on about poise, Durango starts strutting around with delicate, toe-pointed steps; she circles the column-confined area, and I feel as though I’m watching a peacock parading round its pen at the zoo.

Neil Greenberg, who by this point has furtively entered and placed one vase at each column’s base, begins clapping.  It’s not, by any means, directed at Durango, but because of her spatial arrangement, the model strut she just gave, and what transpired in the narrative, I connect the dots, and interpret that he is, indeed, applauding her.

Here’s the unique thing about Neil Greenberg’s choreography:  many of the goings on—the score, the dancers, the set, the musicians—have the strength to operate independently from one another.  But when they do sync-up coincidentally, they suddenly seem intentional… and then there’s meaning in them thar hills!  So although Neil’s clapping at that exact moment may seem intentional in relation to Durango, as the piece goes on, clapping returns in other moments as part of the phrasing, and by contrast we see there may be no meaning at all:  it’s just a neutral gesture.  How about a dancer taking a sip of coffee, followed by a sip of water off-stage?  It appears to be a pedestrian gesture of no meaning.  But take the same movement, and have two dancers do it in unison, and suddenly, I notice myself trying to “figure it out”.

This is Neil’s other obsession, which now has become mine too:  “tensions created by the seemingly inescapable human desire to create meaning.”   The eccentric movements may coincide with the score, and by default, I can’t help but draw a connection for them.  Ruth says “swing your weight forward” and the dancers do swinging movements with their arms.  As musicians, Zeena Parkins and Shayna Dunkelman, tune up the harp and other instruments, the text speaks of using one’s breath like a “musical instrument.”  Another cue, via the text:  Ruth is “prancing through the forest” with the hypothetical fat girls she is coaching.  Greenberg and Luke Miller are prancing about the space too…  in the most laugh-out-loud-funny way!  And later, Paige Martin’s vibrating palms begin as a move all-their-own; but once paired with the echoing sound of the harp, it looks as though she is struggling to cage the sound between her two hands.

I am tickled by my ability to connect the dots and create meaning.  We all are…  everyone giggles with delight at the sight of two dancers sipping coffee in unison.  We all love to feel like we “get it.”  But we also love to be challenged.  Several times throughout the show, a dancer brings a microphone stand on-stage, taps and blows into the mike, but says nothing.  Hmmm…what does that mean?  I question.

Similarly, a move may be repeated several times throughout the show, but in different contexts; the audience is prompted to question why they felt a certain way about it the first time, and differently the second. I watch Mina Nishimura introduce a head tapping solo far upstage left, behind the musicians, and partially obstructed by the light booms.  She is clearly lit, so I am clearly drawn to watch her, and yet this is the first time I give my full attention to a dancer who is not dancing on the white marley, “pedestal” stage.  Shortly after, Collin Stillwell does this same movement on stage, and I wonder:  is it the status-quo to label movement on the marley as “dance,” and movement off the marley as “not dance?”  Does placement determine what something is and isn’t?

The exquisiteness of Greenberg’s work is his ability to provoke such philosophical battles.  Also noteworthy is his ability to give dimension:  the simplicity of his movements, the repetition, the sparseness on stage alternated craftily with crowdedness…also the sparseness in the score alternated with lushness.  There is time for movement, and time to digest.  Repetition occurs, and we reflect once more; contemplate and re-contemplate.  The openness of his dance score allows audience members time and space to think… feel…  and ponder…..  all while experiencing something truly beautiful!  What a wonderful gift!

A cornucopia of beauty, in fact,  besides the dancing, there’s a beautiful set to behold!  Four black vases are lined up in a row:  their stark silhouettes in contrast to the white marley floor.  Also prominent are four white columns, arranged in a square, and a giant turquoise harp upstage.  This scene harkens to Greco/Roman classical art…a Michelangelo painting perhaps.

