The curtain rises, and any doubt in the room dissipates with an exploding big bang as Dwight Rhoden’s Moon Over Jupiter takes shape over Rachmaniov’s score.  A meteor shower of momentum and dynamics, the ballet showcases the extreme unique talent and technique of all the Complexion dancers.  Like an orbiting solar system, the dancers move in organized chaos into an eclipse of synchronization.  Metallic, spider webbed leotards and shorts expose the dancer’s thoroughbred, horse-like muscularity, direct proof that these dancers are pushing their physical means.  Clifford Williams, the shooting star of the ballet, demands attention with phenomenal extension and effortless fluidity of movement that only the trained eye would understand the extreme complexity and challenge of the choreography.

On Holiday opens part duex of the evening and relies on the show business aspect of dance.  Slightly reminiscent of Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs, On Holiday is danced by four couples expressing four stages of love.  Each couple embodies the lyrics of Billie Holiday, but Christina Dooling and Edgar Anido really transport the audience to a Love-Hate relationship. Intensity and heartache emanate through the audience as Doling and Amide manipulate each other to provide a heart wrenching performance.

Originally, to follow On Holliday, is Richardson to dance A Goldberg Variation, but instead, Christie Partelow and Mark Caserta dance Rhoden ‘s Spill.  Entering with abandonment in a grand jete lift, Partelow and Caserta leave you with no regret from missing Richardson’s performance.  In complete unison, they dance in a continuous stream of intricate and exhilarating partnering.  Like riding a rollercoaster of constant excitement and unexpected turns, Rhoden’s Choreography escapes all predictability confirming his much revered status in the realm of today’s contemporary choreographers.

A fun and lively Moody Booty Blues is like the after hours employee dance scene in “Dirty Dancing” where Baby meet Patrick Swayze for the first time.  The dancers dance fearlessly with grounded movement and soulful rhythm.  Moody Booty Blues showcases the young talent of Complexions;  Gary W. Jeter II sets a very high bar with his opening solo of insane syncopations and intricate isolations and Peter Chursin and Stefano DeMartino match Jeter’s energy.  Chursin is especially captivating with his flawless technique and exquisite lines.  After grabbing my attention, I couldn’t stop watching Chursin in the finale piece Rise.

Rise, which Rhoden choreographed to various songs by U2, opens with the song “The Streets Have No Name” and one man running in the spotlight.  High impact choreography plus Bono and the Edge guarantee an awesome performance.  I have seen U2 live in concert several times, and the Complexions Dancers even give Bono some competition.

Complexion dancers are a dynamic breed of physicality that is unparallel to most contemporary and ballet companies.  The dancers elevate the choreography and provide a powerful performance of non-stop impressive feats.

Complexions Fall/Winter season continues to run through November 28^th at the Joyce Theater.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Katherine Gibson
Performance: Complexions
Choreographer: Dwight Rhoden
Venue: Joyce Theater, New York, NY
Show Date: Tuesday 16th, 2010
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Well, what’s there not to say about Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet?  A diverse repertory company of exquisite technical beasts would be dream and playground for any guest choreographer; or, so it seems, based on the three works on the bill (Sunday Again, Unit in Reaction, and Hubbub) for one of their evenings at the Joyce Theater.

The evening opens with Jo Stromgen’s Sunday Again, a lighthearted, whimsical portrayal of a collection of lovers all dealing with the usual feuds and qualms of being in a relationship paralleled to back and forth quality experienced in a tennis match.  Literally.  Props used include a tennis net, raquet, and plastic shuttlecocks that randomly appear from underneath clothing.  All this in place is a quaint and neat set-up for a perfectly boring piece.  However, Stromgen infuses stark humor via unexpected male/female moments of roughness, lesbian eroticism, and other social behaviors such as spitting and gossiping amongst themselves.  Overall, these nuances work well together in Strongen’s choreography to keep the audience in tune and alert to fleeting moments of wit.

The dancers shift into a much darker and somber mode in the next piece, Unit in Reaction, choreographed by Jacopo Godani.  In this adrenaline-driven suspenseful piece, the dancers seem to operate as if they are all apart of a machine, or better yet a group of lab rats under experimentation and our surveillance.  The dancers create luscious lines and move intricately between each other in breathtaking duet and solo work. Godani’s work digs beneath the surface and accentuates all that is juicy in this company and just uses technique as icing on the cake.

