Dance Review: inDANCE, a Monsoon Rain of “Fabulousness”
There was an inDANCE monsoon last night in NYC.... and it rained "fabulousness" all over SoHo.
Hari Krishnan, the choreographer of inDANCE, creates a spectacular palette of creative choreography, color, and costume. inDANCE is a Bharatanatyam inspired Contemporary Canadian Dance Company made up of a beautifully eclectic group of dancers that have a fierce understanding of both South Asian dance and classical contemporary technique, creating a brand new vocabulary never quite seen by the likes of your typical Manhattan audience. inDANCE performed and premiered five gorgeous pieces Friday night at the Joyce SoHo. I am so glad I was there to experience it!
The first duet, entitled INVERSE, begins simply and typically enough, soloist facing upstage slowly moving through space creating a vocabulary that at first totally turned me off; I was like, oh here we go again, inaccessible, boring modern dance that I am forced to sit through... UGH! But, just a few short minutes later, I am wrapped in by Hiroshi Miyamoto and Beth Despres's command and control of their bodies, their technique, and their hypnotizing power that they have over the audience. It is creative and fun. Hand gestures decorating gorgeous jumps charging through space paralyzing the audience. . . It is a beautiful and unique piece that continues to get better and better until the blackout, leaving you wanting just one second more.
BOX is the second piece, another duet, but this one is accompanied by live musicians. AWESOME is all I can say! BOX features two daring and masterful soloists performing the same captivating choreography in unison. The difference: one soloist is dressed in full classical Indian regalia, the other is dressed in simple black rehearsal clothes, (think downtown modern battles it out with Slumdog Millionaire). It is such a cool way to see Bharatanatyam danced as it should be dressed, and, as it can be dressed when it meets with today's sensibilities. Simple, powerful and effective. I would have never thought of it.
The third piece OWNING SHADOWS, is my favorite piece of the evening. Another duet, this one derives from the ancient epic, “Ramayana.” Starting off, the dancers are shrouded beneath a cloak reflecting the theatrical lighting in a way that makes it look like a vibrant moving stream; then, with a sudden light change, it is made to appear like a dried up ocean, hard, cold and desolate. The movement begins slowly, and builds into a tightly woven duet, until they end up downstage right, back-to-back, barely lit. The dancers slowly revolve around each other and quietly rotate to the upstage left corner, totally stunning and unlike any effect, carrying power and metaphor. It is the most inspiring moment of the evening; I am thrilled to have experienced what is magically created by the dancers and the choreography. Hari Krishnan manages to seamlessly create an epic out of the epic that inspires him. Thank you for that and congratulations!!!!
The last two pieces are just fun, tongue-in-cheek pieces. MEA CULPA, set to Rossini against the drums of Gowri Shankar, is a solo inspired by a picture of Ted Shawn's 1926 work, The Cosmic Dance of Shiva. It is silly, showy and perfectly married to both Rossini's horse racing music and the juxtaposing drums (ooo a big boy word... watch out S.A.T.'s). Krishnan could not have picked a better place in the program for the lightness that Mea Culpa lends to the evening.
The last piece, BOLLYWOOD HOPSCOTCH, is a well crafted group piece pointing out Bollywood's effect on the world's impression of what Indian dance is: contemporary movement, urban influence, layered with black-and-white Bollywood clips. Bollywood Hopscotch is a great way to end the evening, uplifting, fast paced, exciting and colorful –especially with the glo-necklaces from Six Flags glowing after the blackout! BRILLIANT!!
inDANCE is a great budding company, with an intelligent, well spoken, clear, concise, and creative choreographer. I expect to be seeing a great things and a great deal more of them and hopefully soon. For now though, they will be finishing their run at the Joyce Soho this weekend..... catch them before they head back to Canada.
Ok girls, you want a job in NYC, you better get your butts to class!
Tues night I had some cute seats at the Joyce Theatre in Chelsea to see The Parsons Dance Company. Those dancers are no joke! They were giving me extension, fierce feet, technique, and seamless partnering skills. They go beyond the expectations of your typical modern dancer with flawless double tours and grounded ponches. Each dancer has their own unique strength and style that they bring to Mr. David Parson's work.
