60×60 is the dance equivalent of a crazy family reunion where everyone is inextricably linked by one thread, dance, but everyone has interpreted what that means differently.  Whether wielding eight foot dowels drowned in silk as modern shoulder pads, goggles, face paint and flippers to achieve that amphibious look certain music just calls for or throwing caution to the wind and busting out some old fashioned bowling pins for juggling because they match your favorite sequined onesie, 60×60 lets anything slide aside from full on nudity or sexual exploitations.  60 dancers/groups write the story in between these limitations against the backdrop of 60 second musical pieces by 60 different choreographers.

Housed at the World Financial Center, a venue with endless ceilings stuffed to the gills with palm trees and dancers in various states of costume milling through the audience, waiting in the pseudo wings or plopped in front of the 48 foot stage, it resembles a dance convention in Southern Florida.  Flanked by Starbucks and escalators and World Financial Center workers seemingly unscathed by the infiltration of stretchy men and women in their workplace, audience members can freely enjoy the show without stuffy etiquette procedures or ushers.  Two giant clocks face the audience ticking down the 60 seconds each group gets while the group on-deck-motifs create living, breathing sculptures on the stage.  This allows for seamless transitions despite the rapid turnover.  However, given the extreme costume choices of some groups I spend a lot of time wondering why and how certain dancers share the space.  I reiterate – 60×60 is the weirdest family gathering you’ve ever been to but in a farcical way.  If you will it’s a family talent show where you pull out your surprised face as Aunt Margaret touches her toes and Uncle Melvin reveals a harbored penchant for Butoh and break dancing.

Justin Hashimoto and Alicia Hill’s duet set to Pasquale Mainolfi’s piece oozes child wonderment as they scurry across the stage clutching an oversized present. Choreographed by Kathryn Luckstone and titled 1000msx60, the daring, explosive and curious nature of the piece conjures up images of Hansel and Gretel traipsing about the woods in search of the gingerbread house. Hashimoto says that they wanted to "use the juxtaposition of the tranquil music and its rrrrr sounds to create the movement."  Grounded in technique and interrupted by moments that scream "reboot" their bodies flail about teetering on the edge of control causing me to lean forward and take in every movement.  They chose to structure the piece around the idea of two children finding a present and their obsession with its contents.  Like many of the pieces, the ending causes me to wonder what happens next.

In a more adult sphere, the full company, Amalgamate, performs Uneven Motion set to HyeKyung’s music.  Choreographed by Artistic Director, Alanna Marie Urda, it features all eight company members and 3 apprentices in full cocktail attire "motifing" in postures that exude conflict with wrists cocked mid slap, feet grounded mid stomp or lips curled into readable grimaces even from 100 feet away.  As their music begins the conflicts come to life, and I feel like the women from Mad Men have come to the World Financial Center to state their business with no holds barred, fully aware that the clock is ticking.

Categorized as a contemporary or modern collaborative company, Urda tells me they aim to tell authentic stories with every piece they create.  For this piece company members selected relationships, real or fictional to create their physical connections ranging from piggybacking, throwing, and even the occasional spank.  It takes them less than 60 seconds to throw the cavernous space into a frenzied tizzy and then with a spin of their well-healed shoes, they abandon the playing space to make room for the next group.

Also on the program, Lea Fulton’s group performs Speak to Dwight Ashley’s string heavy quartet.  Wobbly careening in on a green bicycle, Sarah Sadie Newett is stopped by Heather N. Seagraves, and, with Katy Clancy and Fulton’s help, Newett stretches over the handlebars hand-standing to the ground.  Clothed in vintage dresses and suspendered trousers Fulton creates a whimsical, dreamy space in which the quartet carve the space with swirling movements punctuated with controlled moments of stillness and sharpness.

"The mysteriousness of Dwight Ashley’s musical composition inspired an image that was both playful and haunting as the basis for the one minute piece of choreography. It was a great exercise to work within such clear boundaries of time and music and attempt to create a piece that was transcendent," comments Fulton.

Not everyone wants to go to family reunions but at the end of the day you know it’s your duty, you are born into something to which you’ll be tied forever and not showing up is never an option.  60×60 applies the same concept: if you have in any way ever loved dance, or music or palm trees you owe it to yourself to check out 60×60 to see what a body can do to your mind in less than a minute or at least watch 60 groups try.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Eileen Elizabeth
Performance:  60×60
Venue: The World Financial Center
Show Date: November 12, 2009
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"How short can a work be for it to get its message across?"

WHEN:  Friday, November 13. Two shows: 12:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

WHERE:  Winter Garden at the World Financial Center,
220 Vesey Street, NYC

TICKETS: Free

"An express without any delay….It’s this kind of madness that makes the cultural world go round."—The New York Times

World Financial Center joins forces with the NY-based music consortium Vox Novus to present 60×60 Dance — a one-hour multimedia extravaganza featuring an exciting mix of contemporary dance and electronic music. Embracing a grass-roots ideology, 60×60 Dance takes 60 one-minute audio works culled from an international pool of emerging and established composers and assigns them to an equal mix of 60 local choreographers assembled by Amiti Perry.  The resulting collaborations are presented, without interruption, as a continuous one-hour performance synchronized to an on-stage analog clock.

"A minute can be plenty of time to express a whole gamut of imaginative sounds and movements, or it can be a challenge, forcing the artist to isolate what is most important in his/her work," Vox Novus’s founder/director Robert Voisey explains. "60×60’s goal is to disseminate a cross-section of aesthetics in an exciting format to a broad spectrum of people."

