Photography by James George©                                             

Jazz Ain’t Dead® 20ll Spring Season
Live Jazz Music and Dance Entertainment ReLoaded!

With Special Guests:

Mo Beasley
(Actor/Writer/Poet)

Maurice Chestnut
(Tap Dancer) 

& Free Wine Bar! 

 
@Joyce SoHo
155 Mercer Street, NYC

Thursday – Sunday, March 24 -27

Performances are presented by Jazz Ain’t Dead® in association with Joyce SoHo.

Complete Online Program Schedule:
www.JazzAintDead.com/JoyceSoho.aspx

Tickets on Sale Now!  Click Here for Tickets. 

New York - Jazz Ain't Dead®, a young urban Jazz music and dance collective known for taking classical jazz standards and re-imagining them into house, acid jazz, funk, and soul music will be performing their 2011 Spring season with two hot programs of exhilarating live music, singers, and dancers, at Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, in six shows, Thursday through Sunday, March 24 - 27.

For the Joyce SoHo season 2011, Jazz Ain't Dead® will perform new music and classics revived as well as selections from their tribute concert, Jazz Ain’t Dead Celebrating the Legacy of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.  Jazz Ain’t Dead takes the score of Gershwin’s hit opera, Porgy and Bess and re-imagines the music into young urban jazz inspired by house, funk, acid jazz, and soul.  Danced music includes Summertime as jazzy burlesque with original spoken word by special guest, Mo Beasley, Ain’t Necessary Soul as acid house, My Man’s Gone Now as a sexy acid jazz lounge, A Woman is a Sometime Thing performed as an old time juke joint boogie down funk, I Got Plenty of Nuttin’ as a rip roaring "dancing horn players" feature, Bess, You is My Woman Now as urban jazz, I Loves You Porgy as a spoken word and blues number, and our signature favorite, Summertime House JAD Style, a New Orleans inspired music and dance jam session to the driving rhythm of house.

The JAD Lounge will feature funky new arrangements of classics like Whatever Lola Wants and My Funny Valentine, along with Nu-Jazz and/or contemporary jazz renditions of music by Esperanza Spalding, Teena Marie, Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin and hot spoken word by the UrbanErotika headmaster himself, Mo Beasley.  Both productions feature live music, dancers, singers, and a live DJ.

Tickets are $22 for adults and $15 for students and seniors.  Tickets can be purchased online at joyce.org, via phone at 212-242-0800 or in person at The Joyce Theater at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19^th Street Mon-Sun, 12 noon – 6pm.  A free wine bar will be open to patrons with tickets.

Tickets on Sale Now!  Click Here for Tickets. 

Jazz Ain’t Dead® is produced by Candice Michelle Franklin for DIP & Associates and co-produced by Nyck Henry for Rhythm Lounge Entertainment with live musical direction by Lafayette Harris, choreography by Candice Michelle Franklin, and principal music arrangements by Chris Rob.

For more information about Jazz Ain’t Dead shows, JAD dancers, JAD musicians, and the entire JAD company, please visit the website at www.JazzAintDead.com or call 212-426-1305.  To see a video sample of our new show, Jazz Ain't Dead Celebrating the Legacy of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, please click this YouTube link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_uX3RqhUfQ

Please note:  Joyce SoHo’s onsite box office is only open one half-hour prior to performance time to sell tickets exclusively for that performance.  On days when there are performances, The Joyce’s box office is open through curtain time, but advance sales stop one hour prior to curtain time (including matinee curtains.)  The Joyce’s box office is closed on major holidays.

For Complete Online Program Schedule:
www.JazzAintDead.com/JoyceSoho.aspx

Jazz Ain't Dead®
Produced by Candice Michelle Franklin and Nyck Henry, Jazz Ain't Dead is a young urban jazz music and dance collective that performs house, funk, and soul songs with an urban jazz sensibility.  Featuring live dancers, singers, musicians, and live DJ, Jazz Ain't Dead's signature sound is taking popular classical jazz standards and reigniting them into house, acid jazz, funk, and soul.  Jazz Ain’t Dead® has performed at the Apollo, the Iridium Jazz Club, the Bowery Poetry Club, DNA, Jordan’s Lounge, Sage Theater, The Player’s Club, Rush Arts Gallery, Therapy Bar, Happy Endings, and other live music clubs as well as numerous private events and galas.  Jazz Ain’t Dead® also partners with UrbanErotika, lending musicians and dancers for their monthly “UrbanErotika Juke Joint” series, performing choreographed features with poets and live music as well as organic/non-choreographed, completely improvised jam sessions for both dancer and musician.  In addition, Jazz Ain’t Dead® shares it’s love of dance with the community by teaching the art of Jazz dance to elementary school-aged children through Ready, Set, Learn, LLC, a summer day camp and after school program providing free to low- cost activities to children living in the Bronx Housing projects of New York City.  In the future, Jazz Ain’t Dead® hopes to extend our commitment to the Ready, Set, Learn programs by providing music lessons as well.  Jazz Ain’t Dead’s principle music arrangements are composed by Chris Rob, musical arranger for John Legend and Kanye West among others.  Additional music arrangements are by jazz pianist, Lenny Underwood (Whitney Houston, Madonna, Common, Faith Evans), Donald Hayes (Beyonce, Usher, Chaka Kahn, Stevie Wonder), and Marcus Bell/Bellringer Productions (Def Jam, Interscope, Warner Brothers, MCA, Sony, Virgin Records, Arista), with Mansa Gory (Horn Arrangements for JAD), and Jo Pham (Engineering). Choreographer for Jazz Ain’t Dead® is Candice Michelle Franklin (SHAKTI, BLACK TAXI, BRASCO, MACY GRAY).  Musical Director for Jazz Ain’t Dead® is Lafayette Harris (Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk, Color Purple).

About the Artists/Production Team:

Candice Michelle Franklin (Conceiver, Producer, Artistic Production Director, Choreographer)
Candice Michelle Franklin is a professional dancer, choreographer, and producer who has been seen in numerous Film, TV shows, music videos, industrials, and, of course, on the live stage performing in plays and dance companies.  She owns Dance Industrial Professionals, Inc./The Pro DANZ Group in which she oversees the dance and creative direction of several performance groups, industrials, and stage shows. Her choreography has been seen at DNA, Sage Theater, Joyce SoHo, Harry du Jour Playhouse, The Player’s Club, Chernuchin Theater (ATA), Cherry Lane Theater, Toronto International Dance Festival, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 14 Street Y, Theater of the Riverside Church, Peridance, Highline Ballroom, Liberty National Golf, and various casinos including Borgata, Tropicana, Mohegan Sun, Turning Stone, Trump, and Caesars. Recently this past year, she can be seen in the films Step Up 3D and A New York Thing, the music video “One Day” for Matisyahu (Sony/Epic BMG Records), the television show, Law & Order Criminal Intent (featured scene with Jeff Goldbloom), the commercial, DJ Hero (Activision), with Jay-Z, and as stand-in for Zoe Kravitz (Yelling to the Sky) and Janet Jackson (Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls). She is also a principal star on the reality show, M.A.D.E. NY performing as “Jazz, the Choreographer,” which is shooting throughout this Spring and will air in the Fall 2011.   Currently, she works as the producer and choreographer for Jazz Ain't Dead®, and as choreographer for CEG Productions LLC, and a number of independent recording artists as well as the internationally celebrated Bollywood Hip hop artist, SHAKTI (as choreographer and live stage show Creative Director), the rapper, BRASCO, rock bands Buffalo Stance and Black Taxi, and Grammy award winning recording artist, Macy Gray.  Miss Franklin is a member of SAG and is professionally represented by DDO Artists New York City.

Nyck Henry (Co-producer/Music Supervisor)
NYCK Henry, a native New Yorker, has been in the music industry for more than 25 years.   Born in Harlem Hospital, Mr. Henry started studying classical piano as a young boy and by the tender age of 7 years old, performed at New York's prestigious Carnegie Hall.  Later, he moved to the West coast to study at Santa Monica College.   While in LA, he discovered his love for being a DJ and took the LA club scene by storm.  In 1982, he landed his first studio session with Lamont Dozier, a music writer for Motown.  He then joined, KACE Radio in Los Angeles, was voted the Number One DJ in LA and was later credited as being THE FIRST person to ever do remixes on the radio.  In 1996, he opened his own production company called Rhythm Lounge Entertainment for theatrical and club events fusing music, dance, and the arts.  Since then, his company has worked with such notables as Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and Chaka Kahn and has produced theatrical productions performed at Theater for the New City, the Producer's Club, Theatre of the Riverside Church, and the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in addition to international club venues in London, Paris, the Virgin Islands, and Cyprus, Greece.

