Category: The Joyce Theater

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Dorrance Dance

Dorrance Dance is performing at the Joyce Theater until December 31st.

I don’t think Michelle Dorrance Michelle Dorrance needs any introduction! Her show last night ended with the same choreography, Myelination, as it did at Fall for Dance in October. My favorite, though, goes to the opening choreography “Until the Real Thing Comes Along (A Letter to Ourselves).”

The piece is choreographed, performed, and improvised by four dancers: Michelle, Melinda Sullivan Melinda Sullivan, Josette Wiggan-Freund Josette Wiggan-Freund, and Jillian Meyers.

It was so much fun watching the four SUPER talented dancers play with each other and enjoy themselves on stage: Experimenting with rhythms, costumes, mustashe, coordinate moves, as well as spectacular solos. WOW! JUST WOW to Michelle’s solo!!! 😍 Also, I first saw Melinda in Postmodern Jukebox‘s Umbrella, and have been following the Sole Sisters ever since. It’s AMAZING to see Melinda perform in person! 😘

At the post-show curtain chat, Michelle described her vision to foster a collaborative environment where every dancer in her company can express their voice. It was wonderful to see her leadership, her philosophy of treating her dancers as her equals, and to see the resulting work from such a creative process.

In today’s patriarchal and oligarchical society, where so much is owned, controlled, and dictated by a few men, I can’t express how glad I am to see these four strong women stand up, demonstrate, and prove a different vision. BRAVOS!!!

By chance, I’ll have an opportunity to attend an open rehearsal with Dorrance Dance next week. Look forward to seeing more of how Michelle works with her dancers. 😀

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Trisha Brown Dance Company

Trisha Brown Dance Company at the Joyce Theater.

I’ve been waiting for this show since I last saw Trisha Brown at Fall for Dance!

A theme of modern dance is weight shifts. In all three choreographies today, Trisha explored and pushed the boundary of not just weight shifts by a dancer but weight sharing between dancers. She showed us smooth, beautiful, and elegant transitions, lifts, counterbalances, and dynamics — that felt both natural and surprising. Natural because the dancers moved as if they were guided by nothing other than gravity. Surprising because the gentle gravity built up to powerful momentum, and momentum shifted seamlessly from dancer to dancer.

I love her use of groups of dancers, especially the section when all ten company dancers moved together in “Groove and Countermove”. The dancers were never in sync, yet they were keenly aware of each other’s presence, moved with each other, as if all ten bodies were connected as one.

I also enjoyed the small section in “L’amour au Théâtre” when Cecily Campbell, Kimberly, Leah Ives, and Amanda Kmett’Pendry formed beautiful visuals and patterns.

The flutist in “Geometry of Quiet” did an incredible job supplementing the movements with unusual sounds that resembled heavy breathing, among other notes. Other than being unusual, however, I didn’t feel the music contributed significantly to the choreography.

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Liz Gerring Dance Company

Lovely performance by the Liz Gerring Dance Company at the Joyce Theater this Friday.

Dance speaks to everyone in different ways. Lately, I’ve been wondering, asking, and paying extra attention to how people think of “movement versus music.”

Tonight’s post-show discussion was particuarly interesting, because Liz Gerring answered an audience question just as how I would have. It was astonishing, almost bewildering, listening to Liz articulate her experience, when her answer *exactly* matches how I personally experience dance.

“Which comes first? Choreography or music?”

Liz answers that she thinks of music as support. She enjoys how music sounds, and enjoys her 30-year working relationship with Michael Schumacher, the resident composer of her company. However, music should be an element to the visual picture without interfering. She enjoys creating her work without having to follow a certain beat.

Her philosophy definitely came through in tonight’s presentation of “Horizon” — in the distinct movement language that Liz has constructed, and in the physicality and boldness of the dancers’ movements.

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More Star Dust

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.”

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Star Dust by Complexions

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!!!

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Complexions Ballet

​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.”

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Garth Fagan Dance

“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.

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Dresden Semperoper Ballett

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!

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Tero Saarinen Company

​Tero Saarinen Company at the Joyce Theater.

One of the more polarizing and abstract performances I’ve seen. As I sat in the 7th row of the theater, I counted at least 5 audience members in front of me who (in the middle of the show) stood up and walked out.

At least to me, the abstractness wasn’t the issue. I didn’t particularly enjoy the execution, but I was mostly bothered by the content.

Tero Saarinen explained at the curtain chat that “Morphed” as performed by 7 male dancers is about masculinity. More specifically, in his own words, there are “too many numb angry men in the world.” He wants to show that men can have sensuality and sensitivity, that these “weakness” can actually make men stronger, even though it’s often hard for men to be fragile. A sizable group stayed for the post-performance talkback, and were enthusiastic about the discussion.

However, here’s my main objection to the show. I’m so sick and tired of even hearing about these “male roles” perpetuated by a patriarchal society.

Alexandra Petri wrote in her opinion piece in the Washington Post yesterday, in response to the Harvey Weinstein sexual assaults: “I am sick of having to suffer so a man can grow. … I am not the one who should be ashamed that you [Harvey Weinstein and the likes] have done these things. I am not here to make you see the error of your ways. I am here to get through my life every day without inhaling thick lungfuls of smoke.”

Coincidentally, tonight’s performance was momentarily interrupted and delayed because of a medical emergency when a man had a seizure. During the curtain chat, an audience member near the man recalled the incident and described him as “the stereotypical New Yorker on a date, aggressive, and possibly intoxicated.” The wording including “stereotypical” was hers, not mine. The adjectives associated with the stereotypical men on a date in New York were interesting to note, if not upsetting.

Despite being unconscious when the house lights first came on, and then slumping into his seats twice, the man was still disobeying the Joyce Theatre (female) staff’s directions — while she was on the call with 911, relaying messages from operator, trying to save his life). When the NYFD arrived a few minutes later, he had regained some strength, and decided to push his way past the first respondents, leaving the medical personnels stunned — standing alone in the middle of the theater with their stretcher and first aid kits on their hands. Well done, sir! What a great display of your masculinity! What a waste of 15 minutes of 400+ people’s time, critical medical resources, and care from the Joyce Theater staff.

I’m sorry that I stayed for the whole show. Should not have wasted 90 minutes for these “men” to grow up and be a useful member of the society.