Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Dance recap: Contrasting Shen Wei’s exquisitely cool DONGPO with the fiery passion of GALA FLAMENCA

• By drediman
• March 18, 2024
• No Comments

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of taking in a pair of strikingly contrasting global dance performances. As always, read on for my thoughts.

DONGPO: LIFE IN POEMS
David H. Koch Theater

For just a handful of performances this past weekend, Shen Wei brought back his singular dance aesthetic to the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center with his latest piece, the large-scale Dongpo: Life in Poems (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). Like most of the choreographer’s past works, Dongpo represents a complete artistic whole in which the steps, costumes, lighting, projections, music, and sets come together to form a singular vision. In a steady progression of cool and exquisitely wrought choreographic tableaus, the mesmerizing work interplays choreography and poetry, inviting viewers to ruminate about the mysteries and richness of life and celebrate Chinese culture. As always, Shen Wei’s meditative choreography is the embodiment of fluidity, unspooling with the articulate and deliberate elegance of Chinese calligraphy. The large company of Chinese dancers are well-schooled in the choreographer’s style, working as a true ensemble to cast a hypnotic spell over the course of the work’s ninety intermission-less minutes. Note that the production should not be confused with the Shen Yun performances that take place in the very same venue. Any confusion would be unfortunate.

GALA FLAMENCA
New York City Center

Contrasting strikingly with Shen Wei’s aforementioned production were Gala Flamenca’s New York City Center performances (RECOMMENDED), which concluded this year’s city-wide Flamenco Festival in truly rousing manner. For the most part, it was a smartly structured program, unfolding organically yet giving each member of the ensemble — both dancers and music-makers alike — ample opportunity to take the spotlight. The production was designed with stylish minimalism, complete with bold lighting and engrossing sound design. Throughout, there was passion and fire to spare. Indeed, often times, the aggressive singing came across like visceral howls from the depths of the soul. The dancers responded in kind, seductively swirling and stomping as if their lives depended on it, thereby demonstrating the symbiotic relationship between music and choreography. However, at nearly two hours in length — without an intermission, mind you — a certain sameness began to set in late in the evening (the endeavor could have benefited from being trimmed about twenty minutes). But make no mistake, the authenticity, attitude, and expression exuded were beyond reproach — this was bewitching stuff.