4/28/15 O&A Dance: Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center Presents PEEKS-Works In Progress

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Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center (THPAC), continues its on-the-edge PEEKS-Works in progress choreographers showcase April 30 at The Actors Fund Arts Center, 160 Schermerhorn St., Brooklyn, NY 7:30pm. The second installment in the 2015 season will present three accomplished artists who are at different stages of exploring “the art of making dances.” Sidra Bell – Artistic Director of Sidra Bell Dance NYC, Da’Von Doane- original member of the revived Dance Theatre of Harlem and Lloyd Knight- principal dancer, Martha Graham Dance Company. All of these artists are making their choreographic debut with our PEEKS program. The showcase is free to the public, with donation suggested at the door.

Da’Von Doane will present Interconnected. Interdependent, a quartet he describes as the imbalance between man/society and nature. Dance Theatre of Harlem dancers Ashley Murphy, Jorge Villarini, and Jenelle Figgins will join Doane. In the tradition of Martha Graham’s Lamentations Lloyd Knight will choreograph and perform Lost a solo set to Gudrun Gut & Myra Davies, Doug Fullington & The Tudor Choir. rendering directed by Sidra Bell will also featuring four dancers. Dancers Jonathan Campbell, Austin Diaz, Alexandra Johnson, and Rebecca Margolick will perform this new work.

PEEKS-Works in progress is a laboratory environment designed for artists to present concepts and ideas and receive audience feedback. The developed works receive consideration the annual Souls of Our Feet: People of Color Dance Festival. PEEKS is designed to give THPAC a year round presence on the dance scene, and produce and identify an ever-expanding talent base of new artists and new work.

The program presents works-in-progress by emerging, New York City-based choreographers and dance companies with a special emphasis on artists of color, women and LGBT. This PEEKS Works in progress program is curated by THPAC artistic advisor Walter Rutledge. For more information about the PEEKS-Works in progress email atthelmahill@msn.com or call 718-875-9710.

 

 

4/15/15 O&A REVIEW: Dance Theatre Of Harlem

By Walter Rutledge

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The Dance Theatre Of Harlem presented their New York City season April 8 through 11 at New York City Center. This is the third season since the much heralded return of the company in 2012, and for the 2015 season Artistic Director Virginia Johnson curated two programs, a total of seven works, presented over four performances. Aside from the two neoclassical Balanchine works the repertoire reflected a new direction for the company.

Many have anticipated the return of the barrier breaking dance institution that literally evolved, under the direction of founder Arthur Mitchell, from Afros to ballet buns. The 2015 New York City season introduced a svelte company of eighteen young dancers that has evolved into a formidable contemporary ballet company. Johnson tapped an eclectic array of choreographers to challenge the dancers showcasing the strengths of each young artist.

The three highlights of the season were Nacho Duato’s Coming Together, Ulysses Dove’s On The Front Porch Of Heaven and The Mirror In Her Mind by Christopher Huggins. These works provided the dancers the opportunity to transcend the physical limitation of the stage. The dancers reached beyond the footlights to touch the audience.

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Nacho Duato’s Coming Together kept us on a suspense filled movement roller coaster from beginning to end. This master craftsman skillfully heightened the work’s intensity through strong choreographic structure. His reliance on design produced a kinesthetically stimulating ensemble dance.

Virtuoso dancing performed at a breakneck pace enhanced the choreographic design and brought the company’s technical prowess to the forefront. Here the company was at its best! They performed with verve, vigor, and a strong assured attack- “balls forward”. They were not just dancing; instead the company was in the moment- living through the movement.

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Da’Von Doane’s solo courageously “throw caution to the wind”. His risk taking paid off, at one point creating a catalyst effect that seemed to draw the dancers back to the stage. Dylan Santos also distinguished himself with clean execution; his firecracker attack revealed an exciting inner fire.

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Christopher Huggins’ The Mirror In Her Mind was a visually satisfying quartet also danced with great aplomb by Ashley Murphy, Da’Von Doane, Anthony Savoy and Samuel Wilson. The dance was filled with sumptuous partnering executed with daring and precision. Leaping, turning and yearning with great abandon, Murphy’s male trio moved her effortlessly around the stage. Her compelling interpretation combined the right amount of strength and vulnerability.

If Huggins had designed a pure movement/abstract work the quartet would have been truly dazzling. As a narrative it lacked the needed character development to create a complete scenario. This dance felt like an excerpt, possibly the middle section from a larger work.

We never knew who the three men really were and what led Murphy on her path. To equate it in more visceral terms it was like sex without foreplay or afterglow- definitely satisfying just not totally fulfilling. A work with this much potential deserves a beginning section to establish the relationships and an ending section for a real resolution.

