Giselle May 30-31; June 5-8

[sandik]

But there are lashings of choreographers who claim Forsythe as an influence. Some, like David Dawson, are still working in a genre we'd all call ballet, while others, like Crystal Pite, are combining from all kinds of sources, depending on the work and the moment. I think her Emergence reveals her ballet roots and her work with Forsythe, other works (like the recent Tempest Replica) have a more complicated heritage.

[Helene]

I agree, but I don't think that Dawson is extending ballet beyond Forsythe any more than Martins, Tomasson, or Stowell have extended ballet directly from Balanchine.

Pite, though, did something different with "Emergence": the women on pointe come out of the Forsythe ballet gene pool, while the men come out of the more dominant European strains -- from her experience with Nederlands Dans Theatre. Instead of trying to create a hybrid of the two, she gives them equally masterful choreography and respect, and rather than appearing as a cross-over character, who escapes from the non-so-fun/non-pizza-eating people on the other side, the woman in pants and point shoes in the quartet with three men co-exists peacefully within the hive, with both the men and the women. It's only when the men try to infiltrate the female corps that they''re slapped around. I think that's a pretty radical approach.

[sandik]

Oh this is fun to think about. I'm not totally sold on the male v female thing here (though you could absolutely win me over with the characterization "non-so-fun/non-pizza-eating people") -- I think part of the differentiation between genders here is rooted in the same distinctions we see in ballet generally -- women have a different relationship to the ground through their shoes. But yes, the woman in pants does have a certain labile quality, which is really clear when it's danced by one person (less so when it's split between two).

When we saw it again in the Encore show I saw much more going on in the duet with Imler -- but of course, I need to see in again to really get some clarity!