Monday, August 21, 2006
What's for Lunch? A Global Dance Sampler
New York Sun
By MARY STAUB August 21, 2006
"In New York and all over the world, audiences tend to select an aesthetic and stay with it," the Battery Dance Company artistic director, Jonathan Hollander, said. "You'll find your ballet audience and your flamenco audience, but I don't want to encourage such parochial behavior. I want to encourage a taster's choice, so that ballet fans can suddenly be touched by an African dancer even though they thought they didn't have the knowledge to understand it."
Mr. Hollander makes his vision a reality today, as his Downtown Dance Festival begins shows at Chase Plaza for the 25th consecutive year. Starting at noon today, downtown workers, residents, tourists and dance fans can enjoy outdoor performances beginning with the most local of all companies, Mr. Hollander's own.
But Mr. Hollander has made it his mission to expand his audience's eyes. "I feel strongly about including all aesthetics of dance, and showing the public a full range of styles and techniques," Mr. Hollander said. "We worry that people do not get access to dance for economic or logistic reasons, or because they feel it's not something they'll enjoy.We want to open their minds and make dance accessible to the public."
So until Sunday, audiences can feast on a buffet of styles, ranging from authentic Chinese tribal dances to classical Northern Indian combined with other foot-stepping such as tap and flamenco. Monday's lineup travels from Argentina to New York and mixes ingredients of Austrian, Cuban, and American cultures. New Generation Dance Company bursts the boundaries of tradition with a contemporary-tango company directed by Argentinean Dardo Galletto. Rumba Tap is an Austrian tap dancer's fusion of 1930s tap moves and Afro-Cuban rhythms. And lastly, the New York-based Vissi Dance Theater combines jazz, West African, modern, and funk in an urban contemporary style.
And this year marks the first since 2002 in which the festival will run its weekday lunchtime Art in the Workplace series, which has been absent in recent years due to a lack of funding. A five-person panel, including Hollander himself and an Asian Cultural Council Fellow and dance scholar, Daisuke Muto, selected from 16 companies from over 60 video applications to participate in the performances.
The real novelty of this year's festival, however, is "Ocean of Light," a dance tribute to mark the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and to remember the victims of the Asian Tsunami. Instigated by Sanjay Doddamani, an "empanelled artist" with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, this homage resulted from the collaboration of dancers and musicians from India, London, New York, and New Orleans. The group will perform Thursday and Saturday, before moving on to New Orleans for performances later this fall.
But Mr. Hollander notes that his programming won't ignore classical ballet roots either. Peridance Ensemble will perform Igal Perry's Nocturne, and Elie Lazar will followup on Lazar Ballet NYC's debut at the festival last year. Kate Thomas, having moved from modern to contemporary ballet will present a preview of her new choreography with "Ballet Neo."
"This will be interesting for people who only think of "Swan Lake" when they think of ballet, but also for those who want to see where new choreographers are going," Mr. Hollander said.
The Downtown Dance Festival has long been a place for both the established and the newly emerging. As a result, festival audiences have ranged from pinstripe suited men craving culture over lunch, to families with children, dance lovers, workers, and more. With this year's emphasis on diversity of style, it promises to continue to do so again.
Until August 27 (various locations, for more information, call 212-219-3910).
Monday, July 10, 2006
Making 'Grendel' in Sets and Costumes
New York Sun
Lincoln Center Festival 2006
By MARY STAUB July 10, 2006
Music and song aren't the only things that make an opera. It takes costumes and set design, too. And the opera "Grendel" includes no shortage of visual effects to aid the tension between the familiar and the foreign, the good and the bad.
Costume designer Constance Hoffman and set designer George Tsypin worked closely with director Julie Taymor to develop costumes, puppets, and a massive set for the opus. "We all strongly felt that Grendel was contemporary, he had human qualities as well as beast aspects," Ms. Hoffman said. "Grendel's journey is about balancing or not balancing those two aspects of himself."
Throughout the creative process, Ms. Taymor, Mr. Tsypin, and Ms. Hoffman exchanged ideas on how the libretto, co-written by Ms. Taymor and poet J.D.McClatchy, would be converted onto stage.
"The libretto starts with the idea of jumping off a cliff, then Grendel changes his mind, but he is always drawn by the idea of releasing into death," Ms. Hoffman said. "Grendel talked a lot about a wall or cliff and is often seen looking at the world from heights as an outsider."
And so, at the center of this work stands an imposing 48-foot-long, 28-foot-tall mechanical wall that is both physical and symbolic. It rises and falls, rotates around itself and is driven by two motors, computer programs, and four live operators from within.As the sole set piece, the wall creates the epic's only scenery. With a Nordic winter's ice cracking on one side and spring's earth bursting forth on the other, the wall serves as unmistakable border line between the world of humans and the world of beasts, the world of us and the world of them.
