New York Sun
By MARY STAUB August 14, 2007
In the sweltering summer months, outdoor dance performances pop up all over town, from Battery Park to Central Park and beyond. But one element that tends not to be on offer are workshops and classes that allow audiences active participation. The exception is the Downtown Dance Festival, a 26-year-old festival that begins this Monday at noon on Chase Plaza.
Known for a colorful palate of dance styles, the festival is organized by the founder and artistic director of the Battery Dance Company, Jonathan Hollander. For the past year, Mr. Hollander has been working with members of his company to add classes and workshops to this year's festival. "We wanted to try out an aspect of what has classically been a performance festival and move it a little bit into the realm of education," Mr. Hollander, whose company has led arts-in-education projects in local public schools for more than 20 years, said. "This is something New York City needs, particularly at the end of summer when families with less funds don't have the option to go out of town."
The festival's mission is an extension of the company's goal to make dance accessible to all. Indeed, the free festival typically attracts audiences as varied as its acts. Bike messengers, workers on scaffolding, and dance fans alike stop and watch the work of 19 companies. The festival features dance styles from Indian Manipuri, to a fusion of house and West African, to classical ballet.
The one population group whose appearances have been strikingly scarce, though, is that of young people, according to the education director of Battery Dance Company Tadej Brdnik. "I noticed that the timing and place were such that not a lot of teenagers, young kids, or families were involved during the week," Mr. Brdnik said. "I started looking for opportunities to blend the audience and performer line more, so that it would be more interesting for young people and they would not just be spectators, but also part of the festival as performers."
Mr. Brdnik's goal was to create a free two-week workshop wherein participants would watch performances of varying styles, then learn about their histories and techniques. What the company is able to offer this year is more direct: Every day, one of the performing companies will teach segments of their work in classes after their performance.
Kids and young adults, starting at age 10, will have the opportunity to try house and African dance on Monday with Vissi Dance Theater. On Tuesday, the focus shifts to ballet — with emphasis on boys — in a class led by Christopher Caines. Then during the rest of the week, teachers will instruct students in Battery Dance's own style, West African, Indian Manipuri with Darshana Jhaveri, and more.
"The parts that the companies are teaching are based on accessibility, so the kids don't have to be phenomenal dancers already," Mr. Brdnik said. "We want to give them a different perspective and allow them to feel that they are a little bit more than just someone watching performances."
Mr. Brdnik has contacted several summer programs for children — both dance- and non-dance related — to guarantee attendance including summer school programs he has worked with in the past such as Washington Irving High School in Manhattan and Millennium High School in Brooklyn. Passersby are also welcome. Those under age 10 will receive special assistance from volunteers, and those closer to middle age are also guaranteed a spot on stage.
"If we have a problem and have too many kids, that's a good problem to have. We'll just have them work in groups," Mr. Brdnik said. "This is a stepping stone for next year, when we will try to get funding for the full workshop."
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Adding Dimension To Dance
New York Sun
By MARY STAUB July 23, 2007
Before Frédéric Flamand became a well-known choreographer and artistic director of the National Ballet of Marseille France's second national ballet company, he worked mainly in unconventional spaces: factories, swimming pools churches. But 10 years ago, when Mr. Flamand's company at the time Charleroi/Danses in Belgium, began gaining recognition and received invitations to perform on more conventional stages at festivals throughout Europe, he had to find a way to turn the stage into the unconventional space his work demanded. The solution? Mr Flamand turned to the ultimate disciples of design: architects.
He had little trouble finding willing participants. To date, Mr. Flamand's collaborators include some of the most innovative, high-profile architects working today, from Jean Nouvel to Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, the design team now recasting the Lincoln Center complex.
Mr. Flamand's latest cohort for his "Metapolis II," a meditation on the complexity of contemporary city life, which opens Wednesday as part of the Lincoln Center Festival, is perhaps his most illustrious to date: Zaha Hadid. In 2004, Ms. Hadid was the first female to receive the Pritzker Prize and last summer she was the subject of a major retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum.
For Mr. Flamand, one reason to work with architects as set designers was the intriguing similarities of their separate crafts. All choreographers, regardless of style or subject, are interested in how they can use bodies to carve shapes and stories into space. Just as they transform space with bodies, architects design buildings that transform and landscapes.
"We can imagine that each dancer also creates architecture in space. A body makes an ephemeral architecture," Mr. Flamand said in French-accented English. "And it's very interesting to see the ephemeral architecture created by the body next to the real sense of space created from the real architecture."
Besides, Mr. Flamand said, the collaboration provides benefits to architects not usually enjoyed in their standard practices. "They get to see immediately what works and what doesn't," he said. "They see how the body of the dancer reacts to the space they've created."
Ms. Hadid, born in Baghdad and known for futuristic designs such as the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, designed set and costumes that are sleek and simple, yet, like the landscape of any city, ever-changing. Throughout "Metapolis II," the dancers subtly shift three silvery bridges, made of fiberglass and aluminium, to create new shapes and structures. As the backdrop, projected upon a screen that covers the entire back wall, images of the same dancers who move onstage traverse the wall as giant versions of themselves. These larger-than-life dancers are clad in chroma key costumes upon which further cityscapes are projected. Tokyo, Barcelona, Fifth Avenue, and more, dance across the screen in the form of the dancers' bodies they inhabit.