Lafayette Harris (Jazz Piano, Live Music Director)
Known as the “go to” pianist by other musicians and band leaders, Mr. Harris has performed with the Duke Ellington Legacy Orchestra, toured for seven years with Max Roach, and has worked with Al Grey, John Gordon, Slide Hampton, Curtis Fuller, Roswell Rudd, Chico Freeman, and Cindy Blackman, Allan Harris and many others. Lafayette’s two most recent albums are “IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT,” a contemporary funk/fusion project, which was released in 2006 and most recently “TRIO TALK,” a jazz trio outing featuring Winard Harper and Dwayne Dolphin. His breakthrough gig was as a conductor and keyboardist for the smash hit, Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk. Harris has since been involved with more Broadway shows including The Full Monty, Ride Down Mt. Morgan, Kat And The Kings, and The Color Purple. Mr. Harris currently tours Europe and the U.S. with four time Grammy nominee-Ernestine Anderson.

Chris Rob (Keys, Principal Music Arranger)
Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, classically trained pianist/multi-instrumentalist, Chris Rob, has worked in the music industry with the best in popular music.  He served as musical director, keyboardist, and back-up vocalist for R & B singer John Legend on his Grammy-Award winning "Get Lifted Tour", and can be seen highlighted throughout the John Legend: Live at The House of Blues DVD.  Chris Rob and his seven-piece backing band, Vicious Keys, were tapped to perform with Stevie Wonder for President Barack Obama’s inauguration festivities.  Chris Rob has also worked closely in the studio with hip-hop heavyweights Lauryn Hill and Kanye West, as well as producers Swiss Beatz, DJ Spinna (Stevie Wonder), Devo Springsteen (Britney Spears), Emile, and soul vocalist, Leon Ware, the legendary co-writer for Marvin Gaye as well as in stage direction for classic hip hop artists Pete Rock, CL Smooth, and Black Moon.  His most recent efforts include Kanye West’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothin,” Legend's single “Stereo,” The Polyrhythm Addict's “Ugly World,” DJ Spinna's remix of the late James Brown's forthcoming release “Gutbucket,” and a dance single, “Found Myself” with co-writer and producer DJ Ian Friday.   His stage credits as a backing musician and opening act include:  Stevie Wonder, Prince & the New Power Generation, Elton John, Snoop Dogg, John Mayer, Ashford & Simpson, Jill Scott, The Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys, Anthony Hamilton, Cee-lo, Barry Manilow, Roberta Flack, Common, The Polyrhythm Addicts, and Michelle N'degeocello.  Chris Rob has also appeared on the VH1 Hip Hop Honors, Last Comic Standing Season Finale,  2006 Grammy Awards, Oprah, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and The Ellen Degeneres Show.  

Donald Hayes (Music Arranger)
Over the past 15 years Donald Hayes has become one of the most sought-after musicians and arrangers with credits extending to almost every genre of music.  Hayes has played or recorded with artists including; Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Usher, Maya, Brandy, Philip Bailey, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Simpson, James Brown, Jamie Foxx, Black Eye Peas, Dave Hollister, Tank, Chaka Kahn, Wayman Tisdale, Andre Crouch, Deborah Cox, and Queen Latifah.  He is also the first call saxophonist for most gospel artist including Yolanda Adams, Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, John P. Kee and the late Rev. James Moore.  Moreover, Hayes has scored two feature films as well as arranged for Detrick Haddon, West Angeles COGIC Mass Choir, BeBe Winans, and Beverly Crawford.  Mr. Hayes has been nominated for both a Stellar Award and a Dove Award.  He was also nominated this year for a Stellar Award for his arrangement of Beverly Crawford's "He's Done Enough" in the category of “Song of the Year.”  Hayes’ repertoire of mastered instruments includes the woodwind family, piano, bass and drums.

Mo Beasley (Writer/Poet, Special Guest Performer)
Mo Beasley aka The HeadMaster  is a poet/actor, author, and educator.  Dubbed as The Head Coach of Erotika, he founded  New York City’s longest running erotic performance series, UrbanErotika. This award-winning poet has been featured at the legendary Nuyorican Poets Café, The Blue Note, Bowery Poetry Club, Joe’s Pub, erotic reading series:  Rachel Kramer Bussel’s In the Flesh and Abiola Abrams’s Kiss & Tell Live.   Mo made his debut as a playwright with his critically acclaimed play "No Good Nigga Bluez” (which premiered at the NY International Fringe Festival in 2003 to sold out audiences).  The book version of the play, released by Scripted Linguistics (2004), is Beasley’s first published work.  His second is “Be a Father to Your Child” (Soft Skull Press, 2008), a groundbreaking anthology on fatherhood and hip-hop.  Mo’s one-man show, You A Man Now? premiered at Passage Theatre’s Solo Flights Festival (2009) in Trenton, NJ.   Mo’s work has not escaped the attention of the media. He has been interviewed by Rev. Al Sharpton, hip hop legend Chuck D, and has been quoted, profiled, or featured in New York Newsday, Amsterdam News, rolling out UrbanStyle Weekly, NRG, KISS FM (NYC), XM Satellite Radio, New York 1 News and several other local and national media.  In 2006, The New York Daily News selected Mo as one of "50 Unsung New York Heroes."   When not at the mic, Beasley teaches poetry & spoken word, theatre, and sexuality education courses/workshops to youth and adults throughout New York City.  His current and past clients include Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Children’s Aid Society, Medgar Evers College, NYC Department of Education, Berkeley College, Planned Parenthood, and more. 

The creation of Joyce SoHo was made possible by the magnanimous support of the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust.  Joyce SoHo is supported by private funds from the Alphawood Foundation, Bloomberg, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, First Republic Bank, Fund for the City of New York, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The New York Community Trust, Open Society Foundations, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation and The Shubert Foundation; and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State’s 62 counties; and the National Endowment for the Arts. Special support for Joyce SoHo has been provided by the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.

On opening night of the Complexions Fall/Winter season at The Joyce Theater, the audience, comprised with many power players of the dance world, not only buzzes with excitement and anticipation, but also disappointment.  We hear that dance royalty, the breathtaking brilliant and talented, Desmond Richardson, is suffering from an injury (received earlier in the afternoon) and is not dancing in this evening's performance!  ....Eee Gads  ...Say it ain't so!  Like many audience members, I question if Complexions’ performance will possess the same virility with the absence of Richardson.

The curtain rises, and any doubt in the room dissipates with an exploding big bang as Dwight Rhoden’s Moon Over Jupiter takes shape over Rachmaniov’s score.  A meteor shower of momentum and dynamics, the ballet showcases the extreme unique talent and technique of all the Complexion dancers.  Like an orbiting solar system, the dancers move in organized chaos into an eclipse of synchronization.  Metallic, spider webbed leotards and shorts expose the dancer’s thoroughbred, horse-like muscularity, direct proof that these dancers are pushing their physical means.  Clifford Williams, the shooting star of the ballet, demands attention with phenomenal extension and effortless fluidity of movement that only the trained eye would understand the extreme complexity and challenge of the choreography.

On Holiday opens part duex of the evening and relies on the show business aspect of dance.  Slightly reminiscent of Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs, On Holiday is danced by four couples expressing four stages of love.  Each couple embodies the lyrics of Billie Holiday, but Christina Dooling and Edgar Anido really transport the audience to a Love-Hate relationship. Intensity and heartache emanate through the audience as Doling and Amide manipulate each other to provide a heart wrenching performance.

Originally, to follow On Holliday, is Richardson to dance A Goldberg Variation, but instead, Christie Partelow and Mark Caserta dance Rhoden ‘s Spill.  Entering with abandonment in a grand jete lift, Partelow and Caserta leave you with no regret from missing Richardson’s performance.  In complete unison, they dance in a continuous stream of intricate and exhilarating partnering.  Like riding a rollercoaster of constant excitement and unexpected turns, Rhoden’s Choreography escapes all predictability confirming his much revered status in the realm of today's contemporary choreographers.

A fun and lively Moody Booty Blues is like the after hours employee dance scene in “Dirty Dancing” where Baby meet Patrick Swayze for the first time.  The dancers dance fearlessly with grounded movement and soulful rhythm.  Moody Booty Blues showcases the young talent of Complexions;  Gary W. Jeter II sets a very high bar with his opening solo of insane syncopations and intricate isolations and Peter Chursin and Stefano DeMartino match Jeter’s energy.  Chursin is especially captivating with his flawless technique and exquisite lines.  After grabbing my attention, I couldn’t stop watching Chursin in the finale piece Rise.