Eclectic by nature, 60×60 Dance offers an unmatched diversity of styles, making for a fast-speed, electrifying one-of-a-kind performance that never ceases to surprise. Dance influences will range from ballet to postmodern movements, while music includes neo-romantic, folk, tech-house, noise, rock and everything but the kitchen sink.

The 60 composers include Aaron Acosta, Christopher Ariza, Dwight Ashley, Dennis Barthory-Kitsz, Jay Batzner, Adam Basanta, Justin Brierley, Ben Boone, Halsey Burgund, Hermes Camacho, Danny Clay, David Congo, Alvin Curan, Matthew Dotson, Mark Eden, Morgan Fisher, Enrico Francioni, Kraig Grady, Cem Guney, Richard Hall, Yoko Honda, Masaaki Iseki, Lynn Job, Bernadette Johnson, Tova Kardonne, Aaron Krister Johnson, Timo Kahlen, Tova Kardonne, Michiko Kawagoe, Anton Killin, HyeKyung Lee, Brian Lindgren, Angela McGary, John Maycraft,  Pasquale Mainolfi, Leslie Melcher, Polly Moller, Josue Moreno, David Morneau, Peter Mottram,  Alexander Mouton, Paul I Oehlers, Doug Opel, Christophe Petchanatz, Kala Pierson, Gene Pritsker, Robert Ratcliffe, Matt Schickele, Philip Schuessler, Les Scott, Diana Simpson, Steven Snowden, Jorge Sosa, Laurie Spiegel, Aart Uunivers, Gregory Yasinitsky, Patricia Walsh, Jane Wang, Andrew Weathers, Andrew Willingham, and Natal Zaks.

The 60 choreographers include Nadia Fischer, Julie Turner and Emily Maurer, Alanna Marie Urda /Amalgamate, Julie Fortheringham, Saint Yes Is Magic, Emily Bufferd, Alaine Handa, Sasha Soreff, Jennifer Medina, Cara Surico, Sean Hilton, Rani Welch, Jessie Tomanek, Michelle Puskas, Astrid von Ussar, Whitney V. Hunter, Germaul Barnes, Luke Murphy, Mika, Alexandra Jennings, Dana Fisch, Kathryn Luckstone, Angela Harris, Julieta Valero, Victoria Scanga, Nicole Phillipidis, J. Morgan Chambers, Brittney Jensen, Shandoah Goldman, Rachel Korenstein, James Morrow, Hsiao-Wei, Hsieh & Hsiao-Ting, Hsieh, Monica Ordonez, Megan Hornaday, Kalamandir Dance Company, Vigdid Hentze Olen, Darnetha Lincoln M’Baye, Slaveya Starkov, Lillibelle and Wild Red, Korhan Basaran, Einy Aam Sparks, Kaoru Ikeda, Marni Halasa, Pascal Rekoert, Song Hee Lee & Karen Kreigel, Amiti Perry, Erin Bomboy, Lea Fulton, Laura Shapiro, Sari Nordman, Kirsten Klein, Alison Jones, Tina Croll, Katie Taylor, Harry Jefferson, Eve Chalom, Caron Eule, Marianne Delehanty, and Heather Favaretto.

60×60 was originally conceived of as an electronic music project, collecting 60-second works by composers and sound artists from around the world.  From the beginning 60×60 was a natural vehicle for collaborating with other art forms. Initially this included video, photography and sculpture. In 2007, 60×60 teamed up with choreographers and 60×60 Dance was born. Since its inception, 60×60 has featured the work of more than 1200 composers and 500 choreographers.

60×60 Dance in New York is presented by Vox Novus and arts>World Financial Center which is sponsored by American Express, Battery Park City Authority, Brookfield Properties and Merrill Lynch.

For more information on arts>World Financial Center, visit www.artsworldfinancialcenter.com

For more information on Vox Novus and 60×60, go to: http://www.voxnovus.com/60×60.htm

For the 2009-2010 season Vox Novus is taking 60×60 Dance on the road.  Performances include:

12/05/09: 60×60 (2009 / International Mix) Los Angeles Harbor College, Wilmington, California 

12/04/09: 60×60 Dance (2008 / Canada Mix) 60 one minute dances by different choreographers organized by Violaine Morinville Oscar Peterson Theater, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 

12/03/09: 60×60 (2009 / International Mix)Full Moon Concerts – Long Night’s Moon San Francisco, California 

11/21/09: 60×60 Dance (2008 / Canada Mix) 60 one minute dances by different choreogrpahers organized by Violaine Morinville Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 

11/15/09: 60×60 Video (2009 / International Mix) collaboration with Patrick LiddellStimultania art gallery in Strasbourg, France

11/13/09: 60×60 Dance (2009 / International Mix) 60 one minute dances by different choreographers organized by Amity Perry, presented by World Financial Center at the Winter Garden Atrium, New York City

11/13/09: 60×60 Video (2009 / International Mix) collaboration with Patrick Liddell New Music Juke Joint, Mississippi

11/13/09: 60×60 Audio (2009 / International Mix) Central Michigan University, Michigan

11/08/09: 60×60 Dance (2009 / International Mix) 60 one minute dances by different choreographers organized by Amiti Perry, presented by New Music Circle at MadArt, St Louis, Missouri 

11/06/09: 60×60 Dance (2009 / International Mix) 60 one minute dances by different choreographers organized by Amiti Perry, presented by Electronic Music Midwest Festival, Kansas City, Kansas  10/14/09 60×60 (2009 / International Mix) University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland 

10/03/09: 60×60 Dance (2009 / International Mix) 60 one minute dances by different choreographers organized by Amiti Perry, Wallstreet, Columbus, Ohio

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Click Here To Become a Member
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