Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – New York City’s popular, relevant FALL FOR DANCE Festival continues its eclectic, reflective, and crowd-pleasing celebration of dance in all its guises

• By drediman
• October 1, 2022
• No Comments

Over at New York City Center, the two-week Fall for Dance Festival – which draws to a close this weekend – happily remains a popular sell-out, just as in pre-pandemic times. In addition to the opening night bill (you can read my review of that performance here), I was able to attend two additional programs (Program 2 and Program 4), both of which continued the festival’s eclectic, crowd-pleasing celebration of dance in all its guises. From a broader perspective, what surprised me most about this year’s iteration of Fall for Dance is how reflective and relevant the programming has been, showcasing dance as a necessity and not merely an aesthetic pursuit.

Program 2 was perhaps the most well-rounded of the three evenings I caught, and it opened with unadulterated and unforced joy with Music From The Sole’s I Didn’t Come to Stay, Leonardo Sandoval and Gregory Richardson’s seamless and exuberant union of tap dance and live music making. The evening continued with the New York premiere of Pam Tanowitz’s intriguing and thoughtful pas de deux No Nonsense (a Fall for Dance and Vail Dance Festival co-commission), which was performed beautifully by the strangely complimentary pairing of Melissa Toogood and Herman Cornejo. The evening concluded with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performing Aszure Barton’s BUSK, a strikingly poetic reminder of the sacred that exists within each of us. In my opinion, it’s one of the very best works in the revered company’s eclectic repertoire of dances.

Program 4 began in highly athletic fashion with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company’s rousing rendition of Abby Zbikowsk’s foot-stomping ensemble piece Indestructible. The evening continued with Christopher Wheeldon’s pas de deux The Two of Us, which was particularly moving as danced by the unlikely pairing of New York City Ballet stars Sara Mearns and Robbie Fairchild. Wheeldon’s wistful choreographic commentary on the pandemic has only grown more potent since I first streamed it during the 2020 Digital Fall for Dance Festival, mainly because of the touching sincerity and sensitivity that Mearns and Fairchild brought to their performances. The program came to a close with two pieces danced by Kyiv City Ballet, a company that was performing in Paris when Russia invaded the Ukraine. Their performances of Vladyslav Dobshynskyi’s Thoughts (comparisons with the works of Crystal Site are inevitable) and  Ivan Kozlov’s grandstanding folk dance influenced Men of Kyiv were powerful reminders of the capacity of dance to make a difference.

RECOMMENDED

FALL FOR DANCE FESTIVAL
Dance
New York City Center
Approximately 2 hours (with one intermission)
Festival runs through October 2