The harp is obviously functional:  also creating beauty for the ears to hear, thanks to the ingenious musings of harpist and composer Zeena Williams.  In this city where time and space are hot commodities, I rejoice in the moments of inserted breathing time to bring notice to all elements…. even the musicians themselves.  For example, there is a long instance where no dancers are on stage—just the musicians playing their instruments—and I am perfectly content watching them do their thang!

The openness of Greenberg’s dance score lends itself to be pondered, questioned…  and personalized to tastes of the individuals watching it.  My neighbor may see one way, and I another.  Neil’s work doesn’t limit itself to one definition, and that’s part of the gift as well. Greenberg’s passion for artistic statement is strong…  but even stronger is his passion for the audience.  He makes his work accessible, choosing to include the public on his exploration of social norms, as opposed to alienating them with high-brow airs.   How considerate and generous! (like a Vase) is really like a gift: an hour of pure, thought-provoking stage play, handed to the New York public like a delicately wrapped piece of ceramic art.

So little pilgrims, the thanks-giving season is upon us; and now is as good a time as any to remind ourselves the importance of thank you notes.  You may not have liked those pajamas Aunt Millie gave you last year, but you will definitely like Neil Greenberg’s multicolored, psychedelic saggy-crotch tights!…  and even more so, his work (like a vase).   It is a masterfully crafted gem, certainly worthy of the pedestal he puts it on for all to enjoy.  Please thank him by seeing this show!

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Teresa Lynn
Performance:  Dance by Neil Greenberg
Venue:  Dance Theater Workshop, DTW
Show Date:  November 9, 2010
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For the opening piece, festival host, Kinetic Junglist Movement (KJM), performs a very intriguing work of movement invention enhanced by some creative costume designs as the dancers’ human faces are masked and their bodies are covered from head to toe in shimmery insect-like bodysuits with thin finger extensions that appear like long needle-like appendages.  Choreographed by Amy Secada, this piece details the metamorphosis of a Cicada, an insect known by it’s clicking sounds and ability to molt, shedding it’s shell.   Combining yoga, capoeira, and some acrobatic movements, about 80% of this fifteen minute piece is done on the floor.   No lazy dancers here, dancers roll, balance, and pause in deep squats, and at some points, burst up into the air in eclectic jumps with a sort of creepy yet ethereal undertone.   So much demanding floor work, you would think the dancers have knees of steel!   Although a bit lengthy and somewhat repetitive, the metamorphosis is absolutely captivating. 

Purely a stand-out in the program is the multi-talented performer, Monstah Black, who really knows how to  demand attention from an audience.  He sings one of his songs, "Black Like Jesus," a fan favorite, fusing in his own very dynamic movement style as he covers the entire space solo with his quick turning leaps and soul slithering, black glama flair.  One thing great about Monstah Black is that he truly is a seasoned, professional performer in that he has mastered the art of captivating an audience, knowing when to move fast and when to be still, when to scream and when to whisper.  Bravo!

The pick-me-up of the evening goes to a performance by Princess Lockeroo and Akim Funk Buddha presenting an "Urban Opera" interpretation of the famous habanera from Carmen.  Whacking, vogueing, and some locking and jazz dance fuse together to create a comical scene heightened by a dazzling chorus of "full-out" dancers. 

Spinnin Ronin Martial Arts Dance Theater entertains with a comical story ballet complete with a menacing Samurai, flashy swords, and fight choreography worthy to be seen in the next Jet Li movie.  In an awesome battle scene with the very tall Kei Yokoyama, watch out for their underdog, the petite heroine, Pai Wang, as she is a hot one with her Samurai sword in hand flowing through the very acrobatic fight choreography with fury and ease.  Although lengthy for a one night multi-act filled festival, the performance successfully blends dance, martial arts, and choreographed fight moves with a delightful beginning, suspenseful climax, and an end.  For a dance show, Spinnin Ronin, with its martial arts fused movement and exciting fight expertise, is a welcome addition to a mostly modern/jazz fusion dance festival.