As often in works by Ms.Taymor, who is best known for Broadway's "The Lion King," the visuals in "Grendel" tell a large part of the story. Not only the set, but also the costumes and puppetry are striking enough to be a show by themselves.
Human-scale puppets of flora and beasts are Grendel's relatives. His many voices, constantly debating one another within him, walk the stage in form of shadows, or doppelgängers, who intone upon him in different scales. The chorus, the villagers, are a monochromatic and subtle mass of people who, unlike Grendel, lack individual identity.
The main colors used in this stark story are earthy shades of gray and brown. They strongly contrast the rich reds and greens of the dragon, sung by Denyce Graves, who plays a pivotal role to Grendel. Ms. Graves, backed by three singing dragonettes, is a fantastical figure who sees forward and backward. She finally entices Grendel to accept his role of intruder and wrong-doer from the other side.
Almost all the characters in "Grendel" wear costumes made of felt fabrics that strongly resemble medieval Nordic clothing. Even delicate Queen Wealtheow, sung by Laura Claycomb, will appear in a seemingly sheer white gown with long trailing train that is made of a combination of felt and finer fabrics. Ms. Graves' dragon cape comes close to taking up the entirety of the stage.When combined with mask, tail, and fingernails that are a foot long, the costume creates a landscape all of its own. Grendel himself wears a heavy coat and old galoshes. His shadows haunt him as near identical triplets of a darker shaded gray.
Lincoln Center Festival 2006
By MARY STAUB July 10, 2006
Music and song aren't the only things that make an opera. It takes costumes and set design, too. And the opera "Grendel" includes no shortage of visual effects to aid the tension between the familiar and the foreign, the good and the bad.
Costume designer Constance Hoffman and set designer George Tsypin worked closely with director Julie Taymor to develop costumes, puppets, and a massive set for the opus. "We all strongly felt that Grendel was contemporary, he had human qualities as well as beast aspects," Ms. Hoffman said. "Grendel's journey is about balancing or not balancing those two aspects of himself."
Throughout the creative process, Ms. Taymor, Mr. Tsypin, and Ms. Hoffman exchanged ideas on how the libretto, co-written by Ms. Taymor and poet J.D.McClatchy, would be converted onto stage.
"The libretto starts with the idea of jumping off a cliff, then Grendel changes his mind, but he is always drawn by the idea of releasing into death," Ms. Hoffman said. "Grendel talked a lot about a wall or cliff and is often seen looking at the world from heights as an outsider."
And so, at the center of this work stands an imposing 48-foot-long, 28-foot-tall mechanical wall that is both physical and symbolic. It rises and falls, rotates around itself and is driven by two motors, computer programs, and four live operators from within.As the sole set piece, the wall creates the epic's only scenery. With a Nordic winter's ice cracking on one side and spring's earth bursting forth on the other, the wall serves as unmistakable border line between the world of humans and the world of beasts, the world of us and the world of them.
As often in works by Ms.Taymor, who is best known for Broadway's "The Lion King," the visuals in "Grendel" tell a large part of the story. Not only the set, but also the costumes and puppetry are striking enough to be a show by themselves.
Human-scale puppets of flora and beasts are Grendel's relatives. His many voices, constantly debating one another within him, walk the stage in form of shadows, or doppelgängers, who intone upon him in different scales. The chorus, the villagers, are a monochromatic and subtle mass of people who, unlike Grendel, lack individual identity.
The main colors used in this stark story are earthy shades of gray and brown. They strongly contrast the rich reds and greens of the dragon, sung by Denyce Graves, who plays a pivotal role to Grendel. Ms. Graves, backed by three singing dragonettes, is a fantastical figure who sees forward and backward. She finally entices Grendel to accept his role of intruder and wrong-doer from the other side.
Almost all the characters in "Grendel" wear costumes made of felt fabrics that strongly resemble medieval Nordic clothing. Even delicate Queen Wealtheow, sung by Laura Claycomb, will appear in a seemingly sheer white gown with long trailing train that is made of a combination of felt and finer fabrics. Ms. Graves' dragon cape comes close to taking up the entirety of the stage.When combined with mask, tail, and fingernails that are a foot long, the costume creates a landscape all of its own. Grendel himself wears a heavy coat and old galoshes. His shadows haunt him as near identical triplets of a darker shaded gray.
Monday, May 1, 2006
When Clothes Help to Make the Dance
New York Sun
By MARY STAUB August 21, 2006
Like most experimental choreographers, Sean Curran throws costumes together on a limited budget. But for his work with American Ballet Theatre's Studio Company at the Joyce Theater, he had fashion designer Charles Nolan on his team. And the collaboration enhanced the character of the dance more than anyone expected.
