This sculpture by Francesco Somaini has caught my eye recently when attending performances at New York City Ballet. It stands in the corridor leading to the left-side orchestra level seating. The bronze, dating from 1960, is entitled Large Bleeding Martyr.
Closer view. It's odd how we walk by these works so often here in New York City without stopping to ponder. Since I began going about with my friend Kokyat I have been trying to make a more conscious effort to observe such things in my City...like this, which I must have passed by countless times.
Images by Christopher Duggan, a Festival
photographer for
Jacob’s Pillow, are on view in a solo exhibit at Dance New
Amsterdam in New York City from June 23rd through August 11th. Duggan has been a primary photographer of Jacob’s
Pillow Dance Festival for five seasons. Each summer, Jacob's Pillow presents more than 50 outstanding
dance
companies from all over the world, and 200 free talks, performances, and
exhibits. Above: Christopher's photo of Yaa Samar Dance Theater on the Inside/Out Stage.
Christopher Duggan is the
founder and owner of New York City-based Threshold Visions and he has photographed a multitude of acclaimed dance companies,
including The Paul Taylor Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance
Theater,
Keigwin + Co, and Lar Lubovitch Dance Company. His dance photographs
have
appeared in The New York Times, Boston Globe, Financial
Times,
and Dance Magazine.
Kokyat and I spent some time at the sky-lighted gallery today (June 25th). Looking at the photographs brought back vivid memories of the many days I spent at the Pillow during the 22 years that I lived in Hartford. It's a place that all people who love dance should visit at least once in their lifetime.
Mr. Duggan's collection ranges from formal to candid, from performance to rehearsal to photos that simply catch the atmosphere of this unique venue.
Among the dancers photographed, I especially liked this picture of Miguel Anaya. I wanted to snap it (above) resulting in a reflective image. Another beautiful picture shows a ballerina in full Swan Queen regalia poised on her pointes, looking out on the expanse of the Berkshires. The photos taken inside the Jacob's Pillow studios are especially atmospheric.
Dance New Amsterdam in located at 280 Broadway. Gallery hours are 9am-10pm, Monday–Sunday. Admission is free. Call
212.227.9856 or go to the Dance New Amsterdam website for more information.
After our gallery visit we went up to have supper at Rice on Elizabeth Street. My friend Art introduced me to this place last week and I liked the food and the uncluttered atmosphere a lot.
Kokyat does not like to be photographed...
...but I don't mind.
Walking back to the train, I noticed this picture at a flea market. It looks terribly familiar but I can't place where I have seen it before.
UPDATE on the painting: Kokyat found the details for me.
The New York Daily News names New York City Ballet's Justin Peck as one of five people to keep an eye on, anticipating great things from the young dancer. Of course those of us who go to NYCB frequently already know this. During the 2010 Winter season, Justin had the honor of being cast in Balanchine's LIEBESLIEDER WALTZES - a ballet which is usually the realm of the Company's top principals - and he looked right at home in that salon. Justin is also making his mark as a choreographer.
Photo of Justin with Teresa Reichlen in MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM by Paul Kolnik/NYC Ballet.
These photographs from Darci Kistler's farewell gala at New York City Ballet are by Paul Kolnik. Above: Darci with Jared Angle in SWAN LAKE (Act IV of the Peter Martins production).
From Balanchine's MONUMENTUM PRO GESUALDO: Darci with her partner Charles Askegard are the central couple. Click on the image to enlarge.
Darci and Charles Askegard in MONUMENTUM.
Darci and Sebastien Marcovici in MOVEMENTS.
Ovation: Darci's family and members of the Company applaud the ballerina at her final curtain calls. Click on the photo to enlarge.
Acknowledging the applause of the packed house.
Scroll down to the next blog entry for more about this performance.
Sunday April 27, 2010 - Darci Kistler, the last ballerina to be personally anointed by George Balanchine, bade farewell to the stage at New York City Ballet today dancing Balanchine and Martins. The image of Darci above is by Annie Leibovitz. View a remarkable collection of photographs of Darci here.
Icon: the famous photo of Darci costumed as Odette in Central Park.
Darci in VIENNA WALTZES, photographed by Paul Kolnik.
Wendy Whelan, Julio Bocca and Darci in Peter Martins' TODO BUENOS AIRES. Peter created several ballets especially for Darci over the years, my favorites being BACH CONCERTO V, BURLESKE, MORGEN...
...TALA GAISMA (above with Jared Angle, photo by Kolnik)...
...and OCTET (above with Stephen Hanna, photo by Kolnik.
