Juilliard dancers know how to excite an audience with their infinite dancing prowess.  The energy and commitment they bring to the classic works by Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, and Lar Lubovitch and a new commission by Ohad Naharin, is infectious.  Most particularly, you could feel their excitement for having worked with Ohad Naharin, the Artistic Director of Batsheva Dance Company (and Juilliard Alum), on the development of a work which combines two of his previous works, Max and Three, and the creation of some new material for the thirty-nine dancers in the piece.

With music performed live by the Juilliard Orchestra and a chorus of singers from the School, you can feel the vibrancy of Mark Morris’ Gloria, set to Vivaldi’s Gloria, all throughout the house.  The live music combined with the excitement of Morris’ choreography creates an amazing opportunity for the dancers to shine. 

Oh how they shined so brightly!  

Morris’s blend of pedestrian and spiritual music creates a highly entertaining and completely original piece.  The dancers execute playful movements of waving their arms around and sliding on their stomachs, and then, dramatically switch into a highly technical dance phrase.  All ten dancers give energetic and powerful performances which I am sure Mark Morris would be proud.

Twyla Tharp’s The Fugue is a work for three dancers.  The Wednesday night performance that I attended features three male dancers; however, throughout the run of the show, the cast alternates with three female dancers every other night.  The dance is choreographed without music, and is accompanied solely by the percussive sounds and rhythms created by the dancers’ feet.  Each dancer is suppose to represent a different kind of sound and/or personality.  Incredibly, Craig Black, Jonathan Campbell, and Denys Drozdyunk pull off a commanding performance, all appearing as if they have experienced tap backgrounds.  Now I do not know if this is actually the case, but, because of how extraordinarily rhythmic each dancer is, they definitely have the ability to fool even me in believing they have extensive tap training .  Dance is rarely performed without “music” for a reason, and, generally speaking, I am not big fan of dance without instrumentation whether acoustic, electronic, recorded or otherwise; however, this trio proves that dance can still be enjoyable without music (at least in it’s traditional interpretation) all the time.

North Star, created by Lar Lubovitch is set to music by Philip Glass.  Considered one of his “trance” dances from the 1970’s, Lubovitch explores the possibilities of minimalist music.  The highlights of the piece are the first quartet of dancers, and the one solo of the dance performed by the talented, Kendra Samsom.  Although all four dancers claim a presence on stage, the quartet performs remarkably in-sync with one another.  One does not out-shine the rest of the group; but rather, they each excel brilliantly in their own way.  Miss Samsom’s solo is absolutely breath-taking.  At times self-mutilating, Samsom is reminiscent of Martha Graham’s famous piece, Lamentations. 

Ohad Naharin’s choreography finishes off the night with a combination of pieces from Max and Three.  With thirty-nine dancers on stage, this is definitely a group piece in which the magic of the piece only works if all thirty-nine dancers are on the same wavelength as each other.  With that said, there could be no divas in this piece or else it would not work.  Skillfully, all thirty-nine dancers hold up their end of the bargain.

Towards the end of the piece though, each dancer has a shining moment in which they have a chance to show off why they have earned their spot in the famed Juilliard dance department.  Performing contemporary solos, the dancers quirk, twerk, and daaaance!  The commitment in their faces and their bodies is obvious.  Still, Naharin’s piece is executed cohesively and not as if students are performing it either, but a professional company.  

All in all, the Juilliard dance students truly shine; but, as a testament to their superior training, one does not out-shine the rest.  Their talent and skills are well-balanced across the board.  They come to the stage well-rehearsed, so together, so wonderful; you would think that they all have been dancing together since tots!  Clearly, Juilliard knows how to develop real artists; thus, no matter what the Juilliard dancers are performing you know that you are watching excellence in the making.

Photography by Rosalie O’Connor Photography

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Amanda Keller
Editorial Contributions by Candice Michelle Franklin
Performance:  Juilliard Dances Repertory
Choreographer(s):  Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, Lar Lubovitch, Ohad Naharin
Venue:  The Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Lincoln Center
Date:  Wednesday, March 25^th, 2009 at 8PM 
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