Of course, we can’t ignore the grand finale:   the energetically uplifting and thoroughly entertaining Babacar M’Baye & Co. presenting a Sabar, (Senegalese dance and drumming style).  Because of its innate spiritual nature, Babacar M’Baye’s Sabar is a reminder to the audience of the folklore focus of the evening.  A grand demonstration of skill and tradition, Babacar M’Baye proves to be a fantastic way to end an evening and of course, a great instigator to incite audience members to jump to their feet to dance the night away.

Overall the evening is very eclectic and full of various genres including an intergalactic geisha named Yozmit, who gradually strips on stage while singing to reveal levels of fake body parts…  the private ones!  There is no disclaimer or announcement to the audience so many are scrambling to cover the eyes of children.  Also on the program is an inspiring poem and vocal performance from Micah Blacklight, a musical performance from Le Soul Afrique, and an Afro Brazilian dance performance from Ginga Da Bahia.  However, in my search for the connection between the performance material and the festival’s mission, to "breathe new life into ancient traditions" by showcasing artists who utilize the folkloric arts and fuse these forms with contemporary styles, the presentations come up short. There is folklore and there is fusion, but only some pieces accomplish the festival’s mission.  All in all, while I leave St. Mark’s Church a bit unclear, the performances by these young performers possess promising skill and engaging entertainment.  I am proud.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by JoiLynn
Contributing Editor:  Candice Rox
Performance:  KJM Presents…  Urban Roots Project
Venue:  St. Mark’s Church, New York City
Show Date:  October 3, 2010
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Coupe de Foudre, a theatrical reinterpretation of surrealist film maker Jean Cocteau’s 1930 film "Blood of a Poet," gives a sudden intense feeling of love as the French title suggests as well as many other emotions as the audience remained in awe of this artistic collaboration of three generations of African American artists at the Guggenheim Museum.  Corey Baker, Co-Artistic director of Ballet Noir and performer in Fela! on Broadway, performed as a dancer/actor physically interpreting the onscreen performance of characters in the film blending the present and past of art interpretation.  Paul Miller, a.k.a DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid, accompanied by Telos Ensemble, rescores the music creating an eerie, haunting, mystical mood to the stage, and Melvin Van Peebles filmmaker/director of “Sweetback” in the 1960’s gives a dynamic performance adding dialogue as he interprets the French poetry of the film.  It completely appeals to all the senses and takes the audience literally into a whirlwind of a theatrical experience. 

The most exhilarating moments occur when Corey appears in the audience on the stairs one moment, as a shadow on screen the next, or a character crawling in space.  Melvin’s voice gives explanation to the black and white silent film as DJ Spooky takes the audience on a musical journey through time from the days of Josephine Baker to the new sounds of the twenty first century.

"I walk through my blindness the way I saunter down streets in Paris: unfiltered and alive: enchanted and enjoyed by the raw material of the senses.  I am a blind flaneur.  Come along with me.  Just don’t try to take my arm, unless I ask," Melvin recites as the film plays and Corey appears at the beginning of the show.  The theater is a white sphere with intense lighting design by Scott Bolman focusing on the statuesque, brown muscular body of dancer Corey Baker in contrast to the white statue on film.  There is a two-sided mirror, a wooden chair placed in front, a door with the number 17 stage left, and a black wall stage right.  A story line begins with a young man, a poet, attempting to draw a series of faces.  Suddenly, the mouth of one of these faces rubs off in his hand and starts smiling.  Terrified, the poet accidently smears off the mouth of the statue he was working on previously.  The statue comes to life and, in return, forcefully sends the young man through the mirror to another imaginary location at a mysterious hotel.

