The evening opens with Drowntown.  Amazingly athletic and energetic, this is a powerhouse.  The dancers weave and dodge one another without missing a beat, yet join each other to prove a point at different times.   It is inspiring…  Imagine walking through Time Square at rush hour.  Watch out or you will get left in the dust!

Next on the program is Wraith. Danced by Michelle Pellizzon and Danielle Schulz, this piece is hauntingly beautiful.  With costumes by Tonatiuh Otero, they look like beautiful red Nymphs.  Showing their clean and pure technique, they dance in tune with each other ever so effortlessly.  Nymphs in a time of loss, they are still, however, hopeful for what is to come…  Beautiful!

Moving on to The Polarity, danced by Gierre Godley and Dillon Honiker, all I can say is WOW!!!!  Showstopper.  They both dance with power and masculinity; it is refreshing.  Throwing themselves on each other without a care in the world, they are out to kill!  I am immediately put in to the frame of thought of watching “The Matrix”, a wonderful fight scene with all the special effects coming to life right before me.  This (The Polarity) is wild abandon at it’s best!

The Missing, danced by Michelle Pellizon, is next and what a shocking surprise…  She is a revelation in this piece shaking, twisting, and contorting her body into oddly beautiful positions.  It’s really amazing. Merging her beautiful technique with the oddest of moves it is like watching a drug addict fight through withdrawal.  Happiness, sadness, longing, and cravings she is going through all the emotions right before your eyes.  I am happy to report she wins in the end!  Congrats!

And finally, Terminus, wraps up this wonderful evening.  Danced by the company, they save the best for last taking complete command of the stage and not being afraid of it.  The power of the dancers fill the floor bringing the audience to the edge of their seats.  Their movements are faster, sharper, and clean, as if to put the final stamp on the evening.  Wearing costumes by Keiko, they leave the audience wanting more and ready to stand up and join in!   Eryc Taylor Dance is one company not to be missed.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Devin Pullins
Performance  Eryc Taylor Dance
Venue:  Joyce SoHo
Show Date:  November 13, 2010
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Eminent Domain features a score by Thom Wilems, “In the Middle and Somewhat Elevated," which is, to us dancers, a song made dance world popular by the infinitely brilliant choreographer, William Forsythe.  A bit of a Forsythe geek myself, I don’t appreciate how the choreography phrasing is a tad identical to Forsythe’s.  I do believe, however, that I am incredibly biased, and there is only so much one can do with contemporary ballet danced in 4/4… I suppose.  Overall, the dancers shine with technical brilliancy, and I appreciate the piece for that.

Solotango is an excerpt from one of Taylor’s current projects.  Unfortunately the costuming of this piece has more detail and extravagance than the piece itself. Danced by Rachel Hamrick, the solo (tango) doesn’t give this talented dancer enough to work with.  Although beautifully danced, Rachel’s performance is overshadowed by a distracting costume.  Fortunately, Hamrick does offer showmanship and grace, floating around the stage in what appears to be a tulle and rhinestone cloud surrounding the muscular balletic frame of her body.

Ginga, another premiere, stands out the most, regrettably not in a good way.  Inspired by acrobatics of Brazilian martial art dance forms and infused with ballet and jazz vocabulary, this piece could have taken home the trophy on America’s Got Talent. Performed to Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl”, the dancers end the piece with- you guessed it- a girl on girl make out session.  It is exciting, but not the least bit clever.

The dancers are truly gifted, performing cartwheels, aerials, and a number of choreographed tumbles into fan kicks and pirouettes, but the debate raised is, would you consider this art?  I have the utmost appreciation for technical virtuosity and showmanship, and for this I give Jenna Dannenberger and Carly Mayer an A+.  But compositionally, I have witnessed these pop melodies synched to tumbling and turns many times before and am unimpressed.

The Look is another premiering solo danced by company member Lydia Haug.  Continuing a trend in this evening performance, this piece features more-than-interesting costume choices offered to us by Tonatiuh Otero (also responsible for several other pieces on the program).   Haug stars in the piece – or is it her brilliant red dress with giant bow on the collar that stars?  The accessory is so large that every time Haug’s profile faces the audience, this bow on her shoulder completely covers her face!  But, I digress. 

The solo is performed to the pop standard, “The Look of Love”, by Dusty Springfield.  Haug seduces the audience with fierce pointe work and dances the hell out of the red parachute to which she is attached.

Inside Out, another preview of a future work, might have been the most enjoyable of all.  Out of all the pieces presented, Dwayne Brown and Isa Fernandez are the only dancers that I believe! Their dramatic duet oozes with genuine intentions.  With monochromatic lighting and minimal costumes by Otero, the audience is finally able to enjoy the piece for what it is, free from the spectacles of cheap, elaborate production value.

