Letter from New York
8
December 2003.
Copyright ©2003 by
Mindy Aloff
The
Dance Theatre of Dušan Týnek—a 30 year-old native of
Czechoslovakia who studied with Aileen Pasloff at Bard, was a scholarship
student at the Cunningham Studio, and has performed for many choreographers,
including Lucinda Childs—put on several concerts this week at The
Kitchen. The program featured three works, all from 2002 and 2003. Charge,
being given its world première, is a Childs-like setting for a
soloist and a corps of six to Philip Glass’s 1987 violin concerto:
costumed like party crackers by A. Christina Giannini in shades of pale
blue, the dancers elaborate a complicated architectural analysis of the
music while dutifully acknowledging the steady pulse-patter that drives
it. One sees wonderful images—as when the soloist (Eden Mazer) runs
backward toward a line of bodies that breaks in half just as she reaches
its center. The dance means to be spellbinding, though, and is merely
hypnotic. If the only works on the program had been Charge and
the 2002 Wardrobe Spectre—a dance-theater satire to Carl
Maria von Weber’s Invitation to the Dance, for the veteran
soloist Richard Daniels and six invitees, whom he loads up with mismatched
garments that he plucks from a laundry pile in order to hammer home a
point about, as I understood it, the erotic equation between layers of
clothing and layers of fantasy—I’d have left thinking Týnek
a talent to watch and waited to see more before telling you about him.
read article
Tudor, Forsythe and New Works at the New Skirball
ABT
Studio Company
Skirball Center
New York, NY
December 5, 2003
By
Susan Reiter
Copyright
© 2003 by Susan Reiter
In recent seasons, attending a performance by American Ballet Theatre's 12-member "second" troupe has provided (among many other pleasures) an early glimpse of the next generation of brilliant, memorable ABT male dancers. Within the past few years, one could discover the very young Herman Cornejo, Craig Salstein and Danny Tidwell—all of whom moved swiftly, and authoritatively, into the ABT ranks.
The Studio
Company's most recent New York season—its first at the attractive,
recently opened Skirball Center on the NYU campus—showcased an engaging
ensemble rather than drawing attention to any individual dancer in quite
the same way. Ten of the twelve are new since the troupe last performed
in New York in April; several of them came through ABT's thriving Summer
Intensive program, and several of them had made a notable impression at
its culminating performance in July.
read
review
Two Musicals Where The Dancing Matters
NEVER
GONNA DANCE
Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Dorothy Fields and others; Book by Jeffrey
Hatcher
Directed by Michael Greif; Choreographed by Jerry Mitchell
Broadhurst Theater
New York, NY
December 3, 2003
WONDERFUL
TOWN
Music by Leonard Bernstein; Lyrics by Betty Comden & Adolph Green;
Book by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov
Directed and Choreographed by Kathleen Marshall
Al Hirschfeld Theater
New York, NY
December 4, 2003
By
Susan Reiter
copyright
© 2003 by Susan Reiter
On
Broadway these days you can find recent musicals celebrating the gaudy
excesses of the 1980s (Taboo, The Boy from Oz) or bouncing on
the exuberant beat of pre-Beatles rock & roll (Hairspray, Little
Shop of Horrors). But if you want a show where dance really provides
the highlights, you need to travel back to the 1930s, where the action
of these two new arrivals takes place.
Set in 1936, Never Gonna Dance is based on the Astaire-Rogers film Swing Time, and has two dancers as its central characters, as well as scenes set at a dancing school and an "amateur" dance competition. Its two leading performers, both veterans of Broadway dance ensembles, were cast for their dancing strengths. All of its music is by Jerome Kern: the score includes five of the six songs heard in Swing Time, plus 12 additional songs from other shows and films. This approach, of creating a "new" period musical from existing songs, is similar to that used for the two Gershwin-scored musicals My One and Only and Crazy for You.
While it
is set in 1935, Wonderful Town has a score that was written—during
a now-legendary month-long creative whirlwind—in late 1952 by three
fun-loving collaborators looking back fondly at a period when they were
in their late teens. It has a great Leonard Bernstein score that bridges
the youthful ingenuity and sass of On the Town (1944) and the
deeper and bolder innovations of West Side Story (1957).
read review
What's On This Week?
December
7-January 4
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The company takes up residence in New York for a month to celebrate its
45 years of existence. The season features new productions of Judith Jamison's
tribute to Alvin Ailey, Hymn, and Donald McKayle's Rainbow
Round My Shoulder. Four new ballets will be added to the company's
repertory: Bounty Verses by Dwight Rhoden, Footprints by
Jennifer Muller, Heart Song by Alonzo King, and Juba by
Robert Battle. Ailey's masterpiece, Revelations, also will be
programmed, along with other repertory favorites.
December
8
Movement Research at the Judson Church
This week's forum for experimentation and works-in-progress features the
work of Nami Yamamoto and Clarinda MacLow.
55 Washington Square South
212-539-2611
December
8-11
Battery Dance Company
Three works by Jonathan Hollander are shown.
Tribeca Performing Arts Center
199 Chambers Street between Greenwich and West streets 212-220-1460 www.batterydanceco.com
December
9
The Swan Lake: From Soviet-Era to the Present
Reservations: (212) 870-1605
Catharine Nepomnyashchy compares the symbolic meaning of Swan Lake to
Soviet-era cultural politics. A panel also looks at the Von Krahl Theatre's
production of Estonian director Peeter Jalakas and Russian choreographer
Sasha Pepelyaev's adaptation, placing this revisionist work within both
a post-Soviet and western European context. Lynn Garafolo will offer her
interpretation of this contemporary take on Swan Lake and Jalakas and
Pepelyaev will be interviewed about the work.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
111 Amsterdam Avenue, between 64th and 65th Street
212-870-1605
December
9-13
The Flight Project
Dayton Contemporary Dance Company
To celebrate the anniversary of Wilbur and Orville Wright and the marking
of the 35th year of the company, DCDC presents the New York premiere of
two programs of new works by Bill T. Jones, Bebe Miller, Dwight Rhoden,
Warren Spears, Doug Varone, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar.