For her final performance with the Company, Darci danced Balanchine's MONUMENTUM/MOVEMENTS, a duet from MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM and the final scene of the Peter Martins SWAN LAKE. I'm afraid my concentration was repeatedly broken today by the woman sitting next to me who wrote continuously in her notebook all afternoon. It's so distracting to have this happening in your field of vision, especially when you are trying to watch and hold onto the memory of one of the great ballerinas of our time and knowing you'll never see her dance again. People are so thoughtless.
But, Darci did dance beautifully all afternoon. She was partnered by Charles Askegard and Sebastien Marcovici in the Stravinsky, and Henry Seth made a really endearing Bottom in the DREAM duet - and he was also endearingly gallant to his ballerina during their bows. Henry also appeared as a superb Rothbart in the SWAN LAKE scene, and Jared Angle was the Prince, doomed to despair. Darci's Odette was full of dramatic detail and especially poignant in her final leave-taking. She also left us with lovely images of herself in the poses of the many lifts. Earlier, she relished the romantic humour of the Titania scene, always one of her finest roles.
Also on the programme was DANSES CONCERTANTES danced with wit and polish by Megan Fairchild and Andrew Veyette. Among the dozen excellent corps dancers (they are more like soloists, really), Marika Anderson stepped into the 'purple pas de trois' and looked super, as she had earlier in MOVEMENTS. We have so many lovely people in our Company...
There was an enormous tribute to Darci (Paul Kolnik photo, above) at the end with several of her recent cavaliers - and a couple former ones (Jock Soto and Robert LaFosse) - presenting flowers, followed by the other principal ballerinas. Two tiny students from Darci's classes at SAB were among those honoring her, and the entire Company joined in the tribute as sparkling confetti fell. Darci's mom and brothers were onstage and of course her husband and her daughter whom Darci embraced many times. Leigh Witchel writes about the afternoon here.
Among the vast crowd I was very happy to find and catch up with Melissa Barak (who will be dancing with Morphoses this Autumn) and to see Dana Hanson again, visiting from Seattle where she teaches at PNB. The whole afternoon was very much a NYCB-family affair; I felt happy to be part of it as a distant, non-dancing cousin.
With this grand send-off for the last of the Balanchine ballerinas, we have come not just to the end of the season but truly to the end of an era. Of course there are still many direct links to Mr. B among the people working at New York City Ballet and at SAB but with the departure of the last stage-active 'Balanchine' dancer there is a real sense of turning the page. In addition to Darci, the recent retirements of Yvonne Borree, Philip Neal, Albert Evans and Maestro Maurice Kaplow will deprive us of the presence of these people we've seen (or heard from, in the Maestro's case) so frequently over the years.
There are also reports that two other dancers - soloist Jason Fowler and corps ballerina Glenn Keenan - have completed their careers at New York City Ballet. Jason in recent seasons made an especially vivid impression in Bigonzetti's IN VENTO and OLTREMARE; he was one of the few male dancers in the Company tall enough to partner any of the women. Glenn Keenan's lyricism and her beautiful smile will be missed.
In the face of these departures it is reassuring to look at the dancers who will take us beyond this crossroad in the Company's ongoing dance-journey and to see so many technically accomplished and personally intriguing individuals at every level ready to lead us into the future. It's a sad time, but also a time that is full of promise.
Word has come out that Albert Evans, the recently-retired principal dancer at New York City Ballet, will be serving as a Ballet Master with the Company. This means that we will continue to see Albert's smiling face around the theatre in the seasons ahead.
Above, Paul Kolnik's photo of Albert dancing HERMAN SCHMERMAN at his farewell performance.
Saturday June 26, 2010 - At the Baryshnikov Arts Center a packed house watched the last in a series of performances of Emmanuele Phuon'sKhmeropédies I & IIin which Ms. Phuon presents a fusion of contemporary choreographic ideas and classical
Khmer dance. Using elements of Khmer court dance vocabulary as a base she
incorporates contemporary Western movement and techniques to explore
how and where these different styles and ideas can meet. Beyond that, the work resonates with deeper meanings relating to the breakdown in performing traditions caused by the fatal rise of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.
Khmeropédies I
is a
solo performed by Chumvan Sodhachivy,
seen above in a Julieta Cervantes photo, in which the expressive dancer seldom rises from the floor. She enacts a long mono-drama in which she communicates with god.
