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.
PlusWorld-class review of ballet and dance.
Not for the first time at the Fall for Dance Festival, now in its 20th year, Chippendale’s emerged as the theme of the night. There were 32 male dancers across the three works on the festival’s third program, 31 of whom danced shirtless. There were just 3 women in the entire show; all kept their tops on. None of the pieces presented—encompassing ballet, hip hop, and traditional Hawaiian dance styles—were overly sensual. This was an uncanny costuming coincidence rather than an erotic special. (Though my pregnant Hawaiian date kindly pointed out the many fertility hulas in the closing piece.) Yet, aside from the stark imbalances in gender and body coverage, FFD’s Program 3 was a wide-ranging and well put-together show.
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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.
PlusChoreography 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.
PlusIngrid 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.
PlusFrench 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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