Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Stephen Petronio Company’s BLOODLINES continues to explore dance heritage via Cunningham, Perez, and a new Petronio

• By drediman
• April 13, 2019
• No Comments

Stephen Petronio Company performs its fifth edition of “Bloodlines” at NYU Skirball.

Just for a handful of performances at NYU Skirball (the final performance is tonight), Stephen Petronio Company continues to explore American dance heritage via its ambitious and uncommonly satisfying multi-year project, Bloodlines. Launched in the 2014-2015 season, the ambitious and thoughtfully-curated project so far has resuscitated works by icons of American postmodern dance such as Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown, Anna Halprin, Yvonne Rainer, and Steve Paxton. For this fifth iteration, it can add Rudy Perez to the list.

The program got off to a tantalizing start with the gently compelling “Tread” (1970) choreographed by the late, great Mr. Cunningham, who is currently in the midst of an elaborate set of centennial celebrations. The piece is quintessential Cunningham, as exemplified by its sensitive focus on form, line, and spacial relationships. For purity of vision, no one still quite does it like Mr. Cunningham. The evening continued with Mr. Perez’s solo dance “Coverage” (also from 1970), an amusing examination of American masculinity that provided a robust counterpoint to Mr. Cunningham’s objectivism. The program ended with the world premiere of “American Landscapes”, Mr. Petronio’s soulful meditation on America’s current multi-faceted identity.

This year’s edition of Bloodlines was assembled with careful consideration (many dance performances seem randomly stitched together), to Mr. Petronio’s great credit. Indeed, the fact that the evening concluded with “American Landscapes” seemed totally logical – I observed the clear influence of both Cunningham and Perez on the new work. As for the dancers, they’re fantastic. Onstage, they relished the opportunity to study their dance lineage by lovingly breathing new life into important past works by American masters. Their versatility and discipline impressed me.

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STEPHEN PETRONIO COMPANY: BLOODLINES
Dance
NYU Skirball
1 hour, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
April 13