New Voices from Japan + East Asia
Japan Society presented its 20th showcase of contemporary dance with works from emerging choreographers in East Asia over a mid-January weekend.
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Has any choreographer extracted as much value from the chug step as Mark Morris? Jerome Robbins came close in “Glass Pieces,” and George Balanchine gave chugs some big moments in “Apollo,” but Morris consistently uses the simple move to demonstrate a profound musicality. Chugs are inherently galumphing, but Morris wields them like a baroque architect. It’s as if he paints cathedrals with thick toddler crayons. Though it must be said, he pulls off the same trick with basic walking, running, skipping, etc. During week two of the Mark Morris Dance Group’s run at the Joyce (their first stint ever at the theater: how is that possible?), his ability to erect the sacred from the mundane was on wondrous display.
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Japan Society presented its 20th showcase of contemporary dance with works from emerging choreographers in East Asia over a mid-January weekend.
Continue ReadingIn a four-day span of early January I saw: Monica Bill Barnes wrestle a giant beach ball at Playwrights Horizons; Malcolm-x Betts and Nile Harris shoot blanks into the rafters of the Chocolate Factory in honor of Judith Jamison’s spirit; Symara Sarai run in and out of a swirling lasso at New York Live Arts Studios; and Angie Pittman dart across a shallow stage, in character as a vampire, cape flying, at BAM Fisher Hillman Studio in a shared bill with Kyle Marshall Choreography. In short, it was APAP season.*
Continue ReadingSara Veale’s new book Wild Grace: The Untamed Women of Modern Dance (Faber & Faber) examines the lives of nine boldly subversive dancemakers over nearly a century, starting with Isadora Duncan and ending with Pearl Lang. Along the way, it provides a pared but potent mini-history on the emergence of women’s rights.
Continue ReadingNo matter the theme, an evening with David Dorfman Dance is likely to uplift. The gregarious choreographer has a habit of engaging with the audience pre and/or post show with energy approaching that of a church revival gathering.
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