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IMPRESSIONS: Buglisi Dance Theatre's 30th Anniversary Season at The Ailey Citigroup Theater
By Miranda Stuck
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Published on June 30, 2023
BDT in "Illuminations"; photo by Kristen Lodoen
Bridging Art and Peace Time and Time Again
Founder & Artistic Director: Jacqulyn Buglisi
Executive Director: Suzanne Konowitz
Artistic Associate: Terese Capucilli
Producing Consultant: Donald Borror
Company Dancers: Terese Capucilli, Christine Dakin, Kevin Predmore, Virginie Mécène, Lauren Jaeger, Blakeley White-McGuire, Jessica Higgins, Jessica Sgambelluri, Ashley Merker, Greta Campo, Aoi Sato, Esteban Santamaria, Sierra Christine Sanders, Rayan Lecurieux-Durival, Gabrielle Willis, Isabella Pagano, Jai Perez, Ane Arrieta, Zachary Jeppsen, Lindsay Phillips.
Apprentice Dancers: Cristina Barretta, Grace Sautter
Guest Dancer: Daniel Fetecua // Special Guest Artist: Daniel Bernard Roumain
Lighting Design: Jack Mehler, Clifton Taylor // Projection Design: Wendall K. Harrington, Yana Biryükova, Joey Moro
Costumes: A. Christina Giannini, Lauren Starobin, Márion Tálan de la Rosa, Anna Blazer
Soundscape Editor: John K. Stone
Honoring Jack Mehler, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Jeff Beal, Paul B. Goode
“What you see here on this stage is multi-generational and multi-cultural,” says Jacqulyn Buglisi, founder, and artistic director of Buglisi Dance Theatre. Celebrating her company’s 30th anniversary, Buglisi shares a repertoire of seven dances and excerpts, including two world premieres. This celebration at the Ailey Citigroup Theater is deeply nostalgic and meaningful for Buglisi, who has taught at The Ailey School since 1987. It also marks a significant artistic milestone for the choreographer, her founding company members, and longtime artistic collaborators.
Buglisi's works share a clear commonality: each testifies to the value of healing humanity and illuminating one’s life. “Through a language that is timeless and universal, I am committed to creating theatrical dance works that enable us to pause to consider issues of peaceful coexistence, environmental conversation, empowerment of women, and social justice,” says Buglisi. The choreographer wishes “to transcend all boundaries and embolden audiences to recognize within themselves their own humanity.”
Illuminated in blue and white smoke, an excerpt from Buglisi’s signature masterwork, Requiem begins. The 2001 creation of Requiem was provoked by the national tragedies of September 11. Two legendary original cast members, Terese Capucilli and Christine Dakin, showcase the beauty and rarity of a multi-generational cast. Five women laid down over wooden boxes are wrapped in gorgeous fabric constructed in collaboration by Buglisi and A. Christina Giannini. The audience sees the muscularity of each dancer’s back and their authentically expressive torsos. Magic occurs when a rainbow palette freckles the stage, the lighting design emulating a large, stained-glass window. Open and vulnerable, each dancer bares her soul with expressive individuality to French composer Gabriel Fauré's elegant music.
Originally performed at Chelsea Factory in June 2022, The Threads Project #1: “Universal Dialogues'' was inspired by Eleanor Roosevelt and the writers of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Dancers treacherously carry each other’s weight moving in front of black and white projections. “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…” Four excerpts illustrate a collaboration among eight diverse choreographers, whose styles meld seamlessly. Two world premieres include Illuminations, and Suns and Future Imaginings.
lluminations is an emotional tribute honoring the victims of the global pandemic in 2020, and the Black Lives Matter movement for racial justice. The call to peace begins with composer Daniel Bernard Roumain’s piercing violin solo. As he emerges in a bright spotlight stage left, his hands drive electric notes making the walls of the theater vibrate. Roumain’s beautiful playing stirs the soul.
Suns and Future Imaginings draws inspiration from Ada Limón, the first Latina to be named Poet Laureate of the United States. Two duets contain resistance created between their push and pull of love and balance. “Rani’s introspective music speaks directly to Buglisi’s vision, illustrating her strong belief that "...in uncertain times and living an unstable life, we can still reach peace with ourselves and be able to find home anywhere." Fairy-like, dancer Jessica Sgambelluri stands out for her expression and the ever-flowing breath in her use of the spine.
Stand-out performances are found in two well-established works, Speak Memory (1996) performed by Terese Capucilli, and Sospiri (1989) performed by Virginie Mecène and Kevin Predmore. Speak Memory, exerpted from Buglisi’s full-length work Bare to the Wall (1996) depicts how “…the fragility of the body speaks to time.” Capucilli, alone center stage with only a bench, captivates with illustrative port de bras and wistful dynamics. The entire audience is quiet, mesmerized by her strength and articulation.
Sospiri, first performed in 1989 by the Martha Graham Dance Company at New York City Center, recounts a timeless love story now legendary in Argentina, where Camila O’Gorman and Ladislav Gutierrez, “were hunted down and executed by firing squad for their illicit love." Tense, powerful, and filled with chemistry, Mecène and Predmore are the definition of love. At times entangled on the floor then lifted and soaring, Mecène and Predmore evoke a sense of desperation, moving some in the audience to tears.
Concluding the evening was Moss Anthology: Variation #5, an awakening to global climate crises threatening life on the Earth. Projections of roots and trees complement the casts' balances and suspensions as drums and strings echo. Lauren Jaeger performs an enlightening solo as the the remainder of the group twists like roots, emulating elements of nature. “Jacqulyn has a wonderful way of seeing the poetry and power in the simplest of things,” says the work’s Emmy Award-winning composer, Jeff Beal.
Truly inspiring and uplifting, Buglisi unites dancers, composers, visual artists, and poets, all of different generations and cultural backgrounds to remind us of arts purpose: to heal. “Jacqulyn Buglisi’s creative work embodies the power of the modern form and brings to life testaments to the essence of humanity in our era,” says Damian Woetzel, President of The Juilliard School. The audience leaves moved by Buglisi’s spirit, work, and dedication to bridging art and peace time and time again.