"We try to create with dance and video and structures a space that is fluid and abrupt and has its own rhythm like a city," Mr. Flamand said. "It's a little like traveling in a car in the city: First it's very hectic in the downtown, everyone running in business suits, then you get to Central Park and everything is calm."
The work's challenges extended to Mr. Flamand's role as well. "Metapolis II" is an adaptation of an earlier work, "Metapolis," which Ms. Hadid and Mr. Flamand created for Charleroi/Danses in 2000. Although the set and costumes, also by Ms. Hadid and ranging from one-legged leather suits to near-nakedness, remain the same, the cast has changed dramatically.
What were originally 11 contemporary dancers of Charleroi/Danses have become the 19 classically trained dancers of the National Ballet of Marseille. For "Metapolis II," Mr. Flamand faced the challenge of hybridizing his avant-garde contemporary style with the classical technique of Marseille's dancers.
"Because the thematic is nonending, we can continue to change and adapt this work," said David Hayo, an assistant to Mr. Flamand in Marseille who was among the original cast of "Metapolis." "It is like these are new inhabitants. The city stays the same, but there are new people living in it."
In reality, though, "Metapolis II" has traveled to many cities, from Marseille to Beirut to Edinburgh, and beyond. "Whenever you travel, a city itself hopefully has some impact on the dancers, how they react and feel in that city," Mr. Hayo, who spoke from his own experiences, said. "‘Metapolis II' is still played in a theater situation, so it's not so much that the theater has an impact on the performance, but it's rather the other way around," he said. "That the seemingly simple elements we created strongly impact the theater itself."
Until July 27 (Lincoln Center, 212-721-6500).
By MARY STAUB July 23, 2007
Before Frédéric Flamand became a well-known choreographer and artistic director of the National Ballet of Marseille France's second national ballet company, he worked mainly in unconventional spaces: factories, swimming pools churches. But 10 years ago, when Mr. Flamand's company at the time Charleroi/Danses in Belgium, began gaining recognition and received invitations to perform on more conventional stages at festivals throughout Europe, he had to find a way to turn the stage into the unconventional space his work demanded. The solution? Mr Flamand turned to the ultimate disciples of design: architects.
He had little trouble finding willing participants. To date, Mr. Flamand's collaborators include some of the most innovative, high-profile architects working today, from Jean Nouvel to Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, the design team now recasting the Lincoln Center complex.
Mr. Flamand's latest cohort for his "Metapolis II," a meditation on the complexity of contemporary city life, which opens Wednesday as part of the Lincoln Center Festival, is perhaps his most illustrious to date: Zaha Hadid. In 2004, Ms. Hadid was the first female to receive the Pritzker Prize and last summer she was the subject of a major retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum.
For Mr. Flamand, one reason to work with architects as set designers was the intriguing similarities of their separate crafts. All choreographers, regardless of style or subject, are interested in how they can use bodies to carve shapes and stories into space. Just as they transform space with bodies, architects design buildings that transform and landscapes.
"We can imagine that each dancer also creates architecture in space. A body makes an ephemeral architecture," Mr. Flamand said in French-accented English. "And it's very interesting to see the ephemeral architecture created by the body next to the real sense of space created from the real architecture."
Besides, Mr. Flamand said, the collaboration provides benefits to architects not usually enjoyed in their standard practices. "They get to see immediately what works and what doesn't," he said. "They see how the body of the dancer reacts to the space they've created."
Ms. Hadid, born in Baghdad and known for futuristic designs such as the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, designed set and costumes that are sleek and simple, yet, like the landscape of any city, ever-changing. Throughout "Metapolis II," the dancers subtly shift three silvery bridges, made of fiberglass and aluminium, to create new shapes and structures. As the backdrop, projected upon a screen that covers the entire back wall, images of the same dancers who move onstage traverse the wall as giant versions of themselves. These larger-than-life dancers are clad in chroma key costumes upon which further cityscapes are projected. Tokyo, Barcelona, Fifth Avenue, and more, dance across the screen in the form of the dancers' bodies they inhabit.
"We try to create with dance and video and structures a space that is fluid and abrupt and has its own rhythm like a city," Mr. Flamand said. "It's a little like traveling in a car in the city: First it's very hectic in the downtown, everyone running in business suits, then you get to Central Park and everything is calm."
The work's challenges extended to Mr. Flamand's role as well. "Metapolis II" is an adaptation of an earlier work, "Metapolis," which Ms. Hadid and Mr. Flamand created for Charleroi/Danses in 2000. Although the set and costumes, also by Ms. Hadid and ranging from one-legged leather suits to near-nakedness, remain the same, the cast has changed dramatically.
What were originally 11 contemporary dancers of Charleroi/Danses have become the 19 classically trained dancers of the National Ballet of Marseille. For "Metapolis II," Mr. Flamand faced the challenge of hybridizing his avant-garde contemporary style with the classical technique of Marseille's dancers.
"Because the thematic is nonending, we can continue to change and adapt this work," said David Hayo, an assistant to Mr. Flamand in Marseille who was among the original cast of "Metapolis." "It is like these are new inhabitants. The city stays the same, but there are new people living in it."