Rise, which Rhoden choreographed to various songs by U2, opens with the song “The Streets Have No Name” and one man running in the spotlight.  High impact choreography plus Bono and the Edge guarantee an awesome performance.  I have seen U2 live in concert several times, and the Complexions Dancers even give Bono some competition.

Complexion dancers are a dynamic breed of physicality that is unparallel to most contemporary and ballet companies.  The dancers elevate the choreography and provide a powerful performance of non-stop impressive feats.

Complexions Fall/Winter season continues to run through November 28^th at the Joyce Theater.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Katherine Gibson
Performance: Complexions
Choreographer: Dwight Rhoden
Venue: Joyce Theater, New York, NY
Show Date: Tuesday 16th, 2010
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Happy Birthday Treeline Dance Works!  Although this one-year-old company may be just a baby on the dance scene, kiddos look out because she is growing in vigorous leaps and bounds…quite literally, in fact!

Her first full-length show, In Transit, demonstrates how technical prowess can meet child-like playfulness.  Throughout, dancers play their bodies like musical instruments as they weave intricate formations and portray comedic/disturbing narratives.  They seem to make games of spatial patterns as they move like scattering marbles or jumping checkers.  All is accomplished with outstanding precision and ease.  These ladies are not only capable of great feats of agility, but also of an honest connectedness to each other on stage.

All hailing from SUNY Brockport, company members Erin Johnson, Caroline Nelson, Jessica Reidy, Jenny Showalter, and Lyndsey Vader are a fox-force-five to be reckoned with. Lyndsey Vader’s sense of control, for example, in her solo “Pulse/Apology”, is breathtaking to watch.  What astounding technical abilities she has with her brilliant execution of delicate balances and sharp, quick movements, all while speaking about the sound of her pulse.  My heart stops, like her narrative describes, as she rocks in-and-out of warrior III, flips around to relevé and halts deftly on a dime.  The disturbing last image, a fist under open palm, looks like a heart with splayed aortic valves.  Oh, Treeline, you’ve kindled my inner-child’s imagination!

Immediately following is another energetic solo performance by Jessica Reidy, in “The (un)Natural Art of Dating.”  This rousing jaunt into 1950’s dating has me enchanted from the get-go.  Reidy instructs her audience members on the do’s and don’ts of catching a mate by winking, batting her lashes, and, my favorite, wetting her eyebrows!  She explains the importance of holding a longing gaze as she performs an Exorcist-like head rotation.   Absolutely brilliant!  Her ensemble, Erin Johnson and Caroline Nelson, are perfect.  The threesome dance-on together with the subtle pin-up sex-appeal of the Andrews sisters.  The characterization is complete as nostalgic music plays and house-wife aprons sway, leaving me all giggles and smiles!

“Traveling to Recall A Becoming Of,” choreographed by Jenny Showalter, is another heavy weight champ in this choreographic line up.  Here, the playfulness comes forth in the port de bras, as the girls use various arm gestures to draw lines in space.  They make pulsing gestures with the hands, long reaches of the fingers and very specific movement like poking, jabbing, threading-the-needle, etc.  Here, Showalter carves out space on stage by having the dancers spin in circles and run in diagonals.  She also creates the image of hallways as the dancers run upstage to downstage.  If Jeffy, from Family Circus, were dancing, he’d leave one helluva dotted-line map on stage!

Beautiful spatiality also appears in the opening piece, “Caged Until”, which is, in my opinion, the most outstanding piece of the evening.  This piece represents Treeline’s sense of play perfectly.  Audience members are greeted by the upstage right violin trio, whose diagonal bowing movements seem to inspire the entering dancers whose outstretched arms oppose outstretched legs in an off-balance tilt.  Lovely!  They move in and out of unison, using musical phrasing and quick level changes to create a gorgeous symphony.

Again, Showalter is a master at choreographing spatial arrangements.  I find myself so entranced by her patterns that I fail to notice how suddenly, the dancers are lined up at the stage's edge with their backs to the audience.  A musical change happens, as the fourth wall is broken, and my experience shifts from spectator to insider.  I become engaged in their game.

Yes, the rest of the piece is like a game.  A series of place-switching follows as they stir up space like in a game of tag.  This leads to another line-up, but this time, a wall line-up for picking teams on a playground. There is a persistent theme of odd-man out, which is perhaps representative of playground politics.  Signature to Showalter’s style, specific hand gestures are repeated in motifs, i.e. a head cradled in a partner’s hands, and, most memorably, the fist meeting the open palm as when rock meets paper in “rock, paper, scissors”.

Favorite moment in the entire show: a dramatic lift where one dancer grabs hold of another’s waist and hoists her own lower body into the spot where bodies should collide, but the third dancer ducks in the nick of time!  Shocking and yet not shocking at the same time because this is so characteristic of how fabulously these femmes dance together.  They dive into near-miss lifts and athletic floor phrases, as fearlessly as a five-year-old does a flying dismount off the swing set!

The playful nature continues well into the second act.  In Jenny Showalter’s solo, “Kilter”, weight-play rules. With the music reminiscent of a French bistro or circus, I imagine Showalter as a mime on a tightrope at times.  There's an off-balance circular section that conjures the image of a spinning top as it begins to lose steam.  Unfortunately, the rest of the second act begins to lose steam as well.  I notice an overwhelming music trend throughout the evening: strings.  And while nice to start, I find the use of violins and/or cellos (in over half the pieces) to be a bit tiresome by the end, and soon crave something different.

While the music DOES support the playful style—switching drastically from slow and meditative, to speedy and virtuosic—it can be on the verge of melodramatic as is the case with “A Shell of Herself.”  In this text duet, Lyndsey Vader and Caroline Nelson pounce around like ferrets, squeaking out lines barely audible above the intense music, which is building unnecessarily.  I feel as though I am watching a soap opera, one where the actors are clearly reading cue cards.  The text seems superimposed and not at all connected with what the dancers are saying with their bodies.  If we put the whole piece on mute, as Lindsey does to herself in the beginning of the piece (a moment I actually love), then the message would read something like this:  “Look at this.  Look at me.  Look at all this dancing.  See these tricks?  My leaps and kicks?  I’m flexing, pointing, leg-extending, rolling and panting…  all in my undergarment dressings.”  Perhaps this is all intentional, referring back to the title, “Shell of Herself”. The one time Nelson says, “I don’t know what that means,” face-to-face with Vader, I finally believe her.  But then, the movements quickly return to that familiar dance/yoga/Pilates vocabulary, and I’m even more anxious to see something different.

Similar are my feelings on the last piece, “Unearthed Moments.”  Playful still, it begins with counting, like a young girls’ hand-clapping song.  I adore the choice of all heads looking up at the first number, “four.”  This reminds me of the attention-catching word “fore” used in golf.  But the movement is still all so akin to what came before, and at this point, I’m desperately waiting for them to produce something outside the choreographic sandbox:  to get away from codified dance for a moment and explore moving more pedestrian or with more subtlety.  The moment of saving grace happens when Caroline Nelson sits perched atop supporting bodies and does a slow pan across the audience.  Yes!  Slowness.  Stillness.  A moment to reflect and digest.  In fact, I love the subsequent slow motion movement wishing I could see more of it!

Overall, Treeline does a beautiful job of painting the canvas with lots of detail and activity, but one doesn’t necessarily have to show all one’s cards at once.  I think they can afford to do less, in some respects.  Going back to “Pulse/Apology”, the silent score supports Vader’s moments of suspension beautifully, and I find myself wishing it would last longer when jarringly, a background score of medieval chants is introduced.  Although the sounds are haunting, they are also distracting from the text.  Perhaps if the music were more sparse, I’d be able to decipher the text better.

In Transit marks a choreographic rite-of-passage; the event where artistic directors Jenny Showalter and Lyndsey Vader show form a synthesis of what they’ve gathered over the past few years—from schoolings at SUNY Brockport, residencies in New York and Chicago, and mentors such as Pamela Vail, and Don Halquist (guest choreographers in the program).  What an appropriate title indeed!  Congratulations to them as they make this daring  transition from the classroom/studio into the professional dance world.  And while there are always points to work on, there are outnumbering points of interest that give this company much success!

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Teresa Lynn
Performance:  Dance by Treeline Danceworks 
Venue:  Center for Performance Research, CPR
Show Date:  November 6, 2010 
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Eryc Taylor Dance wraps up an amazing sold-out run at Joyce SoHo in Spectacular fashion.  With excitement, grace, power, and beauty, this is a company to watch. The company, consisting of Isabelle Fernandez, Gierre Godley, Dillon Honniker, Carly Mayer, Michelle Pellizon and Danielle Schulz, is filled with excellent performers exhibiting with "no holds back" what great dancers they are!

