4/7/19 O&A NYC DANCE/REVIEW: Venezuela- Batsheva Dance Company

By Walter Rutledge

The Batsheva Dance Company presented the New York premiere of Venezuela by house choreographer Ohad Naharin on March 27 through March 30 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Howard Gillman Opera House. The program notes described the work as, “exploring the dialogue and conflict between movement and the content it represents”. As the work began the most compelling observation became that Venezuela is an experiment in perception.

The curtain rose without the usual dramatic fanfare of dimming the lights to darkness. This action caught the audience off guard silencing them with a heightened sense of curiosity. Eight dancers were standing downstage center and began a slow migration to center stage as the house lights slowly dimmed. The soft and soothing music for the entire first act of Maxim Waratt soundtrack consisted of a series Gregorian chants; and the combination of music and the upstage movement progression created an aura of mystery.

Naharin immediately establishes the work’s most notable elements; that of slow, sustained and repetitive movement phrases. Employing these choreographic devises allows the audience to absorb the movement and intent, and to remember and eventually recall the stunning visual imagery. A factor that will become important for interpreting the second act of Venezuela.

The upstage progression is interrupted by a solo female dancer extending an arm. The gesture,  with an upwardly extended arm, flexed wrist and stylized fingers, conjured Latin social dancing. A male dance extends his arm in a lower second position as if in response to the initial gesture. Soon all the dancers are engaged in a Naharin style Latin ballroom dance. The choreography seemed to work in an odd sort of tandem with the music, but it clearly established a dynamic counterpoint.

Good choreography goes beyond the steps and music, it establishes its own timing to create a visual music. Throughout the first act Naharin capitalized on this fact delivering cohesive sections of both visual and audio contrast. This was most evident in the section where the dancers rapped the lyrics from Dead Wrong, a rap song by Biggie Smalls aka the Notorious B.I.G. featuring additional rap lyrics from Eminem. Set against the Gregorian chant the effect was almost as shocking as finding a lifted toilet bowl seat in a nunnery.

As the lights rose again on the second act the dancers again moved to center stage restarting the work from the beginning.  The chant had been replaced by an eclectic score that kept the “Latin section” exciting- just more traditional. The same happened with the Biggie Small section with the rap set back to the original Al Green baseline sample; just as edgy but more contextually conventional.

Naharin masterfully variated and developed themes with nuanced discipline; which allowed changes in the environment (music, lighting, props and cast) to alter the visual perception of the choreography. In one such moment the dancers entered with rectangular shaped fabric. In the first section oatmeal colored rectangles slapped the floor as a solo dancer, crawled prostrate on the floor, seemingly tried to avoid the blows. The imagery creating a sense of penance. In the second rendition the rectangles were painted to represent national flags including the Palestinian, Brazilian and the Black Power (USA) flag. This time the “fabric flogging” took on social and politic overtones.

In another section five men walked on all fours with a woman straddling their backs. The long-sustained section created a mood of female dominance. In contrast, the imagery in the second act rendering set to Middle eastern inspired music transformed the section into a caravan.

The use of repetitive and sustained movement allowed the audience to retain the shapes and phrases. This made the second rendition an experiment in visual perception, instead of just a movement addendum. The strong musicality, which was so independent and prominent in the first act, was perfectly married to the music the proceeding act; leading us to surmise that Naharin probably choreographed the second rendering first.   

A yell from company member  Bobby Jene Smith signals the end of both acts. Maybe it was a metaphor, not signaling the end but announcing a new beginning. Ohad Naharin’s Venezuela makes a powerful artistic statement allowing us to see his world from two points of view. Both valid and both compelling.

4/1/19 O&A NYC DANCE: A Converstion with Lloyd Knight

By Walter Rutledge

The Martha Graham Dance Company will begin their New York City season April 2 through April 14 at the Joyce Theater. Continue reading

12/16/18 O&A NYC DANCE/FITNESS AND WELLNESS: Dance Of The Village Elders- Thank you!