In reality, though, "Metapolis II" has traveled to many cities, from Marseille to Beirut to Edinburgh, and beyond. "Whenever you travel, a city itself hopefully has some impact on the dancers, how they react and feel in that city," Mr. Hayo, who spoke from his own experiences, said. "‘Metapolis II' is still played in a theater situation, so it's not so much that the theater has an impact on the performance, but it's rather the other way around," he said. "That the seemingly simple elements we created strongly impact the theater itself."
Until July 27 (Lincoln Center, 212-721-6500).
Monday, June 18, 2007
Pointe To Pointe
New York Sun
By MARY STAUB June 18, 2007
Three pas de deux in two weeks is a lot of material for any young dancer. Three pas de deux in two weeks with a new partner performed under the critical eyes of the former directors from the Kirov Ballet and Paris Opéra Ballet is a hurdle of nearly unimaginable proportions. But that is exactly what a group of 17- to 24 year-old dancers has had to tackle during the New York International Ballet Competition, which holds its final rounds beginning Wednesday at Lincoln Center.
"All dancers have had to learn things the weekend before, but to learn something and be judged on it is different," a dancer, Chris Mackenthun, said after rehearsal at the start of his second week in New York. "Usually it doesn't have to be perfect because things can be off, and the everyday audience doesn't notice. This time, though, the judges will know when you're off, and they'll let you know."
For the past two weeks, 48 young ballet dancers have been sweating out the minutes, up to nine hours a day, six days a week, at an uptown dance studio, eagerly learning the steps and styles of three pas de deux — an excerpt from "Coppelia," the Black Swan pas de deux from "Swan Lake," and "Divertimento," a contemporary work by Victoria Mazzarelli, who won the gold medal at the first NYIBC in 1984 — from scratch. Dancers compete in three rounds and a gala performance for various prizes, including one-year contracts with American Ballet Theatre and the Joffrey Ballet. Past winners include ABT principal dancer Gillian Murphy, Royal Ballet principal dancer Sarah Lamb, and Paris Opera Ballet dancer Ludmilla Pagliero,
Several dancers, including Mr. Mackenthun, entered the competition with the added difficulty of only recently having met his or her partner. Five weeks prior to coming to New York, Mr. Mackenthun flew down to Costa Rica to meet Margarita Peralta. The two dancers became acquainted and rehearsed for five weeks, then took a one-week break before meeting again in New York in early June. Ms. Peralta was driven to seek a partner outside Costa Rica because, as she put it, "in Costa Rica there are no male ballet dancers and people don't really care about ballet."
With dancers from 19 countries including Russia, the Philippines, and Costa Rica, NYIBC unites competitors from very distinct sets of circumstances.
Some are just out of school and have little stage experience, while others have worked as full-fledged company members for years. Some arrived solo, others with well-rehearsed partners. Some have toured widely and know what it is like to adapt to new stages, while others have mainly local recitals under their belt.
From day one during class it is evident to most competitors — or participants as they prefer to be called — that their fellow dancers bring with them a wide range of experience, schooling, technique, and style. But what might be cause for contention, competition or intimidation, has instead been a source of inspiration for most.
"It's been a great learning experience to watch different dancers and many I can see where they've been trained," a dancer, Crystal Hartford, 17, said while sipping Coke at the end of a nine-hour day of dance. Because ballet technique can be taught in various styles, including the Russian Vaganova technique, the Italian Chiccetti style, and the American Balanchine method, the same steps can appear wildly different on dancers from various backgrounds. "When rehearsing, I want to watch others, too, because it's so interesting to see what others are doing versus what we're doing," Ms. Hartford said.
Although the rules demand that all dancers must learn and perform the exact same steps and nothing be altered — regardless of how much an individual might struggle with a particular piqué turn to his right versus left — the dancers are encouraged to freely integrate into their performances their own heritage, background, schooling, and culture.
"As judges, we have to see beyond the steps, beyond the extensions, jumps and turns, to what's inside the steps, the passion," the president of judges and the director of Dance Conservatory of New York, Valentina Kozlova, said. "Although they have to know the movement, it's not about technique. It's about how they relate to each other and it has to do with touching the heart of the audience. They must touch the audience, make you feel, and tell a story; that is the artistry."
The learning process, though, isn't limited to choreography. For some dancers, it includes learning English, and for others it means gaining more experience onstage, or dealing with exceptional pressures in a very short amount of time.
"I always hope dancers go away a little richer and wiser and have learned something about themselves," the competition's cofounder, Ilona Copen, said. "Of course, I hope that they go home as better artists, but I also hope they gain a generosity of heart towards other dancers and more openness towards other cultures."
Until July 24 (Lincoln Center, 212-721-6500).
By MARY STAUB June 18, 2007
Three pas de deux in two weeks is a lot of material for any young dancer. Three pas de deux in two weeks with a new partner performed under the critical eyes of the former directors from the Kirov Ballet and Paris Opéra Ballet is a hurdle of nearly unimaginable proportions. But that is exactly what a group of 17- to 24 year-old dancers has had to tackle during the New York International Ballet Competition, which holds its final rounds beginning Wednesday at Lincoln Center.
"All dancers have had to learn things the weekend before, but to learn something and be judged on it is different," a dancer, Chris Mackenthun, said after rehearsal at the start of his second week in New York. "Usually it doesn't have to be perfect because things can be off, and the everyday audience doesn't notice. This time, though, the judges will know when you're off, and they'll let you know."