The evening opens with Drowntown.  Amazingly athletic and energetic, this is a powerhouse.  The dancers weave and dodge one another without missing a beat, yet join each other to prove a point at different times.   It is inspiring...  Imagine walking through Time Square at rush hour.  Watch out or you will get left in the dust!

Next on the program is Wraith. Danced by Michelle Pellizzon and Danielle Schulz, this piece is hauntingly beautiful.  With costumes by Tonatiuh Otero, they look like beautiful red Nymphs.  Showing their clean and pure technique, they dance in tune with each other ever so effortlessly.  Nymphs in a time of loss, they are still, however, hopeful for what is to come...  Beautiful!

Moving on to The Polarity, danced by Gierre Godley and Dillon Honiker, all I can say is WOW!!!!  Showstopper.  They both dance with power and masculinity; it is refreshing.  Throwing themselves on each other without a care in the world, they are out to kill!  I am immediately put in to the frame of thought of watching “The Matrix”, a wonderful fight scene with all the special effects coming to life right before me.  This (The Polarity) is wild abandon at it's best!

The Missing, danced by Michelle Pellizon, is next and what a shocking surprise...  She is a revelation in this piece shaking, twisting, and contorting her body into oddly beautiful positions.  It’s really amazing. Merging her beautiful technique with the oddest of moves it is like watching a drug addict fight through withdrawal.  Happiness, sadness, longing, and cravings she is going through all the emotions right before your eyes.  I am happy to report she wins in the end!  Congrats!

And finally, Terminus, wraps up this wonderful evening.  Danced by the company, they save the best for last taking complete command of the stage and not being afraid of it.  The power of the dancers fill the floor bringing the audience to the edge of their seats.  Their movements are faster, sharper, and clean, as if to put the final stamp on the evening.  Wearing costumes by Keiko, they leave the audience wanting more and ready to stand up and join in!   Eryc Taylor Dance is one company not to be missed.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Devin Pullins
Performance  Eryc Taylor Dance
Venue:  Joyce SoHo
Show Date:  November 13, 2010
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By George—or better yet, by Merce—Neil Greenberg’s got good design; this former Cunningham dancer not only knows how to make a fashion statement, but also how to make statement, a fashion.  His past works have made quite the mark, inviting audience members to question status-quo gender roles, ponder common assumptions about HIV/AIDS, and interrogate what society associates with homosexuality.  And now, his latest work, (like a vase), continues the expedition into the social-norm jungle.

Take for example the opening section, which brings to light the status-quo obsession with looks, and body image.  We see dancer, Johnni Durango, enter and stand center stage amongst the inanimate columns and vases.  Suddenly, she is no longer a dancer, but an object: a thing to be looked at, studied, and critiqued… like a piece of art —like a vase!— and perhaps like a candid celebrity beach body shot in US Weekly.  Thanks to a humorous recorded narrative by Ruth Draper, “A Class in Greek Poise,” the words guide us further into this judgmental state of mind. As we look at Durango —tall and slender— we hear Ruth say “214 pounds?...oh its 241 pounds? Bloomers please.”

“Ladies, line-up” Ruth continues.  And Durango assumes a pose on relevé, hands behind back and elbows bent…  like the wings of an exotic bird. (well with plumage like that of her loud, patterned tights, she’d have to be exotic!) Perhaps some abstract ode to Barbie? Or…as Ruth gabs on and on about poise, Durango starts strutting around with delicate, toe-pointed steps; she circles the column-confined area, and I feel as though I’m watching a peacock parading round its pen at the zoo.

Neil Greenberg, who by this point has furtively entered and placed one vase at each column’s base, begins clapping.  It’s not, by any means, directed at Durango, but because of her spatial arrangement, the model strut she just gave, and what transpired in the narrative, I connect the dots, and interpret that he is, indeed, applauding her.

Here’s the unique thing about Neil Greenberg’s choreography:  many of the goings on—the score, the dancers, the set, the musicians—have the strength to operate independently from one another.  But when they do sync-up coincidentally, they suddenly seem intentional… and then there’s meaning in them thar hills!  So although Neil’s clapping at that exact moment may seem intentional in relation to Durango, as the piece goes on, clapping returns in other moments as part of the phrasing, and by contrast we see there may be no meaning at all:  it’s just a neutral gesture.  How about a dancer taking a sip of coffee, followed by a sip of water off-stage?  It appears to be a pedestrian gesture of no meaning.  But take the same movement, and have two dancers do it in unison, and suddenly, I notice myself trying to “figure it out”.

This is Neil’s other obsession, which now has become mine too:  “tensions created by the seemingly inescapable human desire to create meaning.”   The eccentric movements may coincide with the score, and by default, I can’t help but draw a connection for them.  Ruth says “swing your weight forward” and the dancers do swinging movements with their arms.  As musicians, Zeena Parkins and Shayna Dunkelman, tune up the harp and other instruments, the text speaks of using one’s breath like a “musical instrument.”  Another cue, via the text:  Ruth is “prancing through the forest” with the hypothetical fat girls she is coaching.  Greenberg and Luke Miller are prancing about the space too…  in the most laugh-out-loud-funny way!  And later, Paige Martin’s vibrating palms begin as a move all-their-own; but once paired with the echoing sound of the harp, it looks as though she is struggling to cage the sound between her two hands.

I am tickled by my ability to connect the dots and create meaning.  We all are...  everyone giggles with delight at the sight of two dancers sipping coffee in unison.  We all love to feel like we “get it.”  But we also love to be challenged.  Several times throughout the show, a dancer brings a microphone stand on-stage, taps and blows into the mike, but says nothing.  Hmmm…what does that mean?  I question.

Similarly, a move may be repeated several times throughout the show, but in different contexts; the audience is prompted to question why they felt a certain way about it the first time, and differently the second. I watch Mina Nishimura introduce a head tapping solo far upstage left, behind the musicians, and partially obstructed by the light booms.  She is clearly lit, so I am clearly drawn to watch her, and yet this is the first time I give my full attention to a dancer who is not dancing on the white marley, “pedestal” stage.  Shortly after, Collin Stillwell does this same movement on stage, and I wonder:  is it the status-quo to label movement on the marley as “dance,” and movement off the marley as “not dance?”  Does placement determine what something is and isn’t?

The exquisiteness of Greenberg’s work is his ability to provoke such philosophical battles.  Also noteworthy is his ability to give dimension:  the simplicity of his movements, the repetition, the sparseness on stage alternated craftily with crowdedness…also the sparseness in the score alternated with lushness.  There is time for movement, and time to digest.  Repetition occurs, and we reflect once more; contemplate and re-contemplate.  The openness of his dance score allows audience members time and space to think… feel…  and ponder…..  all while experiencing something truly beautiful!  What a wonderful gift!

A cornucopia of beauty, in fact,  besides the dancing, there’s a beautiful set to behold!  Four black vases are lined up in a row:  their stark silhouettes in contrast to the white marley floor.  Also prominent are four white columns, arranged in a square, and a giant turquoise harp upstage.  This scene harkens to Greco/Roman classical art…a Michelangelo painting perhaps.

The harp is obviously functional:  also creating beauty for the ears to hear, thanks to the ingenious musings of harpist and composer Zeena Williams.  In this city where time and space are hot commodities, I rejoice in the moments of inserted breathing time to bring notice to all elements…. even the musicians themselves.  For example, there is a long instance where no dancers are on stage—just the musicians playing their instruments—and I am perfectly content watching them do their thang!

The openness of Greenberg’s dance score lends itself to be pondered, questioned…  and personalized to tastes of the individuals watching it.  My neighbor may see one way, and I another.  Neil’s work doesn’t limit itself to one definition, and that’s part of the gift as well. Greenberg’s passion for artistic statement is strong…  but even stronger is his passion for the audience.  He makes his work accessible, choosing to include the public on his exploration of social norms, as opposed to alienating them with high-brow airs.   How considerate and generous! (like a Vase) is really like a gift: an hour of pure, thought-provoking stage play, handed to the New York public like a delicately wrapped piece of ceramic art.

So little pilgrims, the thanks-giving season is upon us; and now is as good a time as any to remind ourselves the importance of thank you notes.  You may not have liked those pajamas Aunt Millie gave you last year, but you will definitely like Neil Greenberg’s multicolored, psychedelic saggy-crotch tights!...  and even more so, his work (like a vase).   It is a masterfully crafted gem, certainly worthy of the pedestal he puts it on for all to enjoy.  Please thank him by seeing this show!

