Interwoven Threads

Dreadlocks are not the first thing that come to mind, looking at UK artist Nicola Turner’s fibre sculpture currently installed at Carvalho Park gallery in East Williamsburg. But I hesitate to open a review with a vision of the poop emoji. Five fat coils of coffee and charcoal colored horsehair and wool bound with netting fill the gallery, three of them perched on aluminum legs with wheels that look like orthopedic walkers, plus one more that trails down the wall at window level. However, once dancers Taylor Stanley and Alec Knight enter the space, a landscape of sea-scarred rock formations at low-tide begins to emerge. When Stanley drapes their limbs over the largest of the rocks, I see a creature warming itself in the sun.

Performance

“Ephemeral Solace (In Passing)” by Taylor Stanley and Alec Knight; Fabric of Undoing Installation by Nicola Turner

Place

Carvalho Park, Brooklyn, NY, March 8, 2025

Words

Karen Hildebrand

Taylor Stanley and Alec Knight in “Ephemeral Solace (In Passing).” Photograph by Stephen Penta

“Ephemeral Solace (In Passing)” is a rare chance to watch two impeccable ballet artists at work up close. Audience members stand against the gallery walls for the 20-minute piece, mere feet from the performers. Stanley is a principal dancer for New York City Ballet, and Knight, a soloist. This work also demonstrates how an interdisciplinary layering of art forms can shift a viewer’s perspective. Stanley and Knight’s choreographic collaboration also seems to explore this idea. Not only does their presence lend a context to the art installation, their dance shifts attention from one performer to the other in a way that shows how identity is shaped through the eyes of “the other.”

While Stanley lies seaweed-like over the rock, a princely Knight (or is he a hunter?), dressed in tailored short pants and shirt, announces his presence with a precise series of tendu and retiré that dancers commonly practice at their daily barre. When Stanley’s creature notices Knight with curiosity, the two take up a pas de deux to the sound of rain and piano notes. Stanley is the ballerina in this pairing, soft and lyrical in unitard and bare feet, with Knight lifting and supporting. My view of Stanley’s solo to the sound of church bells, is partially blocked by a sculpture. I see the occasional flash of an arm or hand like a bird in flight.

Taylor Stanley in “Ephemeral Solace (In Passing).” Photograph by Stephen Penta

The two dancers maintain a dispassionate tone throughout. With the exception of a moment where an annoyed Stanley swats Knight away, their expressions remain cooly impassive. I get a sense of Nijinsky, especially near the end when Knight moves the mobile sculptures ever closer to trap an unaware Stanley. We can see it happening, and yet oddly without trepidation, like in a dream. A distressed Stanley sinks to their knees, stiffens their hands to trace a path on the floor with their fingertips working as a fin rather than individual digits, mute and urgent. I can hear Stanley’s breath sharpen as they speed up the move.

Taylor Stanley and Alec Knight in “Ephemeral Solace (In Passing).” Photograph by Stephen Penta

A final duet (with a freed Stanley) shows the two mirroring each other; now moving in unison; now leaning forehead to forehead with mutual resisting force. The music stops. Knight cradles a limp Stanley in his arms and returns to drape their body once again across the rock. Knight faces the exit and repeats his opening drill before leaving, his presence having changed things irrevocably. Has their interaction damaged Stanley? Or is it possible the two beings have merged into one? As with a good poem, the dance leaves me with more questions than answers.

Karen Hildebrand

Karen Hildebrand is former editorial director for Dance Magazine and served as editor in chief for Dance Teacher for a decade. An advocate for dance education, she was honored with the Dance Teacher Award in 2020. She follows in the tradition of dance writers who are also poets (Edwin Denby, Jack Anderson), with poetry published in many literary journals and in her book, Crossing Pleasure Avenue (Indolent Books). She holds an MFA from the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Originally from Colorado, she lives in Brooklyn.

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