Lists of Promise
“Lists of Promise,” a new work currently in a two-week run from March 13- 30 at the East Village cultural landmark, Theater for the New City, promised more than it delivered, at least for now.
PlusWorld-class review of ballet and dance.
In Deborah Jowitt’s new biography of Martha Graham, Errand into the Maze, the iconic dancer and choreographer is made new, and radical, again. This is no simple feat given how many artists and dance lovers worldwide have, at the very least, a passing familiarity with Graham’s immense presence, dramatic proclamations, and enduring choreography. The accomplishment is even more significant when considering the sheer volume that has been written by her and about her, including last year’s mammoth biography Martha Graham: When Dance Became Modern by Neil Baldwin. Where Baldwin leaned into the encyclopedic, Jowitt has pruned and curated. The result is a highly readable journey that brings you deep into Graham’s heart, aka “the Maze,” through an expert tour of her dances.
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“Lists of Promise,” a new work currently in a two-week run from March 13- 30 at the East Village cultural landmark, Theater for the New City, promised more than it delivered, at least for now.
Plus“State of Heads” opens with a blaze of white light and loud clanking onto a white-suited Levi Gonzalez, part Elvis, part televangelist addressing his congregation. A pair of women sidle in—Rebecca Cyr and Donna Uchizono—dressed in ankle-length white dresses and cowered posture.
PlusThe late John Ashford, a pioneer in programming emerging contemporary choreographers across Europe, once told me that he could tell what sort of choreographer a young artist would turn into when watching their first creations.
PlusLast weekend, the Royal New Zealand Ballet hosted two nights of performance in collaboration with the Scottish Ballet at the St. James’ Theatre in Wellington, New Zealand. The bill included two works by choreographers affiliated with Scottish Ballet, and two by RNZB choreographers. There was welcome contrast in timbre and tempo, and common themes of self-actualisation and connection, through a love of dance. As RNZB artistic director Ty King-Wall announced in the audience address, the two-night only performance was in the spirit of “bringing the companies together in mutual admiration and respect.”
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