For the past two weeks, 48 young ballet dancers have been sweating out the minutes, up to nine hours a day, six days a week, at an uptown dance studio, eagerly learning the steps and styles of three pas de deux — an excerpt from "Coppelia," the Black Swan pas de deux from "Swan Lake," and "Divertimento," a contemporary work by Victoria Mazzarelli, who won the gold medal at the first NYIBC in 1984 — from scratch. Dancers compete in three rounds and a gala performance for various prizes, including one-year contracts with American Ballet Theatre and the Joffrey Ballet. Past winners include ABT principal dancer Gillian Murphy, Royal Ballet principal dancer Sarah Lamb, and Paris Opera Ballet dancer Ludmilla Pagliero,
Several dancers, including Mr. Mackenthun, entered the competition with the added difficulty of only recently having met his or her partner. Five weeks prior to coming to New York, Mr. Mackenthun flew down to Costa Rica to meet Margarita Peralta. The two dancers became acquainted and rehearsed for five weeks, then took a one-week break before meeting again in New York in early June. Ms. Peralta was driven to seek a partner outside Costa Rica because, as she put it, "in Costa Rica there are no male ballet dancers and people don't really care about ballet."
With dancers from 19 countries including Russia, the Philippines, and Costa Rica, NYIBC unites competitors from very distinct sets of circumstances.
Some are just out of school and have little stage experience, while others have worked as full-fledged company members for years. Some arrived solo, others with well-rehearsed partners. Some have toured widely and know what it is like to adapt to new stages, while others have mainly local recitals under their belt.
From day one during class it is evident to most competitors — or participants as they prefer to be called — that their fellow dancers bring with them a wide range of experience, schooling, technique, and style. But what might be cause for contention, competition or intimidation, has instead been a source of inspiration for most.
"It's been a great learning experience to watch different dancers and many I can see where they've been trained," a dancer, Crystal Hartford, 17, said while sipping Coke at the end of a nine-hour day of dance. Because ballet technique can be taught in various styles, including the Russian Vaganova technique, the Italian Chiccetti style, and the American Balanchine method, the same steps can appear wildly different on dancers from various backgrounds. "When rehearsing, I want to watch others, too, because it's so interesting to see what others are doing versus what we're doing," Ms. Hartford said.
Although the rules demand that all dancers must learn and perform the exact same steps and nothing be altered — regardless of how much an individual might struggle with a particular piqué turn to his right versus left — the dancers are encouraged to freely integrate into their performances their own heritage, background, schooling, and culture.
"As judges, we have to see beyond the steps, beyond the extensions, jumps and turns, to what's inside the steps, the passion," the president of judges and the director of Dance Conservatory of New York, Valentina Kozlova, said. "Although they have to know the movement, it's not about technique. It's about how they relate to each other and it has to do with touching the heart of the audience. They must touch the audience, make you feel, and tell a story; that is the artistry."
The learning process, though, isn't limited to choreography. For some dancers, it includes learning English, and for others it means gaining more experience onstage, or dealing with exceptional pressures in a very short amount of time.
"I always hope dancers go away a little richer and wiser and have learned something about themselves," the competition's cofounder, Ilona Copen, said. "Of course, I hope that they go home as better artists, but I also hope they gain a generosity of heart towards other dancers and more openness towards other cultures."
Until July 24 (Lincoln Center, 212-721-6500).
Friday, June 8, 2007
A Partner to Remember
New York Sun
By MARY STAUB June 8, 2007
If professional demand is any measure of expertise, then Roberto Bolle is unquestionably of the highest caliber. Last month, Mr. Bolle, a Ballet Étoile at La Scala in Milan, partnered Darcey Bussell, a beloved principal dancer at London's Royal Ballet, for her farewell performance at Sadler's Wells. This month, the 32-year-old is in New York to partner Alessandra Ferri, a celebrated principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, in the final performances of her 22-year career with ABT.
While Mr. Bolle has worked as principal guest artist throughout Europe — at the Royal Opera Ballet, Paris Opéra Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, and more — for the past 11 years, his career in America is only just beginning. His performance in ABT's "Manon" on June 11 will mark his first principal role in this country.
"It's a great moment in my career, but it is also a very sad one because Alessandra is leaving and Darcey is leaving," Mr. Bolle said modestly in lyrical, Italian-accented English during a break in his tight New York schedule. Sprinkled throughout rehearsals, he had a photo-shoot with Italian Vanity Fair one day, a discussion of his New York debut at the Italian Cultural Institute the next.
Although the Ferri-Bolle pairing is new to American audiences, it is by no means new to the dancers themselves, who danced together for the first time in 2002 at the Bolshoi and who have worked together more than 40 times since. Mr. Bolle credits Ms. Ferri with teaching him what it truly meant to be an artist onstage when the two danced together in "Romeo and Juliet."
"The first time, I have to say I was scared to perform opposite Alessandra because it is very different dancing with her," Mr. Bolle said. "She is so natural, she doesn't care about the steps and technique in this kind of dramatic ballet so much, but really wants to tell stories; she wants you to have real reactions, like a real person. So sometimes she changes reactions or steps because in that moment she feels different."