Corey Baker, as the poet, does a series of hand gestures looking into his hand, drawing on the mirror, running to the wall in sync with the actor on screen.  A spinning head on the screen symbolizes unconsciousness and the entering of a dream world.  Corey floats across the screen in a black silhouette as he falls out of reality.   With gorgeous technique, he performs slow controlled spiraling turns, hinges, attitude turns and extensions with beautifully sculpted balletic arms, as if swimming, and climbing up a wall.  He becomes each of the characters the poet encounters in a strange hotel:  a little boy, a man in a painting, children in a scene throwing snowballs. 

Melvin recites lessons of love, speaks of inner silence, deliverance, infinite precaution, and of nothing being premeditated in life.  There are references to Homer and other Greek myths as each scene becomes more intense. The audience is stunned as a young boy is beat until he bleeds and the poet shoots himself in the head.  Corey slips in an out of each character with ease with moments of still statuesque movement, then spinning, falling, running to a door, jumping off the stage into the audience in a state of despair and disillusion.  At the climax of the film the poet commits suicide twice!  The final time, after sitting in front of the woman he loves apprehensively with his heart beating out his chest, the gun appears, and, almost like a moment in animation, blood leaks from his temple; and there, stamped at his temple, is the Star of David.

This scene in the 1930’s would have been overdramatic or bizarre but with this theatrical version performed with Corey, Melvin, and DJ Spooky, Jean Cocteau’s film has much more depth.  The poet dies and his lover becomes stone like the statue.  A black angel comes to the scene reminiscent of the biblical angel Gabriel.  In the audience, coming from a staircase is Corey descending from Heaven as the angel.  The perfect lighting and ethereal sounds of DJ Spooky and the violinist set the mood for this theatrical ending.

In Jean Cocteau’s film, there are people walking through mirrors where they encounter the deepest psychological aspects of themselves. There are people walking upside down reciting poetry while they are painted into a canvas. The paintings come to life and the sculptures speak.  Poetry becomes a film scene and a character’s dialogue.  In Blood of a Poet, one of the central themes is that inanimate objects possess mortal properties, and subsequently perform a play within a play, a film within a film. 

In the post-performance conversation with the creators, we learn that Cocteau’s compelling work also inspired the great Russian ballet-master, Sergei Diaghilev, to produce “Parade” with Pablo Picasso as designer.   According to Paul D. Miller, a.k.a. DJ Spooky, Jean Cocteau has a fascination with the relationship between technology and theatricality which is what DJ Spooky explains as his inspiration for rescoring Blood of a Poet.  Corey explains his approach to creating the choreography for this work as done more from an actor’s perspective and less about choreographing beautiful dance.  According to Corey, he reworks certain elements of the piece following the musical changes while paying close attention on being true to the character.  He masterfully incorporates all elements of his dance background (modern, ballet, African, and hip hop) which gives the work a beautiful, honest feeling.  Melvin describes the language of the 1930’s and the poetry in Jean Cocteau’s film. Translating French to English words wasn’t enough to get the audience to understand, it requires him also translating the slang or flapper language of that time as he calls it. 

All in all, this is a stellar performance, and there are even talks of “Coup de Foudre” touring the nation.  As we progress in technology and continue to mix art with the theatrical world, we will see other collaborations such as this one which will greatly be appreciated by those seeking entertainment that provokes strong emotions and sparks the intellect.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Carmen Carriker
Performance:  "Coupe de Foudre" with D.J. Spooky and Ballet Noir
Venue:  Guggenheim Museum
Show Date:  October 10, 2010
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“Why?” This is the continuous thought running through my head while watching Ballet Preljocaj perform Angelin Preljocaj’s Empty Moves (parts I & II) at BAM.  The piece, choreographed to John Cage’s 1977 speech Empty Words, which was recorded in Milan before a vocal and rambunctious crowd, sets a standard for contemporary choreographers.  Like abstract artwork, the 63-minute piece of arbitrary movement and Cage’s syllabic, unrecognizable pronunciation of words presents an enigma for the audience to decode.

