"Pillow Talk" at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in the Berkshires
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Nederlands Dans Theater at Jacob’s Pillow July 2007
July 2007 performance review by Connell McGrath
Nederlands Dans Theater; Jacob's Pillow July 2007
The first piece was Sleepless (2004) choreographed by Jiri Kylian to a score composed by Dirk Haubrich based on Mozart’s Adagio in C-minor. Kylian places emphasis on decor and lighting for this piece, both to powerful effect. He sets a white scrim at an angle across the back of the stage with vertical slits in it through which the dancers can enter and exit. Kylian writes the following about this piece: “Are we really clear in our intentions? Are we really sure that we want to move towards or away from…? I find this an interesting question which inevitably has a great influence on our existence, our intentions and our passing through life.” Sleepless is an existential work — that’s clear from the beginning. The dancing is superb and so is the choreography. The piece is engaging, fresh and technically stunning.
The next piece, Simple Things, was choreographed by Hans van Manen (2001), to an assortment of contemporary and classical music. While not as thematically profound as Sleepless, it is still very strong work in all aspects. The ballet begins and ends with a playful duet for two men set to accordion music. Next, there are a series of pas de deux with two women. The dance is nicely balanced between playful and serious, silly and thoughtful. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Mark Morris, though van Manen stays more serious throughout the piece than Morris would with similar material. The choreography is very demanding and at once classical and innovative. It’s executed with technical brilliance by these young dancers.
The last piece on the program was Dream Play by Johan Inger (2000) set to excerpts from Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Also very good work, though of course it’s an ambitious undertaking to try to choreograph this work. He keeps it simple and doesn’t have grandiose visions for his interpretation of this notoriously difficult ballet. He frames the work as a momentary dream had by a young man in which the primeval rites of Spring are enacted by a primitive group.
NDT2 really delivers on this performance, and showcasing work such as this is one of the reasons that Jacob’s Pillow remains a prestigious dance Festival.
Royal Danish Ballet at Jacob’s Pillow July 2007
July 2007 performance review by Connell McGrath.
Royal Danish Ballet; 2007 Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival
Twelve younger members of the company performed excerpts from the Ballet’s repertory. These works dated from 1836 to 1942, most of them from the 1800s, and most of them choreographed by the Ballet’s original artistic director, August Bournonville. Despite the vintage, these dances are still fresh and exciting to watch. They also performed two contemporary works.
The Bournonville dances were excerpted from “The Flower Festival of Genzano”, “From Siberia to Moscow”, “La Sylphide” and the Tarantella from “Napoli”. These were outstanding examples of his work and of the Royal Danish style that emphasizes simplicity, elegance and natural movement. The Tarantella that closed the show was particularly exciting to watch despite a muddled early section of the dance. The divertissement from “La Sylphide” was also outstanding.
They also showed a pas de deux from Festival Polonaise choreographed in 1942 by Harold Lander, the artistic director of the company for most of the first part of the 20th century. He followed Bournonville’s established traditions with excellence and discipline.
The classical performances were consistent and outstanding. The two contemporary pieces were uneven. Triplex (1999), choreographed by Tim Rushton, a former member of the Ballet, was pretty good, but there was an unfortunate world premiere. My Knees Are Cold (2007) choreographed by a current dancer in the company, was embarrassing to watch. This brief lapse only slightly marred the excellence of the evening performance.
Mark Morris Dance Group 2006 Jacob’s Pillow review
Aug. 22, 2006 performance, reviewed by Connell McGrath
Mark Morris Dance Group; 2006 Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival
The first dance on the program was “Songs That Tell a Story” from 1982. This dance fits into what has become a category for Mark Morris. He takes an odd, culturally specific soundtrack – in this case an Old Time radio show from 1956 – and sets a complex, often mocking dance to it. The soundtrack is complete with crackles and pops, Southern style announcers, and Old Time songs about Jesus, love and loss. Songs was performed with excellence by Craig Biesecker, Rita Donahue and Michelle Yard. Costumes for the piece were rolled up jeans, bare feet and denim work shirts. The dance steps were simple, yet in combination became complex patterns. He used a signature technique of having the dancers repeat the motions in follow-the-leader fashion instead of sync. He would vary the time intervals between when each dancer starts a series of motions, which gave the dance a complex, intriguing pattern. For much of this dance, he used gestures that imitated the story of the songs, and he seems to mock both story-telling styles of dance and the song content by doing so. Mocking Christianity in 1982 was a very different proposition than mocking Christianity in 2006. Art that mocks religion seems almost dangerous in today’s world of fundamentalist predominance, calling into question freedom of expression issues.
