Painterly Expression
The Sarasota Ballet’s return to Jacob’s Pillow for five days of a triple bill that included two little-seen works by Sir Frederick Ashton and a world premiere by Jessica Lang, was charged with anticipation and curiosity.
PlusWorld-class review of ballet and dance.
One of the most important questions for any director who inherits a dance company from its founding choreographer is how to keep the repertory alive. Stagnation—simply repeating the same cluster of increasingly familiar works—is not really an option. Dances die if they are performed too often just as they do if they are left on the shelf for too long. Changes creep in, obscuring the original style and intention. Also, dancers need new challenges. This is why companies have tended to commission new works from contemporary choreographers. The Paul Taylor Dance Company has done this, as have the Martha Graham Dance Company, the Trisha Brown Dance Company, Tanztheater Wuppertal, José Limón, and many others. In this way, the company keeps moving forward. The quality of the new work varies.
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The Sarasota Ballet’s return to Jacob’s Pillow for five days of a triple bill that included two little-seen works by Sir Frederick Ashton and a world premiere by Jessica Lang, was charged with anticipation and curiosity.
PlusLos 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.
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.
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Dear Jeannette, Neither of these dances had Labanotation scores. I’m sure the reconstructors wish they did.
Best,
Marina
Nowhere in this article is it mentioned that Paul Taylor was a huge proponent of Labanotation, a system of movement notation that accurately records and preserves choreography so that future companies may perform the works as the choreographer intended.The Dance Notation Bureau has in its files 50 scores of notated works by Taylor, which may include the ones being reconstructed.