Tag: Eran Bugge

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Paul Taylor Dance

Don’t miss Paul Taylor Dance, at the Lincoln Center until November 17!!!

Three wonderful performances this evening.

“Brief Encounters” is lively, at times structured but more often random, as if walking through the streets of Manhattan. “Scudorama” is eccentric and strange. Yet, it’s so weird that it captured my full attention, lest I blink and miss the next surprise.

I had wanted to see the show tonight because of “Company B”, one of my favorite Paul Taylor choreographies. With the changing of the guard, several of the roles are now danced by different company members, and the piece is just as amazing as I had remembered it.

The social dancer inside of me just LOOOVE the polka by Kristin Draucker and Michael Apuzzo. I enjoyed the playfulness in “Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!” by Lee Duveneck and the cast women, and “Rum and Coca-Cola” by Eran Bugge and the cast men. I also love the emotional scenes “I Can Dream, Can’t I” by Parisa Khobdeh and “There Will Never Be Another You” by Heather McGinley.

Also, a big thank you to Michelle Fleet for a fun backstage tour!

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Icons Night

“Icons Night” presented by Paul Taylor American Modern Dance featuring Trisha Brown and Isadora Duncan. What a wonderful evening!!!

“Esplanade” by the Paul Taylor Dance Company was absolutely stunning.

I’ve seen the piece before, but watching it from first row orchestra was a completely different experience. It was incredible to see the facial expressions on the dancers, and to be only feet away from the the amazing actions.

In the opening scene, with much energy and spirit, eight dancers ran in circles, skipped, rolled, flew across the stage, and weaved in and out of intricate patterns. I love not just the exuberance of the individual dancers but also the connection between them, as they created the most happy and uplifting experience on stage… a celebration… a festival… devoted to the joy of dance.

Michelle Fleet opened (and later closed) the choreography. Overflowing with positive energy, her body language said to the audience: Don’t you blink and miss a single moment!!! With a big smile and much warmth, Eran Bugge welcomed the audience, invited us to join the celebration, and experience the joy of dance together with the dancers. The mood on stage eventually changed, and Heather McGinley brought intense emotions into the piece.

Saving the best for the last, the final scene of Esplanade was a non-stop sequence of stunning movements, aerials, runs followed by slides across half of the stage, spectacular leaps and sensational mid-air catches.

The most incredible thing about the closing sequence (and why I looooove this company) is that all the movements were initiated from the center of the body. The dancers fell into the movements as if pulled by gravity. Unlike ballet, where dancers fight gravity in order to stay balanced, stand tall, and take off from the ground, here the Paul Taylor dancers “simply” let gravity take over. Their movements looked remarkably natural. Yet, as they were pulled off balanced, they gained so much momentum that they were able to zoom across the stage, propel themselves into the air, throw themselves onto the ground, into each other, and bounce right back… and not hurt themselves!

As I watched “Set and Reset” by Trisha Brown for a second time tonight, the choreography grew on me. I still loved the overall feel of the piece: fluid, dynamic, organic. Being able to see the dancers’ expressions, how they relate to one another, made me appreciate the piece so much more. The beauty of the piece, much of it in the subtle details of how the dancers interacted rather than the overall patterns, came pouring out tonight. Bravos to the Trisha Brown Dance Company for a lovely performance!!

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Roses

A fabulous Sunday afternoon with Paul Taylor American Modern Dance and the Paul Taylor Dance Company at the Lincoln Center.

I loved “Roses” and enjoyed seeing “Mercuric Tidings” again. The program also featured a new contemporary work, much darker in theme, titled “Half Life.”

Roses is so gooooorgeous! Thanks, Madelyn, for the recommendation. The piece featured six couples playfully dancing with each other, and was filled unique moments that were equally fun to watch as they were (as I imagine in my mind) equally fun to dance.

I love the duet between Madelyn Ho and Michael Novak and the short duet between Kristin Draucker and Michael Apuzzo that followed, especially when the couples leaped through and flipped around each other.

I love how Madelyn and Eran Bugge flew around their respective Michaels.

I also love how Heather McGinley and Eran connected with Sean Mahoney and Michael Trusnovec including (this may sound completely crazy) the brief moments when Heather and Eran created a bubble with their two arms and Sean and Michael popped the bubbles. Such small gestures could say so much when beautifully executed.

Throughout the choreography, the five couples, dressed in grey and black, took turns to dance. As they finally came to a stop, I remembered saying to myself: Oh, this piece is so lovely. Please don’t let it end!!!

