Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Paying homage to dance icons: Channeling Nijinsky in ANIMA ANIMAL and Cunningham in BEGIN ANYWHERE

• By drediman
• February 20, 2025
• No Comments

Over the past few days, I had the chance to take in a pair of new works of dance that paid homage to icons of the form. As always, read on for my thoughts.

HERMAN CORNEJO WITH GRUPO CADABRA: ANIMA ANIMAL
The Joyce Theater
Through February 23

Opening last night at The Joyce Theater was Anima Animal (SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED), a full length piece — conceived by American Ballet Theater star Herman Cornejo and choreographed by Anabella Tuliano — that pays homage to Caapora, Vaslav Nijinsky’s planned-but-never-completed ballet based on the Guarani legend of a mystical Argentinian bird (had it been completed, the work would have allegedly been the first Argentine ballet). First performed by Teatro del Bicentenario in San Juan, Argentina in 2022, the stylized meditation is inspired by Nijinsky’s blueprint, freely elaborating on the work that “could have been”. Anima Animal is headlined by Cornejo — who joins the Buenos Aires-based dance company Grupo Cadabra — and is set to Luis Maurette “Uji” and Noelia Escalzo’s original pre-recorded score, which provides an evocative if somewhat generic soundscape for the dance. Similarly, Tuliano’s contemporary choreography is pleasant if largely derivative, calling to mind the works of Pilobolus — at various points in the evening, the ensemble comes together to create sculptural tableaus like a tree and other such scenes from the natural world — and even the dynamic formations of Justin Peck (a sequence involving the recreation of crashing waves particularly comes to mind). Although some dancers were stronger than others, they were nonetheless effective when performing as an ensemble. Unsurprisingly, the standout performance belonged to the ever-dynamic Cornejo, who concluded the the hourlong journey with a striking solo that, strangely, featured the work’s only choreographic nods to Nijinsky.

JOHN SCOTT DANCE & MEL MERCIER: BEGIN ANYWHERE
Irish Arts Center
Closed

Then there’s Begin Anywhere (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), which I caught the last performance of on Sunday at the Irish Arts Center (which commissioned the work). In short, the piece is choreographer John Scott and composer Mel Mercier’s response to the influence of two indisputable giants of modern dance and music — Merce Cunningham and John Cage (both Scott and Mercier had professional relations with Cunningham and Cage, respectively). This captivating riff utilized six fabulously idiosyncratic dancers from around the world — they hailed from the U.S., France, Poland, Brazil, and Ireland — as well as four excellent musicians. Collectively, they progressed the piece through a series of chapters, each melding seamlessly into the next. Although Scott clearly channels the Cunningham approach to guide his work, the Irish choreographer also uses his own fertile imagination to build upon the dance icon’s aesthetic to conjure new realms of possibility. Throughout, the ensemble was in constant motion, utilizing every corner of the performance space, resulting in an immersive experience that drew me in with both their robust athleticism and delicate sensibility. Mercier’s organic electronic and acoustic score followed suite (or was it vice versa?), allowing musical through lines to play out to their natural conclusions. Although Begin Anywhere was preceded by a sampler of restaged Cunningham solos — collectively entitled Four Solos, which strung together Changeling, Solo, RainForest, and Travelogue and unified by an atmospheric electronic composition by composer John King — the evening as whole came across as a single thought.