The costumes, reminiscent of a disco roller rink party, expose the dancers’ liquid lines and dynamic quality of movement.  However, I ask, “Why this choice of retro neon color shirts and shorts that would have been worn by Punky Brewster?”

The dancers effortlessly transfer from position to position, but reveal no emotion; their faces remain frozen.  At one moment, the two girls toboggan over a man towards the audience and smile.  Again, I ask, “Why?  Why is that the only moment of expression?”

Randomly, the two men repeatedly stand on their heads, the women push their elbows in the men’s eyes and mouths, and in one moment the couples reach into their partners mouths.  I wonder, “Why, what is Preljocaj’s intention?”

As I continue to watch Empty Moves, the answer to my question is that Preljocaj just feels like it, and, in the moment, the arbitrary step appears to be the perfect piece to fit the puzzle.  Half way through the piece a dancer leaves the stage to get a drink of water and brings the Poland Spring bottle to other dancers on stage.  At that moment, the dancers are thirsty and drinking water is a necessary part of the choreography.  Like the simple black dress hanging in the closest, sometimes the least complicated and least contrived things are the most beautiful.

For a dancer, the process of learning and performing a piece with such arbitration presents a huge challenge. As a dancer you rely on the music to rescue you from the “oh crap” moments that occur when the choreography slips away from the body; however, the four dancers Favrizio Clemente, Gaelle Chappaz, Julien Thibault, and Yurie Tsugawa, impress with their flawless performance.  They dance with a connective energy that mesmerizes the eyes for the entire 63 minutes. Even though subdued and unremarkable, the choreography perplexes the conception of entertainment and disproves the idea that the flashy choreography seen on So You Think You Can Dance is the future of performance art. 

In a poignant moment, the four dancers interlock themselves lying in a straight line across the stage.  Who knew that something as simple as this would be as impressive as the Texas Rangers beating the Yankees to play in the World Series?

Anglein Preljocaj and his company are the epitome of innovation and hopefully will inspire more artists to trust their instincts and escape conformity like Preljocaj has done in Empty Moves (parts I & II).

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Katherine Gibson
Performance:  Ballet Preljocaj
Venue:  BAM, Brooklyn, NY
Show Date:  Friday, October 29, 2010
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After a six year hiatus, Ralph Lemon and his dancers return to the stage Wednesday night in Brooklyn’s own BAM Harvey Theater.  The theater is packed and guests buzz words of praise about their expectations for this performance.  Some, knowing of Lemon’s longer shows, ask about length expectations as well.   As I sit, I too am worried of becoming restless, but the performance, although a bit long, is loaded with information and provocative images which inspire intellectual thoughts and dialogue about life and the hereafter.

The show begins with Lemon himself reading a memoir of his experiences during the creation of this project entitled “ How Can You Stay in the House All Day and Not Go Anywhere?”.

Mr. Lemon normally keeps his private life hidden but this time he openly talks about his artistic relationship with Walter Calter, a former sharecropper born in 1908 who he meets in the Mississippi Delta while researching his 2004 work.  He also talks about mourning the death of his companion dancer, Asako Takami.  Mr. Lemon sees “House” as a four part project (I.Sunshine Room, II. Wall/Hole., III.  No Room, IV.  Meditation) inspired by his experiences and by Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 science fiction film “Solaris,” with its underlying theme of death.  In the film clips, a psychologist ends up on a spaceship with his wife, who commits suicide.

During the film Mr. Lemon narrates as we also watch clips of Mr. Calter in a bunny suit in Mississippi encountering violence reminiscent of the racial tension of the 1960’s.  These images are also inspired by Hare and Rabbit tales published in The Gift by Lewis Hyde where Sakka, the ruler of the heaven of sensual pleasure tests the hare by disguising himself.  At the end of the film we see video clips of dancers onstage doing improv. The movements and music are inspired by the free spirit, drug, sex, and rock and roll days of the 70’s.  A particular clip of his earlier work shows a dancer continuing to dance on stage after being hosed down with water. This made a strong statement about the perseverance of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement.

