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Take Dance Company
Takehiro Ueyama, artistic director
Ailey Citigroup Theater
New York, NY
September 24, 2006

by Susan Reiter
copyright ©2006 by Susan Reiter    

Takehiro Ueyama, who was a memorable robust and buoyant presence in the Paul Taylor Dance Company from 1995 to 2003, is now on hits own choreographic path, having founded a troupe three years ago. This program, his second substantial showcase in New York, radiated an admirable seriousness of purpose, and the dancers veered more toward cautiousness than boldly individual statements. Reviews of earlier performances suggest Ueyama has created some humorous, even goofy works, but there were none of those in evidence on this evening. On view were lessons being learned and absorbed, music being given serious consideration, and an admirable resistance to any overreaching.

The program opened on a gentle, reflective note with “Sakura Sakura.” In its first section, set to the plaintive, well-know Japanese melody of the same title, which refers to cherry blossoms, Nana Tsuda and Ran Yoshida kneeled in the center and broke their initial stillness wirh gentle, fluid arm gestures. Once they rose and moved through space, often in unison, they occasionally broke their air of calm with sudden accents but mostly retained an air of distance and formality. In the second section, this pair was amplified into a septet of identically dressed women, in pale pink tops and swooping wide dark pants. Entering in silence, they stamped their feet intently, as though to ward off enemies, and sustained an air of intent alertness. Once the Adagio from Mozart’s Piano Concerto #23 began, they shaped their arms and torsos into intriguing shapes and moved in and out of a wide circle formation. Ueyama’s choreography underlined the music’s undercurrent of uneasiness, and found its most distinctive moment in Amy Young’s solo passage, with its jagged lines and off-the-beat propulsion.

Young was one of two current Taylor company members performing with the company, along with James Samson; former member Jill Echo — a vigorous, feisty presence — was also prominent; she also serves as assistant director. These three plus Ueyama made up the cast of “Are You Going With Me,” a New York premiere set to an engaging, rhythmic Pat Metheny score that suggested a touch of samba in its beat. These dancers tore into the juicy, playful choreography with wonderful zest and charm, making one really sense the connections between them. Most of the time, they alternated couple by couple, until in the final moment when all lined up and peeled off one by one into the wing, following Ueyama’s lead.

Four disparate musical selections were chosen as the score for “One,” Ueyama’s world premiere that was inspired by “Ashes and Snow,” Gregory Colbert’s photo exhibit of striking nature images. Throughout, dancers rolled onto the stage rather than making abrupt entrances, and one section spilled quietly into the next. Creature-like and exploratory movement, with dancers rising into headstands, marked the first section, to spare Takemitsu music. This gave way to an understated duet for Young and Echo, set to Bach, and two ensemble sections, the finale one to the overly familiar Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber. The dancers moved beneath a hanging expanse of white bordered at the bottom by a strip of silver. Ueyama seemed to be presenting them as inhabitants of some distant, perhaps archetypal landscape, whose interactions were tinged by questioning and melancholy. “One” had some of the calm, eastern-flavored spareness of the opening work.

The program also included “Untitled 1,” a new solo by Ueyama performed by the gifted Stuart Singer, a tousle-haired, wonderfully spontaneous mover. As violinist Milosavljevic played the evening’s most contemporary score, Singer projected a casually improvisational air, reacting to the music’s surprising, sometimes high-pitched meanderings. It was a lively, conversational give-and-take, and each seemed ready for what the other might offer next.

Kazuko Hirabayashi, the veteran choreographer/teacher with whose company Ueyama has been performing recently, contributed “Romance,” a three-part suite, to the program. Set to Debussy selections, this world premiere used two of the composer’s fluidly enchanting piano scores for an airy, vigorous duet (danced by Singer and Lindsey Parker) and a rippling solo for Young, in which she took on the look of a water nymph, enjoying her isolation with no need for any companionship. The concluding duet for Echo and Ueyama, set to the Prologue from the cello and piano sonata, ventured into darker, more dramatic territory. Although they moved easily through configurations of mutual support, this couple seemed to be trying to maintain their connection in spite of some dark secret. The simple yet classy costumes for “Romance” were also by Hirabayashi.

Volume 4, No. 35
October 2, 2006
copyright ©2006 Susan Reiter
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