Any anxieties Mr. Bolle had at the time have clearly vanished. At a recent rehearsal of "Manon" at the Metropolitan Opera House — a rehearsal that included the tragic final scene in which Manon lies dying in her lover des Grieux's arms — Ms. Ferri and Mr. Bolle resembled young children playing at love and death with each other. Each time their steps, turns, or lifts didn't quite match up, they broke into laughter and exchanged animated advice, in Italian on how to adapt to each other's style, steps, and bodies.
"You don't have to put me down, I can just slide off and find the floor. Especially with your shoulders, it's like lying on a bed," Ms. Ferri said, half jokingly, after a descent from atop Mr. Bolle's broad shoulders ended with a clunk.
After another segment, in which Mr. Bolle tossed her seemingly two body-lengths above his head, Ms. Ferri commented, "I know you're high already, but I also know you can go even higher."
Ms. Ferri's coach, Wilhelm Burmann, sat discreetly at the side, offering occasional individual directions — "Make sure the attitude piqué is en face," or "Make sure your foot is stretched" — but left the two dancers to work out most of the details on their own.
Mr. Bolle and Ms. Ferri's ease with each other stems partly from their shared Italian roots — Ms. Ferri is from Milan, Mr. Bolle from Casale Monferrato, a small town in northwestern Italy. In part, though, their ease stems from a palpable shared enjoyment of continuously reinterpreting a story as it take its course.
"It is especially important in these dramatic ballets that you really use the steps to communicate, not just to move," Mr. Bolle said of works such as "Manon" and "Romeo and Juliet." "Just today after rehearsal, Alessandra told me, ‘Be careful because if I feel to do different, I will do it different, and if you feel to do different, you do it and I will react; if you have another feeling — a bit more sad, a bit more angry, you want to be nasty or more jealous — you do it.'"
With his New York debut just around the corner and an overflow of offers to dance with the most popular ballerinas of our time — he reluctantly declined a second request from Darcey Bussell due to scheduling conflicts — there are few things that Mr. Bolle truly longs for in his career. He'd like to dance "Eugene Onegin," and would love the chance to work with more living choreographers. But these are just minor wishes. His only real qualms are over those who are leaving; Ms. Ferri in New York and Ms. Bussell in London.
"I've danced with Darcey for eight years, Alessandra for five," Mr. Bolle said. "And there are no other dancers like that, with that experience, that maturity, that artistry."
June 11, 14, and 23 (Lincoln Center, 212-721-6500).
By MARY STAUB June 8, 2007
If professional demand is any measure of expertise, then Roberto Bolle is unquestionably of the highest caliber. Last month, Mr. Bolle, a Ballet Étoile at La Scala in Milan, partnered Darcey Bussell, a beloved principal dancer at London's Royal Ballet, for her farewell performance at Sadler's Wells. This month, the 32-year-old is in New York to partner Alessandra Ferri, a celebrated principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, in the final performances of her 22-year career with ABT.
While Mr. Bolle has worked as principal guest artist throughout Europe — at the Royal Opera Ballet, Paris Opéra Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, and more — for the past 11 years, his career in America is only just beginning. His performance in ABT's "Manon" on June 11 will mark his first principal role in this country.
"It's a great moment in my career, but it is also a very sad one because Alessandra is leaving and Darcey is leaving," Mr. Bolle said modestly in lyrical, Italian-accented English during a break in his tight New York schedule. Sprinkled throughout rehearsals, he had a photo-shoot with Italian Vanity Fair one day, a discussion of his New York debut at the Italian Cultural Institute the next.
Although the Ferri-Bolle pairing is new to American audiences, it is by no means new to the dancers themselves, who danced together for the first time in 2002 at the Bolshoi and who have worked together more than 40 times since. Mr. Bolle credits Ms. Ferri with teaching him what it truly meant to be an artist onstage when the two danced together in "Romeo and Juliet."
"The first time, I have to say I was scared to perform opposite Alessandra because it is very different dancing with her," Mr. Bolle said. "She is so natural, she doesn't care about the steps and technique in this kind of dramatic ballet so much, but really wants to tell stories; she wants you to have real reactions, like a real person. So sometimes she changes reactions or steps because in that moment she feels different."
Any anxieties Mr. Bolle had at the time have clearly vanished. At a recent rehearsal of "Manon" at the Metropolitan Opera House — a rehearsal that included the tragic final scene in which Manon lies dying in her lover des Grieux's arms — Ms. Ferri and Mr. Bolle resembled young children playing at love and death with each other. Each time their steps, turns, or lifts didn't quite match up, they broke into laughter and exchanged animated advice, in Italian on how to adapt to each other's style, steps, and bodies.
"You don't have to put me down, I can just slide off and find the floor. Especially with your shoulders, it's like lying on a bed," Ms. Ferri said, half jokingly, after a descent from atop Mr. Bolle's broad shoulders ended with a clunk.
After another segment, in which Mr. Bolle tossed her seemingly two body-lengths above his head, Ms. Ferri commented, "I know you're high already, but I also know you can go even higher."
Ms. Ferri's coach, Wilhelm Burmann, sat discreetly at the side, offering occasional individual directions — "Make sure the attitude piqué is en face," or "Make sure your foot is stretched" — but left the two dancers to work out most of the details on their own.
Mr. Bolle and Ms. Ferri's ease with each other stems partly from their shared Italian roots — Ms. Ferri is from Milan, Mr. Bolle from Casale Monferrato, a small town in northwestern Italy. In part, though, their ease stems from a palpable shared enjoyment of continuously reinterpreting a story as it take its course.
