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MATTHEW MURPHY |
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.