The evening closes with my favorite work, Alexander Ekman’s Hubbub.  Now although the concept of the piece has been done before (there is no such thing as a new idea) Ekman took it to a new level!  This is one of those pieces where no amount of words can do it justice.  You just have to see it for yourself.  But here are a few personal highlights:  the suspended typewriter, rhythmic breathing phrase, accumulation, and a perfectly cute duet performed by Nikemil Concepcion and Harumi Terayama in which we hear a recording of the dancers personal thoughts as they execute each step.  Hubbub is one of those pieces that is difficult to walk away not just liking, but also, finding yourself talking about for the next few days!

You’re probably wondering how I can critique Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and not highlight any dancers.  Simple.  They are all ridiculously good looking and beautiful artists.  So here we go: Jubal Battisti, Jon Bond, Nickemil Concepcion, Gwynenn Taylor Jones, Jason Kittelberger, Ana Maria Lucaciu, Navarra Novy-Williams, Oscar Ramos, Matthew Rich, Acacia Schachite, Harumi Terayama, Vania Doutel Vaz, Manuel Vignoulle, Ebony Williams, and Golan Yosef…  You Rock Fierce!

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Simone Sobers
Performance:  Cedar Lake Contemporary Dance Company
Choreography:  Jo Stromgen, Jacopo Godani, Alexander Ekman
Venue:  The Joyce Theater, New York City 
Show Date:  Tuesday, October 26, 2010
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The evening opens, as it always does with this company, with Fagan’s opus Prelude.  The piece begins with Pennewell leaping onto the stage in complete silence and hanging still with one leg extended behind him in an almost balletic attitude.  He balances for an amazingly long period of time, then, with a flurry of arms, a turn and a somersault, he finds himself casually balancing his leg aloft again.  Thus begins our lesson on Garth Fagan’s technique.  The number is intended to introduce Fagan’s unique style, and for anyone who’s ever been in a dance class, it reads like…  well,…  like you’re watching a dance class.  Not the most exciting piece of theatre.  For those who haven’t been in a dance class, apparently it’s fascinating, at least judging from the rambunctious applause at Prelude’s conclusion.  But to me, it is plodding and pedantic.  I appreciate the technique of Pennewell and the others, but then I want them to let go of it.  Dancers go to class to focus on technique, but when we go to see dance performed, we want to see dancers in whom technique is so ingrained that they are able to soar. Unfortunately, in Wednesday’s program, I rarely saw that happen.

Prelude is followed by an sensual duet from the company classic Griot.  This intricate, slowing-moving duet between the leggy, muscular Pennewell and the equally leggy and muscular Nicolette Depass is one of the highlights of the evening.  As disappointed as I had been with the first piece, I couldn’t take my eyes off of the dancers in this slow, inventive duet of shifting shapes set to a luscious soundtrack by Wynton Marsalis. Here, in the capable hands (and arms and legs and even chins) of two of Fagan’s senior dancers, you see an intensity that overrides the pedantic of the first piece.

Pennewell’s choreographic debut, Hylozoic, once again hits you over the head with the Fagan technique. But Pennewell has proved himself to be an excellent at jumps, and this piece gets off its feet– literally– in a more exciting manner than Prelude.  Set against a backdrop of a single curtain, the dancers defy gravity as they twist, leap and twirl through the space. Nicolette Depasse shines once again on a stage full of lithe, athletic dancers.

After those two highlights and a brief intermission, the program once again descends into a very formal, repetitive exploration of the Garth Fagan technique. Thanks, Forty seeks to honor the company’s anniversary, but it isn’t until the fourth movement, entitled Fete-Joys, that you get to see the heart and soul of the company.  When the three original dancers come out and dance without restraint, you begin to see how this might have been an explosive company twenty years ago.

Still, Garth Fagan is a must-see for any enthusiast of modern dance. Their historic ascent of the New York City dance ladder has become legendary and inspiring for dancers of all ages.  The newest members of the company show great promise, while the older ones amaze us with their dedication to and mastery of Fagan technique.  Each year they return to The Joyce Theater to make their indelible mark on the dance scene.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Molly Sorohan
Performance:  Garth Fagan Dance
Choreographer: Garth Fagan, Norwood Pennewell
Venue:  The Joyce Theater, New York
Performance Date:  November 10, 2010, 7:30 pm
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With feet from another galaxy, Savion poses the question, "Can you see sound?"  Sound had better stock up on Red Bull before meeting the likes of Savion Glover’s fast and furious feet…   They move at light speed!

