Dance Review: Multi-Media-Movement with Trisha Brown Dance Company

Trisha Brown Dance Company performed a mixed bill at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) on Tuesday night, April 28th, at 7:30pm, ranging from classical ballet to post-modernism. The Company shared the stage with three principal dancers from The Paris Opera Ballet. It’s difficult to describe what the overall theme of the night was, but one thing is certain… and that is the sheer joy of dance these dancers exhibited on stage. Another commonality that all the dances shared is the integration of other art forms/multi-media in the works.

The first piece, entitled Planes, which was originally created in 1968 consists of three dancers moving along the backdrop of the stage in slow motion. The backdrop has also been turned into a projector in which various images of the city and nature are constantly interchanged. The dancers appear part of the time as if they are involved with the scenes depicted on the projector and other times as if they are shadows. The overall effect of the dancers crawling on the backdrop with the images behind them makes the piece compelling, but I don’t know how interesting the piece would have been without the beautiful scenes by Jud Yalkut in the backdrop.

The second piece is a trio with the principles from The Paris Opera Ballet called O zlozony / O composite. Created in 2004, tonight’s show at BAM marks the premier of this dance being performed in the U.S. The three dancers are technical geniuses with the ability to jump from completely classical movement to modern dance styles. The most beautiful part of this pas de trois for me are both the beginning and end of the dance. In the opening, Manuel Legris and Nicolas Le Riche roll Aurelie Dupont around in their arms while her arms are extended in an airplane position. This sequence is repeated at the end of the dance, as if the dancers are retelling the story of how they ended up in this final combination.

After intermission, we are taken into Glacial Decoy, a 1979 original work. The late Robert Rauschenberg’s set consists of a wonderland of images. The choreography is a combination of duos and trios, and there are never more than three dancers on the stage at one time. It is difficult to determine how the images relate to the dancers. The dancers move very close to the wings of the stage, as if they are hiding from the audience, or as if they are not overly concerned that the audience can’t see them, which I found most interesting. The main attraction is the images which are center stage. It is unclear why the images are there, but overall the piece is successful because the dancers beautifully perform every movement.

The final piece of the night was the world premier of L’Amour au theatre. The piece is an extravaganza of lifts and pure physical ability. Every dancer lifts each other in this piece, including the women lifting the men. Trisha Brown’s choreography is extremely original and exciting, with constant shifting of weight and directions.

Overall the program at BAM is original and entertaining. Although at times the four pieces of the evening felt in-cohesive and scattered, they were each original on their own. In my opinion there could have been four different evening length performances of each of these works.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Amanda Keller
Performance: Trisha Brown Dance Company
Choreographer:  Trisha Brown
Venue:  Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)
Performance Date:  Tuesday, April 29, 2009 at 7:30 PM
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