The stage blasted wide open with a crazy fun piece called Swing Shift, choreographed back in 2003. A full company piece that filled the stage with beautiful movement, colors, motion and momentum. It was a sweet way to start off the night and introduce the ferociousness of the Parson dancers. It was a piece about form, which played around with space and formation with fun, flirty duets, excellently executed solos, and swirling group sections that swept through the stage. It was a total joy to watch and I totally got swept away with them.
The following duet, Ebben, was a painful excerpt from Parson’s new evening length EVOC collaboration (East Village Opera Company). It was a short little number. Kevin Ferguson simply stood on center facing upstage while his partner Abby Silva, performed her balancing act downstage of him. Watching her go from one, one legged position to the next, made the entire audience tense hoping she wouldn’t fall until finally her partner turned around, and did a couple of steps himself before the blackout. It was empty and the narrative was forced. The choreography was needlessly difficult and It made me glad I was there the night I was, because I couldn’t have sat through an entire evening of that.
Unfortunately the next piece, My Sweet Lord, started off basically the same way, a man center stage, doing nothing while a duet between two females danced around him. This time it was to Indian inspired music (think Bollywood meets the Hari Krishna... on a local college music station). After several minutes, the piece was mysteriously joined with George Harrison’s My Sweet Lord (the song) by the rest of the company, wearing basically the same thing they wore in Swing Shift. I was left totally confused. The first section had noting in common with the second and if he was going for meaningful eastern inspired modern dance, he shouldn’t have.
Intermission was great I went outside for a second, checked my messages, talked to some friends and looked through the press packet they gave me.
Then Act 2 happened. It didn’t get any better. Fill the Woods With Light started out promising with a solo light on a solo dancer, that turned into this clever little opening with only flash lights. I was back in it, yes i love this company.... only to be disappointed when it didn’t go anywhere. Twenty more minutes of random bits of dancing with random dancers following them around lighting them in random ways, some moments were brilliant, “like OMG throwing the flashlights only on the backdrop leaving everyone in silhouette, wow that was really cool”, but it didn’t make up for how bored I got waiting for it just to be over.
But all was not lost! Parson’s most famous piece, and for good reason, Caught, which he choreographed back in ’82, saved my night! If you are not already familiar with it, let me set the scene for you. Picture it, a gorgeous soloist and a strobe light. Miguel Quinones starts center stage (shirtless... and let me tell you, he wasn’t born, he was carved out of granite... i said CARVED!!!) So where was I? Oh yeah, Soloist center stage, then after he began dancing the strobe starts and continues to catch him mid air, in a menage, on diagonals, direct lines coming right at you.... it was so cool!!!! and not to mention Mr. Quinones is pure magic, besides the trick of the strobe, his lines are amazing, his fire on stage is unforgettable and he was enthralling to watch!
The closing piece of the evening was Shining Star, something the piece is not. The performers are full out and what saved me from leaving. I hate disco, and see no reason to set modern dance to it. Cheesy, corny, expected, boring and even when they have a moment of hand flipping choreo referencing Beyonce’s Single Ladies, I was still itching to shut off the music and ask the dancers to do something else. I loved watching them, but I didn’t love anything else.
The Shining Stars of the company however are the fearless Abby Silva, the magical Miquel Quinones, the gorgeous and seamless Julie Blume, the quicksilver Patty Foster, the unforgettable Kevin Ferguson, and Billy Smith, Zac Hammer, John Corsa, Eric Bourne, Sarah Braverman, and Natalie Lomonte who are all masters of their craft, beautiful technicians, and I look forward to seeing what else they can bring to deeper, more inspiring work.
Tuesday night in NYC was a snowy mess and the last thing any dance advocate wanted to do was to go and see modern dance; however, I am so glad I made it out. Buglisi Dance Theatre has some of the best dancers I have ever seen as well as some of the most unexpectedly, powerful works.
