Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – YY Dance Company debuts Yue Yin’s physically and emotionally charged SOMEWHERE

• By drediman
• June 26, 2024
• No Comments

This past weekend saw the world premiere of YY Dance Company’s new full length dance piece SOMEWHERE at New York Live Arts in Chelsea. Created by artistic director Yue Yin, the work is a follow-up to the New York-based choreographer’s NOWHERE, which had its premiere a year ago at Chelsea Factory. Despite not being strictly a story-driven piece, it nonetheless feels coherently shaped by existential musings, sending both the tight-knit ensemble and the audience on a journey of self-discovery.

Immediately, there were strong shades of the earthy aesthetic made famous by Ohad Naharin and his Batsheva Dance Company. Namely, SOMEWHERE — the second installment of a planned trilogy — exists at the intersection of folk and contemporary dance. That being said, Yin distinguishes herself with a vocabulary of movement that’s uniquely hers — grounded yet floaty, with a particularly strong element of Chinese dance tradition and a purposeful sense of choreographic articulation (in fact, she’s officially branded her dance style as the “FOCO Technique”). Although there are plenty of opportunities for individual dancers to shine, the work’s emphasis is squarely on the ensemble. Indeed, their depiction of community is central to SOMEWHERE‘s conceit, and their evolution as a collective is what gives the piece its backbone and sense of momentum, even if the whole thing ultimately feels a touch too long. That being said, the overall impact is created by the impression of endurance and repetition.

Throughout, YYDC’s young crop of talented dancers were dynamic and tireless — particularly impressive in the work’s more grueling sections — giving their performance a physically and emotionally charged quality, particularly as set to Michel Banabila’s assaultive yet at times hackneyed score (in spots perhaps a bit too loud?) and lit by Solomon Weisbard’s evocative lighting design. SOMEWHERE is an exposing work, and its challenges were admirably met by the dancers with nuanced individuality and extraordinary commitment.

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YY DANCE COMPANY: SOMEWHWERE
Dance
New York Live Arts
1 hour, 15 minutes (without an intermission)
Closed