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Harvey Theater
651 Fulton Street between Ashland Street and Rockwell Place Fort Greene,
Brooklyn 718-636-4100
www.bam.org
December
9-13
Compagnie Marie Chouinard
This French-Canadian company brings two New York premieres. 24 Preludes
by Chopin, is about "virtuosity-- the dancers' and that of Chopin,"
and Le Cri du Monde is about "the human body and the lust for life."
The Joyce Theater 175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St. 212-242-0880 www.joyce.org
December
9-14
New York City Ballet
George Balanchine's The Nutcracker continues its residence
at the New York State Theater. The big casting news this week has young
Megan Fairchild making her debut with Joaquin De Luz as the Sugar Plum
Fairy and her Cavalier Saturday matinee. Ashley Bouder performs Dewdrop
in the same performance.
New York State Theatre
Lincoln Center
212-8705570
December
9-March 7
A Celebration of George Balanchine:
Selected Television Work George Balanchine took full advantage of the
advent of television, and many of his greatest works - and performances
of his dancers - have been captured on video. In this 100th-year anniversary
of the great choreographer's birthday, The Museum of Television &
Radio presents a series of showings of some incredible footage. First
up, shown from December 5-28, is a program of Let's Take a Trip, a children's
show hosted by Sonny Fox. Balanchine gives a tour of the School of American
Ballet and choreographs Yankee Doodle for New York City Ballet members
Patricia Wilde, Nicholas Magallanes, and Carolyn George. In addition,
Tanaquil LeClercq and Jacques d'Amboise perform a pas de deux from The
Nutcracker. The screening continues with Playhouse 90: The Nutcracker,
the historic telecast that featured Diana Adams, Allegra Kent, Arthur
Mitchell, Edward Villella, and Balanchine as Herr Drosselmeyer.
The Museum of Television & Radio
25 West 52 Street
212-621-6800
December
9-April 24
The Enduring Legacy of George Balanchine
A multi-media exhibit celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of
George Balanchine. It features photographs, designs, manuscript music
and correspondence, costumes, set pieces, and models, along with showings
of videotaped performances and rehearsals. Lectures will begin in January.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
212-870-1630
December
10-14
Swan Lake
Using contemporary dance and 1950s documentary footage, Sasha Pepelyaev
of Russia and and Peeter Jalakas, in Estonia's Von Krahl Theater’s
production - have re-thought Swan Lake in a sociological and historical
context.
Dance Theater Workshop
219 West 19th Street
212-924-0077
December
11-13
Central Station/Global Exchange
Danspace Project
Performances of work by Hungarian Zoltán Nagy and Romania's Ioana
Popovici.
Danspace Project
St. Mark's Church
131 E. 10th St.
(212) 643-8888.
December
11-14
New Dances at Juilliard Edition 2003
Juillard graduates Jacqulyn Buglisi, Thaddeus Davis,
Zvi Gotheiner, and Dwight Rhoden have their works performed.
Juilliard Theater
60 Lincoln Center Plaza
(212) 799-5000
December
11-14
AszURe & Artists
Aszure Barton's company makes its New York debut in Mais We, in 24 solos.
Barton's works have been called quirky, charming intimate and serpentine.
Joyce Soho
155 Mercer Street, between Houston and Prince
212-431-9233
December
11-14
The Yorkville Nutcracker
Dances Patrelle
Francis Patrelle sets the holiday classic in 1895 New York for a charming
production. Guest stars ars brought in to perform the Sugar Plum Fairy
and Cavalier. Thursday and Friday evenings and Saturday matinee has Jenifer
Ringer and James Fayette - principal dancers of the New York City Ballet.
Saturday and Sunday evening and Sunday matinee has Donald Williams, principal
at Dance Theatre of Harlem, and
Sandra Brown, soloist at American Ballet Theatre, taking the lead parts.
The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College
68th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues
212-772-4448
December
12-14
Works for Dance,Music and Video
Malene Schjønning provides the choreography,
Threetwo'03's Keith Moore and Taimur Sullivan bring the music and
Alexander Lee the video.
Merce Cunningham Dance Studio
55 Bethune St
212-691-9751 ext. 30
December
12-14
The Nutcracker
The Purchase Dance Corps performs its production of the holiday favorite.
The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College
735 Anderson Hill Road
Purchase, New York
914-251-6200
December
13
DraftWork: Marie-Christine Giordano & Kara Tatelbaum
Danspace Project
St. Mark's Church
131 E. 10th St.
(212) 643-8888.
December
13
Dance Improv Game Show
Treva Offutt is the host, while the cContestantsare Kwame Ross, Bronwyn
Sims, Christalyn Wright, Chris Yon. The audience suggests scenarios and
sounds for volunteers and guest stars to improvise.
The Kitchen
512 West 19th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues
212-255-5793
December
13 and 14
New York Theatre Ballet
The Nutcracker
This chamber-sized company's one-hour production, choreographed by
Keith Michael, is designed especially for children and families.
Florence Gould Hall
55 E. 59th Street
212-355-6160
— Dale Brauner
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