Six dancers come out and the familiar movements seen on screen are repeated live. There is a moving moment where the stage is bare except for the sound of a dancer sobbing off stage.  Though strong, this is a bit disturbing and some people feel it is too much to endure and leave, but the majority who stay experience a performance that completely takes us inside the mind and heart of Ralph Lemon.  I commend the dancers for their tirelessness and amazing commitment to movement that is very physical requiring them to spin, fall, and run for a long span of time nonstop!

At the closing of the final section, Lemon returns to the stage in the bunny suit amongst a screen of animals that appear one by one.  This moment symbolizes the place we have in this world, the relationship we have with all of mankind, and our search to understand the unknown.

This project is a work-in-progress and will continue with part IV Meditation, an installation on view at the The Kitchen this month.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Carmen Carriker
Performance:  Ralph Lemon, "How Can You Stay in the House All Day and Not Go Anywhere?"
Venue:  BAM Harvey Theater, Brooklyn, New York
Show Date:  October 13, 2010
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For years artists have bravely performed with the ballistics of balls and have awed audiences.  Jugglers, rhythmic gymnasts, and street performers entertain with the suspense of dropping the ball.  Welcome UBA bounce to this group of performers!  UBA Bounce’s performance, however, is like watching the 3D movie version of the other performances- more eye popping color, speedy unexpected acrobatic feats and of course, chaotic challenges of controlling unpredictable balls.  UBA bounce dancers interact with the balls as if they are fellow dancers. Each ball is personified and possesses its own quality and quirks.  Yes, Eva Dean’s UBA Bounce is an innovative and ingenious idea- she is absolutely breaking boundaries with balls.

Appropriate for the lazy, sweaty days of summer, the balls do not bounce during the performance, but rather roll and relax like they are vacationing in the Hamptons away from the bustling bounce of the city.  A variety of balls appear amongst five dancers in ten works choreographed by Eva Dean and you question who controls the movement:  the ball or the dancer?

Of my favorite pieces, Pearl showcases the sophisticated skill of Dean’s choreography.  Dean and Zoe Schieber dance with two other pearl balls that adopt the persona of Charlotte’s “Sex and the City” Park Ave personality.   The fluidity and harmonized movement created the allusion of synchronized swimming.  

Continuing with the water theme, Bounce Surfing channels the audience to an aquarium in three parts.  In “Wave,” George Hirsh and his counterpart, a blue buoyant ball, bring the audience into waves with watery, continuous flux.  While in “Dolphin” the ensemble cast mimics the playful, fluent movement of dolphins.  Like the spectacular at Sea World, dancers flip and balance balls with the agility and grace of dolphins that are always awarded with a huge splash of applause.  The final section, “Surfing,” brought me immediately to the tobogganing penguin exhibit.  The slippery silver balls propel the dancers across the stage and back demonstrating the dancers’ teamwork throughout a piece of slipping and sliding fun.  

In Bounce 09, UBA acts as the main character of the work as a big, bright orange ball.  A kaleidoscope meteor shower of color from supporting actor balls bring the dancers into a Wonka Land experience where bubbles and carefree play transform the stage into a playground.  

The final piece, Samba Poi, utilizes twirling, psychedelic neon light poi balls that immediately transport the audience into the Latin flavor nightlife of Miami Beach.  The sexy samba dance along with the glowing lights is like watching a tropical festivity along the palm tree lined Ocean Drive. 

Throughout the performance I marvel at the dancer’s strength, control, and especially their balance.  Ms. Shieber seems to never touch the ground, constantly balancing and walking on the ball like a tight ropewalker.  The dancers’ work with the ball is like a full fitness regime in itself!  If anyone has exercised using a physio ball, you know it is a killer ab workout!!   The abs of the UBA Dancers definitely give Jessica Biel’s Hollywood washboard abs some serious competition.