Somewhere/Out There closes the night with three distinct sections featuring duets and trios danced by Shane Ohmer, Erin Ginn, Lydia Haug, Jenna Dannenberger and Carly Mayer. Performed to a mix of type writer sound-scapes and delicate piano, the piece is enjoyable despite it’s repetitiveness and lack of emotion from the dancers.  Maybe Taylor’s representation of them is meant to represent the dancers’ relationship to each other – or lack thereof.  The dynamic and bold, Shane Ohmer, dances with amazing technical skill but shares the same blank stare as all of the dancers in this piece.

Overall the night is a little more than Starbound ‘99…  The technique is definitely beyond any competition I have ever seen, yet the composition and structure of these works lack the vibrancy and ingenuity that many contemporary choreographers are offering these days.  I don’t believe in labeling things above or below what is considered art, but as an audience member, one can not help but to value what they believe is inspiring and engaging.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Antoine Lee
Performance: Eryc Taylor Dance
Venue: The Ailey Citigroup Theatre/ Joan Weil Center for Dance
Show Date: Tuesday October 6, 2009
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ONE NIGHT ONLY
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 8pm

Eryc Taylor Dance, a New York City-based company devoted to the exploration of innovative and theatrical choreography on pointe, presents four World Premieres at The Ailey Citigroup Theater, The Joan Weil Center for Dance, 405 W. 55th Street at Ninth Avenue, NYC on Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 8pm.  Tickets are $25 ($20 for students, $35 with post-show reception) and are available through SmartTix at 212-868-4444,

www.smarttix.com.

Eryc Taylor Dance will present four world premieres:  SoloTango, set to music by Gotan Project; a duet set to the music of Katy Perry, Ginga (pronounced Jenga), the fundamental movement in capoeira, an Afro-Brailian art form combining elements of martial arts, dance, games and music; InsideOut, a pas de deux evoking both fragility and strength, set to music by Sebastian by Terry Davies & The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Erik Satie’s Gnossiennes No.1 – Lent, performed by Lang Lang; and Somewhere//Out There, performed by a quintet to three sections of music: Michael Fakesch’s Vacancy Variant Acid Remix, Dario Marianelli’s With My Own Eyes, and Conrad Kaneshiro’s Autumn.  The evening will also include Eminent Domain (2009), a dark, powerful, non-traditional piece danced on pointe by six forceful women who are intensely aware of their individual strengths, but who create a greater collective power together and The Look (2009), a solo that speaks to the memory of the loss of a first love, inspired by the song The Look of Love by Dusty Springfield.

Dancers:  Dwayne Brown, Jenna Dannenberger, Isabel Fernandez, Erin Ginn, Lydia Haug, Rachel Hamrick, Hope Kroog, Carly Mayer, and Shane Ohmer.  Costume design is by Tonatiuh Otero.

Eryc Taylor Dance is devoted to the exploration of innovative and theatrical choreography on pointe.  The company, currently in its inaugural year, presented a preview performance at Dance Theater Workshop in May 2009 and a Works in Progress at the 92nd Street Y in September 2008.

Eryc Taylor (artistic director) is a native of Los Angeles, CA.  He received his BFA in Dance from University of the Arts/Philadelphia and his MFA in Dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.  He has studied abroad at London Contemporary School of Dance and in Paris at the Centre de Danse du Marais and has received several major scholarships including a residency at Jacob’s Pillow.  Eryc spent two years with the Cunningham Dance Foundation Repertory Understudy Group and has performed works by Merce Cunningham, Mark Dendy, Group Motion, Paul Taylor, Milton Meyers, Sean Curran, and Gus Solomons Jr.  He has collaborated with such artists as Germaul Barnes, Laura Peterson, and Ying-Ying Shiau.  His choreography has been presented nationally and internationally.  Eryc has produced site-specific dance theater installations in Key West, Florida as well as two summer dance festivals in Martha’s Vineyard called "Dance Martha Dance!"  His work has also been seen at Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, Joyce SoHo, The Second Avenue Dance Theater, NYU, Dance New Amsterdam’s APAP festival and Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater.

ERYC TAYLOR DANCE
The Ailey Citigroup Theater, The Joan Weil Center for Dance,
405 W. 55th Street at Ninth Avenue, NYC
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 8pm

Tickets $25 ($20 for students, $35 with post-show reception)
www.smarttix.com

For more information, visit www.eryctaylor.com.

Photo by Garvey Rich

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