Ok, I don’t how most of you may feel about contact improv, I know how I feel about it…. eew, don’t touch me, Hello?  Swine flu!!  But, I have to say, when guided by a charming, intelligent, and beautiful dancer such as Jill Johnson of the Forsythe Company, it is a completely different experience.

It is a nasty, cold, rainy, Saturday morning, and to be honest, I may still be feeling the effects of my Friday night, so I am not looking forward to three hours in a dance studio after spending the last 40 hours of my week rehearsing…. but I schlep my way down to Baryshnikov Studios anyway.  (I mean what is it with these dance studios being all the way over on 10th Avenue anyway?)   After getting myself warm and ready, she pops in some music by Ray Charles and begins with some basic body crossing exercises that she says stimulates both the right and left side of the brain.  We carry this idea of cross body/brain stimulation into circular exercises focusing on how to relate the hips to the shoulders, elbows to knees, and hands to feet.

We work on this through an individual group improv exploring new pathways for ourselves and extending this idea into folding our bodies, using this for getting down to and up from the floor.  Through all of these different exercises, she plays a variety of music ranging from Korean rap music to even Justin Timberlake.  Before I know it, I am partnered up with a very talented dancer and we are flying through the studio across the floor creating some beautiful and fun movement using everything we have worked on…. and BAM… It is 1:00pm and the workshop is over.

Hearing Forsythe one never really knows what to expect, but what you can expect is an excellent caliber of whatever it is you’ll be doing.  Although I am not a fan of contact improv, I am definitely excited and now inspired by Jill Johnson’s workshop, and I highly recommend checking her out when she’s in your neighborhood!  She is just what the Doctor ordered; after Jill’s class, I am feeling refreshed and magically cured of my ails from dancing all week (and partying all night).  Take 2 of these and call me in the morning!

Workshop Fee: $40
Student Discount: $29.99
(Use code STUD online www.smarttix.com or by phone 212-868-4444)
Group Discount (3 or more): $25 each (Group reservations can only be made by phone 212-868-4444)
This workshop series continues through June 2010.

FUTURE DATES
Dec 12, 2009, 1 PM – 4 PM
Jan 23, 2010, 3 PM – 6 PM
Feb 13, 1 PM – 4 PM
Mar 13, 1 PM – 4 PM
Apr 3, 1 PM – 4 PM
May 15, 1 PM – 4 PM
Jun 5, 1 PM – 4 PM

 
iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Dante Puleio
Workshop:  Forsythe Workshop with William Forsythe protégé Jill Johnson
Instructor:  Jill Johnson

Venue:  The Studios of Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC)
Review Date:  Saturday, November 14, 2009
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I leave the theater in deep thought.  Decreation deconstructs a moment from that conversation with someone that decides the course of the future for that particular relationship.  It fragments the words exchanged, sheds a different light on those moments that often define what it is that makes up that relationship… Still following me??  Imagine it on stage with no one to explain it to you…. 

The sometimes abstract and sometimes literal and deliberate dramaturgy is written by Rebecca Groves.  She weaves these emotions of jealousy and rage and acceptance perfectly. There is no question that people will disappoint you, and mistakes can be forgiven but not forgotten.  The script and performance of it taps into that part of your brain that replays a conversation over and over again, until you have driven yourself crazy with what it even means to begin with.

I have to stop here and apologize for my cerebral review.  It is hard to review the physicalization of these ideas because I’m not sure what I saw.  It is completely different from anything else I have ever seen.  I don’t even know if I liked it or not.  It is riveting yet somewhat detached but still very emotional.  To get an idea as to what it looked like, strip away the image of technical dancing, no arabesques or pointed feet, and now take Bat Sheva, lock them in an asylum for a couple of years with no light, then suddenly flip the switch and throw them on stage and see what happens.  When I try to do what I remember them doing I feel like I’m covered in bed bugs and cobwebs…. ya now know what I’m talking about.  How do you describe 20 some odd dancers twitching on stage to no music and offensively loud screeching microphones?%$@*!

Having said all that, the piece is an interesting work:  it raises a lot of questions about how it is when you relive those intense relationship changing moments, it blurs the lines between dance and theater, and anything that is edgy and intelligent is not always easy to watch.  Forsythe will be at BAM Oct 7-10.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Dante Puleio
Performance:  Decreation
Choreographer:  William Forsythe
Venue: BAM, Brooklyn, NY
Show Date:  Wednesday, October 7, 2009
www.iDANZ.com

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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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Have You Seen The iDANZ Social Network?  Click Here.  Join Today!

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