Join UBA Bounce in a spectacular show where dancers and balls impress and excite your expectations and imaginations. 

Photography by Yi-Chun Wu

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Katie Gibson
Performance:  Eva Dean’s UBA Bounce
Choreographer:  Eva Dean
Venue:  Dixon Place
Show Date:  Sunday, August 15, 2010
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Pilobolus has absolutely perfected performance art!   After thirty-nine years, Pilobolus still brings innovation that challenges their artists and thrills audiences, which I got to experience first hand this past Monday evening at The Joyce Theater in New York City.  This evening, Pilobolus adds to their superior athletic and dynamic reputation by flaunting their fluidity and grace on top of their ability to tell a story. 

The opening piece, Lantera Magica, takes the audience to a fantasyland of enchanted creatures.  Appealing to the family audience, fireflies drift your imagination into a mythical land.  The colorful costumes and brilliant lighting perfectly complement the graceful dancers, which moves the audience into a tale of fairy like creatures and discovery. 

Pseudopodia, a male solo choreographed to pounding drums, diverts the focus away from the show’s theatrics and toward some gravity-defying technique!  This is an amazingly dynamic juxtaposition of music and movement.  The hard, pounding drum is paired with the fluid, flame-like movement of Jun Kuribayashi.  His gasp-inducing solo begins as Jun Kuribayashi somersaults on stage like a fireball, his body rolling like a continuous flame.  Not once does the audience hear his body touch the stage.  He flows with effortlessness, while commanding the stage with complete control.  Bravo!

The first act ends with the much anticipated Contradance, a new work that’s a collaboration with Grammy winner Dan Zanes. Contradance continues with the family and story telling theme of the evening by showcasing the ensemble’s subtle strengths and talents to portray sweet characters, who convey a moral story.  (Yes, dancers, you better act!)  Even though this piece isn’t a momentous, gravity defying piece that is often associated with Pilobolus’s reputation, I appreciate the softness and sweetness of the characters and the company’s embrace of magical stories that really appeal to a younger audience.

The evening is arranged much like a double feature at the movies.  The first act is a G rated movie for families while the second more is a sophisticated highlight of the extreme strength and power of the company.  Upon entering the stage in the fourth number, Gnomen, four intertwined men roll onto stage, demonstrating a huge feat of weight and balance.  The men showcase extreme endurance, but execute it with much sensitivity.   Arial lifts and arm balances make the audience gasp in awe, but more impressive is the emotional execution of the movement.  Choreographed by Artistic Directors Robby Barnett and Jonathan Wolken as a dedication to fellow dancer James Blanc, I also sense that the dancers pay tribute to Wolken, who passed in the spring.  The somber and inward mood of the piece creates a division between the performers and audience.  As a viewer, you observe the pain of loss and devotion to relationships, but also admire the beauty of graceful physicality and emotional strength. 

Megawatt, the finale performance, demonstrates strength and physicality, but in the most raw and abandoned manner.  It is truly an underground piece choreographed to the music of Primus, Radiohead and Squarepusher.  The dancers enter head first in upside-down army crawls (like my new dance term?), which sets the tone of organized chaos.  Creating a full spectacle for the senses, Wolken’s killer choreography directly mimics the music.  The audience sees, hears, and feels melody and tempo through a non-stop exhilarating display of high energy and seemingly impossible tricks.  Although constantly impressed by the insane acrobatic stunts of all the members, I am most thrilled by Eriko Jimbo.  One of the smaller members, she moves with fearless abandon and well matches the physicality of the "Lebron James size" men.  Work Eriko!  Megawatt leaves the audience rocking out in there seats.

Pilobolus is performing at The Joyce Theater until August 7th and provides a show that will entertain all ages and artistic preferences.  Go see it!

