Thursday March 25, 2010 - Sydney Skybetter opened his sold-out run (*) at Joyce SoHo tonight. Recently Kokyat and I were at Sky's rehearsal when he ran the full programme entitled The Laws of Falling Bodies for the first time. It looked good then, but seeing it tonight in its theatrical context - beautifully lit - it looked sensational. Sky has a top-flight troupe of dancers to work with and he is wonderfully astute in his choice of music.
The programme is one of the best-constructed evenings of dance I've ever seen; I very much admire Sydney's musical choices and the way he has woven them into a symphony of dance highlighted by three exquisite solos, a Spring-like scherzo and ending with a contemporary feel. Playing a major part in the evening's success was the simple and effective lighting by Kate Ashton which ideally illuminated the dancers and cast dreamlike shadows around the space.
The heart-tugging music of Dvorak (from his American quartet/Opus 96) evoked richly emotional dancing from Kristen Arnold, Jennifer Jones, Sydney Skybetter and Bergen Wheeler. Clad in simple dark trousers and shirts the dancers - who we've gotten to know in the studio - move with quiet intensity thru Sydney's vividly musical combinations; each dancer seems to be in his or her own world yet always observing one another. In the end they each withdraw to a corner of the stage but then step back into the lighted space as if they might start up dancing again. Instead the scene gently fades away.
Dancing in a pool of light to the plaintive sound of Fritz Wunderlich singing Schumann, Kirsten Arnold in her solo from THE PERSONAL remains on her mark while using her arms, hands and back to mesmerize the viewer. The tall dancer makes a slow backbend as the light fades: the perfect final touch to a luminous performance.
The stark accents of the opening measures of Gorecki's Quasi una
In Sydney Skybetter's solo from THE PERSONAL the hauntingly pure beauty of Fritz Wunderlich's voice singing 'Im wunderschonen Monat Mai" from the Dichterliebe is achingly expressed in the silken arm and hand movements and the muscular but vulnerable beauty of Sky's torso: "In the beautiful May, when the buds sprang, love sprang up in my heart. In the beautiful May, when the birds all sang, I told you of my suffering and longing."
The light-hearted FUGUE STATE is set to the scherzo from Shostakovich's Piano Quintet Opus 67. The two girls (Kristen Arnold and Jennifer Jones) in pale blue dresses and their suitors Elliott Reiland and Gary Schaufeld seem to be romping in an open field on a late-Summer afternoon. The dance has a folk-like feeling and an abrupt ending which took the audience by surprise - including myself, even though I'd seen it in rehearsal.
The voice of Fritz Wunderlich is heard again singing from Schubert's Schwanengesang as Bergen Wheeler dances her solo from THE PERSONAL. A keenly expressive dancer with an enigmatic expression, Bergen's entire body responds to the music - right to her fingertips. Totally self-immersed, Bergen seems almost unaware of being watched until the end when her eyes suddenly focus on the audience - a captivating moment.
The three solos of THE PERSONAL are small masterpieces not only in their meshing of music and movement but in inviting us into the private world of each of the three dancers. Using the voice of Fritz Wunderlich with its unmatched tenderness and clarity just makes each solo all the more poignant.
With the stage bathed in a golden, shadowy twilight and the dancers all in white, Jonny Greenwood's music used in THE LAWS OF FALLING BODIES at first seems to echo distant sirens. The work has a desolate beauty redolent of the atmosphere of the film
Kokyat's photo of Skybetter thanking his dancers at the end of the performance.
So nice to see the folks from TAKE DANCE (Take, Jill, Nicole and Damian ) and then on the train to run into Russell Janzen of New York City Ballet.
Sydney Skybetter photographed by Tom Caravaglia.
Some of my favorite Kokyat images from the day we first met skybetter & associates here.
* Having sold out his scheduled run, Sky is adding a Saturday matinee on March 27 at 3:00 PM.
Yet another reason to regret having moved away from New York City. Wonderful descriptive writing and pictures.
Posted by: Krys | March 27, 2010 at 09:57 AM