Letter
from New York
29
December 2003.
Copyright ©2003 by
Mindy Aloff
I first saw
Donald McKayle’s 1959 Rainbow Round My Shoulder, a staple
of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, very close to its early-1970s
Ailey première. Although I always admired it and have watched several
generations of powerful dancers in it, I’ve never seen a performance
to rival the one at the matinee on December 21st, during the company’s
annual New York season at City Center. The seven men in the Chain Gang,
their arms braided by the choreography into a taut line of linked woe,
erupted in fury and crumpled in grief with such precision of timing, kinetic
discipline, and variety of emotional texture that an onlooker was simultaneously
pulverized by the misery of the work songs and plaints that impelled them
and delighted by the brilliance of the dance action that prompted the
feeling. I’ve been at performances of Rainbow where the
Chain Gang didn’t seem very far removed from a chorus line; this
was quite something else—a messianic embodiment of historical imagination.
read
letter
past
Letters from New York
Sheer
Delight
Improvography
Savion Glover
Joyce Theater
New York, NY
December 19, and December 28, 2003
By
Susan Reiter
copyright © 2003 by Susan Reiter
Savion
Glover crooning songs associated with Fred Astaire and Frank Sinatra?
Tapping to Christmas melodies? In some ways, it is a mellower, more engaging
Glover holding forth, in great style, at the Joyce Theater for three weeks.
His Bring in Da Noise baggy hip outfits have been replaced by
casually elegant apparel credited to Armani, DKNY and Phat Farm. He sports
a beard, but his hair is pulled back, and we can see more of his face
than in the days when his intense, hunched-over posture and dreadlocks
obscured it much of the time. During most of his thrilling two-part program,
that face is beaming with pure delight, as he takes evident pleasure in
the exquisitely sophisticated exchanges he performs with a terrific five-piece
jazz ensemble.
read review
|
What's
On This Week?
December
29-January 4
New York City Ballet
George Balanchine's The Nutcracker continues its residence at
the New
York State Theater.
12/29 at 6pm, 12/30 at 6pm, 12/31 at 7pm, 1/2 at 8pm, 1/3 at 2pm, 1/3
at 8pm, 1/4 at 3pm
New York State Theater
Lincoln Center
66th Street and Broadway
212-870-5570
www.nycballet.com
December
30-January 4 (opened December 3)
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The company concludes its New York visit that celebrated its 45 years
of existence. The season features new productions of Judith Jamison's
tribute to Alvin Ailey, Hymn, and Donald McKayle's Rainbow
Round My Shoulder. Four new ballets will be added to the company's
repertory: Bounty Verses by Dwight Rhoden, Footprints
by Jennifer Muller, Heart Song by Alonzo King, and Juba
by Robert Battle. Ailey's masterpiece, Revelations, also will
be programmed, along with other repertory favorites.
12/30 at 8pm, 12/31 at 8pm, 1/1 at 8pm, 1/2 at 8pm, 1/3 at 2pm, 1/3 at
8pm, 1/4 at 3pm, 1/4 at 7:30pm
City Center
55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues
212-581-1212
www.citycenter.org
December
30-March 7 (Opened December 6)
A Celebration of George Balanchine:
Selected Television Work George Balanchine took full advantage of the
advent of television, and many of his greatest works - and performances
of his dancers - have been captured on video. In this 100th-year anniversary
of the great choreographer's birthday, The Museum of Television &
Radio presents a series of showings of some incredible footage. The second
installment - NBC Opera: The Magic Flute - runs from December 30-4. The
120-minute 1956 broadcast is Balanchine's staging of the Mozart opera,
sung in English by Leontyne Price, William Lewis, John Reardon and Laurel
Hurley.
Screening Times: Tuesdays to Sunday at 12:30 pm Evening Screenings: Thursdays
at 6pm
The Museum of Television & Radio
25 West 52 Street
212-621-6800
December
30-April 24 (Opened December 10)
The Enduring Legacy of George Balanchine
A multi-media exhibit celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of
George Balanchine. It features photographs, designs, manuscript music
and correspondence, costumes, set pieces, and models, along with showings
of videotaped performances and rehearsals. Lectures will begin in January.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
212-870-1630
December
31-January 4 (opened December 16)
Savion Glover
In an exhilarating evening, Tony Award winner Savion Glover
and his group make their Joyce Theater debut. The tap dance great blends
jazz, hip-hop, rock-n-roll, funk, thythm and blues into his own personal
style.
12/31 at 8pm, 1/1 and 1/4 at 7:30pm
The Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Ave. at 19th St.
212-242-0880
www.joyce.org
January
3
Dances by Very Young Choreographers
This presentation will consist of nine solos, choreographed
and performed by children 8-16 years old that study dance and choreography
with Ellen Robbins at DTW.
Dance Theater Workshop
219 W 19th St.
212-924-0077
www.dtw.org
January
3-22
Dance On Camera Festival 2004
The Dance Film Association brings its showing of dance related films and
videos to New York for its 32nd annual showcase. The event kicks off with
a dance photography exhibit on January 3 at The Puffin Room.
435 Broome Street, Soho
(212) 343-2881, free (contributions welcomed)
Gallery open: Wed-Sun, 12-7pm
— Dale
Brauner
|
Writers |
Mindy
Aloff
Dale Brauner
Mary Cargill
Nancy Dalva
Gia Kourlas
Gay Morris
Susan Reiter
Alexandra Tomalonis(Editor)
Meital Waibsnaider
Leigh Witchel
David Vaughan
|
|
DanceView |
The
Autumn DanceView is out:
New York City Ballet's Spring 2003 season
reviewed by Gia Kourlas
An
interview with the Kirov Ballet's Daria Pavlenko
by Marc Haegeman
Reviews
of San Francisco Ballet (by Rita Felciano)
and Paris Opera Ballet (by Carol Pardo)
The ballet tradition at the Metropolitan
Opera (by Elaine Machleder)
Reports
from London (Jane Simpson) and the Bay Area (Rita Felciano).
DanceView
is available by subscription ONLY. Don't miss it. It's a good
read. Black and white, 48 pages, no ads. Subscribe
today!
DanceView
is published quarterly (January, April, July and October)
in Washington, D.C. Address all correspondence to:
DanceView
P.O. Box 34435
Washington, D.C. 20043
|
|
|