past August
After our Joyce Theater Season, I went to see “Fall for Dance”, and Matthew and Kristin already have some entries . Wow they are so up-to-date…
and here I am writing about our end of August tour to the Britt Festival in Oregon. It is a pretty famous self organized Music festival. People bring blankets and folding chairs.
Of course wine and cheese and more, I think.
In this area, I was walking around before the show, and I encountered…
He(?) was very close.
Touching the ceiling at the mecca temple
I was so blown away by the fact that City Center opened up the top balcony for the Fall For Dance Performances! In my limited experience with CC, I have never seen it open for ballet. The only time I’ve been up here was for a Harry Connick Jr. Christmas concert!?
Anyhow, it’s actually a very interesting perspective, much like being up in the fourth ring of the New York State Theater, minus the horizontal distance from the stage. One of the most interesting things about being up here though, is that you can really see and appreciate the interesting architecture and decorative elements of the space.
For those who may not know, City Center is actually in a building that was originally created as the Mecca Temple, where The Shriners would hold their meetings (according to wikipedia). All the moldings and light fixtures have a middle eastern flair (evidently it was built in the Neo-Moorish style), and on the left side of the house at the entrance to the lower mezzanine, there is a preserved splotch of amazingly colorful and intricate wallpaper, which has been painted over in the rest of the space.
Perhaps some of you out there know even more about it??
Promotional Materials
An impressive array of promotional materials representing companies that are performing in the Fall For Dance programs.
I’m excited for the time when we can just walk up to a kiosk, and opt-in to be sent promotional info via bluetooth to our phones. So much more information, and much less paper wasted!
Fall For Dance Lounge/Ballroom
We arrived at City Center early for tonight’s Fall for Dance presentation. Since we parked and entered the complex on 56th street, we had to pass through the fall for dance “lounge” to get our tickets from the box office.
I believe there was some sort of dance lesson earlier, and surprisingly there were loads of people tango-ing on the dance floor. In order for me and doug to get to the other side, we had to assume the tango position and saunter across. Must have been pretty funny looking.
It’s so great to see so many people dancing!
Marcia Haydée in Mother Teresa
I love this ballet, Bejart and Marcia Haydée are brilliant.
Marcia and Ballet de Santiago.
Lolo, she is a very nice ballerina.
Marcia. We are so lucky because she is here.
The company.
This ballet is for the more younger dancer, all of them have to talk and sing in different languages.
Here is Esdras. He is from Santander. Spain. He did a very good job in this ballet.
Esdras and company.
This is one of my favourite pictures.
Marcia is an inspiration.
The Company.
Esdras.
Lolo and Diego.
Marcia.
Marcia and Company.
They have fun in this ballet.
Look at her face, God she is Great.
Marcia and Sebastian.
Marcia.
The End.
The Real Backstage 2
I´m very glad you enjoy The Real Backstage 1, so here is the second part. It sounds like a movie, part 1, part 2, part 3 heheheheheheheh.
Tania in her dressing room.
Lolo ready for work.
Marcela, I really like this picture, I took it in Arica during our tour there.
Pancha and Sonia.
Lidia, Sasha and Nina.
Rodrigo and Jose, this was also in Arica on tour. We shared one very small dressing room, it was very fun.
The big Chaman (Roberto), I can´t belive he was alone, there are always many people there.
Andreza, also in Arica, The girls also had very small dressing rooms on that tour, but the light was great for taking pictures.
Natalia.
Marcela, Lucero and Elizabeth.
Nina.
Checking In
Today I headed up to 890 Broadway to peek into rehearsals for the upcoming City Center season. It’s frustrating not being a part of yet another season, but I feel like I’ve come to terms with the situation.
One of the hardest things about showing up is running into countless people and having to endlessly explain how I am doing, etc. I’ve thought about making a shirt that just lists all the improvements and current problems, as it would make my life a lot easier. Once I get past the “sick” business, I’m always so happy to see my friends. After being in rehearsals with them constantly year round, it’s been tough not seeing the smiling (or sometimes brooding) faces of my fellow dancers. We took a little photo to share with everyone!