The show started with Frida (1998). A trio made up of the rightfully infamous force, Terese Capucilli, the gorgeous and unforgettable Helen Hansen, and the powerhouse Jeanene Winston. The three of these ladies make time stand still, make you forget yourself completely and they draw you into a world where you hold your breath, and leave you on the edge of your seat until the curtain comes down and you are left with the invaluable experience of watching the most brilliant and unique piece of moving art. It was one of the most captivating pieces of modern dance that I have had the pleasure of seeing. I think I actually made audible sounds during certain moments. It really was incredible! The costumes were flawless, and the dancers intention and focus were direct and never let you go for a second. The intensity of each women completely encapsulated the passion of Frida Kahlo's art, the reading of her letters and diary entries, while the women were dancing, left such an impression on me that I feel I could almost recite everything I heard. "I live on air and expect things as they come." The dancers movement all came from the very core of their bodies, I think I held my center the whole time I was watching them. I could literally go on for days about how despite the fact that the piece is basically 3 solos, is so well crafted that your eye always knows where to look, the lighting, the projections of Frida's work, every aspect so important, and so perfectly designed I was blown away! I am in LOVE!!!!
Then, as it always seems to happen to me, I fall in love too fast and too hard and find myself broken hearted: Interplay No. 9-1, a New York City premiere, and a total disappointment. After watching 3 masters of their craft give a mind blowing performance, out comes the high school dance squad for a skip in the gardens of Schonbrun (I'm not kidding, that's what it said in the program). I can't even begin to describe what this piece was missing. We will start with the dancers. At one point I was thumbing through the program in hopes to discover that these were, in fact, pre-professional dancers; but alas, they were not. I was surprised to find they were in fact company members of the same company that the three previous women were in. What a disparaging difference . . .
Anyway back to the piece. Remember that time when you were injured, but you still had to go to class to watch? Well remember how half way through barre you started to doze off, and tried fighting that feeling all the way through center adagio and managed to pull yourself together for the last few minutes of allegro? Right! That was me during this piece last night. It was like watching class, and to prove my opinion is right, before I even had a chance to say anything my friend I brought with me turned and said . . . . "What, is this 2nd period lyrical jazz class we're watching right now?" "No, just some kids in the park" was my reply, and I meant it; . . . but, at least at the park I could leave when I got bored . . . . which was 15 minutes ago.
Intermission. Some guy with antennas for eyebrows was name dropping for the entire time without letting me get a word in edgewise, and then proceeded to tell me what a nice conversation we just had, and if by conversation he meant he loved the monologue he just gave me..... then ok but otherwise, really??
Okay, I'm back in love again . . . . Suspended Women (2000). An extraordinary and moving work of art. 13 women running, suspending, falling and magically reappearing on another part of the stage to do it again and again. It was totally enthralling and hypnotizing. Imagine 13 beautiful women wearing 13 beautiful dresses, every color imaginable with petticoats and crinoline dancing together and in canon and in groups until you are dizzy and drunk on their perfection and beauty. Then there is a shift in the music, and 4 men appear and most of the women flee like ants. The men throw the remaining women around and around disappearing and reappearing and disappearing again, and the resurgence of the women is breath taking. The music and lights are the icing on this multi tiered delicious cake. I could have watched that piece for hours, and as the curtain fell I knew what it was like to be truly left wanting more; thus, I can only imagine that being Buglisi's point: women should always leave you wanting more . . . . . And they did! Phenomenal piece. Thank you Jacqulyn Buglisi for that experience.
The evening closed with Buglisi's World Premiere. Wild Mannequins & Wing Walkers. It started out very promising with an impressive opening design of smoke, hanging mannequins, dancers, in various positions on stage, striking a pose. The music begins followed by several women reading various pieces of text about the history of the female form. The text spoke about how after the civil war, to be overweight was fashionable and preferred and that being overweight represented wealth, so on and so forth. It was making a great statement on today's fashion industry and it's impact on the female form. Then all of a sudden, for no apparent reason that I or anyone else I spoke to could understand, the piece started talking about Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt. Now I understand their impact on women's history, but it felt random and unclear in its direction, and besides the direction of the piece, the choreography got strange too. Three duets all basically the same choreo, but sometimes together, sometimes in canon, I could never tell what was supposed to be happening. It got very muddled and unclear for me. It took some digestion. You know sometimes you see a piece and you need to think about it before you know if you like it? Well that is what this was for me, and I have thought about it and decided, no I didn't really like it. It lacked the focus, direction, and clarity that the other 2 pieces of strength had. It lacked any innovative choreography, and it didn't seem to follow through with the original theme. I was left a little confused.