Act one begins with an intergalactic soundtrack and backdrop.  Mr Glover, facing upstage for a good five to ten minutes, jams away.  Instantly the focus in on the sound.  We don’t see his face, yet, I am transfixed.  Savion Glover has me at hello.

He is understated, donning a loose t-shirt with tuxedo pants.  Savion is comfortable right there on the stage in his tap boots.  He is comfortable in his own skin.  The effortless manipulation of tap sound is interwoven with spoken word by Savion, (who has a remarkable voice by the way).  He even kills the lights and dances in the dark, further highlighting his magical beats.  This first half of the show is heavily in remembrance of those great, pave-making tappers, highlighting the improvography of such legends as Jimmy Slyde and Gregory Hines.

Act two is futuristic, comical, sassy and jamming.  Although there are some truly extraordinary moments,  I am just not as fond of the second half as nearly as much as the first.  Unfortunately, some of Savion’s less-experienced counterparts fall flat.  The costumes are fiercely outlandish and say, Project Runway; however, based on performance alone, let’s just say that… some models may need to be sent home.  Fortunately, this is not true of Mr. Glover and his two main men, Marshall Davis Jr. and Maurice Chestnut who are all powerful and technically aggressive.  Dance ya’ll…  Savion rocks Jay-Z level swagger!

Although the corny dance-off session and an anti-climactic ending does little for me, I still leave completely dazzled by the mastery and artistry of Savion Glover, a brilliant man who marches to the beat of his own drum. 

To hear the exclusive iDANZ interview with Savion Glover, CLICK HERE.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Martine Quigley
Performance:  Savion Glover’s "Sole Power"
Venue:  The Joyce Theater
Date:  June 28, 2010
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I’m a Jersey boy, loud and proud.  It wasn’t until I moved to London at 19 to study dance did i begin to question or understand my heritage.  I would tell people,”oh ya know, I’m 1/4 French, 1/4 Italian, a little German etc.. and my English friends would say, “Are you baking a cake? A little of this a little of that? What are you talking about? YOU’RE AMERICAN!”

So what is it to be American?  Martha Graham asked this question over 80 years ago, and never found an answer.  The Martha Graham Dance Company revisited this question with their newest work in collaboration with SITI Acting Company, American Document (2010) and through this mind blowing, brave new work came to many beautifully interesting and thought provoking conclusions that Martha herself would have been proud to see come to life.

The stage is bare except for a drum and a briefcase.  The curtain is raised long before the house lights go out, and, without warning, an actor walks on stage directly to the briefcase, takes out some paper work, dons a pair of glasses and begins to read to the audience as actors and dancers begin to harmoniously fill the stage with the all too familiar shapes and floor patterns specific to the Graham vocab.  You can barely tell which are the actors and which are the dancers.  The execution is totally flawless.

American Document (2010) unfolds through poetry of Walt Whitman, writings of Jack Keroac, letters from soldiers of the Iraqi War, being followed by gorgeous selections of choreography that intertwine each monologue or conversation, seamlessly flowing from one minute into the next until you reach the emotional end of a very probing ride.

American Document (2010) makes you surrender to the hidden thoughts we all have, surrender to answering questions maybe we’re too afraid to ask ourselves, surrender to accepting that, good or bad, Americans are a people of a rich diversity with blood on our hands and love in our hearts. We are a social contract and we are a melting pot of immigrants.  Illegal or not, we are all American.   Quite honestly, I am afraid to say anymore about some of the sections without giving too much away.  American Document (2010) is absolutely not to be missed.  It is a PHENOMENAL and important contemporary work.  It is sure to be a new masterpiece for the Graham repertory.

