Dance Floor Liberation
Los Angeles–based dance artist Jay Carlon knew that the proscenium stage couldn’t house his 2024 work, “Wake,” in its fullness. So he moved it elsewhere: to a rave.
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William Forsythe’s new program for La Scala provides an opportunity to reflect on the direction taken by “contemporary ballet” over several decades. The American choreographer made a name for himself in the 1980s with titles such as “Steptext,” “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated,” “Herman Schmermann,” “The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude”—each of them able to excite not only fans of contemporary dance but also lovers of classical ballet because Forsythe founded a new idiom based on the grammar of the danse d’école. In Italy we call this style “post-classical:” a definition that insists on the classical balance while in search of other axes in the kinetics of torso and limbs, risky, unstable and for this very reason so contemporary. An aesthetic and functional element helps to recognize this language: the pointe shoes worn by the female dancers, no longer instruments of romantic elevation, nor of imperial virtuosity or composed neoclassicism, but pivots of lightning and almost aggressive dynamics. While his language spread, Forsythe trod along parallel paths, including in his own artistic cosmogony contemporary dances finely décontractés or objects d’art installed in museum spaces.
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Los Angeles–based dance artist Jay Carlon knew that the proscenium stage couldn’t house his 2024 work, “Wake,” in its fullness. So he moved it elsewhere: to a rave.
Continue ReadingChoreography wasn’t on Lia Cirio’s radar when artistic director Mikko Nissinen asked her to participate in Boston Ballet’s ChoreograpHER initiative in 2018. The principal dancer had always thought, “Oh, that's not something for me. I just like being in the room and helping people and being choreographed on.” But her good friend and colleague at the time, Kathleen Breen Combes, gave her a nudge.
Continue ReadingIngrid Silva’s expression is calm, the side of her mouth upturned a few degrees, as if she’s delighting in the reception of her own joke.
Continue ReadingFrench choreographer Lea Tirabasso makes dense, intricate work which explores existential concerns connected with science, nature and morality. Witty, vivid and visceral, her work pushes beyond simple genres or choreographic language, creating something far richer and more complex. Her most recent piece, “In the Bushes” is part of the Edinburgh Festival this year. Fjord Review caught up with Léa Tirabasso ahead of the Summerhall run.
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