(Alex Hammoudi, Blaine Hoven, Isabella Boylston and Jackie Reyes keep me company in the dancer’s lounge.)
The Real Backstage
This is me, I really love these kinds of pictures, but it is hard because people loose their spontaneity when I have my camera in front of them. Sometimes I would love to be invisible, hehehehehehehe
Nadia and her music, and one cigarette.
Andreza and telephone.
Margarita, ballerina and yoga teacher.
This is Elizabeth, such a nice ballerina.
Something really funny was in that computer…..
Agustin and cigarette.
Where are you going Paulina???????????
Sonia, Pancha and Francisco, What is next……….
Roberto, but we call him Chaman, he is our therapy man, he is great.
Sasha in smoking area, he is a principal with Stuttgart Ballet and now guests here for Bayadere.
Her name is Dolores, but we call her Lolo. She will be getting married next january, so we are having a party.
This is Alejandra the secretary, she is so funny and nice.
These stairs go to the smoking area and this is Agustin, enjoying another cigarette.
This is Cyril in dressing room. He loves that game on his computer.
Nadia still with her music, but after her cigarette.
Falling for Dance
Oh, Fall For Dance, how I’ve awaited your arrival! It’s that time of year again, the time where you can test out your tastes in dance and not cry if you leave slightly disappointed; after all, you’ve only spent $10 on a ticket. In the dance and theater world’s current state, with prices sometimes soaring into the triple digits, it’s hard to not feel like you absolutely MUST enjoy what you spend your money on. If you’re trying to save a dime (and who isn’t in this city?) venturing into the unknown can be nearly impossible. Then, along came City Center’s brilliant festival “Fall For Dance” which started last night in New York City.
(Yes, I realize this is last year’s poster. I forgot my camera last night so this will have to do. Plus Terry, pictured above, was my date!)
Last year I attended three performances, and this year I’ll go for four. I’ll have the chance to cheer on some old favorites and perhaps find some new ones along the way. Getting tickets to this sold out, two-week sample platter of companies from around the world is a tedious process to say the least. From the minute tickets go on sale, the traffic on the website makes it all but impossible to get through. Everyone is hungry for a bargain, and from the air in the sold out theater last night, anticipation for this year’s festival is higher than ever before.
After herding into the front of the 56th street entrance like a group of sheep that had lost their Shepard, my friend Terry and I finally made it to our seats. City Center is notorious for their frustrating sightlines and from the back of the mezzanine I found myself constantly bobbing back and forth to peer past the various heads of hair in front of me. This all made the grandmother sitting next to me very anxious, as did every other movement or breathe that came from the surrounding area. It started by her asking me repeatedly if my phone was off (I assured her it was) and then telling the group behind me, who were whispering as the lights went down, to “Simmer down.” For a moment I thought I’d stepped into a taping of Saturday Night Live circa 1999, but once Paul Taylor took the stage, I realized Cheri O’ Terri was nowhere in sight.
I’m not especially familiar with Taylor’s choreography (the last time I saw his company perform was in 2005) but the piece presented last night, “Arden Court,” was not my favorite work of his I’ve seen. Containing a group of shirtless men, who fly across the stage executing consecutive jumps, the piece is highly musical and contained some breathtaking partnering once the women joined in. It was a solid opening piece, a vintage work from 1981 by one of the country’s foremost dance makers, but it went on a little bit too long for my taste.
After a brief pause, the Kirov Ballet’s “Middle Duet,” began. Ever since Alexei Ratmansky’s created a piece for City Ballet last season (which prompted one of my favorite reviews ever by Joan Acocella in the New Yorker) I’ve been eager to see this much-touted choreographer’s work. Bathed in a prison grid of light, Ekaterina Kondaurova and Islom Baimurandov executed the stark and angular choreography beautifully. They seemed locked within their own prison of partnership, only escaping each other towards the end of the piece. Kondaurova had gorgeous lines and an icy stare towards the audience that worked well with the starkness of the piece.