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Teresa Lynn
Performance:  Dance by Neil Greenberg
Venue:  Dance Theater Workshop, DTW
Show Date:  November 9, 2010
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Floor-Barre® LEGEND ZENA ROMMETT DIES AT 90

Zena Rommett, who has been credited with expanding and extending some of this century's great dancers and athletes, died Wednesday November 10 at 1:26 PM in New York City. The cause was recurring cancer. Ms. Rommett was 90.

Memorial services will be held on Sunday November 14 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm at the Perazzo Funeral Home at 199 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village between Sixth Avenue and McDougal Street.

Immigrating to New York from Italy in 1925 at age 5, Ms. Rommett went on to dance on Broadway in Billy Rose's "Seven Lively Arts" under Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, for USO in Europe with the Radio City Ballet Corp. She also toured as with the Rutloff Trio worldwide.

After teaching Ballet at Robert Joffrey's American Ballet Center, Zena Rommett opened her own studio on 3rd Street and originated Floor-Barre®, training dancers lying flat on their backs on the floor, which replaces the wooden bar dancers hold onto at the beginning of each day's preparation. Her studio from the late '60's into mid '80s became an oasis of dance, attracting actors, athletes, skaters and dancers from ballet to Broadway. Zena Rommett began teaching herself at Steps on Broadway in the mid-80's until 3 months ago. More than a decade ago Zena Rommett initiated teaching training of her Floor-Barre® every August in NYC, projected to continue after her demise in order that the principles and copyrighted verbal instructions can be passed on with renewal, vitality and growth. A list of qualified and current Floor-Barre® teachers are on FLOOR-BARRE.ORG

Zena Rommett is survived by daughter Camille Rommett, sister Lilias, and grandsons Alex Young and Austin Young.

Well, what's there not to say about Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet?  A diverse repertory company of exquisite technical beasts would be dream and playground for any guest choreographer; or, so it seems, based on the three works on the bill (Sunday Again, Unit in Reaction, and Hubbub) for one of their evenings at the Joyce Theater.

The evening opens with Jo Stromgen's Sunday Again, a lighthearted, whimsical portrayal of a collection of lovers all dealing with the usual feuds and qualms of being in a relationship paralleled to back and forth quality experienced in a tennis match.  Literally.  Props used include a tennis net, raquet, and plastic shuttlecocks that randomly appear from underneath clothing.  All this in place is a quaint and neat set-up for a perfectly boring piece.  However, Stromgen infuses stark humor via unexpected male/female moments of roughness, lesbian eroticism, and other social behaviors such as spitting and gossiping amongst themselves.  Overall, these nuances work well together in Strongen's choreography to keep the audience in tune and alert to fleeting moments of wit.

The dancers shift into a much darker and somber mode in the next piece, Unit in Reaction, choreographed by Jacopo Godani.  In this adrenaline-driven suspenseful piece, the dancers seem to operate as if they are all apart of a machine, or better yet a group of lab rats under experimentation and our surveillance.  The dancers create luscious lines and move intricately between each other in breathtaking duet and solo work. Godani's work digs beneath the surface and accentuates all that is juicy in this company and just uses technique as icing on the cake.

The evening closes with my favorite work, Alexander Ekman's Hubbub.  Now although the concept of the piece has been done before (there is no such thing as a new idea) Ekman took it to a new level!  This is one of those pieces where no amount of words can do it justice.  You just have to see it for yourself.  But here are a few personal highlights:  the suspended typewriter, rhythmic breathing phrase, accumulation, and a perfectly cute duet performed by Nikemil Concepcion and Harumi Terayama in which we hear a recording of the dancers personal thoughts as they execute each step.  Hubbub is one of those pieces that is difficult to walk away not just liking, but also, finding yourself talking about for the next few days!

You're probably wondering how I can critique Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and not highlight any dancers.  Simple.  They are all ridiculously good looking and beautiful artists.  So here we go: Jubal Battisti, Jon Bond, Nickemil Concepcion, Gwynenn Taylor Jones, Jason Kittelberger, Ana Maria Lucaciu, Navarra Novy-Williams, Oscar Ramos, Matthew Rich, Acacia Schachite, Harumi Terayama, Vania Doutel Vaz, Manuel Vignoulle, Ebony Williams, and Golan Yosef...  You Rock Fierce!

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Simone Sobers
Performance:  Cedar Lake Contemporary Dance Company
Choreography:  Jo Stromgen, Jacopo Godani, Alexander Ekman
Venue:  The Joyce Theater, New York City 
Show Date:  Tuesday, October 26, 2010
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Garth Fagan Dance celebrates its 40th Anniversary this week at the Joyce. The Rochester-based company, famous for its modern-meets-ballet-meets-Afro-Caribbean aesthetic, delivers a varied program through Sunday.  It revives several company classics, premieres two new works, and introduces the choreography of company member Norwood Pennewell.  There are some hits and misses in this ambitious line-up.

The evening opens, as it always does with this company, with Fagan's opus Prelude.  The piece begins with Pennewell leaping onto the stage in complete silence and hanging still with one leg extended behind him in an almost balletic attitude.  He balances for an amazingly long period of time, then, with a flurry of arms, a turn and a somersault, he finds himself casually balancing his leg aloft again.  Thus begins our lesson on Garth Fagan's technique.  The number is intended to introduce Fagan's unique style, and for anyone who's ever been in a dance class, it reads like...  well,...  like you're watching a dance class.  Not the most exciting piece of theatre.  For those who haven't been in a dance class, apparently it's fascinating, at least judging from the rambunctious applause at Prelude's conclusion.  But to me, it is plodding and pedantic.  I appreciate the technique of Pennewell and the others, but then I want them to let go of it.  Dancers go to class to focus on technique, but when we go to see dance performed, we want to see dancers in whom technique is so ingrained that they are able to soar. Unfortunately, in Wednesday's program, I rarely saw that happen.

Prelude is followed by an sensual duet from the company classic Griot.  This intricate, slowing-moving duet between the leggy, muscular Pennewell and the equally leggy and muscular Nicolette Depass is one of the highlights of the evening.  As disappointed as I had been with the first piece, I couldn't take my eyes off of the dancers in this slow, inventive duet of shifting shapes set to a luscious soundtrack by Wynton Marsalis. Here, in the capable hands (and arms and legs and even chins) of two of Fagan's senior dancers, you see an intensity that overrides the pedantic of the first piece.

Pennewell's choreographic debut, Hylozoic, once again hits you over the head with the Fagan technique. But Pennewell has proved himself to be an excellent at jumps, and this piece gets off its feet-- literally-- in a more exciting manner than Prelude.  Set against a backdrop of a single curtain, the dancers defy gravity as they twist, leap and twirl through the space. Nicolette Depasse shines once again on a stage full of lithe, athletic dancers.

After those two highlights and a brief intermission, the program once again descends into a very formal, repetitive exploration of the Garth Fagan technique. Thanks, Forty seeks to honor the company's anniversary, but it isn't until the fourth movement, entitled Fete-Joys, that you get to see the heart and soul of the company.  When the three original dancers come out and dance without restraint, you begin to see how this might have been an explosive company twenty years ago.

Still, Garth Fagan is a must-see for any enthusiast of modern dance. Their historic ascent of the New York City dance ladder has become legendary and inspiring for dancers of all ages.  The newest members of the company show great promise, while the older ones amaze us with their dedication to and mastery of Fagan technique.  Each year they return to The Joyce Theater to make their indelible mark on the dance scene.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Molly Sorohan
Performance:  Garth Fagan Dance
Choreographer: Garth Fagan, Norwood Pennewell
Venue:  The Joyce Theater, New York
Performance Date:  November 10, 2010, 7:30 pm
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Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, the ultra-sexy company formed by Wal-Mart heiress Nancy Laurie, burst onto the scene in 2003, garnering innumerable Dance Magazine covers and glowing reviews.  On Wednesday night, I impatiently awaited the rise of the curtain on the company's second program of their fall season at The Joyce.  The bill featured the company standard Sunday, Again by Norwegian choreographer Jo Stromgren, and the New York premiere of both Hofesh Shechter's The Fools and Didy Veldman's frame of view.

Sunday, Again, which premiered in Oslo in 2008, explores the combative nature of relationships using the slightly random metaphor of badminton. (Who among us doesn't relate to badminton?) However, quite a few of us can relate to dysfunctional relationships and the emotional life of each couple is earnestly expressed with fluent, graceful lines and breathtaking partnering.  The opening duet between Jason Kittelberger and Acacia Schachte is particularly elegant.  Likewise, Harumi Terayama's playful interlude with partner Jubal Battisti showcases her lightning feet and youthful vitality.  But while themes of loneliness and ostracism weave in and out, the piece never really comes together.  For all the exacting technique and effortless duets, one is left thinking, "But why should I care?"

