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IMPRESSIONS: Levi Gonzalez's “Hoary” at The Chocolate Factory Theater
Haiku Review and Other Thoughts Too
By Christine Jowers/Follow @cmmjowers on Instagram
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Published on June 30, 2011
Christopher Duggan
Quick Impressions of Dancing Expressions—Gotham Dance Festival's Summer Samplers
Haiku Review and Other Thoughts Too
IMPRESSIONS OF Gotham Dance Festival's Summer Samplers
©Christine Jowers June 2011 for The Dance Enthusiast
I thought... why not try to be freer in form with IMPRESSIONS? After all, we are not trying to write intense critiques. We want to talk about what we received from the work in different ways. As a young performer, I worked with the Artists In The School Programs, and at the end of every session we artists would get feedback on our dancing and choreography from our students: essays, poetry, recipes, drawings, character outlines and so one. I loved it.
I started to play with a compilation of haikus and limericks during the early part of the NYC dance season (click here to read) and I want to continue to experiment. Hopefully next season I will find time to write and learn more. -CJ
Summer Sampler Matinee 1 -Abraham.in.motion, Faye Driscoll Group, and The Dash Ensemble
Sunday June 5th, 2pm at the Joyce Theater
Abraham.in.motion The Quiet Dance (2011)
choreography:Kyle Abraham,Music: Some Other Time by Bill Evans, Costume: Kristi Wood, Lighting:Dan Scully
performers: Kyle Abraham, Chalvar Monteiro, Elyse Morris, Rachellle Rafailedes,and Hasai-Jou Tang
The Solo
Jazz inhabits him
Vibrations rippling outward
from a silent walk
The Chorus
Little explosions
Echoes of his heart beating
His undercurrent
The Quiet
When a heart cries out
We cannot always hear it
Or feel its thrashing
Abraham reveals the moments in between the notes-nuances-the depth that stirs in the quietest of times. A man, the soloist walks toward us, perhaps revealing his inner soul or maybe discovering it himself for the first time.
Abraham reveals the moments in between the notes-nuances-the depth that stirs in the quietest of times. A man, the soloist walks toward us, perhaps revealing his inner soul or maybe discovering it himself for the first time.
Faye Driscoll Group Not...Not (Part 1): (2011)
choreography: Faye Driscoll,performance: Faye Driscoll and Jesse Zaritt,original music: Brandon Wolcott with cell and arrangement by Emil Abramyan
dramaturge: Nina Mankin, lights: Amanda K. Ringger,costumes: Jessica Pabst, rehearsal assistant: Kate Ryan
program note: if you pretend you are drowning, I will pretend I am saving you.
A Duet
Lucille and Desi
Decide to travel downtown
and try "Modern Dance"
A Synopsis: Present Tense
One day, two radically narcissistic characters--players in a soon to be televised, quirky, new age reality show--meet at a wide point of a yellow triangle.
They hug, wave and pull at each other’s parts enacting highly charged mini-episodes that travel through microseconds of boredom, ineptitude, exasperation, glee, exhibitionism and ranting. They show off with passion, or is it passionate disregard? Inch by inch, look by look, they create classical pictures and comical comment. Making love? NO. Winding each other up? YES, YES, YES!
“Pay attention to me. Pay attention to me. I am trying so hard.”
SLAP. He becomes a boxer and a strong man at the circus.
She, well, she really can’t feel comfortable in that split. “Good lord help me up,” she thinks.
He charges her from behind and, fuzzy head between her legs, brings her, frantic, to PROPS!!!
PROPS!!!
Spitting out piths, scaring out identities, “Red, pink, or green glasses? Yes, no, yes, yes no. Goddamn it who cares. Who will look at me?” she pleads. “Look at me. Look the hell at me.”
Finally, like a seal, he claps.