Overall it was a good night of modern dance. I saw two amazing pieces that I will never forget, and, despite not liking the other 2 works, I would still go back and see them again. I have a great deal of respect for her work and her dancers. I am looking forward to seeing more of her older works AND newer works in the future.
One more note, I realize this blog/review is a bit of a departure from my other reviews, but Buglisi's work takes on much more serious concepts than that of Parsons or The Trocks, and, using phrases like OMG seemed a bit out of place when talking about this true artist's work . . . . But, don't worry. I'll be back with hairflips and LMAO soon enough! Thanks for reading and keep up the Pilates! You'll need it if you wanna audition for Buglisi Dance Theatre!
Photo by Nan Melville photo of "Frida"
iDANZ Critix Corner Official Dance Review by Dante Puleio Performance: Buglisi Dance Theatre Venue: Joyce Theatre, New York City Performance Date: February 3, 2009 www.iDANZOnline.com
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3 alt="Wu-Kang Chen, " src="http://idanznews.com/images/6/3/4/9/5/169609-159436/ballet%20tech%20dust_3.jpg" width=241 align=left border=0 ballet="ballet" dust?,="Dust?," tech ?="TECH ?"Uh oh, . . . the economy is not the only thing suffering right now. Eliot Feld’s Ballet Tech opened their season Wednesday night, with the “Mandance Project” at The Joyce Theatre in New York. The opening night gala consisted of three solos, two of which were premieres, the premiere ofSpaghetti Ballet, as well as a student performed Ballet Tech School Demonstration. Except for the Ballet Tech School Demonstration, I can't begin to tell you how long, boring, and ridiculous Wednesday night's Gala was. In fact it was such an event, that my friend that accompanied me made me promise I would never bring him to another dance concert.
The opening solo, Radiance, totally had promise. Let me set the scene for you: a long diagonal corridor of light from upstage right to downstage left, a tall and beautifully sculpted diva stands in her light in a form fitting purple dress with her long hair flowing down her back.... sounds pretty good right? Well, five minutes later, she's still improvising all these random floating arm gestures. She was literally bouncing around on stage like she was high and alone in her room. It ended up going nowhere; there was no development, no real consistent connection with the music, and even with her fierce penché, the piece was still a total disappointment.
On to the next solo, which took an exorbitant amount of time to set up, switching backdrops and such,Proverb, choreographed in 2004, starts with an equal amount of promise. A soloist, Wu-Kang Chen sits in his dance belt, in the dark, wearing a pair of gloves with 2 little flashlights in each palm. It’s dark, slow and mysterious; I am instantly drawn in. He begins to play with the idea of light, form, shadows and focus. It’s beautiful. The ideas of light he's exploring are so intriguing, and then he explores them again... and again... and again.... and yes... again. The piece would have been much more effective if it had left me wanting more.
Next, as I mentioned earlier, was the Ballet Tech School Demonstration. ADORABLE!! By far the most redeeming moment of the evening. The audience was giggling and enjoying themselves. They students were just great. That really says something that I would rather watch 8 year olds hop out of single pirouettes then watch the professionals doing... well the choreography they were given.
A welcomed intermission. . . .Thank God, I was sooooo starving.
The Spaghetti Ballet premiere was next on our plate. It’s too bad the piece made me hate pasta, western movies, and "1930's themed" spy games. This particular ballet (and I'm not sure what even makes it a ballet) was a dish topped with nonsense, onstage costume changes, no real dancing or choreography to speak of, and just random "ole" music, and oh ya, one more thing, AWFUL jokes spoken into a microphone that included audience participation. Ballet YECH!