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Ulysses Dove’s haunting allergy Dancing On The Front Porch Of Heaven made its Dance Theatre of Harlem premiered in 2014. The acquisition of this work helped set the tone for the company’s present and welcomed aestheticism. The work set to Arvo Part (Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten) featured dancers in white unitards designed by Jorge Gallardo.

DANCESTL, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Anthony Savoy and Fredrick Davis, Photo by Sharen Bradford

The centerpiece of the work is a male duet performed by Anthony Savoy and Frederick Davis. The ethereal nature of the duet created a noble sojourn. Davis’ stoicism balanced Savoy’s brave journey into the unknown. The ensuing performance became a profound conversation between brethren. The final upstage ascent into the darkness was not an ending, but a peaceful walk into “the next”.

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Throughout the season there were additional performers and performances that should be mentioned. In the opening section of Robert Garland’s Return, and the pas de quartre in Duato’s Coming Together Jenelle Figgins danced with the appropriate command and temperament. Chryrstyn Fentroy was a beacon of hope in Agon. Her performance in the second pas de trios section displayed technical proficiency, and a sense of confidence and élan. And Keenan English’s clean line and inmate style allowed him to standout in the corps. English has that God-given quality that makes you want to look at him.

As Dance Theatre of Harlem moves forward they will have to decide whether to recreate the Company of old or to move into a new future. Presently it seems they are trying to do both with a modicum of success. It would be a brave and bold move to honor the Company’s 45 year legacy by pursuing a direction more in tune with the present.

This new company could have a bright future if it redefines as oppose to confine itself to a past image and standards. The great response from the large and enthusiastic audience at New York City Center shows the public supports the new direction and has embraced this Dance Theatre Of Harlem. Hopefully they will get the proverbial “800 pound Neo-classic Gorilla” out of the room.

4/8/15 O&A Profiles: Da’Von Doane and Ashley Murphy- Partners

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Partners form one of the most rewarding and lasting bonds between dancers.  Partnerships such as Rudolf Nureyev and Dame Margot Fonteyn, Richard Cragun and Marcia Haydee and Ivan Nagy and Natalia Makarova thrilled audiences with their cooperative commitment to excellence. This season Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Da’Von Doane and Ashley Murphy continues the tradition.

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Far But Close (excerpt)

In partnering the man is usually subservient, he becomes the platinum setting that invisibly reveals the ballerina’s “diamond” brilliance. Doane and Murphy first danced together in the 2009- 2010 season production of Billie Wilson’s Concerto In F. Doane explained their onstage relationship,”I guess the saying is true, that iron sharpens iron. To work with someone who never sacrifices the quality of their work for not even a second is truly inspiring. Working with Ashley makes me want to be a better dancer and partner because I know she is doing the same.”

Da’Von Doane and Ashley Murphy

For the 2015 Dance Theatre Of Harlem New York City season Doane and Murphy will dance together in Balachine’s Agon, Robert Garland’s Return, Coming Together by Nacho Duato, Vessels by Darrell Moultrie and Christopher Huggin’s In The Mirror Of Her Mind. For more information about the 2015 Dance Theatre of Harlem New York season, April 8-11 at New York City Center, or to buy tickets visit dancetheatreofharlem.org. 

2/28/15 O&A Dance Theatre of Harlem Honors Jessye Norman (repost)

By Walter Rutledge

Jessye Norman and DTH Students Photo Joseph Rodman

The Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) held their 4th annual Vision Gala on Tuesday, February 24 at Cipriani, 110 East 42nd Street. The fundraiser honored opera diva Jessye Norman with the Arthur Mitchell Vision Award. Theodore Bartwink was honored posthumously with the Carl & Lily Pforzheimer Family Foundation Medal. For over three decades Bartwink was the Director of the Harness Center for Dance. The Virtuoso Award Honorees were Mario Baeza and Under Armour, Inc. Continue reading

2/27/15 O&A Dance Theatre of Harlem Honors Jessye Norman

By Walter Rutledge

Jessye Norman and DTH Students Photo Joseph Rodman

The Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) held their 4th annual Vision Gala on Tuesday, February 24 at Cipriani, 110 East 42nd Street. The fundraiser honored opera diva Jessye Norman with the Arthur Mitchell Vision Award. Theodore Bartwink was honored posthumously with the Carl & Lily Pforzheimer Family Foundation Medal. For over three decades Bartwink was the Director of the Harness Center for Dance. The Virtuoso Award Honorees were Mario Baeza and Under Armour, Inc. Continue reading