The next selection of the evening is Sketches from ‘Chronicle‘ which I discovered from the artistic director, Janet Eilber’s post intermission speech, is a piece that was created in a response to an invitation to perform in Germany during the turbulent pre WWII era when so many of her friends, people she knew and artists she respected, were being persecuted.  She declined the invitation…  Well this season at the Joyce, this work ferociously stands up to its meaning and its devastatingly reverent history.  I have never seen such power, such unity, and such strength as I see in these women. Jennifer DePalo is fiercely insane in her control and abandon; not to mention, her army of women are nothing short of Goddesses of dance in Steps in the Street and Prelude to Action.   Watching these ladies perform this piece, I can only imagine that it must be a real privilege to be apart of such beauty, power, and grace.  Their artistic interpretation and scientific precision is incomparable!  LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

What is it to be an American?   What is it to be a Graham dancer?  The answers can only be found by experiencing WHAT IT IS in which this outstanding company has to offer.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Dante Puleio
Performance:  Martha Graham Dance Company
Venue:  The Joyce Theatre
Show Date:  June 8, 2010
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Ailey II has reached above and beyond the caliber for a 2^nd company.  Under the direction of Sylvia Waters and Troy Powell, this company has the total package:  maturity, presence, and artistry.  Now combine these qualities with beautiful dancers, flawless technique, and exhilarating choreography then you have an excellent show.

The evening opens with Thang Dao’s Echoes (2008), featuring the entire company in a beautifully crafted contemporary ballet piece.  Although there isn’t a clear narrative, the piece does have strong intention that creates a thru-line for the work.  Performing with strong fluidity, Chang Yong Sung tears-up the stage during a solo section of the piece.

Christopher Huggins’ Essence (2002), performed by Ghrai DeVore is the highlight of the evening.  In this heartrending work, we witness a woman going through a kaleidoscope of emotions in an effort to express the multifaceted aspect of a woman’s character.  Ghrai DeVore, is simply stunning in this solo, fully expressing each emotion and really taking the risk of going the extra mile to make the audience experience her raw emotion.  DeVore is mesmerizing, strong-spirited, and naturally beautiful in her element.

Carlos dos Santos’, Proximity (2009), adds an interesting flavor to the line up with a vibrant and cleverly groovy quartet. Jarvis Mckinley has this urban quality and virtuosic presence that magnetizes your attention to him when he’s on stage. He is definitely a talent to watch out for! Similarly Fana Fraser, has a sensuously chic flair that complements her exquisite movement.

The evening closes with Judith Jamison’s epic work Divining (1984).  This piece really captures the essence of Ailey II and the foundation of what makes them extraordinary.  There is something deeply rooted in this work that the entire company connects to and manifests in their performance.  DeVore does it again in this piece as the leading lady.  Let’s just say that she is the kind of dancer that makes you want to come up with a new word to express the idea of “fierce.”

When it comes to second companies, Ailey II is in a class of its own and standing strong next to the first company.  I look forward to seeing what new young talent comes through this company and how these gorgeous dancers evolve as their own artists over the next couple years.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Simone Sobers
Performance:  Ailey II
Choreography:  Thang Dao, Christopher L. Huggins, Carlos dos Santos, Judith Jamison
Venue:  Joyce Theater
Show Date:  Wednesday, March 14, 2010
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Stephen Petronio is living his moment the opening night of his New York season at the Joyce Theater.   Located in Chelsea, the posh notoriously gay neighborhood, the Joyce Theater is swarming with just the type.  The bar is busy, with people partaking of the specialty cocktail “Love Me Tender” and cherry flavored popcorn, both in Petronio’s favorite color-pink!   And it is certainly time for celebration; this company has survived the big city for 25 years, growing in its own style and reaching audiences around the globe.

The performance opens with a solo entitled #3.  A bald man appears like a waiter or butler in a suit and shiny paten leather shoes with fourth position arms scooped to one side curving up to the sky.  This is not Max Brenner – this is Stephen Petronio- and this is dance by the bald man.  With his feet cemented center-stage, Stephen Petronio invites us in, beckoning us to witness his observations.  Simultaneously he is sculpting himself, his hands creeping over his own skin, honing his craft before our eyes as we realize this is his style he is presenting to us.  We are learning his language of isolated sharp port de bras and strong, sometimes torqued torso.  A language of the spine, elaborated with the limbs, I must admit Stephen Petronio reminds me of one of those beaded wobble dolls who get jelly legs when you squeeze their platform, but only because his feet never moved from the same spot on the stage.

