Oberon's Grove

Storm King

Sunday October 25, 2009 - Kokyat and I boarded a bus at Port Authority at 10:00 AM to spend the day at Storm King, the 500-acre outdoor museum about 90 minutes north of Manhattan in the Hudson Valley.

 

Above: Roy Lichtenstein's 1994 Mermaid is set upon a small island. It was a perfect day with a flawless blue sky and the leaves were showing off their Autumn hues of saffron, topaz and rusty red - had we gone a week later the colours would have been faded. We walked and walked and walked but instead of feeling tired we were exhilarated since everywhere we turned we saw the union of art and nature in full glory.

 

Above, the ridge at the top end of the Storm King Wall. This construction threads down to the pond, is submerged and then snakes out of the water and up the far hill (top photo) finally falling to ruin in the forest. It's one of Kokyat's favorite aspects of the Storm King landscapes...

 

...along with Maya Lin's Wavefield.

Click on the above images to enhance. More of Kokyat's photos and more about our trip will follow.

Thank you, Kokyat.

PhotoExpo @ Javits Center

Saturday October 24, 2009 - My friend Jeanette came up from Washington for the annual PhotoExpo at the Javits Center. She and I met Kokyat there; their mutual interest in photography and their love of Paris gave them a foundation for discussion. While my oldest and newest friends got into the technical aspects of lenses, tripods, etc  I mostly just enjoyed being with them and looking around the Center, a place I'd never been before.

The Expo is huge and exciting, even for someone like me who doesn't really understand the mechanics of photography. Lots of interesting equipment and gadgets on display and a huge crowd of photogs milling about, asking questions and listening to presentations by the various participating companies. I began to think more seriously about buying a digital camera for myself - I must be one of the few bloggers in the world who doesn't own one. The day flew by.

Kazuko Hirabayashi @ Ailey Citigroup

Friday October 23, 2009 -I've been hearing the name Kazuko Hirabayashi for the last couple of years from the folks at TAKE Dance and have always been curious to see her work. Tonight Kokyat and I had the opportunity at Ailey Citigroup as Ms. Hirabayashi presented an evening of works including three premieres. Among her troupe are two dancers we know from other performances: Adrian Silver and Jeremy Nedd.

The first half of the evening was particularly strong with four well-contrasted short works beautifully danced and featuring especially fine lighting. In Hirabayashi's 1971 work MUDAI, Mauricio Kagel's score features organ, electronics and the sound of running water. Stacy Martorana opens the work alone onstage before being joined by John Hinrichs, Daniel Madoff and Jeremy Nedd. There is a lively trio for the men and solo passages for all; the memorable motif from this work were the sustained arabesques with which the dancers seemed to make time stand still.

Adrian Silver (Kokyat's photo, above) gave a very powerful performance in BEREFT, a telling of the Adam and Eve story. Set to Philip Glass's ominous Koyaanisqatsi, Adrian appears as the serpent and sets the work in motion with a phenomenal hands-off flip. His dancing throughout was physically fearless and keenly tuned in to the drama, and his eyes are so compelling with their other-worldly gleam. Adam (John Hinrichs) appears in gauzy underwear suggesting nudity and vulnerability; women in birdlike garb flit thru the Garden of Eden. Then Eve (Kathryn Alter also in a sheer costume) materializes inside a floating globe. Adam and Eve dance together in innocent tenderness but the serpent soon sets his plan in motion. After their downfall, the serpent has little time to gloat for he is ensnared and enshrouded. But not defeated.

Sarah Stackhouse was so expressive in HAIKU, a new work. She danced to Joji Ito's setting of Koto Uta Basho's 5 Haiku against a sky-blue drop with shining projections; white rocks gave a seaside feeling:

"In the utter silence a lone cicada's voice penetrates the rock"

Ms. Stackhouse's natural dignity and grace made HAIKU a spellbinding highlight of the evening.

In a lively premiere, LIGHT IS CALLING (score by Michael Gordon) the six dancers fed off one another's energy; this work inexplicably had something of a dicso feel to it for me and brought the first half of the programme to an energetic conclusion.

After the intermission, THE SPRING was premiered: this re-telling of SACRE DU PRIMTEMPS set among the Ainu of northern Japan revolves around the annual ritualistic sacrifice of a bear to insure that the gods will bless the populace with food and good fortune. Selena Eliane Chau portrayed the bear and Adrian Silver the head of the tribe. Both danced powerfully, as did the the ensemble of thirteen clad in Ainu dress.

Above, the Ainu bear ceremony which inspired Kazuko's setting of SACRE DU PRIMTEMPS. Click to enhance the image. While THE SPRING has many fine passages, especially for the two protagonists, it did sometimes drift a bit out of focus. It's a long score and it cannot comfortably be edited, so that a choreographer  - in choosing it - must find ways to flesh out the narrative over a 35 minute span. While it's understandable that Ms. Hirabayashi wanted to work from this Stravinsky masterpiece, and the story line is certainly apt, I felt the scenario might have benefited from using a commissioned score.