music by Erik Satie, choreography for Mikhail Baryshnikov
The next three pieces were solo works, more curios from the vault rather than master works. First was “Peccadillos” from 2000 for a solo dancer – this evening danced by Joe Bowie – to music by Erik Satie. The music was played live by Steven Beck on a toy piano that gave a tinkling, twangy sound. This was originally choreographed for Mikhail Baryshnikov during their White Oak Dance Project collaboration. Bowie did an excellent job with it though piece is limited and trivial. It seems more like a study or sketch than a fully realized work.
The third piece was “Three Russian Preludes” to music by Shostakovich. This is another piece choreographed in 1995 for Baryshnikov, danced on opening night by David Leventhal. This, too, was an odd, study-like piece, with Morris’s usual high standard of choreography, but again lacking in depth or brilliance. It may have been better on Baryshnikov, though Leventhal did well with it.
The last small work was “Dad’s Charts” to cool, jazzy organ music by Charles Thompson and Illinois Jacquet. Danced by Maile Okamura in a cool tan summer suit and hat, she glides around the stage doing hip-swaying, jazzy steps to the score. Fun to watch, little niche work, certainly worth 10 minutes of the audience’s time.
After intermission came one of Morris’s great works, “Gloria,” to the choral work of the same name by Vivaldi. This is magnificent dance of the kind that only Mark Morris can deliver, and it was beautifully danced by the whole company. What Morris achieves here – with seemingly no effort – is entertaining, amusing dance that’s also deep in meaning (supply your own here), sophisticated and brilliant. He relies mostly on ballet and folk dancing styles for Gloria, and as always gives the lie to the idea that ballet is fusty or “over”. He makes full use of the stage – deploying dancers at all points – in various actions and doing interrelated actions that often challenge each other. Morris made “Gloria” in 1981 and revised it in ’84. It is as current and as fresh as it was then. If anything, the world is still catching up to it. As Ella Baff, Executive Director of the Pillow, said in her opening remarks, it’s one of the great dance works of the 20th century. I agree.
Martha Graham Dance Company at Jacob’s Pillow July 2005
July 1, 2005 performance review by Connell McGrath
Martha Graham Dance Company; Jacob's Pillow 2005
The first half of the evening’s performances were accompanied by Pat Daugherty on piano, and one piece had Elizabeth Mann on flute.
The first three works are archival curiosities of most interest to those who frequent the Pillow with its larger-than-life portraits hanging in the main theater of Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis. They are The Insense (1906), choreographed by St. Denis and Gnossienne (1919) by Ted Shawn (set to Satie’s sublime piano work by the same name). Serenata Morisca (1916) is a modern dance reworking of middle eastern motifs with choreography attributed to Ted Shawn and “reconstructed by Martha Graham”.
Three Gopi Maidens (1926), the first dance choreographed by Graham alone, is derivitive of her teachers’ styles in that it represents the dance styles of other cultures and is mostly decorative and superficial. It reminds me of silent movies from the 20s set in the sands of Araby.
After these four mercifully short works from the St. Denis/Shawn/Graham archives, the program comes alive with Lamentation (1930), Satyric Festival Song (1932, “reconstructed” in 1994 but Diane Gray & Janet Eilber) and Steps in the Street (1936). In four short years between when she made Gopi Maidens and Lamentation, Graham comes into her own as an artist. Lamentation has substance and a spare, modern sensibility. For its time it was a daring challenge and it holds up today as an engaging and thoughtful work. Satyric Festival Song is funny and entertaining, but it, too, breaks from the decorative pieces from the Denishawn era. Steps in the Street (excerpted from Sketches from Chronicle, a study of social injustice) is a masterpiece made for the entire company. It demonstrates Graham’s considerable ability make full use of the stage for many dancers. It is the highpoint of the evening.
