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To Fall, or not to Fall?
By: Jasper Cunneen
Dancing is something that comes naturally to most, if not all of us. It is our bodies moving to a certain rhythm and beat. It can be unpredictable and can range from sudden gestures to flowing movements. Dance is a form of expression like paintings, poetry, or songs. However, dancing is the most basic form of expression. We move everyday and our bodies tend to move different ways when we are feeling certain things. When dance becomes art is when it is sculpted and molded into a specific routine that portrays a message. The Fall for Dance Festival, running from September 17th-27th, was the perfect way to view dance as an art. The New York City Center hosted a different show each night, displaying a range of unique styles of dance but all remaining tied to modern dance. I was given the pleasure of witnessing five performances during my visit.
First up was The Suzanne Farrell Ballet’s Pithoprakta. This was my least favorite of the performances as I struggled to grasp the meaning of it. The music, by Iannis Xenakis, seemed incoherent and seemed like it had nothing to do with the dance. It sounded mechanical and random. Technically speaking, the dance was well done. Elisabeth Holowchuk and Matthew Prescott, the two lead dancers, did a nice job and were the only things that kept me slightly interested. Holly Hynes designed attractive, white costumes for the leads. The supporting dancers synced well with each other too. George Balanchine’s choreography was lacking and often confusing. My best guess is that is was a fight between two royalties (the lead dancers dressed in white) over the control of the people (the supporting dancers dressed in black) of their kingdom.
The second act was better than the first in that it had a clear story and a solid performance by the only dancer. Talia Paz doubled as artistic director and lead dancer in this Sharon Eyal choreographed piece entitled Love. Paz, wearing a simple outfit by Dalia Lider, was flawless as she portrayed a woman going through all of the ups and downs of love. She had a beautiful presence moving around the stage, blending fluid movements with sharp ones. The performance was enhanced by the wonderful music of Lisa Germano. The clear message of love was present throughout.
Artistic directors Martin & Facundo Lombard premiered their Lombard Play Piazzolla – The Dance Concert. The two brothers choreographed and performed the dance and did it in fantastic fashion. What made this dance so different was the presence of a band on stage. The band expertly played an exciting tune by Astor Piazzolla. Martin and Facundo had great solos that showed off there astounding talent. Their duet was spectacular as they matched each other move for move in a very fast paced piece that had tones of hip-hop and street dance mixed with modern.
The fourth dance was forgettable. The Kate Weare Company premiered The Light Has Not the Arms to Carry Us. As with Pithoprakta, I couldn’t quite understand the message of the Kate Weare choreographed piece. The music, by Wolfgang Capellari and Gerard Pesson, didn’t have as much presence as it had in the previous two performances. The Leslie Kraus solo was interesting but the presence of the other two dancers distracted me from her performance. The duet by Douglas Gillespie and Kate Weare was good but not great. There was a couple times when both dancers were not completely in unison.
The last performance was one of my favorites of the night. The renowned artistic director Garth Fagan was in attendance for his own choreographed piece, From Before. I loved Fagan’s use of color in this dance. The different colors gave each dancer their own individuality. My eyes were left mesmerized when all of the dancers were on stage at once. Norwood Pennewell and Nicolette Depass were not your typical lead dancers. It was not obvious that they were the leads because Fagan balanced all of the dancers magnificently. It was Ralph MacDonald’s music that really brought everything together. Riddled with African undertones, his hopeful melody and steady beats gave life to the dancers and even spread into the audience.
The hour and a half presentation by the Fall For Dance Festival included enlightening performances overall. The different styles of dance shown were all unique and there is clear talent among all of the performers. Modern dance, highlighted in each performance, is very powerful. It is using the body as an extension of the soul.
Each Fall season, dance lovers come together to enjoy the annual Fall for Dance festival. Costing a mere ten dollars per ticket, this event gives its audience a taste of styles and companies from around the world. If you enjoy a variety of dances, this event is for you. If you only like specific types of dances, this is perfectly fine too; if you do not like what you are seeing, simply wait ten minutes for another performance.
The specific companies performing vary from night to night. It is therefore possible to go to the six different programs spanning the course of ten days this year. The agenda for Thursday September 25th started with “Pithoprakta” by the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, followed by “Love” by Talia Paz, “Lombard Play Piazzolla – The Dance Concert” by the Lombard Twins, “The Light Has Not the Arms to Carry Us” by the Kate Weare Company and finally, “From Before” by the Garth Fagan Dance.
“Pithoprakta,” choreographed by George Balanchine, is described as “action by probabilities,” but there is no sense of that throughout the entire performance. Elegance and poise in tradition ballet were no where on the stage. Instead, dancers in black were everywhere, with what seemed to be random bursts of exaggerated helplessness and overexcited gestures. The whole dance consisted of the lead dancers, Elizabeth Holowchuk and Matthew Prescott, who were dressed in white, coming together and being separated again. It was awkward and unnecessary repetition.