Khmeropédies
II
explores the master/disciple relationship and is created with and
performed by
four dancers: Sam
Sathya, Chey Chankethya, Phon Sopheap, and Chumvan
Sodhachivy.The music forKhmeropédies IIranges
from the German
industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten to Yves Montand to Tiny Toones (a
Cambodian rap group formed by street kids), all interlaced with Satie, Ravel and Debussy. Sam Sathya as the teacher tries to help her three young pupils find ways of bridging the gap between traditional dance and contemporary modes, with Phon Sopheap portraying an endearingly animated monkey. As the students depart, Sam Sathya performs a reflective solo to a rather sinister version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow by Einsturzende Neubauten.
In that final solo, the dancer seems to be longing to return to the days prior to the bloody regime of the Khmer Rouge (late 1970s) during which 2,000,000 Cambodians lost their lives to genocide, famine and disease. That enormous human tragedy is all-but-forgotten in our world today.
Another casualty of that era was the performing tradition of classical Cambodian dance which older artists are now seeking to restore and instill in younger generations. Tonight's performance showed us the possibility of developments in that cultural restoration while evoking deeper thoughts on the perpetual human tragedy of man's inhumanity to man.
About the choreographer: EmmanuèlePhuon
began her dance training at the Royal Ballet of Cambodia at age five,
and
continued her dance education in Thailand
and France before moving to New York in the late
1980s. In New York,
she performed with a number of independent choreographers and companies,
including Elisa Monte Dance Company and White Oak Dance Project. She is
currently based in Brussels,
and began working on Khmeropédies in
2007. Over the past two
years,
she has worked in Cambodia
with dancers trained in classical Khmer dance, sharing her experiences
as a
contemporary Western dancer and continuing to develop the project with
dancers
there. Khmeropédies I & II
are products of this exploration and collaboration.
Finale of Lydia Johnson Dance's programme at Ailey Citigroup: DREAM SEQUENCE set to songs sung by Dean Martin. Photos by Kokyat. Above: Jessica Sand, Erica Schweer and Lisa Iannacito with John-Mark Owen in the background. Click on images to enhance.
Erica Schweer
Eric Vlach and Jessica Sand
Lisa Iannacito and Josh Kurtzberg.
Kerry Shea and John-Mark Owen
Jesse Marks (center)
Jesse Marks (center) with Jessica, Kerry, Erica, Laura, Lisa and Laura Barbee.
Eric Vlach, Jessica Sand, James Hernandez, Laura Barbee
Jesse Marks and Erica Schweer.
Lydia's dancers take a bow; click on the image to enlarge.
A series of Kokyat's images from Lydia Johnson's as-yet-untitled Bach work which premiered at Ailey Citigroupon June 24th, performed by Lydia Johnson Dance. Above: Jesse Marks.
Click on the images to enhance.
Kerry Shea and Eric Vlach; Laura DiOrio and James Hernandez.
James Hernandez and Laura DiOrio.
Ensemble
Robert Robinson and Jesse Marks
Jesse and Robert
Robert and Jesse. Rehearsal photos of their duet here.
Lydia's dancers bowing after the premiere: Robert Robinson, Jesse Marks, Kerry Shea, Eric Vlach, Jessica Sand, Lisa Iannacito, James Hernandez and Laura DiOrio. Click on the photo to enlarge.
Last night at Ailey Citigroup, Lydia Johnson Danceopened their evening with IN CONVERSATION, a work Lydia created in 2004-2005 to music of Philip Glass and set for four dancers. In March 2009 on the evening I first met Lydia, IN CONVERSATION was the first of her works that I saw at a studio presentation of excerpts. Both the piece and the dancers spoke so clearly to me that night, and they spoke yet again last night - with such poignancy of expression that I found myself weeping quietly throughout the whole piece. Above: Kerry Shea and John-Mark Owen.
Here is a series of Kokyat's photographs from IN CONVERSATION:
Kerry Shea and John-Mark Owen
Kerry Shea and John-Mark Owen
Robert Robinson and John-Mark Owen
Jessica Sand and Robert Robinson
Jessica Sand and Robert Robinson
Jessica & Robert
Kerry Shea
Kerry & John-Mark
Jessica Sand
It is both odd and wonderful that certain pieces of music or the choreographed movements of certain dancers can move us so deeply and summon our emotions with such intense clarity. During IN CONVERSATION last night the world seemed to disappear and it was just Jessica, Kerry, Robert, John-Mark, Philip Glass and me alone together in that darkened space. I felt so grateful to be experiencing such beauty: compensation for the darkness and despair which seem to be ever-encroaching on our world.
My deepest gratitude to Kokyat for his images that will keep this experience alive in my memory.