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 Complexions Contemporary Ballet in “Igual” Photo: Whitney Browne My AmNews November Dance Calendar
Featured: Complexions Contemporary Ballet  Dean Moss' "johnbrown" Some thoughts on Dean Moss' "johnbrown" for AmNews
 Réka Szabó The dance programming at Peak Performances scores again with the U.S. debut of Hungary’s The Symptoms in the two-part work, Apropos (October 16-19). Artistic Director Réka Szabó’s solo I will be all of these things one day opened, the evening closed with the nicely danced group work, I don't remember being raised like this, an overarching play on aging with some cliché images using lights and sound. The first part, a solo danced by the 44-year-old dancer/choreographer Szabó, was strong, confrontational, and filled with interesting parts. She set out to answer questions about the choices she made in her life: “Can you break from the past”? “Can you make a new start”? The audience is drawn into Szabó's world, and at times, have private conversations. Very close to the audience is a small dressing table with varied items: hair brush, clothes hung from a chair, etc. This is her personal corner, surrounded by the wide-open stage. Far away, against the back wall, and in the opposite corner, is a door. Every now and then someone knocks and in a loud voice, begs for entrance but is never given attention. Her focus is the audience so she prods with questions: "What did you have for lunch today?" "What shall we play"? "Did you cry today?" "Are you happy today"? and so on. This journey is packed solid. Szabó does a dance with just the meat on her belly making moving shapes (a heart, a mouth and more), in joint-driven movement phrases she commands ease, and at one point she circles the space, brushing a wig that with every stroke pulls out multiple strands of hair. Later, now nude and under a single dim light, meditatively slow, she slithers through yoga pose after pose, finishes, then asks if we are asleep. She walks to the edge of the stage lies face up, very still for a long time. One astute audience member paid very close attention when earlier, drinking from a water bottle, Szabó taught us about the importance of water and how we need it to bring us back. The audience member got up, walked to the stage, poured water into Szabó's mouth, she "awakens," they chat, and both separate, to the dressing table, and into the audience. Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” fills the theatre as the happy Szabó gets dressed:
Birds flying high You know how I feel Sun in the sky You know how I feel Reeds driftin' on by You know how I feel It's a new dawn It's a new day It's a new life For me And I'm feeling good... 
27th Annual International
Association of Blacks in Dance Conference & Festival Cleveland, Ohio January 21 - 25, 2015 hosted by Cleveland Dance Movement - CALL FOR PERFORMERS Performance Showcase Opportunity Deadline Extended until Friday, October 24, 2014 Calling all Companies and Artists Join Dance professionals for this exciting event who represent the broad gathering of Black Dance professionals in the US and internationally. The IABD Conference features performance opportunities for companies and artists to exhibit their work. Showcase Presentations will take place at the Cleveland Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio. Performance showcases will also include Artists and Dance organizations from around the country and abroad. Don't miss this opportunity to be seen on this International stage! Click here for the Call for Performers CALL FOR PROPOSALS Papers, Panels, Workshops and Proposals Opportunity Deadline Extended until Friday, October 24, 2014 Call Type: Dance Papers, Panels/Workshops and Proposals Workshop and Panel sessions will provide experiential hands-on learning paired with examples of successful new models that reflect the field's entrepreneurial spirit and will inspire new thinking for a vibrant future for dance. All proposal submissions are accepted electronically via email. Click here for the Call for Proposals GROUP REGISTRATION Deadline Extended until Saturday, November 15, 201 Conference Registration: www.ClevelandDanceMovement.org or www.IABDAssociation.org Print registration form and download: http://www.iabdassociation.org/registration/ More information: www.iabdassociation.org/conference About IABD The International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD), a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, has become the Mecca for Blacks in Dance such as artists, dance companies, directors, choreographers, educators, scholars, those interested in black dance issues, performances showcases, and artistry. Marking 23 years of serving the Black Dance field, the Association provides a network, formal newsletter, choreographers directory, published papers, and is the raison d'être for the Annual Dance Conference and Festival. The Association also responds to and initiates dialogue around issues that impact the Black Dance Community as well as the community at large. For more information visit http://www.iabdassociation.org  Soledad Barrio Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca
Joyce Theater October 29-November 9 For their return trip since 2011, Spain’s Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca, under the direction of Martín Santangelo, will present an evening entitled Noche Flamenca y Antigona to live music. Authentic flamenco is promised in “…excerpts from Sophocles’ tragic tale that brings the fiery nature of flamenco to one of the world’s great tragedies, [in]…Antigona," notes the release. Other works slated for the season are Alegrías, Le Plaza and Solea. Find out more here 2014 WAVE RISING SERIES John Ryan Theater October 22-November 9 Featuring 20 companies / choreographers, Artistic Director Young Soon Kim and a panel of artists select rising and established companies from New York City and around the world. Find out more here Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch October 23-November 2 BAM “The word was out, the place was mobbed,” wrote Anna Kisselgoff in The New York Times. “Pina Bausch, from West Germany, is the most talked-about choreographer in Europe and it was obvious that her reputation had preceded her….” Celebrating 30 years since New York knew about the incomparable Bausch, Tanztheater Wuppertal returns with the work that put them on the New York map, Kontakthof. Find out more here BalletCollective NYU Skirball Center October 29-30 Director/choreographer Troy Schumacher will premiere All That We See, and Dear and Blackbirds and brings back the 2013 work, The Impulse Wants Company. All pieces will be accompanied by live music. Find out more here Various Artists Dixon Place October 28, 29 & 30 The Crossing Boundaries series curated by Marcia Monroe will show new work by choreographers who cross cultural, geographic & disciplinary boundaries. The evening will feature works by Barbara Mahler, Christina Noel & The Creature, Juri Nishio, Pamela Herron. Zullo/RawMovement, in this Exquisite diversion/mysterious Skin uses Scott Heim’s novel “Mysterious Skin” for their work. The CarouSel Sisters: Rosabelle Selavy and Carolyn Chiu plus Special Guests will present an aerial dance work. Find out more here Gisèle Vienne New York Live Arts October29-November 1 In Vienne’s U.S. premiere of Kindertotenlieder, the work provides “The perfect breeding ground for the birth of the uncanny in our imagination, of the eerie blend of something that is equally familiar and strange,” according to the release. Find out more here Various Artists BAX October 31-November 1 Melanie Jones (2013/15 BAX Artist In Residence), featuring Cagey Productions, Theatre Conspiracy, and Danielle Marleau, curates CANADIANS ARE MEAN which “…confronts stereotype and the (in)visibility of Canadian artists in NYC,” according to the release. Find out more here October 30-November 2 Richard Alston Dance Company Peak Performances The London-based company returns to Peak Performances with the American premieres of Rejoice in the Lamb and Holderlin Fragments, along with the reprise of Unfinished Business and 1994’s Illuminations. Find out more here Eva Dean Dance The 14th Street Y October 30-November 2 As part of The Dance Series at The 14th Street Y, Eva Dean Dance celebrates 30 years of repertory including Pumped, Welcome Back, Melba and Pearl Diving, choreographed by Artistic Director Eva Dean. Find out more here Maya Dance Theatre 92Y October 31 As part of the 92Y "Fridays at Noon" Series, the Maya Dance Theatre from Singapore will perform works by Janis Brenner and others. Find out more here  Cuyjet and Oliver Cynthia Oliver
New York Live Arts October 23 – 25 Oliver is joined by Leslie Cuyjet in the premiere of BOOM! “A duet based on Oliver and Cuyjet as individuals, friends, strangers, family and younger/older versions of themselves, negotiating relations that are persistently in flux. Building upon a non-linear sequence of narratives around a life and a relationship—of a woman to herself, her history, her present and her future—BOOM! is a choreography of shifting realities. It is a looping, fractured unfolding, examining notions of destiny, when life happens and when “fairness” and cause and effect do not necessarily align,” according to the release. Oliver work has been described as “Uneasy, unsettling, and…[with] a narrative cohesion that makes for effective dance theater” (Dance Magazine). Find out more here Here’s