Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×

Recommended Posts

In the midst of all the Giselle reviews I thought I'd say a word about this afternoon's Fall for Dance show. Ratmansky's Fandango - Roman Mejia again showed that he has it all - technique, musicality, command of the stage. Totally enjoyable performance. Tiler Peck and Herman Cornejo did Justin Peck's, Bloom (homage to Tshai Pas). The piece plays to their strengths. Herman seemed ageless, Tiler Peck radiant and joyful through-out, particularly in a spontaneous seeming sequence of turns. I do wonder how someone not familiar with Tchai Pas would view the piece. Last up was Ayodele Casel, and her company. She is a tap dancer/choreographer extraordinaire. Engaging piece with a fine singer and fresh arrangements of familiar songs. The program was just over an hour (no intermissions) and a fun time!

I have gave up on going to see Giselle some time ago. I made an exception some years ago for Alina Cojocaru, and was rewarded beyond my wildest imagination. A few years after that I made an exception for Sarah Lane, and was again royally rewarded. Maybe I'll make another exception some day, but in the meantime thank you for all your reviews and thoughts for this years ABT season of Giselle. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember seeing Fandango performed by Sara Mearns a few years ago at Fall for Dance.  Interesting that they now have a man doing the same piece.  I think it is a City Center commission, but it would be great to see it eventually become part of the NYCB rep. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also saw that Fall for Dance show, though on Saturday night, and agree Mejia has it all. I had no idea Fandango had originally been commissioned for a female dancer; it appeared as if it had been designed for him. It's wonderful, both the dance and his performance. He's delivering on the high expectations set in his first years with the company. The Bloom piece was a delight - besides the joyous dancing of Peck and Cornejo, I very much liked the simple costuming and the melodic music by Caroline Shaw. ( I'm not much a fan of the look of bare knees with point shoes, but that's probably just me not keeping up with the times.) They are a beautiful pair together, both so musical and free - and fast. There were many tricky changes of direction and momentum in Justin Peck's choreography and it looked easy when they dance it.

The music for the tap number was outstanding: the blues singer, Crystal Monee Hall, was sensational. I found the tap number a little overlong, and my mind wandered to debating whether the notoriously difficult problems of amplifying taps had finally been solved. They roamed all over the stage with no difference in sound quality, so it couldn't be stationary mics.  Maybe technology had evolved to wearing tiny mics in their shoes? (All the classic Astaire and Gene Kelly films had the tap sounds added in by foley artists after filming.)

But that marley dance floor isn't going to make a good metallic tapping sound, and tap sounds we heard during the tap dance performance were both crisp and amplified to the point of being quite loud. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if they were "foot-syncing" and eventually decided that yes, the tapping sounds were not live but had been pre-recorded. I may be wrong but it certainly seemed that way. It didn't detract from the live performances at all - it likely made them more engaging.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's the Fall for Dance 2022 program: https://www.nycitycenter.org/fallfordance

View this email in your browser
32a0e120-a1d1-5c3a-4231-0e52b487756e.png
c49dc368-6279-f870-a586-7289d826cd06.jpg

FALL FOR DANCE FESTIVAL

Sep 21 – Oct 2, 2022
All tickets $20
On sale Sun Aug 28 at 11am

City Center is thrilled to welcome back international artists to this year’s Fall for Dance Festival—including Bavarian State Ballet, Nrityagram Dance Ensemble, and the New York debut of Kyiv City Ballet.  

Plus, experience the live premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s The Two of Us with Sara Mearns and Robbie Fairchild, and a new City Center and Vail Dance Festival Co-Commission by Pam Tanowitz featuring Melissa Toogood and Herman Cornejo

15 companies. 8 premieres. 5 unique programs. Explore the entire Festival schedule and mark your calendars for August 28 at 11am when $20 tickets go on sale! 

EXPLORE
 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, cobweb said:

I'm very undecided about what, if anything to see. Can anyone weigh in on the programming and what you would want to see? 

I will pass on Program 2 which has the new piece for Toogood and Cornejo, that premiered at Vail and was on their live stream. I didn't care for it at all, and in fact I skipped over the last 1/3 of it or so. (I positively hated the costumes which I thought resembled those of The Boy in Whipped Cream, and I thought the choreography was boring.)

If I see anything, it would probably be 3 (a Jamar Roberts piece and Robbins In the Night) or 5 (with the Graham co, whom I rarely get to see).

Edited by ABT Fan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

I will pass on Program 2 which has the new piece for Toogood and Cornejo, that premiered at Vail and was on their live stream. I didn't care for it at all, and in fact I skipped over the last 1/3 of it or so. (I positively hated the costumes which I thought resembled those of The Boy in Whipped Cream, and I thought the choreography was boring.)

If I see anything, it would probably be 3 (a Jamar Roberts piece and Robbins In the Night) or 5 (with the Graham co, whom I rarely get to see).

i also thought the Toogood/Cornejo choreography was awful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mr. Cobweb and I attended the final Fall for Dance performance this afternoon. I chose it mainly to see Martha Graham Company in their new piece, CAVE, with Daniil Simkin (and which he co-produced, I believe). This turned out to be an intense, compelling piece evoking young people in a nightclub, with some very arresting moments and no doubt a strenuous workout for the dancers. I'm not sure how much this piece would hold up on repeat viewing. The highlight of the afternoon without a doubt was something completely new to me, Nrityagram Dance Ensemble (from Bangalore, India) in collaboration with Chitrasena Dance Company (from Sri Lanka), in a piece from 2019 called Poornarati. This is a dance form about which I know nothing, but it was fascinating, hypnotic, and beautiful. When it ended, I just wished they would start the whole thing over. I've never seen anything like it, and wish I could see more. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, cobweb said:

Mr. Cobweb and I attended the final Fall for Dance performance this afternoon. I chose it mainly to see Martha Graham Company in their new piece, CAVE, with Daniil Simkin (and which he co-produced, I believe). This turned out to be an intense, compelling piece evoking young people in a nightclub, with some very arresting moments and no doubt a strenuous workout for the dancers. I'm not sure how much this piece would hold up on repeat viewing. 

If you follow Daniil on Instagram, be sure to look at his stories (which, alas, I can't link to here). Baryshnikov was also in the audience Saturday night and there's a nice shot of him with Daniil backstage. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/25/2022 at 12:34 AM, abatt said:

i also thought the Toogood/Cornejo choreography was awful.

I loved that piece. The romance of it, the costumes, the music. I thought it was so sweet and unexpected. But I love modern dance and have enjoyed many Tanowitz works. The Mearns-Fairchild duet (Joni Mitchell music choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon) was also on that program and it was great to see Robbie and Sara dancing together again. It seemed different without the original dancer, David Halberg. Robbie Fairchild has such a long artistic relationship with Wheeldon. The Afro-Brazilian company was also amazing, full of life and energy. Great music.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who got tickets for Fall for Dance 2023?  I went online yesterday and my queue was in the 3800's.  Yikes!  I dropped out, when outside.  Came back around 3pm and got tickets.  Some of them are way of the side and I'll be lucky to see 2/3 of the stage but can't complain.  Programs 1-3 appears to be more sold than 4 and 5 based on the seat locations assigned to me.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...