"It is especially important in these dramatic ballets that you really use the steps to communicate, not just to move," Mr. Bolle said of works such as "Manon" and "Romeo and Juliet." "Just today after rehearsal, Alessandra told me, ‘Be careful because if I feel to do different, I will do it different, and if you feel to do different, you do it and I will react; if you have another feeling — a bit more sad, a bit more angry, you want to be nasty or more jealous — you do it.'"
With his New York debut just around the corner and an overflow of offers to dance with the most popular ballerinas of our time — he reluctantly declined a second request from Darcey Bussell due to scheduling conflicts — there are few things that Mr. Bolle truly longs for in his career. He'd like to dance "Eugene Onegin," and would love the chance to work with more living choreographers. But these are just minor wishes. His only real qualms are over those who are leaving; Ms. Ferri in New York and Ms. Bussell in London.
"I've danced with Darcey for eight years, Alessandra for five," Mr. Bolle said. "And there are no other dancers like that, with that experience, that maturity, that artistry."
June 11, 14, and 23 (Lincoln Center, 212-721-6500).
Monday, June 4, 2007
Cedar Lake Goes Gaga
New York Sun
By MARY STAUB June 4, 2007
Adapting to a new choreographer's style is never easy, but this season has been a particular challenge for the dancers at Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Working under the direction of guest choreographer Ohad Naharin, the artistic director of Israel's Batsheva Dance Company, the classically trained dancers have had to discover a whole new approach to movement: "gaga."
For the past three months Mr. Naharin and assistants from his company have supplemented the Cedar Lake dancers' classical training with daily workshops in gaga, Mr. Naharin's original movement approach, to prepare them for performances of Mr. Naharin's "Decadance," a piece composed of excerpts from 10 past works that begins performances June 7.
Gaga has more to do with the discovery of a certain quality, texture, and intention of movement than a specific technique, according to the choreographer. "The first thing we do is cover the mirrors and we try to get the dancers to really start sensing their bodies," Mr. Naharin explained on a recent afternoon between rehearsals. "So many dancers dance with just one idea; their school's idea, a strength idea, an idea of line, or form, or drama. But there's always more than just one idea that you can work with."
For most dancers, working without mirrors during the rehearsal process is like jumping into water without swimming lessons. There's nothing to hold onto, no way to know what's right. Without the continuous ability to watch one's own reflection and check one's placement, movement, rhythm or spacing, dancers invariably discover new sources of feedback.
"I've been trained in a way that something was either correct or not and I've now had to let go of these concepts of right and wrong and learn to make more of a feeling be the aim," a dancer in his third season with Cedar Lake, Jubal Battisti, said. "When you check yourself in the mirror constantly, it distracts from the sensation and emotion of what you're doing. All you have while you're working now is yourself, the images in your head, the people around you, and you're suddenly relying more on sensation and imagery in your head, rather than shape."
The approach of gaga is something Mr. Naharin has been developing for many years. While he was recovering from a back injury more than 20 years ago, he found he had to discover new and more efficient ways of moving. Over the subsequent years, he has continued to integrate input from dancers and nondancers alike. Mr. Naharin makes a point to collaborate with companies without any prior experience in more sensorial approaches to dance, and tries to help these dancers fine-tune their sense of expression.
"Many things are already in their bodies: ability, musicality, fantasy. They're just not using it because it's locked in," Mr. Naharin said. "It's hard if a company is very story oriented, or point oriented, or skinny-ballerina oriented. I try to find the right key to help them unlock something new."
In one of the early gaga classes Mr. Battisti recalled lying on the floor like overcooked spaghetti in a pot of boiling water.
"I don't know what this looked like, but it's not about what it looks like," he said, sounding slightly worried about appearances. "We were basically flopping around on the ground, but in your head you're feeling like you're spaghetti and in a pot of boiling water."
Since then, Cedar Lake dancers have come a long way. "They start to feel how the body is made up of 1,000 small places that can isolate," Mr. Naharin said. "Even if you're moving in one piece, you're moving many pieces together, not just a block. This is important to be alive in your dance."
During a recent rehearsal of an excerpt from "Black Milk" at Cedar Lake's Chelsea theater, four male dancers moved toward one another slowly, peering in over a fifth dancer lying on the floor beneath them. After a first runthrough of the excerpt, Mr. Naharin had the dancers repeat this segment again and again, gently giving them information about their attitude and intention.
"You're curious about him, that's why you bend in, don't think about how far down you have to bend because that looks stiff and hostile. You're interested, not confrontational; think less, do less, sense more," Mr. Naharin said, as he and his assistants demonstrated on the side. The dancers tried to let go of their more dramatic approach. Mr. Naharin added one more command: "And have fun."
Begins June 7 (547 W. 26th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-868-4444).
By MARY STAUB June 4, 2007
Adapting to a new choreographer's style is never easy, but this season has been a particular challenge for the dancers at Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Working under the direction of guest choreographer Ohad Naharin, the artistic director of Israel's Batsheva Dance Company, the classically trained dancers have had to discover a whole new approach to movement: "gaga."
For the past three months Mr. Naharin and assistants from his company have supplemented the Cedar Lake dancers' classical training with daily workshops in gaga, Mr. Naharin's original movement approach, to prepare them for performances of Mr. Naharin's "Decadance," a piece composed of excerpts from 10 past works that begins performances June 7.
