Above: choreographer Joshua Beamish
Saturday October 26, 2013 - The planned New York City premiere presentation of Joshua Beamish's PIERCED at Ailey Citigroup had to be abandoned on very short notice due to extenuating circumstances. A combination of dancer injuries and a delay in obtaining visas (a result of the recent US government shutdown) caused the Canadian choreographer to assemble a new programme, literally on the spur of the moment. The evening proved rewarding in its own right, thanks to Joshua's charismatic personality, his gifts as both choreographer and dancer, and the assistance of two of Gotham's loveliest ladies: Deborah Wingert and Cathy Eilers.
Cathy introduced the evening, describing how she fell under Joshua's spell right from her first meeting with him at Joyce SoHo a few years ago. A film of a pas de deux from PIERCED was then shown, performed by Harrison James (National Ballet of Canada) and Jo-Ann Sundermeier (Smuin Ballet). The music is by David Lang, and the title PIERCED refers to Cupid's arrow.
Live dancing started with a solo that followed: Joshua - as the self-described 'guardian of love' - danced with hypnotic fluidity: his clarity of movement and caressive port de bras enhance his god-given handsomeness, creating a distinctive self-portrait.
In an interview that followed, Deborah Wingert posed just the right questions so that we got to know Joshua - his process and his way of thinking - without compromising his personal mystique. Many dance interviews fall flat, but Deborah's thorough understanding of dance from the inside out - as dancer, teacher, choreographer, stager and coach - assured an articulate and meaningful dialogue with Joshua, one coloured by honest emotion.
For now we must put PIERCED on our wish-list and hope that a future opportunity will bring Joshua's MOVE: the company to New York City in full force.
Tonight's performance continued with Jacklyn Wheatley of The Ailey School performing a new Beamish solo, Some is Lost, to music by Hauschka. The movement here is a feminine counter-poise to the solo Joshua danced earlier in the evening.
Music from Bach's cello suite #1 set the stage for Joshua's expressive dancing of a solo from his 2011 work Allemande. Sticking with the music of the great masters, Vivaldi was then summoned for a particularly satisfying performamce of an extended excerpt from This Black Vale which premiered earlier this year. Davon Rainey, totally at home in Joshua Beamish's flowing movement style, danced a solo and then a duet in which Joshua kept coming and going, their relationship a mystery. Davon's second solo was a more animated piece, and then, as the music seemed to fracture, Joshua re-appeared for the evening's final solo.
Joshua Beamish will be dancing a duet he choreographed for Wendy Whelan and himself at The Joyce as part of Wendy's production Restless Creature April 1st - 6th, 2014. Further details will be forthcoming.