Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Contemporary dance companies L-E-V, Grupo Corpo, and Rosas captivate in their brief New York appearances

• By drediman
• February 2, 2019
• No Comments

I love living in New York. It’s one of the few places on this planet where, over the course of a single week, one is able to catch the very best in contemporary dance, which is exactly what I did. Indeed, this past week, I caught three very exciting dance companies, two of which were new to me, in their brief New York appearances. Hailing from three different continents – Asia (Israel), South America (Brazil), and Europe (Belgium) – they captivated me with their idiosyncratic aesthetics.

L-E-V dances “Love Chapter 2” choreographed by Sharon Eyal at the Joyce Theater.

Last weekend at the Joyce Theater in Chelsea, I caught L-E-V dance Love Chapter 2 (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), a hard-edged meditation on love in our current ego-driven times. This was my first exposure to the the Israeli dance company, the brainchild of fast-rising choreographer Sharon Eyal, a former dancer in Ohad Naharin’s iconic Batsheva Dance Company (from 1990 through 2008). Not surprisingly, her work in Love Chapter 2 exhibited the distinctive brand of movement of the Batsheva school of dance (fluid, striking, powerful), with additional touches all her own. Throughout the work’s hourlong duration, Ms. Eyal’s six exquisite dancers were onstage pretty much the entire time, hypnotically and relentlessly prancing, posing, and gyrating to DJ Ori Lichtik’s throbbing rave score. I was thoroughly mesmerized and feel lucky to have caught L-E-V during their short run at the Joyce (New York is the only U.S. stop on their world tour); I’ll make sure to catch them when they return.

Grupo Corpo perform’s “Gira” choreographed by Rodrigo Pederneiras at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House.

Next up was Grupo Corpo’s return visit to the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The evening, entitled Bach & Gira (RECOMMENDED), was a double-bill comprised of two very different works, both of which were choreographed by Rodrigo Pederneiras. The program began with the visually striking Bach (progressing from the shadows to gleaming light), featuring Marco Antônio Guimarães’ score, which mines the richness of Bach’s compositions. From the get-go, Grupo Corpo’s brand of movement – an impressively athletic, rhythmic combination of classical ballet, modern dance, and indigenous tribal dance – was evident. The evening continued with Gira, a work which pays ecstatic homage to the country of Brazil itself, particularly its indigenous heritage. The dance, which has been set to the exuberant music of São Paulo band Metá Metá and featured the entire 21-member troupe (attired in flowing androgynous garb), was both celebratory and ritualistic. The final performance is tonight at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House.

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Rosas’ “Verklärte Nacht” at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

Lastly, at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in Hudson Yards, I took in the New York premiere of Verklärte Nacht (RECOMMENDED) (which translates to “Transfigured Night”), Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and her dance company Rosas’ distilled 2014 evocation of Arnold Schönberg’s lushly romantic score, which in turn was based on a poem by Richard Dehmel about a woman who reveals to her partner that she is pregnant with child of another man. I’ve only been exposed to Ms. Keersmaker – one of the most important choreographers of her generation – as a rigorous, abstract artist (just YouTube her Rosas danst Rosas), a far cry from a romantic. With Verklärte Nacht, which runs through tomorrow, she’s proven me wrong. Although the choreography is unmistakably Ms. Keersmaeker’s (formalist yet gestural in a deeply humanistic manner), she was able to intoxicatingly captured the score’s richly romantic and stormy soul. She also showed a knack for being able to sensitively express narrative through movement which I hadn’t experienced before in her work. Now my appetite has been whetted for her revised choreography in the upcoming Broadway revival of the Ivo van Hove-helmed of West Side Story. Indisputably, that should be fascinating.

L-E-V: LOVE CHAPTER 2
Dance
The Joyce Theater
55 minutes (without an intermission)
Closed

GRUPO CORPO: BACH & GIRA
Dance
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
2 hours (with an intermission)
Through February 2

ANNE TERESA DE KEERSMAEKER / ROSAS: VERKLÄRTE NACHT
Dance
Baryshnikov Arts Center
45 minutes (without an intermission)
Through February 3