Switch the script and pretend that Mo(or)town/Redux opened, and the world premiere of Elkins’ film, A Hundred Indecisions followed. The impressive cast in the film includes: Ephrat Asherie, Carlos Cordova, Carolyn Cryer, Parisa Khobdeh, Deborah Lohse, Javier “Ninja” Madrid, Marquis, Marshall, Oakley and Charemaine Seet, some of whom danced with Elkins in the past. And though not cutting-edge, here, everyone gets a chance to mix and groove with matured Elkins-esque moves in and around Montclair State University. The other world premiere, O, round desire follows furthering this introduction to his new and sophisticated movement vocabulary. A body roll might start a phrase, and before the finish, legs and arms loop endlessly, flips or other airborne moves are softened as they punctuate “House,” hip hop or whaacking moves with ease. For Elkins, A Hundred Indecisions is “…a companion to O, round desire, especially in its focus on desire and memory,” and we see it in the way the movement from film translates effortlessly to the stage. In O, round desire, the Company was joined by students of Montclair State University Department of Theatre and Dance and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
To better introduce doug elkins choreography, etc. to those who may not be familiar, flipping the order of the evening’s program at Peak Performances (April 20 – 23) is a thought. Elkins’ Mo(or)town/Redux (2012), like The Moor’s Pavane (1949), Jose Limón’s iteration of said Shakespeare work, Othello, is an abstraction powered by gestures and a dramatic telling about this story of deception. As the title intones, Elkins used catchy and memorable songs from the Motown library as narrative while Cori Marquis, Kyle Marshall, Donnell Oakley and Elias Rosa used Elkins-esque mix of hip-hop and modern-ish movement styles from his early years to tell his version. The audience went home with Mo(or)town/Redux as last on their dance card, and this nice visit down memory lane, unfortunately, showed as a period piece.
Switch the script and pretend that Mo(or)town/Redux opened, and the world premiere of Elkins’ film, A Hundred Indecisions followed. The impressive cast in the film includes: Ephrat Asherie, Carlos Cordova, Carolyn Cryer, Parisa Khobdeh, Deborah Lohse, Javier “Ninja” Madrid, Marquis, Marshall, Oakley and Charemaine Seet, some of whom danced with Elkins in the past. And though not cutting-edge, here, everyone gets a chance to mix and groove with matured Elkins-esque moves in and around Montclair State University. The other world premiere, O, round desire follows furthering this introduction to his new and sophisticated movement vocabulary. A body roll might start a phrase, and before the finish, legs and arms loop endlessly, flips or other airborne moves are softened as they punctuate “House,” hip hop or whaacking moves with ease. For Elkins, A Hundred Indecisions is “…a companion to O, round desire, especially in its focus on desire and memory,” and we see it in the way the movement from film translates effortlessly to the stage. In O, round desire, the Company was joined by students of Montclair State University Department of Theatre and Dance and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
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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." |