The next piece entitled MiddleSexGorge opens with two women on stage posed erected from fourth positions, the light contouring their muscles.  Each movement is articulated and controlled, though sometimes the movement is so dramatic- arms and legs whipping in fast circular motions optimizing the ball and socket joints at the hips and shoulders.  The technique of the company is fierce, sharp with high battements, strong cores that demand quickly executed changes in direction, yet somehow is lacking the use of plié:  the legs sometimes appear stiff, the feet flexing above the ground, harsh landings on the floor.  The music asks, “are you hot?  Are you feeling hot?”  The dancers bodies are certainly hot, women moving freely in black short unitards, the men in sexy flesh-colored corsets.  Some of the men are wearing pansy pants (my name for them), fresh for the picking;  I have witnessed promotional photos for the company this year with the dancers wearing these flesh tights sprouting with orangey pink petals.  Other men simply wear their flesh-colored dancebelt- super sexy ass cheeks on display.  I didn’t understand the contrast between the women’s’ costuming and the men’s’ – the women looking as if they came from dance class, the men from a spring fashion runway.  The dancers faces don’t express much, but their bodies scream, “yes, I’m hot!” with abrupt changes in direction, head-bang, battement, windmill motions slicing through space. The women swarm round one of the men as the chorus repeats, “Are you hot?  Are you feeling hot?”   Then as they close in on him “I’m ambitious”  …a nice commentary on a man’s sexual prowess.  The audience loves it.

Note for The Joyce employees:  To better handle the two huge lines at concessions barely moving- if you offer a drink special, mix’em up beforehand, otherwise people are forced to chug their beverages at the last moment, having spent the entire intermission waiting for drinks. Try the pre-pour, sales should improve too, as employees offer beverages ready on trays (no line delays!)

Following intermission is a solo, Love Me Tender, with Julian DeLeon in a silky men’s shirt and…white shorts beneath.  A bit of a tease, his body aches to be loved and touched, very expressive everywhere but the face.  I think this reflects on an artistic preference with the company to focus expression through the body. Two women in short white unitards and draped fabric as sleeves appear; this must’ve been the beginning of “Foreign Import” with music “Creep” by Radiohead.  A disturbed man, performed by Reed Luplau, dances between and around these two angelic figures.  Reed Luplau succeeds in getting the audience’s attention, his movements attack and swarm the stage like a desperate person’s cry for help.

The last dance brings the company together in Ghostown, a world premiere.  I love the costuming for this piece, each dancer having a unique combination of tight spandex in neutral colors with an element of flowing fabric.  As if different groups of people who have come and gone with time, dancers flow and ebb from the side wings.  The choreography gets really interesting with the dancers performing their own unique phrasing, contrasting their movement, and initiating  interaction between each other. The music is pulsating, beautiful but also sleep-inducing, perhaps not the best work to end the evening.  Yet, the audience responds enthusiastically to the final moment of the dance.  In this work Petronio states,

“I am more drawn to information that is implied or concealed within the gesture and stage space, what is imagined and sensed as well as what is perceived. Ghostown…is a gathering place for memory and selves that have come before, resonate in some way, that are still vibrating with layers of meaning, imagined or real.”

Certainly one feels the resounding pulses of energy vibrating within themselves just watching Stephen Petronio’s amazing company.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Lea McGowan
Performance: Stephen Petronio Company
Choreography: Stephen Petronio
Venue: The Joyce Theater, New York City
Performance Date: Tuesday April 27, 2010
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The Richmond Ballet’s performance at The Joyce Theater on Wednesday night achieves a feat which few ballet companies can successfully pull off.  They manage to master the classical ballet aesthetic of clean, long lines in the first piece of the night, Violin, while demonstrating their contemporary and modern movement mastery with Misa Criolla.  The final piece of the evening, Vestiges is a fusion of the dancers’ ballet and modern dance talents.  As the dance world progresses, we continue to see the necessity for dancers to be trained in a variety of dance forms.  It is more common now for ballet dancers to be versatile in modern dance and vice versa. The major difference between the Richmond Ballet and other companies is the dancers’ ability to appear comfortable while performing dance styles long considered out of the ballet aesthetic element.