ABT played matchmaker by bringing Mr. Curran - whose downtown dance troupe, Sean Curran Company, is known for its intelligence and physicality - together with Mr. Nolan, a designer with a talent for pretty frocks and sexy suits. The two met up at a company rehearsal for Mr. Curran's new work, "Aria," set to baroque arias of love and lament by Georg Friedrich Handel. There, Mr. Nolan sat quietly at the studio's side and watched the dancers and choreographer at work for an hour.
"I always have to have a story connected," Mr. Nolan said. "When I make clothes, I think: Where is she going in this? Who is she? Why is she wearing this?"
Similarly, when he watched the dancers dance excerpts from "Aria," he saw the story behind the movement. For a postmodern, collaborative choreographer like Mr. Curran, however, narrative usually takes a backseat to character and emotion.
"We might be imitating a scene from life in dance language, but I'm certainly not telling a story," Mr. Curran said. "What Charles did in a way was give us a back story. I was responding to the idea of love, loss, regret, and longing in the music. He placed them at a ball - after the ball, when some people were leaving the party with someone else and others are alone."
The women wear formal gowns of white, each of individual style. A deep scoop neck shows off one girl's decolletage, and a low dipped back emphasizes another's back; Deep cleavage for the temptress, a more modest collar for the reserved. The men wear formal attire, each in a distinct stage of undress.
With a deeper sense of narrative, individual characters for each dancer, and formal wear as clothing, Mr. Curran started coaxing more acting out of the young dancers. The Handel arias speak of love and longing, and the young dancers - ages 16 to 20 - started to visualize that feeling during costume fittings. The company trekked to Mr. Nolan's studio on Gansevoort Street where Mr. Nolan draped, cut, and styled the costumes.
"Charles was doing his own little dance, a duet, with each of the dancers," Mr. Curran said. "The women were being draped like fashion models. You put a costume like that on and it changes the chemistry, it adds a whole layer and gives you something more to work with."
And indeed, when these young men and women step onto the stage in classic black and white, they project a celebration of themselves at a transitional moment in their young lives. It may only be prom night, but the clothes do work.
By MARY STAUB August 21, 2006
Like most experimental choreographers, Sean Curran throws costumes together on a limited budget. But for his work with American Ballet Theatre's Studio Company at the Joyce Theater, he had fashion designer Charles Nolan on his team. And the collaboration enhanced the character of the dance more than anyone expected.
ABT played matchmaker by bringing Mr. Curran - whose downtown dance troupe, Sean Curran Company, is known for its intelligence and physicality - together with Mr. Nolan, a designer with a talent for pretty frocks and sexy suits. The two met up at a company rehearsal for Mr. Curran's new work, "Aria," set to baroque arias of love and lament by Georg Friedrich Handel. There, Mr. Nolan sat quietly at the studio's side and watched the dancers and choreographer at work for an hour.
"I always have to have a story connected," Mr. Nolan said. "When I make clothes, I think: Where is she going in this? Who is she? Why is she wearing this?"
Similarly, when he watched the dancers dance excerpts from "Aria," he saw the story behind the movement. For a postmodern, collaborative choreographer like Mr. Curran, however, narrative usually takes a backseat to character and emotion.
"We might be imitating a scene from life in dance language, but I'm certainly not telling a story," Mr. Curran said. "What Charles did in a way was give us a back story. I was responding to the idea of love, loss, regret, and longing in the music. He placed them at a ball - after the ball, when some people were leaving the party with someone else and others are alone."
The women wear formal gowns of white, each of individual style. A deep scoop neck shows off one girl's decolletage, and a low dipped back emphasizes another's back; Deep cleavage for the temptress, a more modest collar for the reserved. The men wear formal attire, each in a distinct stage of undress.
With a deeper sense of narrative, individual characters for each dancer, and formal wear as clothing, Mr. Curran started coaxing more acting out of the young dancers. The Handel arias speak of love and longing, and the young dancers - ages 16 to 20 - started to visualize that feeling during costume fittings. The company trekked to Mr. Nolan's studio on Gansevoort Street where Mr. Nolan draped, cut, and styled the costumes.
"Charles was doing his own little dance, a duet, with each of the dancers," Mr. Curran said. "The women were being draped like fashion models. You put a costume like that on and it changes the chemistry, it adds a whole layer and gives you something more to work with."
And indeed, when these young men and women step onto the stage in classic black and white, they project a celebration of themselves at a transitional moment in their young lives. It may only be prom night, but the clothes do work.
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