As I did not enjoy “Pithoprakta,” I waited and itched for the next performance. This, however, was not worth my time. Choreographed by Sharon Eyal, this dance was supposed to capture the journey through pain, joy, and unity, but the only emotion it evoked was pain. The annoying music by Lisa Germano takes away from the solo performance of artistic director Talia Paz in an excerpt of “Love.” The slow tempo of the song sets the sad mood of the dance. Usually, thoughtful things are done with silence and stillness, but this was not the case.
Luckily, the world premiere of the “Lombard Play Piazzolla – the Dance Concert” did indeed turn things around. With its live band, the tango music by Astor Piazzolla added the perfect touch to the upbeat dancing. Although the dance did not fit the tradition description of “street dance and hip-hop,” the Lombard Twins, artistic directors and choreographers Martin and Facundo, were entertaining, appealing, and compassionate.
The other world premiere, “the Light Has Not the Arms to Carry Us,” by the Kate Weare Company was a different story. There was a solo by Leslie Kraus followed by a duet by Douglass Gillespie and artistic director and choreographer Kate Weare. The dance was about relationships, but it made me want to dismiss love as a subject because it lacked the spark usually associated with this emotion.
The night ends with Garth Fagan’s “From Before.” It successfully extracts the essence of African and Caribbean dance. The metallic bright jumpsuits designed by Garth Fagan himself added to the liveliness of the culture. Each dancer had a different move, and there are constant, drastic changes in rhythm and dynamic, but each individual was easily incorporated into the entirety of the performance. The intimacy of the members in group radiates from their dance. This was shown when they pulled Garth Fagan onto stage after the dance, marking the end of the excerpt, as well as the program.
During the Fall for Dance festival, dance companies come together to forge professional identities into the minds of audiences divergent from usual fans. While some might come for such a worthy cause, I would not have done so. Despite its name, the festival certainly did not make me fall for dance; instead, it almost made me fall asleep.
The Fall for Dance took place this year from September 17th to 27th at City Center, 131 West 55th Street in Manhattan.
Carissa Dech
Daniel Dvorin
IDC
Fall For Dance Review: September 25, 2008
“Five Step Deluxe: The Sheer Joy of Dance”
Modern dance incorporated with ballet is a bizarre but interesting mix of dance styles, resulting in a fascinating production. The goal of the Fall for Dance festival is to introduce dance to new audiences. However, the audience that is present ranges from students viewing a dance production for the first time to expert dancers and choreographers. The show consists of five dances, each very different from each other.
The first performance, Pithoprakta, was a completely eccentric dance whose music, choreography, and visual effects had no association. The backdrop consisted of a black and white coordinate plane with ink smudges spanning from left to right. Instead of a beautiful composition, the music was similar to spunk rock, music made with household items instead of instruments. The choreography included seven women and five men dressed in black, rolling around the floor as auxiliary dancers. The lead dancers, Elisabeth Holowchuk and Matthew Prescott, dressed in white, were creative and expressive in the style they danced.
The dance following, an excerpt from Love, was a solo performance by Talia Paz. Although each dance is very different from the one prior, directly comparing this to Pithoprakta; the music was more fitting to the dance, and there was more emotion and love in her recital.
The Lombard Twins are back with the amazing world premiere, Lombard Play Piazzolla – The Dance Concert. Instead of a generic visual backdrop, the two brothers had a live orchestra on stage, which they used as the layout of their canvas. The passion that these brothers put into their dance is evident in the sync of their dance as well as their reaction to a huge crowd in City Center applauding them insanely. This dance, inspired by street dance and hip-hop, was a wonderful fusion of Piazzolla’s compositions and the Lomard Twins’ ability to turn music into visual art.
The Kate Weare Company was an entertaining production with very peculiar structure. It started with a solo by Leslie Kraus and then transitioned into a duet by Douglas Gillespie and Kate Weare. The solo and the duet had no connection. One thing I really like was the incorporation of lighting effects. In the solo, the light was in forms of boxes following Kraus as she progressed from the background to the foreground of the stage. When the duet was on stage, the lighting switched to fit the music and theme of their dance.
The finale was an extensive Afro-Caribbean dance choreographed by Garth Fagan. The elements of modern ideas and traditional culture were merged as the 12 dancers flowed through the stage. At one point, all the dancers splashed onto the stage in an array of colors. The dancers’ costumes differed by an assortment of colors. The colors mixed with the magnitude of dancers gave off a very impressionable memory.
Fall for Dance is a dance festival that has been going on annually from 2004. City Center’s successful festival is priced at $10 a ticket for all seats. This year, Fall for Dance continues through September 27, 2008 at City Center.