The first piece of the night, Violin, which was choreographed by Val Caniparoli, features ten dancers, five women and five men. The dancers are clad in simple hunter green costumes, leotards for the women, tights for the men.  The simplicity of the costumes coupled with the lack of storyline creates a modernist feel to the piece.  Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber provides the compelling violin music.  The men begin the dance in a ritualistic circular formation. Their movements are powerful and full of energy.  The dancers bend their wrists and place their arms in very specific shapes, adding to the rich texture of the choreography.  The lights dim and the women take their position in place of the men in the center of the stage.  The women all appear happy and upbeat as they fly through the air.  My favorite part of the performance is the seamless duets which are interspersed throughout the piece. The dancers move extremely well together, whether they are dancing as a group, in a trio, or in a duet.  I thoroughly enjoy watching Maggie Small because of her quickness and her flawless technique.  Thomas Ragland is also a thrill to watch.  It is evident that the dancers feel each other when they move together onstage.  Bravo! 

After intermission, we are introduced to the world of Misa Criolla.  In this piece choreographed by William Soleau, the dancers are wearing what appears to be peasant garb; the women are wearing shawls and dresses to their ankles.  The music gives the piece an archaic feel to it, with piercing operatic voices strewn in.  According to the program, this piece is about the ability of communities to collectively rise up above adversity and join forces in a shared bond of friendship.  The stage is bordered by wooden benches which the dancers sit, dance, and move around the stage.   With elements of various folk dances thrown into the mix, the dancers couple up and then change partners throughout the duration of the piece.  For example, the dancers hold hands in a circle and then run into the middle, reminiscent of the Israeli folk dance, the Hora.  Lauren Breen and Cecile Tuzzii really stand out in this piece.  It is their stage presence and acting ability which really draws my attention to them. Although Misa Criolla is wonderfully constructed, it feels as if it drags on too long at points.

The last piece of the night, Vestiges by Colin Connor, is probably my favorite piece of the program.  The piece reminds me of musical theater because of the dramatic costumes the dancers wear, the use of the lighting, and the way the music tells a story with its melody.  The dancers portray dramatic characters, adding to the overall theatrics of the dance.  The lifts are executed seamlessly, even when one of the women dancers lifts a male dancer.  Valerie Tellmann is the standout in this piece with her unparalleled physicality and fearlessness.

This is the first time I’ve seen the Richmond Ballet and I must say that I am impressed with Artistic Director, Stoner Winslett.  The task of presenting such a versatile repertoire is not an easy one, but Ms. Winslett has shown us that she is capable of doing so.  The dancers of Richmond Ballet are extremely current and relevant dancers who not only are up-to-date on all of the trends in the dance world, but they are also setting their own.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Amanda Keller 
Performance: Richmond Ballet 
Venue: The Joyce Theater
Show Date:  Wednesday, April 8, 2010
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DanceBrazil continues to blur the boundary between capoeira and modern dance with their latest season at The Joyce Theater

Formed by choreographer Jelon Vieira in 1977, DanceBrazil incorporates elements of Afro-Brazilian culture, especially the martial art of Capoeira, into their modern dance works. On Wednesday evening, the company presented two pieces at the Joyce Theater: Banguela and Memórias.

Banguela is a well-crafted celebration of Brazil’s unique capoeira culture, expressed through a striking balance of sincerity and physicality.  “Banguela,” as the program notes explain, is “a special rhythm played to calm down the capoeiristas when their play in the roda gets too heated.”  In the dance Banguela, Vieira draws the audience into the capoeirista’s meditative state. The dancers move with such strength and control that at times they appear to defy gravity, as if time is slowed and blurred by the Banguela rhythm.

The piece begins with the company dressed in white and dancing through a series of luscious motions with satisfying clarity, their arms carving through space in round gestures as if drawing the air into a large embrace.  When the music starts, the company forms a circle and dances inwards, referencing the capoeira “roda” formation.

The highlight of Banguela is a duet between Paulo Silva and Raphael Novaes.  The two men move through a continuous series of cartwheels, low leg sweeps and backbends with grace and flair.  For the most part they maintain eye contact, keeping with the original tradition of capoeira.  At certain points, however, the capoeiristas shift their movement toward the audience, running their hands in the air facing an invisible partner.  In capoeira, partners use these hand gestures as a means of familiarizing themselves with their partner and focusing on their partner’s movements.  By splicing the capoeira pair and turning the dancers towards us, Vieira makes the audience the partner, and invites us into the sacred and historically significant space of the capoeira circle.