During intermission, Terry and I worked our way through the crowd down to the lounge that is set up for Fall for Dance. What I love so much about this festival is the diversity that you see in the crowd. There are the people spanning all ages and an excitement in the air that sometimes gets forgotten in the dance community.
When we returned to our seats, I was starting to get anxious because I knew that there was only one piece left before we got to “Deuce Coupe,” the main reason I had bought tickets for the night. The piece that was the only thing in the way, ended up providing the type of surprise that only Fall for Dance can bring.
The curtain came up, and lining the wings on stage right was a group of musicians who began some entrancing Indian music. Alone upstage was Shantala Shivalingappa, looking radiant in bright pink traditional costuming. What began as minute gestures in which she was able to emphasize every flourish of the music with her fingertips and rib isolations, quickly escalated to an alarmingly fast, sometimes frenetic, type of movement that was egged on by the wonderful music. I was amazed and enthralled by how perfect her technique was, every bit as particular as the most classical ballet dancers, and how mesmerizing she was on the stage by herself. For me, she was hands down the surprise of the night and the audience responded very warmly. Her performance, an excerpt from “Varnam,” went on slightly too long, but it was still very beautiful.
With the conclusion of “Varnam,” there was only one more piece left on the opening night bill, Twyla Tharp’s 1973 hit “Deuce Coupe,” set to the music of the Beach Boys. This ballet brings up so many memories of my freshman year at NCSA and I was eager to see it again, almost seven years later.
(This photo has nothing to do with last night, other than that it was taken backstage at City Center. I know…it’s a stretch.)
A collaboration between the modern and ballet departments, as well as ABT Studio Company, when it was performed my first year at boarding school, I remember thinking it was the epitome of cool. As an underclassman, I wasn’t given the opportunity to participate in it, which frustrated me to no end. It marked the first time (that I really remember) I had seen a ballet that combined ballet technique, modern abandon, and pop music to tremendous effect. On top of that, the dancers of ABT Studio Company were doing a residency at NCSA and I would constantly slip away from classes to gawk at them. Among those young dancers, were Misty Copeland, Patrick Ogle, Craig Salstein and our very own David Hallberg. Even though I had no interaction with them as an underclassman, I remember them vividly. Before arriving at the theater last night, I had told David that my first memory of him was during “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” in “Deuce Coupe” as he flew through the air in a grand jete forward. Sure enough, there is that exact moment in the choreography! For once, my brain wasn’t fooling me.
I was really interested going in last night to see how much my memory had built up the ballet over the past several years. With any art, sometimes there is a tendency to embellish certain things, and while this is true with my memory of “Deuce Coupe,” I still found it thrilling. Danced by the students of Juilliard, each section prompted memories of being a young impressionable dancer. The role of the ballerina was beautifully danced last night, but nothing can erase Misty Copeland’s gorgeous lines from being forever identified with that role.
What I love so much about “Deuce Coupe” is the juxtaposition of the classical vocabulary used in the central ballerina role to the reckless abandon of the other dancers. At once both a reflection of the juxtaposition of styles, and the loss of purity during the 1960’s, it’s interesting to see this ballet after “Movin Out.” There are many similarities and it again amazes me how well Tharp can use completely different styles of movement and music. From the sound of the Juilliard cheering squad in front of me, the audience was ecstatic at the conclusion of this ballet and it wrapped up what was otherwise, a fairly uneven night.
Even though there was some unevenness in the program, it still left me feeling excited about the dance community. Having so many different styles presented under one roof over the next few weeks is what the dance world should be all about; experiencing the new and influencing each other. Watching dance is rather hard for me right now, since I’m sidelined, but I still can’t wait to head back to City Center three more times! Perhaps I’ll see some of you there.
Nightminds
When I was a student at SAB, Daniel Baker (now of the Miami City Ballet) choreographed this ballet called Nightminds on Maira Barriga (also now of the MCB) and myself. It was a haunting, sensual pas de duex filled with relatively intense apprehension and desperate human emotion. It was such a cool piece that MCB ended up commissioning him to stage it on the company this past year.