The world of the second piece, Hofesh Shechter's The Fools, contrasts sharply with Stromgen's world of badminton and refined aggression.  Shechter's darkly lit set creates a menacing atmosphere, and the opening sequence immediately catches your interest, with eight dancers, or Shadows, clothed in what appear to be black straitjackets, dancing wildly to a series of drumbeats.  Then the Fools enter:  seven characters in their underwear, hunched over, stepping deliberately in riveting slow motion.  By part two, the Fools are fully dressed in clone-like office wear, and the choreography becomes more stilted and mechanical to reflect their inner life.  Schechter's choreography retains a sense of the unexpected, with breakouts by the Shadows interwoven with the Fool's choreography, which, as the piece progresses, becomes more desperate and absurd.  Soloist Manuel Vignoulle steals the show with his gut-wrenching, athletic solo.

In the third and final piece, Didy Veldman's frame of view, nine lithe, sinewy dancers glide between a series of three rather flimsy doors, designed by Miriam Buether. The doorways are meant both literally and figuratively as passageways to happiness and tragedy.  Though enjoyable overall, the ballet leans towards the latter half of the term "artsy-fartsy," due mostly to Veldman's tendency to incorporate spoken word into the soundtrack, which in this case was distracting and annoying.  Still, several vignettes resonated deeply: the lonely, sexy ballerina dancing a duet with a faceless figure through a rubber-paneled door, a slow-motion fight where Terayama's features and technique are used to maximum comic effect, and two lonely souls sharing a turtleneck in a lovely, pitiful duet.   frame of view had the most personality of the evening and offered the most humor, insight and catharsis.

Does Cedar Lake live up to the hype?  Not with this program, no.  But they certainly proved to be a risk-taking company full of beautiful, powerful dancers.  I am curious to see what their next steps will be.

 iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Molly Sorohan
Performance:  Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet
Venue:  The Joyce Theater, New York City
Show Date:  November 2, 2010
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A major concept that’s branded on your body after taking a Camille Brown master class is that you can get a lot out of the simplest steps by adding soul.  Whether it’s injecting a little spirit into the rond de jambe that flirtatiously traces circles on the ground, the port de bras that resists each position, or the tendu that angrily pushes the floor away, Camille Brown will be a very satisfied teacher if she sees this from her students.

If height were measured in spirit, Ms. Brown would be 50 feet tall.  Instead, this petite woman walks into a room commanding the presence of a giant with her sparkling eyes, her articulate phrasing (words and dance) and a proud, lifted heart chakras.  Every time Camille speaks, fireworks seemingly burst out of the top of her head (for an image, just think of her awesome, colorful firework-like hair) because not only does she put passion into every little thing that she says to the class, but she also does this as a proud, strong dancer with energy bursting in different directions as she speaks.  I already knew of her incredibly inspiring performances, but now I know that she inspires just as much as a teacher, which in turn will create the tradition of passing her teachings on and on and on.

A couple of years ago, Ronald Brown taught a master class series at Steps, and a philosophy that this master drills hard is "do the exercise correctly the first time and do it with soul".  In a nutshell, he explains that you plain and simply don’t need to work as hard if you do it full out, correctly and with feeling immediately.  Having danced under Mr. Brown in his company Evidence, it‘s clear that she has integrated Mr. Brown’s philosophies into her teachings and preaches them in her own style.  I can't say that Ms. Brown has a short warm up (her warm-up is 1.5 hours of the 2 hour class), but she sure does keep things simple and emphasize that we should milk every movement with resistance and spirit. 

Of course, to be able to rise to the level of adding artistry to the exercises, you have to know the phrase well.  Don’t worry, Ms. Brown will be sure that everyone has the combination by thoroughly answering questions before dancing each exercise and emphasizing vocabulary by repeating not only each exercise many times, but also integrating several of her signature African and Limon style steps into several of the exercises!  I’ll confess that my upper and lower back is very tender after this Camille Brown repetition ritual.  This constant succession of steps helps the dancer get to the point of muscle memory so that the mind isn’t working on remembering the steps, but on adding the icing on the steps that makes them sparkle just like Camille Brown’s movement does.

It is really great to get to a point of effortlessness when studying with a “master” because this is the point when your body truly has begun to absorb the information (the vocabulary) and most importantly, the style.  What we really want is for the teacher to transfer a bit of her spirit to us, and I truly believe this can only really happen if the student really understands the vocabulary so that he/she is open to accepting the gift of the teacher’s true artistry.  This artistry is what made the teacher so great in the first place and, hence, rise to the place that they’ve risen. Isn’t this one of the main reasons us poor dancers dig deep in our pockets to pay the high master class rate? ($19 at Steps on Broadway!)  The answer is, yes, and Camille Brown delivers 100%!

Her warm up begins with a heavy focus on port de bra and upper body contractions and undulations.  Ms. Brown thoroughly warms up a dancers each and every vertebrae with her intense focus on torso.  Once your torso is warm, elements of African and Limon start to creep in. At one point during the warm up, after having learned several dynamic warm up progressions (including  ones that combine a hard hitting charleston and "the wop" with gentle contraction progressions), Camille splits the room in half and has us repeat different exercises back and forth.  Not knowing which of the 8 bar combinations the following group would be asked to do next, everyone in class is forced to be alert to everything that is happening in the room.  Camille is showing us here that being totally aware of the teacher and the other dancers in the room may be something that’s a bit foreign to a lot of dancers.  It’s so easy to get caught in your own head by looking in the mirror at your body or thinking about something that happened before class that day, but Ms. Brown reiterates that you must be wholly present in class.  As one half of the room is finishing up a phrase, Ms. Brown hints at what phrase she wants the other half of the classroom to do next by quickly doing the first step of the phrase 4 counts before we need to begin.  Each time she demonstrates, the class' energy is rising.  Her energy is so infectious as her eyes fill with fire with every word of advice, and her body shoots fire when she demonstrates. I cannot wait to see this fire onstage at The Joyce this week!

After the 1.5 hour warm up in the center, we move to the side of the room to do a few short progressions across the floor that are heavily rooted in African.  Ms. Brown stops the class twice to pick on a young girl who obviously has potential, but is not giving the class her full focus.  Ms. Brown sternly explains to the class that this student is doing the steps in the way that feel most comfortable on her body and not the way that is being taught.  She reprimands her like a child saying, “You better start opening your ears because you can’t just go around doing the steps however you please.”  This is the second time that this particular student has been singled out in class in a negative light, which highlights the fact that Ms. Brown will not stand someone walking away from her classroom with a misunderstood version of her teachings.  This could have been a real life-changing moment for this singled out student! (I know that’s something I’d carry with me forever.)

Right before we exit class, Ms. Brown emphatically encourages everyone in class to join her Facebook page, get on her email list and most importantly, come to the show at The Joyce this coming week featuring her choreography along with Andrea Miller, Kate Weare, and Monica Bill Barnes.  As everyone beat the ground in praise in time with her two drummers, I realize that Camille Brown’s drive to communicate with the world through dancing, teaching and choreography has built incredible momentum that is delivering her goods to a vast number of people.  Most importantly, I see a genuineness of heart in her teachings and choreography, from which the people in her class and in her audience will reciprocate by readily absorbing her poignant messages with open arms.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Adrienne Jean Fisher
Masterclass Teacher: Camille Brown
Venue:  Steps on Broadway
Class Date:  August 6, 2010 
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A Note from the iDANZ staff:   This piece got lost in the iDANZ internet abyss, and FINALLY has been discovered.  Yay!!!  iDANZ Staff truly apologizes for the delay in posting this wonderful piece and hopes it brings timeless inspiration and joy.

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It's drizzling and I'm walking up to St. Mark's Church for the Urban Roots Festival where there is a healthy line outside of young urban hipsters, house heads, artists, poets, culture heads, and dancers at the ready to enter the space to score a coveted chair, bench, or at least a pillow on the floor like a pre-school game of musical chairs.   With the house packed full, emcee NAIMA, of Climbing Poetree performs a hot poem that gets the crowd riled and ready to take in this evening's culture eclectic festival of young and enlightening artists.