After intermission, the Company presents Errand into the Maze (1947) from the prime of her career and one of her last dances, Acts of Light (1981). “Errand” is made to music of Gian Carlo Menotti by the same name and a set by Isamu Noguchi. Acts of Light takes as a starting point the following Emily Dickenson writing: “Thank you for all the beautiful act of light which beautified a summer now past to its reward.” There is a wistful and nostalgic air to much of the piece, as if Graham were conscious that this may be her last work and wished to bid a fond and positive farewell. It ends on a joyous dance by full company called Ritual of the Sun. These pieces show Graham’s commitment to expressing emotion and ideas through movement, and to making profound, socially significant work.
The primary impetus to this program is aptly summarized by the following 1937 quote from Graham herself (found in the Norton Owen’s liner notes): “It is a mistake to believe that modern dancing is something unrelated to anything that has gone before. It is only by knowing the rules that it becomes possible to break and change them.”
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal at Jacob’s Pillow Aug. 2005
Aug. 17, 2005 performance review by Connell McGrath
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal; Jacob's Pillow 2005
The evening consists of two long works, first is TooT (2005) by Didy Veldman and second is Noces (2002) by Stijn Celis. They are both engaging, thought-provoking, disturbing and hard to classify. As entertainment, the audience responded well to the first piece and seemed upset and disturbed, giving a tepid response and quick exits, to the second. As works of art, Noces is the stronger piece with a more interesting provenance. TooT holds its own, though it devolves at times into pathos and silliness that is supposed to be absurdity.
According to her liner notes, Dutch choreographer Didy Veldman wrote TooT under the inspiration of Shostakovich’s Jazz Suite No. 2 in an effort to “question identity, individuality and the relationship of the individual to society.” The piece is set on 15 dancers, almost evenly divided between men and women. They are dressed as clowns in simple white costume and white face which immediately evokes existential questions of the meaning of whatever actions the dancers perform. The piece is set to the accessible, engaging Shostakovich score which gives it a carnival atmosphere, as well as to more ominous music by the Balanescu Quartet for the darker parts. While much of the piece is funny and interesting in terms of the diversity of action, there is a dark undercurrent to the work. This is almost always true in work that has a clown theme as a central aspect.
The piece is a bit too full of action including (1) a water gun fight that ends tragically for one and triumphantly for the rest, followed by a death dance. (2) A section in which one of the dancers uses a bullhorn to boss the others around. This part ends with the dancers revolting, and one of them singing Volare through the bullhorn. (3) The dancers making “I wish” statements such as “I wish I was a nicer person” and “I wish I could cry”. I’m sure this has some interesting existential intention, however the action is too self-pitying. In general the dancing is very strong, with a lot of original and interesting movement. Veldman rejects almost all standard modern or ballet technique, creating original sets of movement for her work. There is also a strong use of set (Miriam Buether created both the sets and costumes). The sets are a group of semicircular benches that are moved into various configurations, and used in different ways throughout the piece.
Noces (2002) by Belgian choreographer Stijn Celis, is a reworking of the 1923 Nijinsky/Stravinsky ballet called Les Noces (The Marriage), considered by some to be a masterpiece of the twentieth century. It has been reinvented by Celis in this strong new work. The music by Stravinsky”forceful, ominous and even scary”was created on four pianos, percussion and a group of singers. It is a strong example of the music of that period. This new Noces is evokative of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, drawing some of the traditions of the 1920s and 30s of costume and to some extent of action. My interest and curiosity about this piece are increased by the fact that it is a reworking of an old classic. This gives another perspective to the idea of a classical ballet company performing very contemporary work with no apparent physical connection to older ballet styles. Despite that lack of connection, there is a very clear connection made by creating a new dance from an old work.
For this piece, too, the dancers are in white face though there is no association with clowning here. The original ballet depicts a peasant wedding. This one also revolves around celebration though in a more abstract way. The dance is strongly polarized between a group of 12 female dancers and 12 male dancers. They rarely danced together, but they “perform” for each other. As the women dance, the men sit on rough wooden benches, then they switch roles. The company uses the barn siding of the back of the Ted Shawn theater as a perfect backdrop set for a rural wedding. To this, they add two chandeliers that are lighted toward the end of the piece. Sets are by the choreographer. The dancing by both groups is forceful, even violent. One very interesting aspect of the choreography for the women is that they do movements”hip sways and upper-body shimmies”that at another speed would seem sensual, even erotic. But speeded up, and with added force they seem angry.