I will say though, there were two moments that were pretty cool. There was this part where the lead character (who was a blind little girl in this particular section) dove into a bowl of spaghetti sitting on a little checkered table cloth, and kept diving in until all you saw were her little feet sticking out, clever and funny. The next scene I enjoyed was this section where the same lead character (who was now a sighted fabulous cosmopolitan woman in a cute little dress and heels) was visiting her lover on death row, thus beginning a beautiful pas de deux on a flexible rolling prison bar thingy. Unfortunately, after the lover got electrocuted in the chair, there's another on-stage costume change, the repetition of the first "cowboy walks into a bar joke," and the opening scene is recreated. I can't believe I made it through unscathed; I thought my friend was going to kill me!
Another 20 minute intermission. It is now past 10:15pm, and I am now past my patience threshold while they set up for the final solo,Dust. Now let me see how I can explain this so you get the full pic.... Do you remember the movie Mad Max and the ThunderDome ala Tina Turner and Mel Gibson? Well, the stage is turned into a huge screened-in cube. I'm thinking WWF. I mean at this point who knows. Well, during the set up, the tech crew painstakingly spread all this shredded paper that lines the floor of the cube. Fine. Lights. Fans. Go. Not so much. Soloist Wu enters the cube and takes twice as long just to gather all the paper back into the same pile the tech crew just spread out. If Feld was going for a build of anticipation, I would think the first 2 1/2 hours of the concert had that already. Fine. Soloist, pile, light and fan change. MAGIC. The papers go flying and it absolutely takes my breath away! It is amazing, but once again 10 minutes later, the soloist is rolling around, stopping, and laying over here, getting up taking the paper and throwing it over there, over and over again. Dust loses its effect because it just doesn’t go anywhere. Merciful blackout.
Now after reading all the material they give the press and after seeing the show, I am still unsure of what the "Mandance Project" is and what it’s relationship is to Ballet Tech and this evening’s performance. So to wrap this puppy up, I would have liked to see a better development of the individual pieces, in a shorter amount of time, a better paced program, and some actual dancing. I wanted to enjoy the evening but just could not get into the mindset behind any of the work; thus, I was left feeling a little angry and a little bored.
Mercuric Tidings, Scudorama, and Esplanade were the three pieces that were performed Friday Night at City Center.
The End.
Okay, just kidding, but my mother did teach me that if I didn't have anything nice to say, then no need to say anything at all; but as a reviewer, that would be rather difficult, and I would probably get fired for not turning in my review. So here it goes . . . .
The opening piece, Mercuric Tidings, originally performed in 1982, rings at a crossroads of Balanchine meets Martha Graham meets an angry costume designer. It was awkward to watch these brilliant dancers try and keep up with highly detailed choreography with Franz Schubert's speedy tempos from the excepts chosen from his Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 just racing by and trying to pull the dancers along with it. I spent most of the time feeling their struggle and none of the time enjoying it. Mercuric Tidings is a piece about form, content, speed, athleticism, and group movement. There are great some spatial relationships built into the choreography, and the dancers were working very hard to make them. The movement itself spoke of the classical Taylor rep, and the piece moved along quite well. It definitely followed the typical Taylor flow of form, meaning a fast section, a slow section and the finale fast section. Unfortunately this pattern was seen again in the following two pieces.
Scudorama was the next piece. Music by Clarence Jackson, this was first performed in 1963. It was an avant garde, audience alienating work that made me tired and made me never want to watch another modern dance piece ever again. On the other hand the dancers of the Taylor religion, I mean company are so committed to the movement, and if nothing else any dancer can appreciate the rigor and effort these phenomenal performers give to every piece good or not. As far as S cudorama goes I have very little to say, sort of like the piece.
