Kokyat and I recently spent a couple of hours in a fifth-floor walk-up studio down below Canal Street where choreographer Lydia Johnson was working with her dancers in preparation for her upcoming performances at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street from July 16th - 18th. Pictured above: Jessica Sand, Kerry Shea and Eric Vlach in LAMENT.
I first saw Lydia Johnson Dance in a works-in-process studio presentation at City Center earlier this year. At that time I was very much taken both with her dancers and with what she was having them do. I got in touch with her and she very kindly arranged for Kokyat and me to come and watch her rehearsal and see how things have progressed.
The studio (Battery Dance) where we watched Lydia's dancers at work has beautiful late-afternoon light pouring in. Above, John-Mark Owen and Kerry Shea rehearsing a duet from IN CONVERSATION set to music of Philip Glass. In this work, two couples dance each within their own sphere while the music keeps them subtly connected; midway thru, Kerry let her hair down producing a beautifully vulnerable effect...and effect amplified by John-Mark's quiet power.
John-Mark and Kerry in a contemplative moment; their duet has a balletic quality which is underscored by their height and contemporary elegance.
Jessica Sand and Robert Robinson are the other couple in IN CONVERSATION. These two dancers had so impressed me at the studio-showcase earlier not only with their dancing but with the calm poetry of their personalities. The Glass Violin Concerto, possibly the composer's most luminous work, draws an individual but cohesive response from each of the four dancers.
The works of Henryk Gorecki seem to have a special appeal for Lydia; she is drawing on his music for two works to be presented at her upcoming performances: LAMENT and the newly-created DUSK. Above, Eric Vlach is borne aloft by the other dancers in a particularly moving motif from LAMENT which is repeated to each corner of the stage.
Jeremy Smith and Jessica Sand in a passage from LAMENT; Jeremy is re-creating a role which was made on him in this work. A program note:
"LAMENT (2008) is a work that evolved from Ms. Johnson's deep involvement with the music of Henryk Gorecki. Sections of discordant music are reflected in intense passages of group floor work and in several pas de deux for the central character, danced this season by the hauntingly expressive Jeremy Smith, with both men and women. The work concludes with a sorrowful and redemptive Amen section."
Robert Robinson in one of the solo passages that are woven into the ensemble. Lydia is fortunate to have a well-contrasted quintet of male dancers in her upcoming performances.
Our time at the studio flew by; the atmosphere was both purposeful and relaxed, with Lydia's obvious affection for and understanding of her dancers as individuals always shining thru. The studio itself, a bit dilapidated but so redolent of the dancers' world - a place where athleticism meets artistry, drenched in perspiration - again made me regret that I am only part of that world in the most peripheral sense.
The photos will expand if clicked on. More of Kokyat's photos from this rehearsal will appear here over the next few days.
I always love photos of dancers in the studio setting. These are really nice, and I like the light.
Posted by: Susanna | July 10, 2009 at 09:35 AM