Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – A look at recent exciting (and live-streamed!) dance events: City Center’s 2020 FALL FOR DANCE and the Joyce’s STATE OF DARKNESS

• By drediman
• October 28, 2020
• No Comments

The past few days have seen the live-streaming of some rather exciting, highly anticipated dance events. Here are my thoughts.

2020 FALL FOR DANCE
New York City Center

Although New York City Center’s virtual 2020 Fall for Dance festival (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) has been truncated to two programs (down from four or five in a typical year), the eclectic live-streamed event was nevertheless a beautifully produced affair. As for the content, I happily came away from this year’s modified edition satisfied, particularly with respect to the festival’s four world premiere commissions, which all seem to be invested in investigating the current state of the world. I was especially taken by the two new solos choreographed by and for Black men. Alvin Ailey’s Jamar Roberts’ Morani/Mungu (“Black Warrior/Black God”) was a haunting and subdued ode to Black male identity (Mr. Roberts both choreographed and danced the piece), while Calvin Royal III was positively luminous in to be seen, Kyle Abraham’s sinuous dance set to Ravel’s ever-popular “Bolero”. The other two world premieres were also compelling stuff – the magnificently empowered Dormeshia coolly displayed her supreme tap dancing prowess in Lady Swings the Blues (which was accompanied by a trio of live jazz musicians!), while classical ballet superstars Sara Mearns and David Hallberg teamed up for the first (and perhaps last?) time in The Two of Us, Christopher Wheeldon’s wistful, delicate pas de deux set to selections of Joni Mitchell tracks. Also, after many months of archival programming, City Ballet dancers showed up to City Center in fine form in a pair of classics – the male duet from Lar Lubovitch’s Concerto Six Twenty-Two (featuring Joseph Gordon and Adrian Danchig-Waring, both bewitching), as well as excerpts from Balanchine’s Who Cares? (Ashley Bouder, Brittany Pollack, and, especially, Tiler Peck looked sharp).

STATE OF DARKNESS
The Joyce Theater

This past weekend also marked the first weekend of the Joyce Theater’s ambitious State of Darkness project (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). Set to Stravinsky’s seminal “The Rite of Spring”, the solo dance was famously created by Molissa Fenley for the American Dance Festival in 1988 but has rarely been seen since. Now we have the opportunity, in an unprecedented embarrassment of riches, to witness no less than seven world-class dancers attempt to tackle this grueling dance over the course of two weekends. Their battle with the work is made even more dramatic by the fact that the performances are being live-streamed direct from the Chelsea venue’s stage. Of the four performances given so far, I caught two. Leading the pack on Saturday afternoon was Paul Taylor American Dance Company star Michael Trusnovec, who impressed me by maintaining outstanding energy and technique over the course of the dance’s relentless 35-minute duration. However, although Mr. Trusnovec’s rendition was aesthetically and technically superior, I found Shamel Pitts’ performance to be the more visceral and arresting of the two. From the moment the curtain rose, it was clear that Mr. Pitts, a former member of the world renowned Batsheva Dance Company (one of my very favorite dance companies), was going to dance State of Darkness as if his life depended on it. This is how it should be. With his horror-filled eyes staring straight into the heart of darkness and his jerky, panicked movements, Mr. Pitts made you feel every moment of his harrowing, personal journey. Yes, it was terrifying to behold, but at the same time, I simply couldn’t peel my eyes from his very real existential struggle.