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For me, the interesting new work -- by far -- was in modern dance, and I'll name three:
Shen Wei Dance Art’s “Near the Terrace," or the first part of it, anyway (it was a short dance created for ADF which was then expanded, and the expansion doesn't match the original). I reviewed this one from the Post, and will quote from it
"[It] is beautiful and wondrously strange. Dancers, dressed only in pale blue skirts, their bodies powdered white, walk with measured tread and fall, in slow motion, into each other’s arms. Someone is always moving--walking, crawling, rolling--yet there is little movement. The dancers repeat movements endlessly as though caught in a dream, unable to run, unable to escape danger, but there is no fear, only serenity."Dana Tai Soon Burgess's 10th anniversary concert. He's a local modern dance choreographer who's just hitting his stride. He's very much a "visual artist" -- the dances are moving paintings, the design is as important as the movement, and everything -- movement, music, design, concept -- fits together perfectly. I think what appeals to me about it is the lack of excess. Everything is spare and pared down. His movement is a combination of American modern dance and various Asian dance forms, from kabuki to the martial arts, but instead of throwing it all into the blender, he selects a few movements from a broad palette and creates worlds with them.
Anjelin Prejlocaj's "Helikopter" was the surprise of the year for me. I went in expecting to hate it -- everything I'd read about him screamed Pretension -- and was completely absorbed by it, even though the lighting effects, which everyone raved about, weren't visible from the Eisenhower Theater orchestra. I thought his dancers were extraordinary and pray that they're a model for the future. They looked like "normal" people -- beautiful, extremely fit normal people, but there wasn't a freak in the bunch and they danced like gods.