While I am delighted by the craftsmanship and execution of Banguela, I am unfortunately disappointed by the second piece, Memórias, which unfolds through as a muddled series of vignettes.  In this topic-heavy work, a number of powerful ideas (such as Brazil’s modernization -referenced by honking car sound effects- and the country’s history of slavery and perseverance) are introduced but are not adequately developed.  DanceBrazil’s usual focus, energy and clarity are lost amid the wide-range of topics and sentiments.

Although not as apparent in this program, Vieira is known for utilizing his dancers’ athleticism and virtuosity to create powerful modern dances that draw upon the strength of Brazil’s own movement and music traditions.  The company’s past seasons are better examples of this, and I look forward to seeing the DanceBrazil’s next engagement at The Joyce.

Photography by Tom Pich

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Tze Chun
Performance: DanceBrazil
Choreography: Jelon Vieira
Venue: The Joyce Theater, New York City
Performance Date: April 1^st, 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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Whether or not you’re a coffee lover its hard not to become briefly addicted to what you’re seeing on stage during the first piece.  Caffeinated, originally commissioned by the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, is a caffeine high, aerobic, hyperactive, humorous piece about people’s common addiction to coffee.  Philip Glass’ "Glasspiece #3" really sets the tone for crazy town and compliments the dancer’s hyper-energetic, and mildly psychotic dispositions.  Keigwin’s brilliant movement vocabulary in this piece is a fanciful mix between jazzercise and cheerleading.  The dancers, with coffee cups in their hands, are really engaged in a workout with Keigwin’s athletic movements and zombie-like gestures.  At the end of the dance you’re left wondering exactly how much caffeine they indulged in to make it through that piece.

In the next piece, Mattress Suite, Keigwin recreates a jocular behind doors look on relationships in a world where anything and everything goes.  The audience watches a series of episodes ranging from love and marriage, to heartbreak; from a kinky rendevous in the sack (literally on a mattress), to a little ménage trois action.  Wilcott and Keigwin are really quite the pair with a natural sensitivity to each other and a malleable chemistry that can shift from sensual to rugged in a hot second.

Bird Watching, this season’s world premiere, is quite the treat for the evening.  The radiantly decorated fleet- fly, flap, flutter, and flock in the space with an eccentric gestural vocabulary reminiscent of our feathered friends. There is an inherent ballet vocabulary in this piece that really gets the whole bird idea across.  Ashley Browne, stands out as a stunning creature throughout the piece with her poise, grace, and seamless lines.  Keigwin has the uncanny ability to let humor infiltrate movement in both subtle and blatant ways.  Bird Watching is a piece of art that truly shows Keigwin’s versatility and the direction he is taking off in.

Like a few good shots of tequila, Keigwin really hits you at the end of the night!  The evening closes with, Runaway, a fierce experience of fashion, theater, runways, and jaw-dropping movement set to a riveting score by Jonatha Melville Pratt.  You don’t have to be a choreographer to appreciate the artistic compositional elements of this work; you can watch and have the same reaction…wow.  Runaway is simply a must-see piece.

Keep your eyes peeled for what K+C is up to next.  They can only get more fabulous.  If you haven’t already, get addicted.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Simone Sobers
Performance: Keigwin + Company
Choreography:  Larry Keigwin
Venue:  The Joyce Theater
Show Date:  March 17, 2010
www.iDANZ.com

iDANZ Supports Doctors Without Borders
in their Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts.

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.

Can you please help them provide medicine, surgeons, nurses,
and supplies to victims in this crisis?
Click Here to Send a Direct Donation to Doctors Without Borders

The iDANZ Commitment
For every new person
who signs-up to be a member of the
iDANZ Social Network, iDANZ will donate $1 to
Doctors Without Borders January 18 – May 1.
Go to www.iDANZ.com To help save lives by
Becoming a Member of iDANZ Today!

Have You Seen the iDANZ Social Network?

Click Here To Become a Member
of iDANZ.com Today!

The More Members We Have, The More We Can
Make a Difference.
It’s Free!
iDANZ – The Social Network Where Dancers Live!

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