Gaga has more to do with the discovery of a certain quality, texture, and intention of movement than a specific technique, according to the choreographer. "The first thing we do is cover the mirrors and we try to get the dancers to really start sensing their bodies," Mr. Naharin explained on a recent afternoon between rehearsals. "So many dancers dance with just one idea; their school's idea, a strength idea, an idea of line, or form, or drama. But there's always more than just one idea that you can work with."
For most dancers, working without mirrors during the rehearsal process is like jumping into water without swimming lessons. There's nothing to hold onto, no way to know what's right. Without the continuous ability to watch one's own reflection and check one's placement, movement, rhythm or spacing, dancers invariably discover new sources of feedback.
"I've been trained in a way that something was either correct or not and I've now had to let go of these concepts of right and wrong and learn to make more of a feeling be the aim," a dancer in his third season with Cedar Lake, Jubal Battisti, said. "When you check yourself in the mirror constantly, it distracts from the sensation and emotion of what you're doing. All you have while you're working now is yourself, the images in your head, the people around you, and you're suddenly relying more on sensation and imagery in your head, rather than shape."
The approach of gaga is something Mr. Naharin has been developing for many years. While he was recovering from a back injury more than 20 years ago, he found he had to discover new and more efficient ways of moving. Over the subsequent years, he has continued to integrate input from dancers and nondancers alike. Mr. Naharin makes a point to collaborate with companies without any prior experience in more sensorial approaches to dance, and tries to help these dancers fine-tune their sense of expression.
"Many things are already in their bodies: ability, musicality, fantasy. They're just not using it because it's locked in," Mr. Naharin said. "It's hard if a company is very story oriented, or point oriented, or skinny-ballerina oriented. I try to find the right key to help them unlock something new."
In one of the early gaga classes Mr. Battisti recalled lying on the floor like overcooked spaghetti in a pot of boiling water.
"I don't know what this looked like, but it's not about what it looks like," he said, sounding slightly worried about appearances. "We were basically flopping around on the ground, but in your head you're feeling like you're spaghetti and in a pot of boiling water."
Since then, Cedar Lake dancers have come a long way. "They start to feel how the body is made up of 1,000 small places that can isolate," Mr. Naharin said. "Even if you're moving in one piece, you're moving many pieces together, not just a block. This is important to be alive in your dance."
During a recent rehearsal of an excerpt from "Black Milk" at Cedar Lake's Chelsea theater, four male dancers moved toward one another slowly, peering in over a fifth dancer lying on the floor beneath them. After a first runthrough of the excerpt, Mr. Naharin had the dancers repeat this segment again and again, gently giving them information about their attitude and intention.
"You're curious about him, that's why you bend in, don't think about how far down you have to bend because that looks stiff and hostile. You're interested, not confrontational; think less, do less, sense more," Mr. Naharin said, as he and his assistants demonstrated on the side. The dancers tried to let go of their more dramatic approach. Mr. Naharin added one more command: "And have fun."
Begins June 7 (547 W. 26th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-868-4444).
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Ailey's Song and Dance, Citywide
New York Sun
Art Around Town
By MARY STAUB March 31, 2008
Choirs, clergymen, and congregations honored the legacy of choreographer and modern-dance artist Alvin Ailey at nearly 40 churches around the city yesterday as part of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's 50th anniversary celebration. Revisiting Ailey's spiritual roots, the choirs sang some of the gospels from his small-town Texas childhood that later inspired his best-known work, "Revelations."
In the packed pews of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church sat a mix of church regulars, tourists — some of whom had to wait outside due to overcrowding — and members of the Ailey board of trustees, along with New York's first lady, Michelle Paige Paterson, and artistic director of the Ailey company, Judith Jamison. Ms. Jamison, who danced with Mr. Ailey for 15 years prior to becoming artistic director, addressed the crowd. "Sometimes I ask myself, how in the world did that man get from Rogers, Texas, which you can barely find on a map, to where I stand today," Ms. Jamison said. "But let me tell you, it's no accident. The spirit of God and humanity speaks through us."
The cathedral choir sang a soulful rendition of "I've Been 'Buked" from "Revelations," as 18 young church members wearing varying tones of plain, brown dress performed a simple composition of contractions toward earth and hopeful reaches toward heaven.
In 1958, when black dancers still had limited presence onstage, the 27-year-old Ailey created his own opportunity to work, gathering a group of 13 other black dancers to perform his "Blues Suite" at the 92nd Street Y.
"At the core of his existence was that an African-American cultural experience through dance could be accessible to all," Ms. Jamison said in an interview before the church service. "Works like 'Revelations' are seen everywhere, and everyone understands because it has universal themes: trial, tribulation, turmoil, hope, happiness. Mr. Ailey was interested that everyone have a personal experience when they see the company, and that, because the dancers dance from a place from deep within, they make you feel differently and walk away from the wonderful place that is the theater just a little differently."
During her almost 20 years as artistic director, Ms. Jamison has expanded upon Ailey's efforts to reach out to all. Since Ailey's death in 1989, his organization has developed an arts-in-education program that uses his "Revelations" as a teaching tool in classrooms across the country. Ms. Jamison has also helped develop yearly Ailey summer camps for school children and a bachelor of fine arts program in dance together with Fordham University.
