Above: Laura Di Orio, Michael Miles, Cara McManus, and Maia Culbreath in Lydia Johnson's Summer House, photo by Danica Paulos for @nelshelbyfilms
~ Author: Oberon
Sunday December 8th, 2024 matinee - The Graham Studio Theatre at Westbeth down on Bethune Street is a sacred space for dance. Harking back to the days of Cunningham and Cage, and now the home of the Martha Graham Dance Company, I've seen so many memorable moves on this floor: in late November, Francesca Todesco's Dances We Dance put on a beautiful program here, and people like Miki Orihara and Ian Spencer Bell have celebrated music and poetry here in danceworks that moved me deeply. And of course the Graham dancers are here all the time; I've been lucky to have been invited to their rehearsals over the years where these athletes of god turn a run-thru in practice clothes into a work of art.
The list of artists who have danced here is long and lustrous. This afternoon, Lydia Johnson's dancers took over the space; for Lydia, this was like a homecoming, since some of her earliest choreographic work was generated in this place.
A full house seemed keenly focused on the dancing and the music. I loved seeing NYC Ballet's Gonzalo Garcia here, in support of his longtime colleague Craig Hall. Throughout the performance, the ballets were enhanced by the expert lighting of Renée Molina.
Above: Cara McManus and Oscar Antonio Rodriguez rehearsing their duet from Chapters; photo by Steven Pisano
Chapters (2023) with music by William Duckworth, Christopher Dennis Coleman, and others, opened the evening. This dancework starts with a series of three duets. In the first of these, to the sound of piano filigree over shifting chords, Justin Lynch (handsome as ever) was joined by Gracie Zytynski, who was replacing an injured dancer. Gracie, so fair of face, was totally at ease in the choreography and - though the ballet is essentially abstract - she and Justin seemed to find a narrative behind every step and pose.
A repeated piano note brings forth Laura Di Orio and Michael Miles, who've made a beautiful partnership in recent performances; as flute and cello join the keyboard, their dancing turns lyrical, with a gorgeous final pose.
A captivating partnership - Cara McManus and Oscar Antonio Rodriguez - danced to a Duckworth piano prelude. This is an attract-then-avoid duet, the couple seemingly unable to decide how they feel about one another. Cara is a spellbinding dancer; it's difficult to take your eyes off her when she is onstage. But Oscar is such a charismatic fellow in his own right that watching them together was really entrancing.
A ritualistic ensemble section follows, danced to hymn-like music. Maia Culbreath, Emma Conrad, Natalia Nikitin, and Sky Pascual join the three couples here, and the choreography includes one of Lydia's signature motifs as the dancers cradle one another. Justin Lynch then opens the finale, dancing alone; he's joined by the others in a peaceful leave-taking.
Next came a revival of Summer House, drawing on music from Philip Glass’s Piano Etudes and Poems for Solo Cello. This ballet tells a story, but it's up to the viewer to determine what the story actually is. A young man has spent the summer months in a house by the sea with three women. We do not know how they know one another, nor what undercurrents of feeling run amongst them; but a sense of wistfulness permeates the air...and a knowledge that something is coming to an end.
Summer House often makes me think of Woody Allen's evocative film September, wherein Mia Farrow and Diane Wiest find themselves in a similar situation. Just as the story of the film wends its way thru conversations between Mia and Diane at the breakfast table or on the sofa, much of the movement in Lydia's ballet develops from the seated poses of the dancers. In the days prior to tonight's performance, I watched the Woody Allen film again, for probably the 20th time.
The central role in Summer House, probably Lydia's most haunting creation for a male dancer, was first danced by Robert Robinson, a magnetic young man who simply became the character he was playing. Unforgettable, truly. Yet a few years later, the intense personality and fluent body language of Reed Luplau opened up fresh aspects of the character's thoughts and feelings. Today, Michael Miles, the most youthful of the three interpreters - and exuding a sense of innocence in his supple moves - had something of an air of a lost boy in his interpretation. Michael is so poetic to watch; he never seems to be acting, but simply being. That's a very special gift in a dancer.
The three women - Laura Di Orio (who was in the original cast of this piece back in 2011), Cara McManus, and Maia Culbreath - create lush, evocative movements while seated. The atmosphere would be one of a lazy end-of summer day but for the tensions simmering under the surface which make us curious about the relationships between these four people.
In one scene, Michael sits pensively with his back to the girls as they seem to be sifting thru their own emotions. There's a restless undercurrent throughout this ballet, and in the end I always find myself thinking back to my summer on Cape Cod, when TJ and I were finally on our own together, but surrounded by young ballerinas and a jealous (female) choreographer.
Lydia Johnson's Time… and again, set to the evocative sounds of Oscar Peterson, brought the return to Lydia Johnson Dance of Craig Hall, former New York City Ballet soloist and currently a Repertory Director at the home of Mr. B. This is the third time Craig has guested with Lydia's company; it would have been the fourth had the pandemic not obliterated a gorgeous Beethoven piece that Lydia was making on Craig and LJD dancer de luxe Laura Di Orio.
Time...and again revolves around two duets danced by Laura Di Orio and Craig Hall. Though they've not danced together for a while, the magic of their partnership is as appealing as ever. As with so many beautiful dance partnerships, Laura and Craig seem to complete one another, making their duets vibrant and inspiring to behold. These duets are a bit different in mood: one romantic and one more sultry.
The Oscar Peterson arrangements of songs by Duke Ellington and Bob Russell add a nostalgic air to the piece, with In The Still Of The Night being especially evocative. The other dancers at this nightclub (the women wear satiny cocktail dresses) were Natalia Nikitin, Michael Miles, Cara McManus, Oscar Antonio Rodriguez, Emma Conrad, Justin Lynch, Gracie Zytynski, and Maia Culbreath.
Above: the ensemble in Lydia Johnson's Legacy, photo by Danica Paulos for @nelshelbyfilms
Closing the program was a world premiere entitled Legacy, set to Terry Riley's minimalist score IN C, composed in 1964. Watching a rehearsal of this piece last week, I immediately recognized it as one of Lydia's masterpieces, not least because of the unexpected allure of the music. There's a narrative here, but a subtle one. The choreography sings of the joys of parenting, of the innocence of children, and of the timeless rituals of friendships and families.
In the comings and goings of adults and youngsters, the feeling of tenderness between parent and child is lovingly underlined. The movement is spacious, with one passage where a trio and a quartet do different things at the same time. And I loved the circle of solidarity which speeds up before a celebratory raising of arms.
Above: Laura Di Orio, Cara McManus, and Michael Miles in Lydia Johnson's Legacy; photo by Danica Paulos for @nelshelbyfilmsl
In Legacy, four very young students from Lydia's school in New Jersey showed a gift of stage-worthiness that belied their ages: I believe they are all seven-year-olds. The ringleader of this adorable quartet was Fiona Hartman, the lively daughter of Laura Di Orio, who - if she follows in her mom's footsteps - will become a dancer to be reckoned with: she already shows an abundance of self-confidence and a feeling for the music. Her playmates today - Uma Thomas Asnani, Elise Boikess, and Esme Hughes - each have a distinctive personality and they all seemed very much at ease onstage.
~ Oberon
(More photos may be found here)