Esplanade, first performed in 1975, and music of Bach was the highlight of the evening. I was fortunate enough to have performed this piece in college under the direction of Ruthie Andrien. I loved this piece then and I love it now, and to watch the experts perform it, a total pleasure! The costumes, although dated, still work beautifully. This piece starts with simple walking patterns, and as the piece progresses, so does the complexity of it. Walking turns into light jogs, into running, sprinting and leaping. Tender moments, and exhilarating passes. It is a fun piece, and it was so great to see after not having seen it in so many years (as if I'm 100 years old). Michelle Fleet, in the role Carolyn Adams originated, had big shoes to fill -and boy did she! Light on her feet and so much fun to watch, I was all about it!! She totally WERKED it out! YES!! The company looked gorgeous dancing this piece, and I have only good things to say about how well this piece still speaks after 34 years . . . a true masterpiece and beautifully performed.
Overall the concert was fine, and I was glad to see the company. I just wish the repertory I saw was a little more inspiring, a little more current, and less of an ode to the past. The dancers are in top form and look fantastic. I just left feeling a little, well . . . under-whelmed. (even though I don't think that is a real word, but you know what I mean!)
For more about the Company here is their web site:
The Paul Taylor Dance Company is presenting a phenomenal amount of repertory this season (about 18 pieces) from February 25 - March 15, 2009 at City Center in New York City. For dancers, it is a great opportunity get familiar with the Paul Taylor style and repertory. Make sure to check them out.
Mercuric Tidings Photography by Paul Goode Esplanade Photography by Lois Greenfield
Boys and Girls, gather around Daddy Dante and let me tell you of a time when dancers were human and dance pieces were filled with tiny little mistakes. Dancers occasionally would fall off their leg, or they might miss a step, or be out of time with the other dancers, and perform to music that was a melodious tune. That was a very long time ago. That time is no more!
Batsheva Dance Company has pioneered the entire face of contemporary dance and has created dancers that are able to perform with perfection and complete synchronization to abstract soundscapes, simple repetitions of counting to 10, and metallic screeching. Batsheva Dance is hot!
Finally I went to see a show and it wasn't snowing, raining, or in the middle of a hurricane or tornado watch; this time I just had to travel to Brooklyn . . . . Being in New York, my limits are constantly being tested. Wednesday night at BAM, Batsheva Dance Company brilliantly, and I reiterate, FLAWLESSLY performed Max. Max is an hour long piece of comprised of 10 dancers and a string of vignettes of group sec tions solos, duets, trios and so on. It is choreographed by the company's Artistic Director, Ohad Naharin and the music, or shall I say "sounds" and lack of it, by Maxim Waratt.
The evening's work starts off with the 5 couples scattered around the stage. The women are in grand plie, and the men are standing next to them. After about a minute of silence and no movement, all the women fall to one knee in absolute perfection, and so it begins! Each vignette seems to refer to classical vocabulary as a base, and then, they seem to grow beyond what would seem humanly possible. There are sections of movement that are so quick and physically instinctual that it doesn't seem possible that it is choreography at all, but very intense improv. The thing that messes you up though, is when you have six dancers all doing it together, you realize you are watching some of the most finely tuned dance machines in the dance world.
Speaking of machines, let's talk about how these divas and divos had no problem standing on one leg, pressing into relevé while doing crazy rond de jambes with the gesture leg without even the smallest of shakes that hit us all the second we see them on stage. I mean, sometimes, I can't even stand on both feet without shaking. Each dancer possessed strength I didn't know was possible . . . and their facility, OMFG! Back to ballet class and Pilates for me!
Okay lastly, I want to just briefly talk about the philosophy of the work. A friend that I spoke with after the show said she loved how there were no transitions -a section was over then a blackout, then the next section. Sometimes music married two sections through darkness and sometimes not. As I watched the piece progress over, what seemed to be a very short hour, I thought, this is what the future will be like. Art will say what it has to say without the extras. Max doesn't waste the audiences' time, or leave frivolous moments to needlessly linger on. It speaks briefly, loud and clear, "We are a strong community that work together and separately. We are individuals and we are a group, we are 1 and we are 10." The more I think about the piece, the deeper it goes, and the more it affects me. It was inspiring to be a witness to an important work that will shape the future of dance.
Batsheva Dance Company is a fierce collection of dancers giving you work that cannot be missed. For all you dancers out there, any and every chance you get to see them you must. There is no denying Maxwill belong to a list of dance works that will always be remembered and referred to as a piece that played a role in forming and inspiring the future generations of dance.