Kokyat regretted that we didn't have an opportunity to photograph these works. They were all so visually appealing and well-enhanced by the excellent lighting. I cannot seem to find much photographic documentation of Kazuko's work...

 

...aside from this one of Eve's arrival in BEREFT .

Colker's 4 X 4 = Brilliant!

Thursday October 22, 2009 - Aside from having our curiosity piqued by the posters of Deborah Colker's dancers amid a stageful of Chinese vases, Kokyat and I had no idea what to expect from the Brazilian choreographer and her Companhia de Danca who have opened their run at City Center.

Within moments of curtain-rise we were thoroughly entranced by the imaginative choreography, the striking physical aspects of the production and most especially by the athleticism, artistry and courage of Colker's dancers. Kokyat, who is so fascinated by the visual world around him, was delighted with the colours, the illumination and the exhilarating movement. Colker flings extreme challenges at her dancers and they respond by giving their all. Add to this a range of music from Mozart to thudding industrialita, liberally spiced with the rhythms of Rio, and Colker's 4 X 4 is an evening to relish.

 

When the curtain rose on Cantos (Corners) with 6 women in slinky cocktail dresses and stillettos posing and preening in front of tall white panels one wouldn't have suspected that within seconds the dancers - later joined by the men - would be clambering up and down, suspending themselves from one another in improbable poses, wafting sky-high extensions, leaping down from on high and taking all manner of physical risks in every imaginable contortional pose while in the meantime a sexy, swingy and savoury score urges the dancers to be ever more daring. For all its gymnastic quality, the movement is oddly lyrical and flashes of wit abound. The panels are drenched in changing hues as Cantos progresses.

Kokyat and I just sat there, enjoying every moment of Cantos with whispered interjections of "Wow!"

The audience barely had time to to react to Cantos when Mesa (Table) began. Against a saturated lime-green backdrop, a motorized industrial-weight table on wheels makes a slow trajectory across the stage. Near-deafening mechanical sounds accompany the robotic movement of a couple who are joined or replaced by other dancers as the vehicle plods along its course. The top of the table is also rigged with a movable panel so that the dancers may appear to be floating even when standing still.

Povinho (Some People) provided the scherzo of the evening in a riot of colour and motion, all very tongue-in-cheek. The dancers are by turns sexy, silly and strutting in their bright costumes and the central section of the work is danced to a somewhat hallucinatory version of Someday My Prince Will Come. A backdrop which seems to morph Salvador Dali with Keith Haring casts a rather morbid glow over the non-stop dancing. Povinho is the type of piece that might annoy me with its frivolity under other circumstances, but tonight it struck just the right note in part because of the juxtaposition of the nightmarish drop curtain which put a dark edge on the childish rompings of the dancers. 

After the intermission - during which we kept telling each other what a great time we were having - Deborah Colker appeared at the grand piano playing Mozart (very respectably for a non-professional pianist) while a quartet of ballerinas on pointe flashed thru combinations, alone or in tandem. The other dancers began to set out the 90 Chinese vases that give Vasos its name. As Ms. Colker finishes her pianistic interlude and the four toe-shoed women withdraw, the stage is full of porcelain arranged in very neat diagonals across the playing area.

With amazing speed and precision, the Colker troupe move among the vases. Light patterns vary as the dancers weave and wend their way around the pottery.

Wires descend and the vases slowly begin to rise. The dancing never stops.

Vasos is a stunning visual feast; again the lighting (kudos to Jorginho de Carvalho) enhanced the work ideally. The dancers moved with total abandon and assurance thru this tricky work and - indeed - throughout the entire evening.

Although a few people walked out during the first half, the evening ended with a full standing ovation and rhythmic clapping, the dancers evoking screams as they stepped forward in pairs...

...and Ms. Colker (above) basking in fervent applause, truly well-deserved.

Photos are from the Company's website.

Two On The Aisle

Peter Martins of New York City Ballet and George Steel of New York City Opera have aisle seats in this New York Times photo showing the new configuration of orchestra seating at the Koch Theatre. Read the article here.

Books from Paris

Kokyat brought me back two wonderful books from Paris. He saw Histoire de L'Opera en France at one of the used book stalls (his photo, above) and thought of my love for opera. The book (in French, of course) contains many photographs that I've never seen before. The other day I spent a couple of hours just perusing it while listening to Germaine Lubin and Suzanne Danco recordings.

 

The second book Carnet d'Opera features incredibly atmospheric photos from Gueorgui Pinkhassov from both the Palais Garnier and the Bastille.  Opera and ballet are equally featured and the Chagall ceiling of the Salle Garnier appears, dramatically saturated in red.

Above, one of the last pictures Kokyat took before leaving Paris. He's very anxious to go back to the City of Light.

Merci, Kokyat!

ORBO NOVO: Cedar Lake @ The Joyce

Tuesday October 20, 2009 - Opening night of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet's production of ORBO NOVO (New World) at the Joyce. Photo above by Karli Cadel. Watch a sampling of the piece here.

Choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's creation found inspiration in Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s book My Stroke of Insight in which she describes the stroke she suffered in 1996 and her eight-year recovery period which she devoted to research. The choreographer translates the torment, struggle and transformation the author experienced by alternately trapping and liberating the Cedar Lake dancers on Alexander Dodge's towering, movable grid panels.

The dancers recite portions of Taylor’s writings in the course of ORBO NOVO. While spoken passages in dance works are often gimmicky here the excellent vocal articulation by the dancers (especially Kristen Weiser and Jubal Battisti) and the use of synchronized gestures worked well in performance context. 

Julieta Cervantes ORBO NOVO photo above. Composer Szymon Brzoska's score has echoes of Janacek and even Dvorak or Brahms with folk-dance rhythms subtly woven in as an undercurrent. Played by the Mosaic String Quartet and pianist Aaron Wunsch who were seated and dimly lit at the rear of the stage, the music is darkly lyrical with occasional shots of luminosity.

The setting can be a barrier keeping the dancers caged (though they slip in and out) and the panels are moved by the dancers to vary the performing space. At one point the boys strip to their underwear and clamber up and down like monkeys; they seem both powerful and vulnerable in their briefs. Lighting by Jim French keeps the setting (and the dancers) in a soft glow; shadows cast upon the grey walls sometimes feel ominous.

Music, text, setting, costumes, lighting: all gel in a cohesive whole. But what makes ORBO NOVO captivating in the end is the dancing. The Cedar Lake dancers are among the strongest, sexiest and most fearless on the New York dance scene. The power of the dancers' individual personalities gives Cherkaoui's choreography its life blood.

Right from the opening passage these dancers illuminate every moment of this dense, complex work. In silence, Jubal Battisti and Acacia Schachte appear on either side of the high wall. As they reach thru to touch, the music begins. Left alone, Acacia balances on her abdomen on one of the cross-bars and stretches her body taut; she then swings herself up and moves swiftly to the very top of the wall where she weaves in and out thru the openings before returning to the floor for a lyrical solo passage. I can't imagine any other dancer who could have done this passage with Acacia's strength, agility and clarity of expression.

As the work evolves there are tremendous solos from Jason Kittelberger (displaying his savage grace), Ebony Williams (compelling elasticity of motion) and Jon Bond whose energy, athleticism and fluidity of movement set him high on the list of Gotham's most fascinating dancers.

Moments of frenzy and calm alternate: Nickemil Concepcion and Golan Yosef are joined in a pas de trois by Soojin Choi who - clad all in white - seems like an angel of mercy. Manuel Vignoulle, one of the Company's newest dancers, uses his height and his shocking red hair to create a vivid impression in his solo. Golan Yosef and Harumi Terayama's tremulous seizures abate when they connect to one another.

The panels are shifted to form a small cage, the dancers trapped inside. One by one they wriggle thru the grid and vanish; only Jason Kittelberger remains unable to escape as the light slowly fades.

After two unfortunate cellphone interruptions early in the evening the packed house settled down and seemed engrossed by ORBO NOVO. The Cedar Lake dancers and the musicians rightly won waves of applause and cheers as they took their bows. Unfortunately neither the choreographer nor the composer were present to share in the acclaim.

Avi Scher's TOUCH: Rehearsal Gallery II

More of Kokyat's photos of choreographer Avi Scher's rehearsal for his new work TOUCH. The prior gallery showed Avi and his dancers - Ashley Bouder, Antonio Carmena and Russell Janzen -  mapping out steps and experimenting. The present photos are from a run-thru of the piece at its current stage of development.

Click on each image to enhance. Thanks to Avi for inviting us and to the dancers for letting us eavesdrop on their work. The performances of TOUCH will be November 7th and 8th.

All photos: Kokyat.

Avi Scher's TOUCH: Rehearsal Gallery

A collection of Kokyat's images from Avi Scher's rehearsal of a work-in-progress, TOUCH. The dancers are (above, left to right) Antonio Carmena, Ashley Bouder and Russell Janzen. The ballet will be performed on November 7th and 8th as part of the Contemporary Dance Festival.

Watching the rehearsal amplified my admiration for these dancers who so quickly turned Avi's ideas into visual statements. There were a lot of laughs but also a lot of hard work; it's exciting to watch the Bouder technique up close and to hear her spot-on analyses of partnering sequences in helping to sort out what will make various poses and transitions look their best.

The above photos are from the creative phase; a second gallery will show images from a run-thru of the work as its present stage of development. Click on images to enhance the view.

All photos: Kokyat.

In The Studio with Avi Scher

Saturday October 17, 2009 - Kokyat's been resting up since his return from Paris and today he met me and we went together to watch and photograph choreographer Avi Scher working on a new piece with dancers Ashley Bouder, Antonio Carmena and Russell Janzen. The rehearsal was held at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center on West 60th Street. The trio Avi is creating will be shown on November 7th and 8th as part of the Contemporary Dance Festival at the same venue.

Using music of Aphex Twin (Blue Calx) performed by Alarm Will Sound, Avi's work is entitled Touch.

The first of Kokyat's photos from the studio session is above. Click on the picture to enlarge. A gallery of images from the rehearsal will appear here tomorrow.