Right at that moment, as if on cue, Eran and Michael, dressed in all white, came dashing onto stage and put on a grand finale. Well done. What a way to build up and finish the piece.

Looking forward to tonight’s American Modern Icons program featuring Trisha Brown, Isadora Duncan, and Paul Taylor’s own “Esplanade”!

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Eventide

Paul Taylor Dance Company: Absolutely Wonderful performance tonight on my first of five (or more!) visits to their season at the Lincoln Center.

Absolute looooovoed “Eventide”!!! The choreography tells the stories of five couples.

I love the emotions and the human experience in the stories. The beautiful bond between Jamie Rae Walker and Sean Mahoney in “Christmas Dance.” The exuberant, affectionate, honeymoon-like “Moto Perpetuo” filled with dynamic movements between Heather McGinley and Michael Novak. The elusive love, the missed connection between Eran Bugge and Robert Kleinendorst. The care for each other, but also the heavy weight in the relationship between Parisa Khobdeh and Michael Trusnovec.

I also love the movements, which included numerous steps from historical and social dancing (e.g., polka mazurka!), elegantly choreographed into the narratives, and beautifully executed on stage.

As a dance photographer, I thought the lines in Eventide were goooorgeous. The lifts, dips, arm and leg extensions, couples coming together, spinning around each other, the facial expressions, the connections, the patterns created by five couples. The choreography is filled with moments after moments that would make a stunning photo.

Closing the night, “Mercuric Tidings” was powerful, energetic, filled with amazing leaps and turns. Its plotless “music visualization” was a huge contrast to Eventide that preceded it.

Opening the night, “Set and Reset” by the Trisha Brown Dance Company was lovely in its opening scene. I loved how fluid the piece felt. The dancers moved freely across the stage, gently connected as they passed each other, spun around each other, and from time to time, effortlessly lifted each other into the air. The choreography became somewhat repetitive in the second half though, and I never quite got the connection between the movements and the four overhead video projections.

Overall though, it was a wonderful program. Can’t wait to go back again tomorrow for the TaylorNext Night!

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Rum and Coca-Cola

Paul Taylor American Modern Dance presents “Company B”

We were treated to hit songs of the 1940s including “Rum and Coca-Cola” by the Andrews Sisters. The song lyrics, based on a calypso (not the jump but a style of Afro-Caribbean poetry), tell the stories of American G.I.s in Trinidad. Accompanied by the Duchess‘s singing, here’s the amazing Eran Bugge and the boys!

“Company B”
Choreography: Paul Taylor
Dancers: Eran Bugge and the Paul Taylor Dance Company
Photography: Jason Chuang







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Company B

The Paul Taylor Dance Company accompanied by the Duchess at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival on Friday.

With the Duchess performing songs of the Andrews Sisters, the Paul Taylor Dance Company put on “Company B,” a choreography set in the 1940s swing era as the United States emerged from the Great Depression and drawn into World War II.

Comprised of ten parts, each section of “Company B” tells a different story of the nation. Starting with youths jubilantly dancing the lindy hop, jitterbug, and polkas… we were then treated to hit songs of the era (“Tico Tico” and “Rum and Coca-Cola”)… before the storyline moved onto young lovers separated by war (“I Can Dream, Can’t I?”) and the heartbreak of losing a loved one (“There Will Never Be Another You”). As we watched Heather McGinley mourn on stage, we couldn’t help but feel for what the 1940s generation had gone through in a turbulent era.

“Company B – Bei Mir Bist du Schön”
Choreography: Paul Taylor
Dancers: Robert Kleinedorst, James Samson, Parisa Khobdeh, Sean Mahoney, Eran Bugge, Francisco Graciano, Laura Halzack, Michael Apuzzo, Michael Novak, Heather McGinley, George Smallwood, Christina Lynch Markham, Madelyn Ho, Kristin Draucker
Photography: Jason Chuang

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Airs

The Paul Taylor Dance Company performed at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival on Friday.

“Airs” is a happy, dynamic, and energetic choreography filled with jumps, lifts, and fluid movements meant to represent the air and water. Paul Taylor paints the stage with his dancers as gusts of wind, eddies in the river, clouds in the air. Everything is smooth and ever changing — like spending a day out in the nature, or like nature itself.

“Airs”
Choreography: Paul Taylor
Dancers: Michael Trusnovec, Robert Kleinendorst, George Smallwood, Michelle Fleet, Eran Bugge, Laura Halzack, Parisa Khobdeh
Photography: Jason Chuang