At the Abyssinian church, Reverend Eboni Marshall drew upon her own formative years as a student in the Ailey/Fordham University B.F.A. program in a sermon.
"Alvin Ailey's life and legacy, as embodied in these people here today, taught me how to stand up straight, how to push higher, how to go deeper," Rev. Marshall said. "This wisdom stands head and shoulders over the rest: No matter how much my abdomen has eaten, no matter how sore my hamstrings are, no matter how late I stay out, no matter what the circumstances, the show must go on."
"With Mr. Ailey it was always a prerequisite that we also teach and reach back and make children realize their creativity," Ms. Jamison said. "I really just expanded and carried on some of things he started."
Over the next 18 months, as part of the 50th anniversary celebration, Ailey's legacy will take on a range of forms: the artist David Michalek has created video installation screens depicting slowed-down versions of larger-than-life Ailey dancers along the ground-floor windows of the Ailey studios on Ninth Avenue; Hallmark has produced a series of six Ailey greeting cards; the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., opens an Ailey archive exhibit this May; an Ailey Barbie doll is due out this fall, and in June, the Ailey company returns to the Brooklyn Academy of Music for the first time in 38 years
Earlier this year Ms. Jamison announced her retirement as artistic director. She will leave the post in 2011, and ideas of a successor are thus far still vague.
"I have a three-year plan and we'll see the end results of that plan at the end," Ms. Jamison said. "I want this company to be around another 50 years, but I can't say I'm looking for this, this, and this," she said. "Otherwise, I could sell it to you in a bottle."
Art Around Town
By MARY STAUB March 31, 2008
Choirs, clergymen, and congregations honored the legacy of choreographer and modern-dance artist Alvin Ailey at nearly 40 churches around the city yesterday as part of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's 50th anniversary celebration. Revisiting Ailey's spiritual roots, the choirs sang some of the gospels from his small-town Texas childhood that later inspired his best-known work, "Revelations."
In the packed pews of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church sat a mix of church regulars, tourists — some of whom had to wait outside due to overcrowding — and members of the Ailey board of trustees, along with New York's first lady, Michelle Paige Paterson, and artistic director of the Ailey company, Judith Jamison. Ms. Jamison, who danced with Mr. Ailey for 15 years prior to becoming artistic director, addressed the crowd. "Sometimes I ask myself, how in the world did that man get from Rogers, Texas, which you can barely find on a map, to where I stand today," Ms. Jamison said. "But let me tell you, it's no accident. The spirit of God and humanity speaks through us."
The cathedral choir sang a soulful rendition of "I've Been 'Buked" from "Revelations," as 18 young church members wearing varying tones of plain, brown dress performed a simple composition of contractions toward earth and hopeful reaches toward heaven.
In 1958, when black dancers still had limited presence onstage, the 27-year-old Ailey created his own opportunity to work, gathering a group of 13 other black dancers to perform his "Blues Suite" at the 92nd Street Y.
"At the core of his existence was that an African-American cultural experience through dance could be accessible to all," Ms. Jamison said in an interview before the church service. "Works like 'Revelations' are seen everywhere, and everyone understands because it has universal themes: trial, tribulation, turmoil, hope, happiness. Mr. Ailey was interested that everyone have a personal experience when they see the company, and that, because the dancers dance from a place from deep within, they make you feel differently and walk away from the wonderful place that is the theater just a little differently."
During her almost 20 years as artistic director, Ms. Jamison has expanded upon Ailey's efforts to reach out to all. Since Ailey's death in 1989, his organization has developed an arts-in-education program that uses his "Revelations" as a teaching tool in classrooms across the country. Ms. Jamison has also helped develop yearly Ailey summer camps for school children and a bachelor of fine arts program in dance together with Fordham University.
At the Abyssinian church, Reverend Eboni Marshall drew upon her own formative years as a student in the Ailey/Fordham University B.F.A. program in a sermon.
"Alvin Ailey's life and legacy, as embodied in these people here today, taught me how to stand up straight, how to push higher, how to go deeper," Rev. Marshall said. "This wisdom stands head and shoulders over the rest: No matter how much my abdomen has eaten, no matter how sore my hamstrings are, no matter how late I stay out, no matter what the circumstances, the show must go on."
"With Mr. Ailey it was always a prerequisite that we also teach and reach back and make children realize their creativity," Ms. Jamison said. "I really just expanded and carried on some of things he started."
Over the next 18 months, as part of the 50th anniversary celebration, Ailey's legacy will take on a range of forms: the artist David Michalek has created video installation screens depicting slowed-down versions of larger-than-life Ailey dancers along the ground-floor windows of the Ailey studios on Ninth Avenue; Hallmark has produced a series of six Ailey greeting cards; the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., opens an Ailey archive exhibit this May; an Ailey Barbie doll is due out this fall, and in June, the Ailey company returns to the Brooklyn Academy of Music for the first time in 38 years
Earlier this year Ms. Jamison announced her retirement as artistic director. She will leave the post in 2011, and ideas of a successor are thus far still vague.
"I have a three-year plan and we'll see the end results of that plan at the end," Ms. Jamison said. "I want this company to be around another 50 years, but I can't say I'm looking for this, this, and this," she said. "Otherwise, I could sell it to you in a bottle."
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).
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