For more information, directions, and ticket prices, click here.
OMG!!!! Ok so remember that 1 time I went and saw "The Trocks" and fell in love???? well that was what happened to me Friday night at the Joyce Theatre in Chelsea!!
The place was totally packed and you could tell most of the people there were not "Trock" virgins like me! The party started with an announcement with the heaviest and funniest Russian accent warning us that dancers like Marina Plezegetovstageskaya... wait for it wait for it . . . . .now laugh and Minnie Van Driver will be appearing in various roles and informing us that the reason flash photography is forbidden is because it reminds the dancers of gunfire (since all of them have defected from communist regimes!) . . . well that had audience peeing themselves before the dancing even begun!
Then the house went dark, the music began, the curtain went up and suddenly I was a 7 year old girl seeing the ballet for the 1st time, and, since I am a professional male dancer in my 30's that was quite a leap! 2 1/2 hours of giddy, antsy, couldn't tear my eyes away, inappropriate clapping and hollering and joy was all I knew . . . I was a little embarrassed for myself uh oh!
The first of three acts was Act 2 of Giselle, and when Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis hilariously performed by Minne Van Driver, hit center stage and nailed that first ponche, I knew i was in for a fabulous night of dancing! Then Giselle, the beautiful Lariska Dumbchencko, appeared from her tomb, and she creeped out so perfectly turned out I thought for sure I was watching Julie Kent, well except for the mass of dark curly hair emerging from her corset. Anyway, the dancing and the storytelling was fluid and fun and a perfect way to be introduced to the magnificent all male Trockadero!
Act 2, of the night, was filled with a gorgeous duet from La Bayadere, (I think, the Russian accent that announced it in the beginning was a little too thick for this jersey boy, but stylistically it seemed so), then the swan solo with shedding feathers and all . . . I was cracking up . . . , and then Go for Barocco, a Balanchine inspired number. I can tell you those NYC Ballet girls better watch out, because those trinas ain't got nothing on these fierce fierce divas of the Trock! I am talking about, they gave me popped hips, over extended lines, crazy traveling patterns. They were just flawless with the play acting of the subtle competitiveness, that all you Balanchine girls know what I'm talking about, with the wacked out porte de bras and who's "2nd-besque" is higher . . . . incredible. Those dancers danced at each other and at us and all in perfect harmony. It really was so cool to watch dance, get lost, and forget to watch those divas for technical imperfections like I usually do, because I was just in awe of them!
And not to bore you with my zeal but the Third Act brought it home with a French styled Spanish themed Paquita which is an exploration of "the various possibilities of academic classical dance" and OMG I was LMAO, when I wasn't staring with my jaw on the floor. I mean feat after feat that any ballerina would kill to be able to do, not only did they show off all of the usual trina fiotes and en pointe balances (which were all accomplished with ease, coolness, and absolute perfection) but those girls also started jumping like the men they really are, just soaring on to the stage; they were giving me Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland all in one! And, again the acting, playing just as big a role as the technical brilliance. The cavalier flirting with a chorus girl while trying to partner the incomparable Olga Supphozova..... yep Supphozova... gotta love them! Following a series of masterful solos that were fun, flirty, and totally totally perfect, AAH! I could have died!
And, my last note i swear!!! . . . Just hold on . . . , the final curtain call of New York New York had me and the rest of the audience shouting and giving them the standing "O" they deserved. I have to say after seeing and doing the Nutcracker (UGH!!) (sorry Nutcracker fans but i mean come on...) every year since... well forever, it was refreshing to be inspired by something entirely new and fun!! I know in class on Monday I will be giving a little bit more after seeing those guys up there giving it there all!!!
Anyway so where ever you are, when the infamous "Trocks" hit your town GO SEE THEM!! And, until then please catch them at the Joyce Theatre in New York City in Chelsea until Jan 4th, 2009. Four stars to each of those amazing and unforgettable dancers!!!
OMG!!!!! THOSE DIVAS ARE FIERCE!!!
Ok so remember that 1 time I went and saw 