Photography by Sara D. Davis


iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Katherine Gibson
Performance:  Pilobolus
Venue:  The Joyce Theater, NYC
Show Date:  July 19, 2010
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Zoom

Benefitting from today’s handy technology we pretty much all have sitting in our coat pockets and handbags, Zoom utilizes cellular technology in a brilliantly clever, interactive way that I’ve never seen before.  The audience is encouraged to take photos of the performance, both from off stage and at one point on stage, with their cell phones and then text them to a phone number. Later, the photos appear on the screen behind the stage.  At a couple points, one of the dancers nestles up to a laptop on stage and begins chatting with audience members via their cell phones, the text of which appears on the large screen above.  There is a lot of texting lingo…  lots of Wazup? TTYL, tots, :-).  The entire experience is unique and highlights well the way in which cell phone technology has come to be another level, albeit disembodied, in which we communicate and dance with each other.

Zoom really wins me over in the last few moments, when two dancers jerk and jolt in a piece that speaks to our inability to genuinely contact each other even amidst so many electronic means of communication.

Mr. Gotheiner’s choreography is exceptional.  He seems to be as at home composing movement that is light and playful as he is composing movement that is dower, spastic and macabre.  Yet, all of it expresses something honest…  The ZviDance company members are also wonderfully relaxed and well trained, performing complex pieces with an ease and harmony that belies the difficulty.  Mr. Gotheiner, who is also a renowned teacher of dance, seems to have been able to help them achieve a certain peacefulness in their bodies that one doesn’t see a lot in contemporary dance.

All in all, Zoom is a great success because it contains a thrilling collection of contrasts – electronic communications and dancing bodies, pleasure and pain, buoyancy and gravitas. ZviDance can do it all.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Dustin Wood
Performance: Zoom by ZviDance
Choreographer(s): Zvi Gotheiner
Venue: Dance Theater Workshop
Date: April 10, 2010
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Alexandance’s first full length show, A Vertiable Smorgasbord, is a fascinating glimpse into worlds both funny and fierce.  Presented by Triskelion Arts, choreographers Alex Springer and Xan Burley lay it all on the line in a jam-packed evening of short dances ranging from wittily astute to traumatically effective.     

The gems of the evening are two duets between Burley and Springer themselves. The first, from 2009 entitled Spilt, is a clever window into a marital relationship laced with tension and high romance.  It begins in a mini living room; Burley is in a flowered dress and white jacket, Springer holds her on his lap.  In 50’s era glasses, a sweater vest and a huge grin, he struggles to keep his hand over her mouth. When she finally breaks free, pearls come popping out like little white secrets.

Second, Springer and Burley dance Man + Woman, a duet which skips the trauma of relationships and focuses instead on the awkwardness of the first attraction and the satisfaction of the final moment.  Beginning as running and off-timed flights through space, this dance ends in a totally satisfying kiss.

The darkest piece of the evening, Microfiche, is a no-holds-barred journey through depravity, isolation and trauma.  Five dancers clad in night gowns and white socks dance around, under and through a blue tarp who’s rasping, shifting movement serves as a metaphor for the (not so) hidden pain in all of us.  This dance makes the audience feel just as uncomfortable as the writhing dancers through the use of incredibly loud and grating sound.  The technique is successful, if pain and anger are what I am supposed to feel, but I can’t help but be a tad offended after being made to sit with my hands over my ears for more than 10 minutes.  The point is open for debate…

Whether it is amusement or empathy that we feel in the theater, one can’t help but be excited by the promise of new dance makers like Alexandance in this often formidable city.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Meghan Frederick
Performance:  Alexandance
Choreography: Alex Springer and Xan Burley
Venue:  Triskelion Arts
Show Date:  March 27, 2010
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MSF/Doctors Without Borders has been working in Haiti for 19 years, most recently operating three emergency hospitals in Port-au-Prince, and is mobilizing a large emergency response to the Haiti/earthquake disaster.

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and supplies to victims in this crisis?
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