The choreographer includes as liner notes an interesting excerpt by the teacher Fernand Schirren (writing from 1996) that begins “The celebration”be it sacred or profane, a prelude to an attack, in rejoicing or sadness; whether it leaves memories of the present, perpetuates the past or conjures the future”the celebration in all its forms represses death.” This points to ideas that Celis uses as a starting point for Noces. There is a panic aspect to some of this work, a fending off of the inevitable. Celis transforms existing ballet and modern technique into his own vocabulary of movement. Hi is also a master of large group choreography and use of stage space.
Mr. Pankov has taken LGBCM from a slightly tired classical ballet company into a contemporary, groundbreaking tour de force. He is bringing new and demanding work to the stage, and is creating a new role for the traditional ballet company.
Mikhail Baryshnikov White Oak Dance Project
June 19, 2002 performance reviewed by Connell McGrath
Mikhail Baryshnikov; Jacob's Pillow June 2002.
The first piece was Largo (2001), by Lucinda Childs to Arcangelo Corellis’ Concerto Grossi Op. 6, danced solo by Baryshnikov. I saw instantly his genius and his mastery over his medium, and understood why he is so famous and revered. Largo is soft and lovely, with graceful balletic movements, and it couldn’t have lasted longer than three minutes. It was a jewel of a piece, unassuming, simple, and profound.
White Oak demonstrated its range and eclecticism tonight in their subsequent pieces. Early Floating was second on the bill, an Erick Hawkins piece from 1961 to the music Five Curtains of Timbre by Lucia Dlugoszewski. The music was cacaphonous and the dance seemed primarily about structure and form, and how that can relate – or not – to intimacy. The forms of the piece hold up well after forty years, and they are peppered with small, intimate touches between the dancers. Emily Coates was outstanding in this piece.
Early Floating is a heady yet personal piece. It was at times intriguing, then hard to pay attention to. I could understand why a man in the row beside me snored softly five minutes in, though I did not feel inclined to sleep through it. This is not a criticism of the piece (or the snoring man) as much as its an indication of the complexity and challenge in the work. It may also have something to say about chronic sleep deprivation in our time.
The showcase piece of the evening was The Experts (2002), by Sarah Michelson with music by Mike Iverson, plus a video clip by Mike Taylor of a race car zooming across a track (Steve McQueen’s car from the movie Le Mans). This was a hard piece to like, but also a hard one to forget.
The Experts was commissioned by Baryshnikov. I wonder what the dancers thought when presented with this demanding, strange work. First order of business: you’ll have to dance on a stage covered with BUBBLE WRAP, so step lively (will they repace it before tomorrow’s show, or does that audience get less POP?). The company wore strange costumes with various wing motifs, and did quite a bit of wing movements, some restricted by bound hands.
My partner commented that she struggled through the beginning of it, but grew to like the characters and adjusted to the ungainly and anti-dance movements of it. The story, humor and tension of the piece eventually swept us up, and I kept wondering how if at all this piece was informed by 9/11 (which I have no doubt it was). Personally, I agonized for Miguel Anaya as he jiggled on the stage for minutes on end, and was glad to see him let loose his more traditional (and considerable) dance abilities in the subsequent piece.
In the end, the company returned to a formal, balletic Lucinda Childs piece called Chacony (2002) to various music by Benjamin Britten. This was a return to a more traditional and aesthetically beautiful dance form, and it was relaxing and easy to love. It was a gentle end to the evening, but posed a challenge to us and the Project. Overall, the evening was on the long side, and the two middle pieces were emotionally and intellectually demanding. Chacony was a fitting end as it returned to the mood of Largo, but it lulled us too much, and we couldn’t fully express our appreciation for the evening after it.
What I’m trying to say is that the wonderful White Oak Dance Project didn’t get the standing ovation they so deserved. We had been put through an exquisite wringer by them, and failed to rise and show our love. Nonetheless, the sounds, visions, and movement of their their performance were a great and memorable beginning to the season.