Lifted Spirits
Even at his most straightforward, Paul Taylor often imbued his dances with a sardonic wit. Whether invoking darkness or light, he did so with a wink.
PlusWorld-class review of ballet and dance.
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of catching a perfectly shaped, humorous dance vignette of two dancers with two chairs, set to the first movement of Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor. It was both playful and choreographically complex. This duet has since, in the words of its choreographer Katie Armstrong, grown arms and legs. “Sketches” now encompasses four dancers performing the whole concerto, intertwined with specially composed sound from DJ, composer and improviser Mariam Rezaei and performed live by a string quintet. There is also a concurrent film project, which has been both created within and shown throughout this last tour throughout Scotland. Sounding complex? Well, funnily enough . . .
Even at his most straightforward, Paul Taylor often imbued his dances with a sardonic wit. Whether invoking darkness or light, he did so with a wink.
PlusTalk about Gesamtkunstwerk! Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s “SCAT!...The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar,” is just that—a total work of art: operatic in scale, replete with stellar musicians and singers, and the glorious dancers of Urban Bush Women, the troupe that Zollar founded in 1984, is also storytelling at its best.
PlusOf all of Shakespeare’s plays, “Hamlet” might seem the hardest to adapt into dance. Its long soliloquies and a titular character stymied by indecision do not immediately scream movement potential.
PlusComplexions Contemporary Ballet turned 30 this year, and their two-week residency at the Joyce Theater was a party.
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