For the opening piece, festival host, Kinetic Junglist Movement (KJM), performs a very intriguing work of movement invention enhanced by some creative costume designs as the dancers' human faces are masked and their bodies are covered from head to toe in shimmery insect-like bodysuits with thin finger extensions that appear like long needle-like appendages.  Choreographed by Amy Secada, this piece details the metamorphosis of a Cicada, an insect known by it's clicking sounds and ability to molt, shedding it's shell.   Combining yoga, capoeira, and some acrobatic movements, about 80% of this fifteen minute piece is done on the floor.   No lazy dancers here, dancers roll, balance, and pause in deep squats, and at some points, burst up into the air in eclectic jumps with a sort of creepy yet ethereal undertone.   So much demanding floor work, you would think the dancers have knees of steel!   Although a bit lengthy and somewhat repetitive, the metamorphosis is absolutely captivating. 

Purely a stand-out in the program is the multi-talented performer, Monstah Black, who really knows how to  demand attention from an audience.  He sings one of his songs, "Black Like Jesus," a fan favorite, fusing in his own very dynamic movement style as he covers the entire space solo with his quick turning leaps and soul slithering, black glama flair.  One thing great about Monstah Black is that he truly is a seasoned, professional performer in that he has mastered the art of captivating an audience, knowing when to move fast and when to be still, when to scream and when to whisper.  Bravo!

The pick-me-up of the evening goes to a performance by Princess Lockeroo and Akim Funk Buddha presenting an "Urban Opera" interpretation of the famous habanera from Carmen.  Whacking, vogueing, and some locking and jazz dance fuse together to create a comical scene heightened by a dazzling chorus of "full-out" dancers. 

Spinnin Ronin Martial Arts Dance Theater entertains with a comical story ballet complete with a menacing Samurai, flashy swords, and fight choreography worthy to be seen in the next Jet Li movie.  In an awesome battle scene with the very tall Kei Yokoyama, watch out for their underdog, the petite heroine, Pai Wang, as she is a hot one with her Samurai sword in hand flowing through the very acrobatic fight choreography with fury and ease.  Although lengthy for a one night multi-act filled festival, the performance successfully blends dance, martial arts, and choreographed fight moves with a delightful beginning, suspenseful climax, and an end.  For a dance show, Spinnin Ronin, with its martial arts fused movement and exciting fight expertise, is a welcome addition to a mostly modern/jazz fusion dance festival.

Of course, we can't ignore the grand finale:   the energetically uplifting and thoroughly entertaining Babacar M'Baye & Co. presenting a Sabar, (Senegalese dance and drumming style).  Because of its innate spiritual nature, Babacar M'Baye's Sabar is a reminder to the audience of the folklore focus of the evening.  A grand demonstration of skill and tradition, Babacar M'Baye proves to be a fantastic way to end an evening and of course, a great instigator to incite audience members to jump to their feet to dance the night away.

Overall the evening is very eclectic and full of various genres including an intergalactic geisha named Yozmit, who gradually strips on stage while singing to reveal levels of fake body parts...  the private ones!  There is no disclaimer or announcement to the audience so many are scrambling to cover the eyes of children.  Also on the program is an inspiring poem and vocal performance from Micah Blacklight, a musical performance from Le Soul Afrique, and an Afro Brazilian dance performance from Ginga Da Bahia.  However, in my search for the connection between the performance material and the festival's mission, to "breathe new life into ancient traditions" by showcasing artists who utilize the folkloric arts and fuse these forms with contemporary styles, the presentations come up short. There is folklore and there is fusion, but only some pieces accomplish the festival's mission.  All in all, while I leave St. Mark's Church a bit unclear, the performances by these young performers possess promising skill and engaging entertainment.  I am proud.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by JoiLynn
Contributing Editor:  Candice Rox
Performance:  KJM Presents...  Urban Roots Project
Venue:  St. Mark's Church, New York City
Show Date:  October 3, 2010
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Coupe de Foudre, a theatrical reinterpretation of surrealist film maker Jean Cocteau's 1930 film "Blood of a Poet," gives a sudden intense feeling of love as the French title suggests as well as many other emotions as the audience remained in awe of this artistic collaboration of three generations of African American artists at the Guggenheim Museum.  Corey Baker, Co-Artistic director of Ballet Noir and performer in Fela! on Broadway, performed as a dancer/actor physically interpreting the onscreen performance of characters in the film blending the present and past of art interpretation.  Paul Miller, a.k.a DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid, accompanied by Telos Ensemble, rescores the music creating an eerie, haunting, mystical mood to the stage, and Melvin Van Peebles filmmaker/director of “Sweetback” in the 1960's gives a dynamic performance adding dialogue as he interprets the French poetry of the film.  It completely appeals to all the senses and takes the audience literally into a whirlwind of a theatrical experience. 

The most exhilarating moments occur when Corey appears in the audience on the stairs one moment, as a shadow on screen the next, or a character crawling in space.  Melvin's voice gives explanation to the black and white silent film as DJ Spooky takes the audience on a musical journey through time from the days of Josephine Baker to the new sounds of the twenty first century.

"I walk through my blindness the way I saunter down streets in Paris: unfiltered and alive: enchanted and enjoyed by the raw material of the senses.  I am a blind flaneur.  Come along with me.  Just don't try to take my arm, unless I ask," Melvin recites as the film plays and Corey appears at the beginning of the show.  The theater is a white sphere with intense lighting design by Scott Bolman focusing on the statuesque, brown muscular body of dancer Corey Baker in contrast to the white statue on film.  There is a two-sided mirror, a wooden chair placed in front, a door with the number 17 stage left, and a black wall stage right.  A story line begins with a young man, a poet, attempting to draw a series of faces.  Suddenly, the mouth of one of these faces rubs off in his hand and starts smiling.  Terrified, the poet accidently smears off the mouth of the statue he was working on previously.  The statue comes to life and, in return, forcefully sends the young man through the mirror to another imaginary location at a mysterious hotel.

Corey Baker, as the poet, does a series of hand gestures looking into his hand, drawing on the mirror, running to the wall in sync with the actor on screen.  A spinning head on the screen symbolizes unconsciousness and the entering of a dream world.  Corey floats across the screen in a black silhouette as he falls out of reality.   With gorgeous technique, he performs slow controlled spiraling turns, hinges, attitude turns and extensions with beautifully sculpted balletic arms, as if swimming, and climbing up a wall.  He becomes each of the characters the poet encounters in a strange hotel:  a little boy, a man in a painting, children in a scene throwing snowballs. 

Melvin recites lessons of love, speaks of inner silence, deliverance, infinite precaution, and of nothing being premeditated in life.  There are references to Homer and other Greek myths as each scene becomes more intense. The audience is stunned as a young boy is beat until he bleeds and the poet shoots himself in the head.  Corey slips in an out of each character with ease with moments of still statuesque movement, then spinning, falling, running to a door, jumping off the stage into the audience in a state of despair and disillusion.  At the climax of the film the poet commits suicide twice!  The final time, after sitting in front of the woman he loves apprehensively with his heart beating out his chest, the gun appears, and, almost like a moment in animation, blood leaks from his temple; and there, stamped at his temple, is the Star of David.

This scene in the 1930’s would have been overdramatic or bizarre but with this theatrical version performed with Corey, Melvin, and DJ Spooky, Jean Cocteau’s film has much more depth.  The poet dies and his lover becomes stone like the statue.  A black angel comes to the scene reminiscent of the biblical angel Gabriel.  In the audience, coming from a staircase is Corey descending from Heaven as the angel.  The perfect lighting and ethereal sounds of DJ Spooky and the violinist set the mood for this theatrical ending.

In Jean Cocteau’s film, there are people walking through mirrors where they encounter the deepest psychological aspects of themselves. There are people walking upside down reciting poetry while they are painted into a canvas. The paintings come to life and the sculptures speak.  Poetry becomes a film scene and a character's dialogue.  In Blood of a Poet, one of the central themes is that inanimate objects possess mortal properties, and subsequently perform a play within a play, a film within a film. 

In the post-performance conversation with the creators, we learn that Cocteau's compelling work also inspired the great Russian ballet-master, Sergei Diaghilev, to produce “Parade” with Pablo Picasso as designer.   According to Paul D. Miller, a.k.a. DJ Spooky, Jean Cocteau has a fascination with the relationship between technology and theatricality which is what DJ Spooky explains as his inspiration for rescoring Blood of a Poet.  Corey explains his approach to creating the choreography for this work as done more from an actor's perspective and less about choreographing beautiful dance.  According to Corey, he reworks certain elements of the piece following the musical changes while paying close attention on being true to the character.  He masterfully incorporates all elements of his dance background (modern, ballet, African, and hip hop) which gives the work a beautiful, honest feeling.  Melvin describes the language of the 1930’s and the poetry in Jean Cocteau’s film. Translating French to English words wasn’t enough to get the audience to understand, it requires him also translating the slang or flapper language of that time as he calls it. 

