nyc.dancr
Just have to see the incredible Complexions Ballet and Star Dust one more time. Thank you, and congrats on a wonderful Joyce season!
Kate, the audience member sitting next to me, summarized the performance perfectly in one sentence: “Wow. That’s the most amazing dance I have EVER seen.”
Star Dust by Complexions Ballet. One of my all-time favorites!!!
Set to chart-topping songs by David Bowie, Star Dust is not just a stunning ballet but an unforgettable rock concert.
The mood of a dazzling and glistening show is set, as soon as the curtain draws open, with the company standing tall as silhouettes against a backdrop of laser lights and disco balls.
I get the goosebumps listening to Brandon Gray sing “Lazarus” accompanied by gorgeous ballet. Energy and excitement build up. Brandon morphs into Andrew Brader in “Change”. Shanna Irwin strolls across the stage, in pointe with poise and attitude, foreshadowing what’s to come in “Space Oddity”. The audience goes wild (every time), when Addison Ector takes center stage in pointe. The beautiful and playful ballet up to this point now turns into powerful commanding movements. Each later song brings its own emotion and character onto stage: youthfulness and spirit in “1984”, humanity and kindness in “Heroes”, dynamism in “Modern Love”. The show always feels way too short, when the company dances their heart out in “Young Americans” to close the performance. Bravos!!!
17c at BAM on Saturday night involved significantly more reading (of select text from a 17th century diary) than dancing (which lasted only a few minutes).
The show made heavy of multimedia engagement, including presentation (e.g., six large LCD displays on either side of the stage, a large projector display onto the stage) as well as live streaming (e.g., overhead and point-of-view cameras).
However, the additional pixels didn’t add much to the production, were distracting at best, and in a few cases, undermined the live performance.
For example, displaying the text “they are dancing about their relationship” on the six large LCD screens as a husband and wife danced… (1) felt distracting; (2) made me wonder if the dancing was so empty that it must be supplemented by text to explicitly describe what the dancing meant; (3) took away my ability to interpret the dance; and (4) as a result, made the dancing feel completely empty.
Second evening of Complexions Ballet at the Joyce Theater, with the Joyce Young Leaders Circle and a post-show reception with the dancers on Friday night.
Can’t wait for next week and watching all the gorgeous dancers rock it on stage with “Stardust”!!! You don’t want to miss the concert!
Go and see Complexions Ballet at the Joyce Theater until Sunday November 26th!
Congrats to Eriko Sugimura on debutting as a member of Complexions in New York City.
Complexion’s program for week one includes four premieres by four different choreographers. I especially enjoyed the contemporary piece “Summertime” and its emotional buildup, as choreographed by Dee Daspary and performed by Andrew Brader, Larissa Gerszke, and Youngsil Kim. Shanna Irwin and Addison Ector were beautiful in Ido Tadmor’s “Postponed Conversation”. I also like “Duo” which followed Dwight Rhoden’s beautiful lines and aesthetics of tall and elegant dancers.
Three things I learnt from Wednesday night’s curtain chat.
Desmond Richardson’s biggest piece of advice to dancers: “Dance needs to come from your heart. Have an experience dancing, and we (the audience) will have an experience watching you.”
Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson choreograph for SYTYCD. Contestants on the show have only five hours to learn, rehearse, and put everything together! :O
The official name for the company is “Complexions, a Concept in Dance” and its mission is to “expose society to the beauty of dance and to use dance as a medium to exemplify cultural, racial and aesthetic diversity.”
Great to see Moe Suzuki, Lauren Wolter, Emily Dimmock Pelaez perform tonight at the Voices & Visions Contemporary Dance Showcase at the Alvin Ailey Theater. Congrats on a lovely show!
I especially enjoyed “Onward” by Kristin Sudeikis (filled with energy, just like the title of piece) and “Between You and Me” by Juan Rodriguez (incidentally, class tomorrow night with Juan. Yay!!!).
“Find the good and praise it.”
What a treat tonight with Garth Fagan Dance at the Joyce Theater filled with positive energy, strength, and beauty.
I was impressed by Garth Fagan’s philosophy. From the curtain chat:
“In acting, music, painting, we revere the older artists. Why the reverse in dance?” The oldest member of his company, Steve Humphrey, is still performing at 65.
Equality. Men and women dance the same way in his company. Women jump as men do, and don’t wait for the prince to come.