The Dash Ensemble Like The Eagle (World Premiere)
choreography: Gregory Dalbashian,lighting:Burke J. Wilmore, costumes: Christopher Vergara,music: soundbytes from WNYC RadioLab hosted by jad Abumrd and Robert Krulwhich; interviews from James Monroe's "Live, Breathe, Work, Design" and musical interludes by Marsen Jules, Hauschka, Godspeed You Black Emperor, and Hoarse, dancers: Antonio Brown, Mor Gur-Arie, Alexandra Johnson, Rebecca Niziol, Christopher Ralph
Creativity, art, well it is a fight. It can pit one head against another or just yourself against yourself. Gregory Dolbashian’s dancers, in an attempt to illustrate this war, flow and whip and crackle with the most beautiful bodies you have seen. Honestly, my mouth was agape. They give shape to the creative fight- the supple elastic, unending stretch of good day; the exuberant, layout flying kicks that stop short when they have hit a wall. Fighting the air, calling to arms, waging zealous daily battles necessary to the artistic cause. In the background we hear interviews and recording, words about creative work, but the company announces "WE ARE ARTISTS" simply by hitting the sides of their forearms together, hands in fists, with quiet solidarity.
Summer Sampler Matinee 2 -Ashleigh Leite Dance, Julian Barnett Project, Skybetter and Associates
Sunday June 12th, 2pm at the Joyce Theater
Ashleigh Leite Dance The Zoo (2009)
restaging assistants: Carley Conder, Sandy Tillet music: The Magnetic Fields, Original Sound Design by Ashleigh Leite costumes: Marlina Kessler performers: Jessica Jones, Beverly Kerr, Jessica Rajko, Madeline wilcox, Breckyn Drescher(understudy)
The Zoo Haiku no1
Determined rollers
scattering to cranky sounds.
Legs and butts flying
The Zoo Haiku no 2
Belching Machines Sing,
"Girls go wild and militant"
Long manes in minis.
The Zoo
Barbarella and her sisters take off their shoes, go to the beach, and frighten the air.
Julian Barnett Project Echologue (2009)
choreography and performance : Julian Barnett ,lighting design: Paul Emerson (original) Burke Wilmore (recreation), sound design: Julian Barnett
dramaturge:Lisett van Rossum
Julian Barnett is listening to his inner voice vibrate. He looks for it, finds it, plays with it, loses it and all the while invites us into the investigation. There is a
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| Julian Barnett in " Echologue" Photo by Christopher Duggan |
skybetter and associates Temporary Matters (World Premiere) and Halcyon(2009)
choreography for both works:Sydney Skybetter with the dancers
Temporary Matters music: pieces from Jóhnann Jóhannsson's Engalbörn, lighting design: Kate Ashton
Temporary Matters music: pieces from Jóhnann Jóhannsson's Engalbörn, lighting design: Kate Ashton
dancers: Kirsten Arnold, Jordan Isadore, Jennifer Jones, and Gary Schaufeld, costumes: Karen Young
Halycon music:Cancao Verdes Anos by Carlos Paredes and La Muerte Chiquita by Enrique Rangel arranged and peformed by the Kronos Quartet
lighting design: Ashton, dancers: Arnold, Liz Beres, Norberg Da La Cruz III, Kile Hotchkiss, Wheeler Hughes, Jones, Isadore, Delphia Parenti, Schaufeld, Dana Thomas, costumes: Young
Halycon music:Cancao Verdes Anos by Carlos Paredes and La Muerte Chiquita by Enrique Rangel arranged and peformed by the Kronos Quartet
lighting design: Ashton, dancers: Arnold, Liz Beres, Norberg Da La Cruz III, Kile Hotchkiss, Wheeler Hughes, Jones, Isadore, Delphia Parenti, Schaufeld, Dana Thomas, costumes: Young
Formal ,musical and not afraid to be lovely, Sydney Skybetter's work sweeps the stage with undulating curves and flow reminding us all of the timeless pleasure of pure dance. There is something old fashioned about the work, but only in the best sense of that word--no cobwebs, no diluted memories. It is gutsy in an understated, gorgeous way celebrating the body at every turn. Karen Young's costumes perfectly suit Skybetter's choreographic profile. I was especially in love with the designs for Temporary Matters: skirts for the men and the women that looked at once masculine and feminine. The inviting blue of the outfits was complimented by a red surprise of an underskirt which made it self apparent only every so often--an elegant whisper.