All in all, this is a stellar performance, and there are even talks of “Coup de Foudre” touring the nation.  As we progress in technology and continue to mix art with the theatrical world, we will see other collaborations such as this one which will greatly be appreciated by those seeking entertainment that provokes strong emotions and sparks the intellect.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Carmen Carriker
Performance:  "Coupe de Foudre" with D.J. Spooky and Ballet Noir
Venue:  Guggenheim Museum
Show Date:  October 10, 2010
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“Why?” This is the continuous thought running through my head while watching Ballet Preljocaj perform Angelin Preljocaj’s Empty Moves (parts I & II) at BAM.  The piece, choreographed to John Cage’s 1977 speech Empty Words, which was recorded in Milan before a vocal and rambunctious crowd, sets a standard for contemporary choreographers.  Like abstract artwork, the 63-minute piece of arbitrary movement and Cage’s syllabic, unrecognizable pronunciation of words presents an enigma for the audience to decode.

The costumes, reminiscent of a disco roller rink party, expose the dancers’ liquid lines and dynamic quality of movement.  However, I ask, “Why this choice of retro neon color shirts and shorts that would have been worn by Punky Brewster?”

The dancers effortlessly transfer from position to position, but reveal no emotion; their faces remain frozen.  At one moment, the two girls toboggan over a man towards the audience and smile.  Again, I ask, “Why?  Why is that the only moment of expression?”

Randomly, the two men repeatedly stand on their heads, the women push their elbows in the men’s eyes and mouths, and in one moment the couples reach into their partners mouths.  I wonder, “Why, what is Preljocaj’s intention?”

As I continue to watch Empty Moves, the answer to my question is that Preljocaj just feels like it, and, in the moment, the arbitrary step appears to be the perfect piece to fit the puzzle.  Half way through the piece a dancer leaves the stage to get a drink of water and brings the Poland Spring bottle to other dancers on stage.  At that moment, the dancers are thirsty and drinking water is a necessary part of the choreography.  Like the simple black dress hanging in the closest, sometimes the least complicated and least contrived things are the most beautiful.

For a dancer, the process of learning and performing a piece with such arbitration presents a huge challenge. As a dancer you rely on the music to rescue you from the “oh crap” moments that occur when the choreography slips away from the body; however, the four dancers Favrizio Clemente, Gaelle Chappaz, Julien Thibault, and Yurie Tsugawa, impress with their flawless performance.  They dance with a connective energy that mesmerizes the eyes for the entire 63 minutes. Even though subdued and unremarkable, the choreography perplexes the conception of entertainment and disproves the idea that the flashy choreography seen on So You Think You Can Dance is the future of performance art. 

In a poignant moment, the four dancers interlock themselves lying in a straight line across the stage.  Who knew that something as simple as this would be as impressive as the Texas Rangers beating the Yankees to play in the World Series?

Anglein Preljocaj and his company are the epitome of innovation and hopefully will inspire more artists to trust their instincts and escape conformity like Preljocaj has done in Empty Moves (parts I & II).

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Katherine Gibson
Performance:  Ballet Preljocaj
Venue:  BAM, Brooklyn, NY
Show Date:  Friday, October 29, 2010
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After a six year hiatus, Ralph Lemon and his dancers return to the stage Wednesday night in Brooklyn's own BAM Harvey Theater.  The theater is packed and guests buzz words of praise about their expectations for this performance.  Some, knowing of Lemon's longer shows, ask about length expectations as well.   As I sit, I too am worried of becoming restless, but the performance, although a bit long, is loaded with information and provocative images which inspire intellectual thoughts and dialogue about life and the hereafter.

The show begins with Lemon himself reading a memoir of his experiences during the creation of this project entitled “ How Can You Stay in the House All Day and Not Go Anywhere?”.

Mr. Lemon normally keeps his private life hidden but this time he openly talks about his artistic relationship with Walter Calter, a former sharecropper born in 1908 who he meets in the Mississippi Delta while researching his 2004 work.  He also talks about mourning the death of his companion dancer, Asako Takami.  Mr. Lemon sees “House” as a four part project (I.Sunshine Room, II. Wall/Hole., III.  No Room, IV.  Meditation) inspired by his experiences and by Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 science fiction film “Solaris,” with its underlying theme of death.  In the film clips, a psychologist ends up on a spaceship with his wife, who commits suicide.

During the film Mr. Lemon narrates as we also watch clips of Mr. Calter in a bunny suit in Mississippi encountering violence reminiscent of the racial tension of the 1960’s.  These images are also inspired by Hare and Rabbit tales published in The Gift by Lewis Hyde where Sakka, the ruler of the heaven of sensual pleasure tests the hare by disguising himself.  At the end of the film we see video clips of dancers onstage doing improv. The movements and music are inspired by the free spirit, drug, sex, and rock and roll days of the 70’s.  A particular clip of his earlier work shows a dancer continuing to dance on stage after being hosed down with water. This made a strong statement about the perseverance of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement.

Six dancers come out and the familiar movements seen on screen are repeated live. There is a moving moment where the stage is bare except for the sound of a dancer sobbing off stage.  Though strong, this is a bit disturbing and some people feel it is too much to endure and leave, but the majority who stay experience a performance that completely takes us inside the mind and heart of Ralph Lemon.  I commend the dancers for their tirelessness and amazing commitment to movement that is very physical requiring them to spin, fall, and run for a long span of time nonstop!

At the closing of the final section, Lemon returns to the stage in the bunny suit amongst a screen of animals that appear one by one.  This moment symbolizes the place we have in this world, the relationship we have with all of mankind, and our search to understand the unknown.

This project is a work-in-progress and will continue with part IV Meditation, an installation on view at the The Kitchen this month.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Carmen Carriker
Performance:  Ralph Lemon, "How Can You Stay in the House All Day and Not Go Anywhere?"
Venue:  BAM Harvey Theater, Brooklyn, New York
Show Date:  October 13, 2010
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Manhattan Movement & Arts Center presents a

Master Class

With Matthew Rushing
Modern Dance Based on the Horton Technique

Monday, November 15, 2010 from 7:30-9pm

Manhattan Movement & Arts Center presents a Modern Master Class with Matthew Rushing, a star of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, on Monday, November 15, 2010 from 7:30 - 9:00pm at the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, 248 W. 60^th Street, NYC (between 10th and 11th). The class will be based on the Horton Technique, accompanied by a live percussionist. The class is $20/$17. Registration is available at 

http://www.manhattanmovement.com/event/master-class-with-matthew-rushing/.

Matthew Rushing was born in Los Angeles, CA.  He began his dance training with Kashmir Blake in Inglewood, CA, and later continued his training at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.  He received a Spotlight Award and was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts.  He trained at The Ailey School and later became a member of Ailey II, where he danced for a year.  During his career, Mr. Rushing has performed as a guest artist for galas in Vail, Colorado, as well as in France, Russia, Canada, Austria, and Italy.  He has performed for former presidents George H. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush and for President Barack Obama, as well as at the 2010 White House tribute to Judith Jamison.  During his time with the Company he has choreographed two ballets: Acceptance in Surrender (2005), a collaboration with Company members Hope Boykin and Abdur Jackson, and Uptown (2009), a tribute to the Harlem Renaissance.  He was recently named a 2010 recipient of the Dance Magazine Award.  Mr. Rushing became Rehearsal Director in June 2010. He joined the Company in 1992.

About Manhattan Movement & Arts Center

Manhattan Movement & Arts Center was developed by Rose Caiola as the home of the Manhattan Youth Ballet, a graded, pre-professional ballet academy and performance company. Ms. Caiola, a former dancer and actress, founded the academy in the fall of 1994 as Studio Maestro at 48 W. 68th Street, and serves today as the youth ballet's executive artistic director.

The school is modeled after the European academies and adheres to the French School of classical ballet technique. Under the direction of Francois Perron, managing artistic director, the Manhattan Youth Ballet has acquired a reputation for excellent teaching in an intimate and individually supportive environment. The school's graduates have danced professionally with American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Nederland Dans Theater, Ballet de Espana, San Francisco Ballet and Complexions.

As the ballet academy grew, the search for a larger space inspired in Ms. Caiola a highly personal vision of a studio and theater complex that would encompass all aspects of dance education and performance.

MMAC opened its doors in June 2008, occupying a dramatic bi-level space within The Element, a luxury high-rise condominium located to the southwest of Lincoln Center. In addition to the Manhattan Youth Ballet, MMAC's studios and theater host daily adult dance and fitness classes, the MMAC Kids program, summer intensive programs, as well as an array of performances and special events.

For more information about mmac, visit www.manhattanmovement.com.