THE HANGOVER REPORT – CCN BALLET DE LORRAINE returns to New York with a pair of intriguing, large scale North American premieres

CCN Ballet de Lorraine performs Miguel Gutierrez’s “Cela Nous Concerne Tous (This Concerns All of Us)” at NYU Skirball.

Last night saw the return of CCN Ballet de Lorraine to New York. Performing at NYU Skirball for two shows only (tonight is the second and final performance), the acclaimed contemporary European dance company unveiled a pair of intriguing, large scale North American premieres – one co-choreographed by Petter Jacobsson and Thomas Caley, and the other created by American auteur Miguel Gutierrez.

First up was For Four Walls, a work which draws its inspiration from Four Walls, the first collaboration between Merce Cunningham and John Cage. Although the dance has been newly choreographed by Jacobsson and Caley, Cunningham’s DNA is clearly apparent throughout the piece. Indeed, the trailblazing choreographer’s fascination around the connection between movement and sound is clearly apparent, as is his tendency for abstraction. In treating dancers purely as bodies in motion, Cunningham – and by extension Jacobsson and Caley – free dance from cloying human emotions, instead reaching for more cosmic notions. Set to Cage’s austere score for piano (played with authority by Vanessa Wagner) and performed with precision by the CCN dancers against imposing walls of mirrors, For Four Walls was at once beguiling and disorienting.

If For Four Walls untethers dance from humanity and society, Miguel Gutierrez’s Cela Nous Concerne Tous (This Concerns All of Us) does the exact opposite. Taking its cue from the social and political movements from 1960s France, the work explores our capacity for revolution, taking viewers into the guts of such social phenomenons. The dance begins innocuously, gradually morphing the ensemble into an undulating, furious mob. Happily, the CCN dancers were up to the task, unflinchingly embracing the opportunity to connect with anarchy on a dangerously visceral level. A rowdy burst of color and rage, the Cela Nous Concerne Tous (This Concerns All of Us) is a gloriously messy affair that ultimately bursts through the fourth wall, sweeping the audience along with it. Dance fans can see more of Gutierrez’s work this spring in upcoming performances at Baryshnikov Arts Center and Danspace Project.

RECOMMENDED

CCN BALLET DE LORRAINE
Dance
NYU Skirball
2 hours (with one intermission)
Through April 22

Categories: Dance

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