Thursday December 15, 2011 - I can't begin to tell you how many times I saw Patrick Corbin dancing with the Paul Taylor Dance Company both at The Pillow and at City Center; Patrick was a major force in so much of the Taylor rep, leaving his imprint on everything he danced with the Company. He has since gone on the create his own Company, CorbinDances. Patrick still dances - most recently I saw him in Martha Clarke's ANGEL REAPERS at The Joyce.
Today Patrick gave a class at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center as part of The Playground series. The 90-minute session was part dance class, part philosophy seminar, part poetry reading with a soupcon of cursing thrown in. The room loved Patrick and Patrick loved the room right back. Above, Patrick and dancer Shannon MacDowell before class.
Starting off with a floor warm-up, Patrick told the dancers to keep their eyes open: "Expand your gaze...all we ever look at these days are computer screens!" As the dancers became aware of their bodies and their surroundings, he asked them to imagine a "vivid universe filled with warm golden light." I was falling under his spell.
To a kozmic beat, Patrick gave the class an exercise known as the "27-Point Cube" where the dancer stands in an imaginary cube and reaches, bends and sways to contact various points along each face of the shape. These movement patterns were then incorporated into standing and floor exercises which became dance-like of their own volition. Patrick's great hearty laugh revealed his sheer joy in getting people to move. "I want to hire all of you!" he yelled as the movement developed into something that seemed stage-worthy.
"If people could see your guys dancing, there would be no more war," he told the dancers as they continued working on the long phrase. Momentary lapses were shrugged off: "Frustration is when we learn."
"Freak!" Patrick hollered at dancer Betheny Merola (above) as she moved across the floor. Had she made a mistake? No, it was just Patrick's way of paying her a compliment: "She was moving like she was in a room with nobody watching."
The dancers devoured everything Patrick threw at them, and eventually they were working on another passage inspired by the recent release of dozens of exotic animals from a zoo in Ohio. Here the dancers not only took on animal-like qualities of movement, but read aloud the list of the various creatures, most of which were hunted down and killed ("...18 Bengal tigers.")
Anyone know this guy? Beautiful mover...he and Shannon were right in the line of my camera.
Playground co-founder Gregory Dolbashian (above), who performs with CorbinDances, took the class; Greg has the Corbin style down pat.
There's one more Playground class in the current sessions: Gregory will be teaching on Friday December 16th at 10:30 AM. Manhattan Movement and Arts Center is at 248 West 60th Street. The class costs $5.00. Pay at the door and get your groove on.