Saturday November 20, 2010 - At the Leonard Nimoy Thalia theatre at Symphony Space tonight, dance history came to life as isadoraNOW celebrated the 200th birthday of Frederic Chopin with an evening of dance works created to the Polish master's works either by or inspired by Isadora Duncan. Kokyat's photo above is from a rehearsal we attended by this delightful troupe of dancers who, under the direction of Elyssa Dru Rosenberg, have worked to recreate not just the steps but the feeling of what Duncan's work was like when audiences first saw it. A revolutionary in more ways than one, Duncan is considered the mother of modern dance.
View Kokyat's isadoraNOW rehearsal gallery here.
The evening drew a packed house. The programme. which looked dauntingly long on paper, sped by in a very well-organized presentation which simply left me wanting more. The nine dancers of isadoraNOW made the individual pieces seem not like preserved relics out of the past but vitally alive dance works which speak to us of the joy and passion of movement.
The evening featured both re-constructions of Duncan's work and pieces that sought to show how her style affects dance to this day. In the 'original' works one paradox after another was illuminated: the dances are earthy but spiritual, sentimental but never cloying, robustly sensuous but with no trace of decadence. Watching these works, I often felt I'd gotten to the very core of dance.
The seven lovely women of isadoraNOW are Nicole Restani, Jenny Levy, Shannon MacDowell, Rachel Talley, Courtney Ramm, Raleigh Veach and Ms. Rosenberg. Each in her way brought a personal feel to the works being presented; this was clearly a labour of love for all of them. Elyssa Dru Rosenberg, heavily pregnant, appeared in the ensemble work Berceuse which was quite poignant in the context of Isadora Duncan's tragic experiences as a mother.
isadoraNOW also imagines what it might have been like had Duncan started using men in her works. Two boys are among the Company: the tall, strong and beautifully tattooed Mike Hodge and the enigmatic and versatile Yuki Ishiguro.
Most of the works on the programme were set to Chopin, played 'live' by pianists Mark Fiedler and Adrienne Ramm. In one of the 'Isadora-Inspired' pieces, the battle in which we engage ourselves, Mike Hodge and Raleigh Veach performed a passionate duet to music for live woodwind ensemble composed by Steven Lugerner and inspired by Chopin's Funeral March. In Reminiscence Isadora, Yuki Ishiguro pulled off some brilliant break-dancing moves with such natural grace that they didn't seem out of place in the least. I was surprised to see the name Carley Simon listed for the music of a Carrie Tron piece called The New Jerusalem. Carley Simon on the same programme as Chopin? It worked surprisingly well.
Also taking part in the evening were some very young girls who make up the Isadora Duncan Youth Ensemble. There were two groups: girls appearing to be of high-school age and then some very tiny dancers of even younger years. They proved as committed and lovely to watch as the Company dancers, with a promise of extending the Duncan legacy into the future. Dancing to a moving recording by Tino Rossi of the song Tristesse (a Chopin etude as 'envisioned' by Pauline Viardot*) the girls created a particularly fine impression.
Above: Shannon MacDowell and Raleigh Veach. Photo: Kokyat.
There were so many highlights all evening, and not a single dud. Of special appeal or interest were Revolution (danced by the Youth Ensemble), Trio Waltz (performed by Shannon MacDowell, Rachel Talley and Raleigh Veach) and the quintet Valse Brillante. In solos, the Company dancers excelled - notably Jenny Levy in Harp and Courtney Ramm in Line Mazurka. Yuki Ishiguro's rendering of Narcissus was especially poetic: this young dancer's range - from ballet to hip-hop - gives all his dancing a striking individuality.
Leading the concluding Polonaise with militaristic joy, Nicole Restani was joined by her red-clad colleagues who brought the celebratory evening to a close.
The dancers were slightly hampered by spatial limitations but excellent use was made of two long raised platforms which extend from the outer edges of the stage. The dancers also sometimes came down the steps and danced at the audience level, giving us a feel of being part of the dance.
Curious audience behavior is always a theme on my blog it seems: tonight the man sitting next to me spent literally 90% of the evening reading his playbill. Only rarely did he look up to actually watch the dancing.
I've written a lot more than I'd planned to but still feel I've barely scratched the surface of this inspiring and very enjoyable programme.
* As touching as Tino Rossi's singing of Tristesse is, I will still turn to Germaine Lubin's recording for the ultimate expression of this saddest of songs.