what I wrote about a preview of BOOM! in May 2013 Mark Dendy Projects Abrons Arts Center October 9–26 Dendy presents Labyrinth, a new dance-play, described as “…a tragicomic, autobiographically inspired retelling of the Theseus myth…set in present-day New York City and performed by a cast of four in multiple roles,” notes the release. Find out more here Julian Barnett Danspace Project October 23-25 Barnett premieres Bluemarble described as “part science-fiction, part archetype…[and]…paints a voyage where two people tap into a field of persistence that examines the phenomena of the 'overview affect.” Find out more here Jonah Bokaer Lightbox October 23-26 Bokaer will present three New York City premieres: Study for Occupant, Future Tense and The Explorer, each featuring sculptural décor by Bokaer’s long-time collaborator Daniel Arsham. Find out more here Xan Burley + Alex Springer Median Movement October 23-25 Burley and Springer presents JACK Rally, their newest evening-length dance work where a cast of 25 interrogates and honors unity and revels in rhythm and revving. Find out more here Ntozake Shange Kumble Theater October 24 651 ARTS presents Shange’s new project, Lost in Language and Sound during a work-in-progress performance directed by Rhodessa Jones and choreographed by Dianne McIntyre for an ensemble of twelve, including poets, actors, musicians, and dancers. Find out more here Faustin Linyekula/October 24 Panaibra Gabriel Canda/October 25 BRIC House Ballroom 651 ARTS presents Look Back, Dance Forward: TALES OF HOME, a two-evening program with works by Linyekula (Congo) and Canda (Mozambique). Find out more here Laura Ward/Octavia Cup Dance Theatre Manhattan Movement and Arts Center October 24-26 Ward premieres MAPS, a multi-generational project which looks at “…past, present and future by imagining and questioning the reality of borders, history, and boundaries,” according to the release. Find out more here VON USSAR danceworks Ailey Citigroup Theater October 24-26 For this 8th annual showcase, The Dance Gallery Festival will feature original works from emerging and renowned choreographers from around the country . Find out more here Various Artists BAX October 24 - 25 Erin Markey curates Memory Foam a collection of pieces made by performer and designer pairs where the body's look is deeply considered. Find out more here Various Artists-REVIVE / REVEAL New York Theater Workshop October 25 Maura Nguyen Donohue/InMixedCompany, Deborah Lohse and Zoe Rabinowitz are the featured choreographers presented by Women in Motion @ the 2014 Estrogenius Festival. Find out more here Various Artists Movement Research at the Judson Church October 27 Don’t miss this free, ongoing, Monday night performance series of experimentation and works-in-progress. This week’s featured artists are: Rebecca Davis, Jacob Slominski and David Zambrano. Find out more here  Dudley Williams You are invited to
A Clark Center Conversation with Dudley Williams Thursday, October 23, 2014 6 o'clock p.m. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Bruno Walter Auditorium Free with reservation Tickets: www.nypl.org/locations/lpa Jennifer Dunning talks with acclaimed modern dancer Dudley Williams about his roots at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts and his long and illustrious career with the Martha Graham Dance Company and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. www.clarkcenternyc.org   Katherine Dunham SAVE THE DATE Saturday, October 25, 2014 Atlanta, GA (USA) Get ready for an upscale movers & shakers celebration of dance! Atlanta based La Danse Noire will present "A Day of Dunham" in its initial launch of its quarterly Black dance publication and celebration of its one-of-a-kind (premier) online repository. The event will be presented on Saturday, October 25, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. "A Day of Dunham" will feature panel discussions and workshops. The day will conclude with an evening awards dinner celebrating pioneers in the field. Presented in association with:
For more information: http://ladansenoire.com/about-us/. |
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AuthorI am a performer, historian, consultant and dance writer. I am a Empire State College's online program Center for Distance Learning. I am also a former faculty member at The Ailey School and the Alvin Ailey/Fordham University dance major program, Hunter College, Sarah Lawrence College (Guest), Kean University and The Joffrey Ballet School's Jazz and Contemporary Trainee Program. I write on dance for The Amsterdam News, Dance Magazine and various publications. Click below to read more about me at my home page - "About Me." |
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