10/27/19 O&A NYC DANCE REVIEW: A.I.M (Abraham In Motion) At The Joyce

By Walter Rutledge 

A.I.M. (Abraham In Motion) presented their New York City season at the Joyce Theater Tuesday, October 15 through Sunday, October 20, 2019. The six- day, seven performance season offered five works, including three world premieres and one company premieres, by three choreographers. The concise, focused and extremely audience friendly program was a successful blend of both visceral and cerebral movement and imagery.

In Big Rings (2019 World Premiere) choreographer and company member Keerati Jinakunwiphat presented a cleanly crafted ensemble work for six dancers.  Jinakunwiphat clearly understands the craft of choreography, approaching this work with strong compositional form and design. Extremely fluent in “Abraham”; she proficiently worked in Abraham’s vernacular and canon. The use of music from different genres and the well employed choreographic device of theme and development kept the work fast past and well defined. This was especially evident in the second movement of the work where she brought freshness to Camille Saint-Saens “chestnut” The Swan.

Show Pony (2018) presented performer Marcella Lewis and choreographer Abraham in a very favorable light. In true Abraham style the choreographer established a finite movement vocabulary; which he manipulated, variated and developed throughout. Shifting between pure and gesture driven movement (with a pleasant dash of personality) Abraham created a work that was dynamic, original and fun.   

Clad in a metallic gold unitard Lewis danced with unmitigated aplomb; commanding the stage and at times relegated the audience to unwitting voyeurism.  If the arms are the language of the dance, Abraham allowed her to speak in a clear choreographic voice. She gave new meaning to the phrase “the hostess with the mostest”; when retreating to a pool of clear light she smiled while offering salutations and greetings to the audience. 

Trisha Brown’s Solo Olos (1976 company premiere) epitomizes the phase God mic. The work for five dancers and initially performed in silence took an unexpected twist when dancer Donovan Reed jumped off the stage and sat on the first row with a wireless microphone. The almost Deis Machine devise became an omnipresent dictate guiding the dancers through the movement, which consisted of reversing many of the movement passages. This thinking man’s (excuse me- thinking person’s) abstract ballet lived up to it’s title. 

Cocoon (2019 World Premiere), a solo choreographed and performed by Kyle Abraham, opened with a chorus of singers placed in the audience in front of the stage. Performing music by Bjork (arranged by lead singer Nicholas Ryan Gant) the nine- member chorus accompanied Abraham; who began in a crouched position on the floor in a circle of Azurite blue light. As if on a slow- moving carousel Abraham unfolded his body shifting position as Dan Scully’s light design expanded to eventually encompass the entire stage.

The choreography shifted between explosive passages to exploring the plastique of movement through sustained stillness. Abraham removed the sash that sequestered his shirt, and an offstage gust of wind surrounded him. Symbolically his motionless form was being propelled to a new metaphysical plain- a metamorphosis.  

The evening concluded with Studies On A Farewell (2019 world premiere) an episodic ensemble work for eight dancers and choreographed by Abraham in collaboration with A.I.M. Set to Four Studies by Nico Muhly and performed live by Katherine Liccardo and Chelsea Starbuck Smith in tandem with a recorded track. The work depicted a series of encounters and partings tinged with a collective personal, almost autobiographic feeling. Jinakunwiphat slowly walking backward alone retreating upstage into the darkness culminating theballet and the evening.

Abraham continues to share his unique gift of abstract storytelling. The sophisticated and aesthetically satisfying A.I.M. New York season combined solid choreography with high production value.

In Photo:  2) Tamisha Guy, Marcella Lewis, Javon Jones, and Catherine Ellis Kirk  3) Marcella Lewis  4) Catherine Ellis Kirk 5) Kyle Abraham  6) Tamisha Guy and Javon Jones

Photo by: 1) Tatiana Wills 2) Sharen Bradford 3) Christopher Duggan 4, 5 & 6) Stephen Schreiber 

10/25/18 O&A NYC WHAT’S HAPPENING- WEEKEND PICKS: OCTOBER 25 THROUGH OCTOBER 28, 2018

It’s beginning to feel a lot like fall in New York City. The chill in the air reminds us that culture and fall go together like NYC bagels and lox. This week there is art by older artists at MoMA, Jazz heating up the Village, scary movies for those pre-Halloween gitters, and dance all over NYC. Here are a few of the many events happening in the city that never sleeps, guaranteed to keep you Out and About.

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10/7/18 O&A NYC WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK: October 7 through October 14, 2018

New York City in October is a great time of year (well anytime is a great time in NYC). This week there is outdoor sculpture in Harlem,  Jazz in Brooklyn, Pizza in the Bronx and Dance honors its own at The BessiesHere are a few of the many events happening in the city that never sleeps, guaranteed to keep you Out and About.

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3/6/18 O&A NYC DANCE: A Conversation With Michelle Fleet and Michael Trusnovec- Paul Taylor Dance Company 2018 New York City Season

By Walter Rutledge

The Paul Taylor American Modern Dance begins its annual New York City season at the Koch Theater, Lincoln Center tonight with a special 6pm Dance For All performance. All seats are $5. The season will offer 13 Taylor classics, a work by Lila York, world premieres from Doug Varone, Bryan Arias, and Taylor’s 147th work entitled Concertina. Continue reading