The Dance Of The Village Elders presented Santa’s Babies on Saturday December 1, at St. Philip’s Church 204 West 134th Street in the village of Harlem. The performance marked our second holiday performance/fundraiser at St. Philip’s Church since regrouping as a “Dance/Fitness Cooperative” in the fall of 2016. The Village Elders are a group of mature adults who understand the needs for fitness and wellness as we age. When a grant that supported the project ended in 2015 instead of disbanding the Elders decided to run the program themselves with the assistance of instructor Walter Rutledge. Continue reading

6/24/18 O&A NYC WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK JUNE 24 THRU JULY: Art, Dance, Film, Music, Theatre and More

Summer has finally arrived and New York City and the arts are heating up. Inspiring visual art is drawing them in from Harlem to the Bowery. Dance swirls around Brooklyn, Lincoln Center, Chelsea and Lower Manhattan. While a famous DJ spins music  in Crown Heights and jazz get’s down in Midtown. Here are a few of the many events happening in the city that never sleeps guaranteed to keep you Out and About. Continue reading

4/21/18 O&A NYC DANCE/REVIEW: newsteps- a choreographer’s series

By Walter Rutledge

The Chen Dance Center began the 34th consecutive newsteps; the semi-annual emerging choreographers’ series, Thursday, April 19 at the Chen Dance Center, 70 Mulberry Street in New York’s Chinatown. This season the three-performance spring showcase, which runs through Saturday, April 21, selected works from “non- dancers”. Professional artists, actors, musicians, singers, photographers, who applied their expertise of their respective art forms to the choreographic process. The five choreographers selected through an open audition for the April concerts are Kate Douglas, Bryndon Cook, Lauren Oliver, Alec Funiciello, and Sophia Zukoski. Each choreographer is given rehearsal space, an honorarium, mentoring from a member of the selection panel, and multiple (three) performances to give the works time to “find its own voice”. Continue reading

4/10/18 O&A NYC DANCE: Abdiel Jacobsen- Reaching Towards The Gods

By Walter Rutledge

Abdiel Jacobsen rise in the Martha Graham Dance Company is best described as meteoric. In true Graham drama, apprentice Jacobsen made his New York City company debut in 2012 performing Graham’s masterwork Errand In The Maze. Performing opposite internationally acclaimed Russian ballerina Diana Vishneva, his impressive debut endeared himself to both audiences and critics. Now a principal dancer with the Graham Company Jacobsen is looking forward to the New York City season April 11 through 14 at New York City Center. Continue reading

4/8/18 O&A NYC IN MEMORARIUM: Donald McKayle (July 6, 1930 – April 7, 2018)- Rainbow Round My Shoulder with Mary Hinkson

Dancer, choreographer, educator and author Donald McKayle passed on April 7, 2018 at age 87.  In honor of this dance icon O&A NYC posts his 1959 masterwork, Rainbow Round My Shoulder. Continue reading

4/4/18 O&A NYC DANCE: Dougla Returns to Dance Theatre of Harlem Tonight

Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) begins their four performance New York season tonight at New York City Center. One of the season highlights is the much-anticipated revival of choreographer/Renaissance Man Geoffrey Holder’s Dougla. Dougla captures the pageantry, beauty and ritual of a the wedding day of a young Dougla couple from Trinidad. They are the offspring of Africans who were brought to the Caribbean as slaves and Indians who were brought as low cost labor after the abolition of slavery. Continue reading

4/2/18 O&A NYC DANCE: Ingrid Silva- Brown Ballerina

By Walter Rutledge

Ingrid Silva was like every little girl who studied ballet; she dreamed of being a ballerina. As Silva’s potential became evident she realized that there was little opportunity for a dark-skinned classical dancer in Brazil. In 2008, at age 18, she left home and moved to New York City to study at the Dance Theatre of Harlem.    Continue reading

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