Opening tonight’s performance, “Prelude” started out with dancers stretching, as if warming for a dance class. The movements gradually built up to form explosive leaps and kicks. The dynamic sequences were interlaced with stillness. Everything was performed with a smooth and relaxed style. Altogether, “Prelude” which Garth Fagan created to help introduce his new dancers, is a fascinating juxtapose of power and beauty.
“Estrogen/Genius” is a lovely work with five women dancing, playing, and enjoying each other’s company. In keeping with the themes of equality and positivity, the dance is accompanied by the voice of seven men singing about healing and saying positive things about their female counterpart.
“Wecoo Duende”, choreographed by Norwood Pennewell, is yet another dance filled with positivity about an alluring spiritual guide taking a people through a spirit quest.
“Life: Dark/Light”, capping the show, combined all the amazing elements of the night into one work. It’s fun, dynamic, and powerful. The dancers began the piece with a seemingly unremarkable walk, back and forth across the stage. Yet, surprises started to pop up. The energy and emotions continuously built up until the stage was filled with stunning movements.
Finally, the costumes for “Life: Dark/Light” — colorful patterns under a thin layer of white — perfectly reflected tonight’s dance: Subtle, humble, and yet unmistakably beautiful.
Bravos to all the dancers: Norwood Pennewell, Steve Humphrey, Natalie Rogers, Vitolio Jeune, Guy Thorne, Wynton Rice, Adriene B. Hodge, Andrew David O’Brian, Davente Gilreath, Sarah Herbert, Nina Price, Le’Tiger DeAnte’ Walker, Rishell Maxwell.
Ashley Shaw was amazing in the Red Shoes, with gorgeous techniques and a potent personality that wooed the audience.
I’ve seen snippets of Matthew Bourne’s work online, but it’s a whole difference experience to watch two hours of dance theatre. I especially enjoyed how he created several highly detailed scenes without any spoken words. For example, Lady Neston’s Soiree (portraying boredom and dullness in a theatrical way).
The show has some nifty fusion of social and concert dance — combining “real world” swing and jazz-era movements with the beautiful lines of concert jazz dances.
Dresden Semperoper Ballett at the Joyce Theater: a lovely performance and an educational curtain chat.
My favorites tonight go to both of David Dawson’s choreographies. The U.S. premier of “5” is lively and dynamic. The five dancers not only filled the stage and appeared to jump out of the stage at times, with the incredible amount of energy they had. I enjoyed the playfulness of the dancers and their interactions with the audience, especially by the lead dancer Alice Mariani. “On the nature of daylight” is also playful, with fun lifts while turning. The U.S. premier of “Vertigo Maze” has a satisfying sense of synchronization, partnering, mirroring amongst the dancers, that escape my ability to describe/articulate in words.
Three things I learnt from tonight’s curtain chat with Dresden Semperoper Ballett.
The difference in funding in Germany vs. U.S. (rather, the lack of funding in the U.S.) means that while Dresden Semporeoper Ballett still needs to fill the house (they’re 93% soldout yearly), they can take greater risks in programming and allow dancers to explore and immerse in many different styles. From Gaga to Martha Graham. From performing modern dance one night to Swan Lake the next.
The company advocates an open culture. Artistic director Aaron Sean Watkin describes his philosophy as treating every dancer like an adult, as a person, and not just an extra dancer. By instilling confidence in the dancers, they become more pro-active in their learning. Dancers should be thinking and filling their minds with information, and be more mentally than physically tired. I like the philosophy!
Finally, I also learnt something new about the Germans. Germans love to learn the ideas behind a piece of choreography, and seek out the program notes!
iPhone X has arrived at the newest Apple Store in Manhattan!!! 😉
This is why we live in New York City! Build a (fake) Apple Store. Put on a show. Delight random strangers on the streets. Add unexpected surprises and laughters to a busy subway station. A fun-filled day with Improv Everywhere.
Check out the full mission report!
Directed by Charlie Todd / Produced by Deverge / Music by Tyler Walker
For our latest mission, we turned the 23rd Street 6-train elevator into New York’’s newest Apple Store. We placed giant Apple logos on the sides of the glass cube structure, added fake Apple Store employees plus a line of 50 people waiting for the new iPhone X. With the famous 5th Avenue Apple Store under construction, we felt NYC needed a new glass cube Apple Store.