Wednesday May 19, 2010 - TAKE Dance opened their season at Dance Theater Workshop with a sold-out house and a world premiere: Takehiro Ueyama's FLIGHT. Above, Kokyat's photo of Take in his opening solo from the new work; this and most of these images will enlarge if clicked on.
The evening opened with FOOTSTEPS IN THE SNOW, a work of desolate beauty which Take created to music by Arvo Part. I've watched this work evolve since its first public showing in May 2008 when Take originally created it for young dancers from The New School. Since then it has been re-worked and expanded but the themes of the inevitability of death and of the search for what lies beyond remain.
The dancers have this work very much in their blood and there are several impressive passages for them as individuals: John Eirich in a risky solo calling for fearless falls; sustained duet passages for Gina Ianni and Kile Hotchkiss as a couple who face the finality of parting; the purity of Amy Young's lyricism. The three Asian women in the Company - Mariko Kurihara, Sharon Park and Nana Tsuda - always bring their individual appeal to Take's works.
For these performances there has been some shifting of roles in this work: returning dancer Elise Drew (above center with Kristen Arnold and Nana Tsuda) is now in the cast...
...as is the very tall guest dancer Jacob Warren, above center with Elise and Amy Young.
There is a poetic solo danced by Nana Tsuda (above)...
...and a duet for Kristen Arnold and Milan Misko (above) that I always find particularly intriguing.
It must be both physically and emotionally draining to dance FOOTSTEPS IN THE SNOW; Take's dancers have the depth of commitment to make it memorable. The Arvo Part score draws the listener into deep contemplation and the tolling of the death knell as the work draws to a close is chilling. The more I have seen FOOTSTEPS the more I have come to admire it.
From this cold, remote cemetery we are suddenly wafted to the skies over Rome where Take - on a recent visit there - observed huge flocks of starlings swirling and banking in the heavens and was inspired to create FLIGHT. Projections by Richard Barnes of the dense aviary swarm set the stage and the dancers are costumed by Cheryl McCarron in sooty brown body tights reminding us of the tiny, flitting birds.
Take - wearing fitted trousers and a soft shirt - opens the piece with a serene solo subtly laced with restless moves and underscoring the human desire for flight. It's always a great pleasure to watch Take dance not just because of his silky style but also as a reminder of his work as a Paul Taylor dancer, which is how I first encountered him in the 1990s and was smitten.
Following the solo, FLIGHT soars onward with a quartet for four of the Company's most accomplished dancers: Milan Misko, Gina Ianni, Kile Hotchkiss and Jill Echo. They chase and cavort in a playful way but there's no trace of cuteness here which makes it all the more appealing.
Kile & Gina, above. The two blondes were cast together in both works tonight and it's an especially lovely partnership of quiet intensity.
Kile and Milan, above. Milan has always been a steady force in the Company with his height and athleticism but today he seemed also to have found a vein of poetic resonance that gave his performance a new dimension. Kile is simply one of the most beautiful dancers you will ever see.
One last look at the quartet...
...before the swarms of starlings flew in. For this large work, Take invited six guest dancers to participate along with the Company members. These young dancers did so well and showed such spirit - both technically and as personalities - that they blended in effortlessly with the more seasoned Company dancers. The six are: Stephanie Amurao, Christina Ilisije, Ann Olson, Marie Zvosec, Gabe Spellberg and Jacob Warren.
Throughout the work, the dancers' fluttering fingers and staccato movements of the neck and head remind us of the tiny birds who were the source of inspiration (Amy and Kristen, above). What gives FLIGHT its air-borne framework is a score which - after commencing in silence - in drawn from works by Ana Milosavjevic, Terry Riley, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Philip Glass, Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The Philip Glass segment, set to his Meetings Along the Edge, is turbulent and propulsive and this is when the birds are at their densest and most active. The music of Mlles. Milosavjevic and Vrebalov is other-worldly and haunting; both of these women were onstage for a bow at the end of the piece.
FLIGHT ends with the birds warily contemplating their earthbound visitor.
TAKE Dance will present their second program on Thursday and Saturday which includes the New York premiere of Jill Echo's LEFT THERE BY THE TIDE; we watched the dress rehearsal of this piece and were really impressed. Ticket information here.
Photos by Kokyat, with my eternal gratitude.
Thanks for these fabulous photos. It's been a pleasure working with Take and the company, all of whom have been incredibly inclusive and inspiring. Traveling so athletically through space and propelling my body in they way Take demands makes for such an exhilarating stage experience!
Posted by: Christina | May 20, 2010 at 01:04 PM