Thursday April 28, 2011 - A fresh choreographic voice and a new (to me) venue as John J Zullo Dance presented two works at the Theater for The New City over on 1st Avenue. Kokyat and I met John and his dancers at a rehearsal earlier this year and we liked what we saw and heard there.
John's HOW BRIEF ETERNITY is an eight-movement dramatic dancework set to music by Mio Morales, Maya Beiser and others. Although not a narrative, each vignette revolves around elements of prejudice and hatred that continue to thrive in modern societies thanks to the pernicious influence of racism and religion. These themes are presented in a gritty movement style with much physical contact by the dancers. There is no artifice in John's choreographic style; his seven dancers move naturally and powerfully thru the changing partnerships and ensemble segments. Each member of the troupe makes a unique contribution to the whole and their distinctive personalities are given full range.
There is no setting per se, though overhead on a screen homophobic slogans and anti-gay buzzwords are projected. As the dance progresses there are moments of violence, tenderness, torture, brotherhood and frustration - the last depicted by silent screams. In a gender-bending duet, the tall, beautiful and rather androgynous Brigitte Mitchell and the slender, boyish Or Sagi don matching corsets and flouncy skirts (Or wearing bright red lipstick) and dance a seductive duet to a stunning rendition of Roy Orbison's Cryin', sung in Spanish by Rebekah del Rio (for the film MULHOLLAND DRIVE). There is a dance for four comrades - Or, John Zullo, Ashley Linsey and Mike Hodge - where the boys slip out of their trousers and into short skirts. Jenna Liberati - a lyrical dancer with a surprising edginess - and Christina Chelette - a petite woman with an intense personal style - complete the cast.
HOW BRIEF ETERNITY is tightly packed with movement; John's style isn't like anyone else's that I've seen and he plays to his dancers' individual strengths: Or Sagi's ballet training for example lets him show off a flourishing extension. The Theater for The New City's atmosphere - redolent of the dark, shabby backstage perfume of old costume trunks and forgotten shows of yesteryear - was an ideal place to present this work: we are close enough to the dancers to see individual beads of sweat.
HOW BRIEF ETERNITY might well have stood on its own but - after a break - a second piece, a more generalized dancework about fleeting relationships entitled INSIGNIFICANT OTHERS, proved a pleasant contrast. The dreamlike echoing voice of Patsy Cline gives way to music of Peteris Vasks and Tractor's Revenge as the dancers pair off variously in various hetero- and homosexual combinations, looking for love or someone to help them make it thru the night. The seven dancers from ETERNITY were joined by Kate Vincek.
The second work was less engrossing than the first but it provided an additional opportunity to focus on the individual dancers.